Grimsby

According to Wikipedia, Grimsby (or archaically Great Grimsby) is a seaport on the Humber Estuary in Lincolnshire, England. Bernie Taupin, who lived in nearby Humberston and Tealby near Market Rasen, would have of course been familiar with and spent time in this town, and for some reason decided to write this tune as a tribute to the everyday pleasures that the community offered.

It does have a tongue-in-cheek, slightly bemused feel to it, and it's good to see that Taupin could be as nostalgic about his background as he was the American Old West. As we all know by now, Bernie could be very snide lyrically when he chose to be- and really, I don't get that here. As verses like this bear out:

Take me back you rustic town
I miss your magic charm
Just to smell your candy floss
Or drink in the Skinners Arms
No Cordon Bleu can match the beauty
Of your pies and peas
I want to ride your fairground
Take air along the quay

The main reason this travelogue works as well as it does is the bopping musical arrangement that Elton gives it, with a wonderfully dipsy-doodle guitar riff, punctuated by a little whammy-bar action, by Davey Johnstone and those ubiquitous Classic Elton Band harmony vocals echoing several lines in the verses and chorus.


Lyrics/sample

Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me

Well, I'm sure you're all familiar with this one- it's one of Elton's biggest hits, was fricking all over the radio in not one, but two, decades via the remake duet with George Michael, who is at his most obsequious, seemingly in rapture at being in the presence of his idol. I don't know if there's much I can tell you about it that you don't already know, but I haven't let that stop me yet so here goes...

It's difficult to guess exactly what inspired Bernie to write this- the singer seems to be simultaneously coming on to and apologizing to the subject. Apparently there has been some sort of misunderstanding between the interested parties, and the singer fears being shut out and cut off from any further affection. Maybe it's directed at Maxine, maybe even at Elton. Hard to say, and I've been unable to turn up any anecdotal evidence with my meager resources.

The song's strong points are the lovely backing vocals, featuring Beach Boy Carl Wilson and arranged by another sometimes Boy, Bruce Johnston, as well as its stately and strong melody; it sounds a lot like a processional, especially during the chorus. The recording of most of Caribou sounds like it was a rushed affair between mammoth tours, but this one sounds like a bit more time and care was spent on polishing it up- I'm sure all concerned had this earmarked as the lead single from day one, which it was, coming out a month before the album's June release.

In its initial release, it hit #2 in the States but could not dislodge John Denver's "Annie's Song" at the top of the charts. The UK showing was less impressive, only achieving #16 over there. The aforementioned 1991 duet remake, however, capitalized on Michael's additional star power and went straight to #1 in both countries.

The Bitch is Back

Inspired by an offhand remark made by Maxine Taupin about Elton after witnessing one of his temper tantrums, "Bitch" gets Caribou off to a rousing start.

It opens with Johnstone's pinched-sounding, treated guitar hitting a lick then strumming a funk-soul type of riff, augmented by Dee Murray's "phased Pignose bass". I don't know exactly what sort of studio tricks were applied to Johnstone's guitar to get that sound, but he used it quite often on the next three albums. The Tower of Power horns provide backup, along with Clydie King, Sherlie Matthews, Jessie Mae Smith, and Dusty Springfield, of all people, contributing soulful, gospel-ish backing vocals.

It's a great rocker, and a heck of a catchy tune, and was a big hit when released in the US in September, reaching #4 despite some trepidation because the minor swear word "bitch" was used. It didn't fare quite so well in England, only reaching #15, still not so bad. It was also recorded in one of the first sessions that took place in James William Guercio's Caribou Ranch studios that they named the album for.

It inspired a couple of cover versions, most notably Tina Turner's first take in 1978 (she also re-did it for the Two Rooms tribute album). But nobody ever did it better than the Bitch himself.

Ticking

In which a pampered momma's boy goes mental and kills a bunch of people in a Queens bar, and is shot dead by police when he does finally emerge.

Not exactly "Your Song", is it?

It's an atypically long track, for the Caribou album anyway, and instrumentation is only Elton on piano and vocal, along with Dave Hentschel on synths. It's 2:13 longer than the next longest track, "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me"- and I say that not to appease the number crunchers but to point out how (despite the potential for monotony) engaging the track is, carried by Elton's deft vocal and the band's harmonies. The subject matter is a bit lurid, almost screaming "RIPPED FROM TODAY'S HEADLINES!!!"- perhaps Bernie had read a newspaper account of a similar incident- but we do get our dramatics administered with an even hand, and that helps. We get sympathy for the perp, sympathy for the victims, but maybe not so much for the police, who gun him down even though he gives up.

This track was a bit of a stretch for Elton & Co., I can't recall another instance, until much later with John Lennon's death, when he and Bernie would be this topical again.

Stinker

Once in a while it was incumbent upon Elton to simply rock out and show his listeners a good time, and this is one of those songs created for that purpose. More often as not, he chose a Baldry/Stones blues/rock sound for this, and ably aided by the Tower of Power horn section, that's what he gives us here.

Bernie piles on every filth-related metaphor he can squeeze out of his thesaurus, cuing the listener that he's a loveable, filthy rascal a la the characters in Don't Shoot Me's "Midnight Creeper" and Yellow Brick Road's "Social Disease".

I don't think this will ever be on anyone's short list of Elton classics, but it does rock out convincingly in a swaggering, bluesy way, and EJ can sing the line "burnin', vermin stink" as good as anybody out there...

You're So Static

This just in: Bernie doesn't like or trust the "working girls".

Well, that seems to be the gist of this one, anyway, as he tells the story of a young man who has an "aching head" as the result of an unfortunate encounter with "some Park Lane lady in a shady bar" who "took a fancy to the watch I wore".

But I can still remember how she laughed at me
As I spun around and hit the bed
She said thank you honey, forget about the money
This pretty watch'll do instead

The narrator then goes on to warn the listener about the predatory habits of these evil "City living women", who "match their men with a hook and eye" as they travel around in taxicabs.

Of course, I don't know, I wasn't there...but I would imagine there was a fair amount of clandestine eye-rolling going on when these lyrics were read aloud. That said, the final verse:

It's a Show me what you want, I'll show you what I've got
I can show you a real good time
She's a friend indeed of a friend in need
But you'll be sorry when she leaves you crying

does have a nice flow to it, especially the way Elton sings it.

Musically, it's cast in a fast-moving foxtrot-type rhythm, and features almost circus-style horns by the horn section du jour of Caribou, the soul-funk outfit Tower of Power. It's their contribution, and Bernie's unfortunate lyrics, which leave the deepest impression of this one.

Dixie Lily

Bernie attempts to evoke fond memories of Mark Twain with this ode to a Mississippi River steamboat.

Elton sets it in an appropriately folksy setting, with harmonicas and banjos and so on, and sings it with gusto. Davey Johnstone's phased guitar and a mid-song sax solo by Tower of Power's Lenny Pickett are the only modern concessions. It's a memorable melody, and makes this minor tune a lot better than it probably should have been.

Cuts like this one are often held up as proof that Caribou is one of Elton's most lackluster releases; I don't really agree. Sure, this is a trivial little track, but as I said, it's melodically strong and sonically diverse and best of all, clocks in at a shade under three minutes so it doesn't wear out its welcome.

Pinky

A heartfelt love song which benefits from a gorgeous melody and solid arrangement, with able assistance from Elton's ace-in-the-hole for a good part of his career, Davey Johnstone. Even though the mood, on the surface, is blissful in the middle bridge there's an undercurrent of uncertainty bubbling underneath, as if Bernie (or the "singer") isn't sure whether he should believe his good fortune, which is the only way I think this couplet can be interpreted:

The trial and the error of my master plan
Now she rolls like the dice in a poor gambler's hands

But by the last stanza, all is well for now:

For there's toast and honey
And there's breakfast in bed on a tray
Oh it's ten below zero
And we're about to abandon our plans for the day

Even though I'm a little unsure of what exactly is meant by describing Pinky as "quilted and timeless" (comfortable as an old quilt, perhaps?), he's in fine form lyrically on this song.

Musically, it's a midtempo pop ballad (as all good ballads seem to be) with touches of what sounds like flamenco guitar accompanying the vocals and piano/acoustic guitar predominant. The chorus subtly shifts into Beach Boys territory with Johnstone's electric guitar doubling the immaculately harmonized backing vocals. Again, it helps that John's melody is a strong one.

"Pinky" has always been one my favorite Elton songs, and I think it has to be on the short list of the best love ballads of his career. However, I seem to be in the minority as this one is rarely mentioned in discussions of his music- it wasn't a single and I'm not sure if it was ever played in concert either.

For my part, though, few other songs in the EJ catalogue evoke that feeling of discovering John's music as a teenager in the '70s more than this one, so I'm less than objective, I suppose you could say.

Solar Prestige a Gammon

Bet you were wondering when I was going to get to this one, weren't you?

"Solar Prestige" is a cheerful little nonsense ditty consisting of (according to Robert Christgau) "...words that only sound like words or that can't possibly mean what they seem to mean."

Cast in a setting that features a Latin sort of rhythm, accordion, piano and xylophone, Elton blithely chirps the words and draws the listener into the goofy fun.

Of course, some griped, and not unreasonably, that perhaps the talents of all concerned were wasted on such a trivial enterprise, and some suggested that it was written in arch response to critical over-scrutiny...but it's short, sweet, inoffensive (to me, anyway), and hardly the focus of a mostly unfocused elpee.

It's as true now as it was in 1974: Solar prestige a pako can nord.

I've Seen the Saucers

In the early-mid 70's, accounts of UFOs and UFO sightings were very popular- Von Daniken's 1968 Chariots of the Gods had jumpstarted the dormant craze, and reports of flying saucers and strange lights were all over the place. David Bowie's "Starman" from the Sci-Fi flavored Ziggy Stardust LP was just one example of rock music's infatuation with the lore, and no less than John Lennon stated on the inner lyric booklet of his 1974 LP Walls and Bridges: "On the 23rd Aug. 1974 at 9 o'clock I saw a U.F.O." .

So naturally, the always trend-conscious John and Taupin songwriting team would have taken notice, and out of this was Caribou's seventh track born.

Elton seems to take this one much more seriously than his lyricist; Taupin, in trying to create a Sci-Fi close-encounters scenario, gives him an awkwardly stitched together crazy-quilt of phrases. One example:

Stars climbing into their planets
Systems won, controlled from birth
Empty living on this highway
Can you see me mother earth

John casts these words into a Beatlesque mid-tempo style, with the type of extremely catchy melody that he could write in his sleep. Ray Cooper's congas provide a salsa flavor. As is the case throughout this period, we also get those gorgeous Beach Boys-style backing vocal harmonies by John, Johnstone, Murray and Olsson; unsurprising considering that John was on record as being an unabashed Beach Boys fan. This album was recorded at the Caribou studio in Colorado which was owned by then-BB's manager James William Guercio, and indeed Carl Wilson himself was on hand for the sessions, although he's not present here. John sings the lead vocal with a surprising passion, considering the frivolous subject matter- at some points, he sounds like his life depends on convincing you of his belief.

It could have been very easy for this sort of song to become the low point of an uneven LP, but thanks to his songwriting smarts John managed to make this a winner.