Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters

Honky Chateau opens up with the Honky Cat, ready to leave the hicks from the sticks in his rear view mirror and make his mark in the big city, specifically New York. And on this, the album's penultimate track, he finds that having made that mark it's not all it's cracked up to be, and disillusionment has set in. The Cat has seen the casual hardheartedness that exists in certain circles, and sums his experience up thusly:Subway's no way for a good man to go down
Rich man can ride and the hobo he can drown
And I thank the Lord for the people I have found
I thank the Lord for the people I have found

But he's not entirely soured upon the experience, taking pains to inform that there are some good people...just not enough of them. Feeling discontent, he decides

This Broadway's got
It's got a lot of songs to sing
If I knew the tunes I might join in
I'll go my way alone
Grow my own, my own seeds shall be sown in New York City

Taupin has often seemed to have a love/hate relationship with New York City many times, and this is an eloquent summing-up circa 1972.

Music is Elton on piano plus chiming mandolin by Johnstone and understated percussion by Olsson. As befits the subject matter, it's given a melancholy melody, one that's quite catchy and creates an air of reflection, almost a calm-after-the-storm feel. I suppose that it doesn't close the album (which would seem most fitting, given its bookend status with "Honky Cat") because of this downbeat feel; it would seem that John wanted to finish on an upbeat note, hence the upbeat, somewhat silly doo-woppish finale of "Hercules".

Elton and Bernie updated/revisited this track several years later, in the late 80's, on his Reg Strikes Back album; I've only heard a couple of excerpts, and a look at the lyrics reveals a too-broad, almost crass update, set to a blaring typical 80's Big Production Sound...a disappointment typical of Elton's output in that decade. The Indigo Girls did a decent live cover that appeared on their Rarities album.

Suzie (Dramas)

As if Amoreena had a sister named Suzie, we're back in to Tumbleweed Connection territory as Bernie pulls out his array of Farmer's Almanac-style references to give us a "Down in the Boondocks"-style account of a young buck in love (an old "hayseed harp player") with a pretty country gal who lives in the poor part of town. And honestly, he does it better here than he does on its predecessor; he conjures up some nicely-done agrarian imagery in every verse.

The thing that makes this track go, though, and what makes it an overlooked gem in Elton's repertoire is the arrangement- he begins by spitting out the first line- "I got frostbitten in the winter/Ice skating on the river"- with no lead-in, and only with minimal piano/drum syncopation before easing in to the rest of the verse, giving it an immediacy that serves it well. The rest of the song is set in a vaguely funky, staccato rhythm, something like "Ballad of a Well-Known Gun", with the choruses defined by an ascending set of notes that accompany Elton's singing, ensuring that the song never really lets up except during a brief passage in which they beat slows for a guitar solo before lurching back in to the chorus with its stairstep notes. In keeping with Honky Chateau's stated intent to present Elton without his "bloody 100-piece orchestra", its instrumentation is minimal- only the core Classic Elton Band (Davey, Dee and Nigel) are present.

It wasn't often after this that the increasingly slick and hard-rockish Elton sound went back to its Band-style country/rock roots, and in some ways that's sad.

Rocket Man (I Think It's Gonna Be a Long Long Time)

It's difficult to regard what is arguably Elton's most popular and well-known hit without acknowledging David Bowie's 1969 hit "Space Oddity", of which this seems to be a prequel, and Bernie's avowed inspiration, Ray Bradbury's short story "The Rocket Man", one of the tales included in his The Illustrated Man. I don't know how much Bowie's song was on their minds when they conceived this, but I'd be surprised if it wasn't there.

Lyrically, it's fairly simple, without a lot of the alienation-themed baggage of Bowie's song- an astronaut has mixed feelings about his job and how it affects his wife and children. Taupin comes up with some nicely evocative lines which get this across efficiently.

Instrumentation is pretty much the standard Davey/Dee/Nigel era band, with their excellent harmony on the backing vocals, and augmented by David Hentschel on synths. It's taken at a midtempo ballad style. One of the most effective parts of the song, at least to me, is towards the end when Taupin gets reflective with the lines "And all this science I don't understand/It's just my job five days a week/A rocket man...", Elton pauses for a beat after the word "science", while Hentschel plays a countermelody on the synth, eventually playing longer, more sustained notes to match Elton's held out words as he sings "A rocket- maaan". It's just a small moment, but it makes the astronaut's dilemma all the more poignant and sets up the chorus repetition on the fadeout.

Released in April 1972 in advance of Honky Chateau, "Rocket Man", surprisingly, wasn't a #1 hit- it went to #2 in the U.K. and #6 in the USA. But it's certainly had a long life afterwards, appearing in tons of films and television shows. And who can forget William Shatner's legendary version?

Mellow

A meandering ode to the joys of connubial bliss and life's little relaxing moments, which were probably on the minds of both men (well, Bernie's anyway) as Elton's career ramped up into overdrive.

Accompaniment is mostly barrelhouse, mildly funky Toussaint-style piano, augmented by the swooping electric violin of Jean-Luc Ponty, and of course Elton doing Leon Russell once more on vocals.

It's not a bad track by any means, but it doesn't exactly make a big impression either; perhaps, given the subject matter, that's appropriate. It's a humble little tune.

Don't forget the beer my little dear
It helps to sow the mellow seed

Slave

"Slave"'s strength is also its failing. It's so literal- it's another of Taupin's Civil War-set songs, this time decrying slavery from the point of view of one such person. And that literal approach, devoid of shades, nuance, or even clever turns of phrase work to make this song a bit leaden and uninteresting.

There's a river running sweat right through our land
Driven by a man with a bullwhip in his hand
And I've taken just as much as I can stand
Oh we've got to free our brothers from their shackles if we can


Elton doesn't innovate either, providing a lazy-tempo country-blues sound, with banjo and dobro-style slide guitar providing color, just like you'd expect.

While the sentiment is certainly laudable, as far as I'm concerned the execution is uninspired and dull. It's a decent enough melody, but I'm rarely called back to listen to "Slave", and tend to tune it out when playing Chateau in its entirety.

Hercules

In which "Amy"'s tough-guy James Dean type makes a return to close out the Chateau album, still lusting after some unattainable inamorata who just can't see him for dirt.

Elton casts this uptempo tune in a driving 50's-style doo-wop setting, with said doo-wopish ba-ba-bas provided by the classic band of Elton, Johnstone, Murray, Olsson plus producer Gus Dudgeon and British songwriter and occasional performer Tony Hazzard. Dudgeon also chips in with a "rhino whistle" (provides that "whooee" sound you hear in cartoons when someone runs or flies away at top speed) at one juncture. You know what I'm talking about.

Dudgeon's overall production on this song is somewhat different from the other tracks on Chateau; at least to my ears- while the sound is mostly clear detailed elsewhere, this one has a compressed, muddy mix- almost mono-esque, to no great advantage or clever aesthetic reason that I can discern. Guess it made sense at the time to do so. Some of the tracks on the next LP, Don't Shoot Me, had a similar sound.

I'm unsure exactly what significance this song had for the principals involved and Elton in particular; perhaps it was some sort of in-joke or something like that. Elton's Wikipedia entry notes that "Hercules" was the name of a cart horse in the British sitcom Steptoe and Son, and that was where John got the inspiration for his adopted middle name. What this song, if anything, had to do with this is uncertain. Perhaps it's just coincidence.

I Think I'm Gonna Kill Myself

In which Elton and Bernie declare, for the first time, "See! We have a sense of humor, too!"

And it comes as no surprise that the humor is definitely dark in hue and somewhat Python or Bonzo-ish; while it doesn't approach the inspired lunacy of Idle, Stanshall, Innes, Cleese and company, it certainly is amusing in its ironic way and does indeed signal a change in the previously established EJ sound...which is what the Honky Chateau album was all about.

Elton casts this first-person account of a dissatisfied young person of indeterminate gender in a somewhat obvious good-time rinky-tink piano-driven English music hall setting, kinda Kinks perhaps, and punctuating the end of the chorus with a little Fifties-style group vocal before launching back in to the verse. Best of all, we get a nifty little tap dance in the middle courtesy of tap-dancer-for-hire "Legs" Larry Smith of the Bonzos, who performed similar duties three years later on George Harrison's Extra Texture cut "His Name is Legs (Ladies and Gentlemen)".

Salvation

I suppose Bernie must have felt like the Elton faithful (or perhaps his bandmates) wanted or needed a rallying song of sorts, because that's pretty much what "Salvation" is- an inspirational call to work harder, keep that chin up, and those eyes on the prize, and with "salvation" (provided by some unknown agent- fans, perhaps, or the record company most likely) we will surely succeed.

Instrumentation is primarily the Johnstone/Murray/Olsson band, with what sounds like a Hammond organ or harmonium in the background (but neither is credited) and Madman Across the Water-style chorus vocals to give it a "Border Song"-type gospelish feel. Johnstone contributes an interesting double-tracked George Harrison-style slide guitar solo in the middle section. The melody suits the mood of the song, but isn't especially memorable, and this is one of the weaker Chateau tracks as far as I'm concerned.

Amy

Even though Taupin was moving away from the Old West and rural-life scenarios of earlier albums, he still had plenty left to write about on the subject. "Amy" isn't specifically in this vein, but it does suggest it as he gives us a subject who's a plucky young 18-year-old right out of a 40's or 50's film, a Mickey Rooney type, or more aptly a James Dean (who gets namedropped in the chorus)-ish sort who is crushing hard on a girl in town with a spotty reputation- and his father, along with the local tough guys, are all trying to keep them apart. "But they can bust my head", John sings, "'cause I love you just the same."

John gives it a distinctive, high-energy accompaniment, beginning with a Stones-ish intro with congas and piano at the beginning, then a saucy guitar lick. However, the most notable sound in the mix belongs to Jazz violinist and occasional '70s Zappa sideman Jean-Luc Ponty, who propels the song along with a gliding lick that turns manic as the music becomes more urgent and aggressive during and after the "Amy, I may not be James Dean..." chorus. Elton's vocals match the push and pull of the rhythm; cajoling during the verses, and clipped during the chorus.

It never gets any attention when this album is discussed, understandable due to the several notable tracks on Chateau, but this has always been one of my favorite cuts on this LP.

Honky Cat

Piano, both acoustic at first and then a jaunty electric, usher in the lead cut from the Honky Chateau LP, as well as a whole new direction for Elton after the often ponderous Madman Across the Water album. It's a new, friendlier, more open and accessible Elton we get this time out, and the success of this record paved the way for the hit records to follow.

"Cat" tells a story that Taupin liked to visit and revisit, that of the small-town greenhorn who goes to the big city, likes what he sees despite the warnings of the jaded jet-setters, but soon realizes that it's all sizzle and no steak and yearns to return to a simpler lifestyle. As far as this song's concerned, though, it's all good for now. As lead cut it provides a bookend with the world-weary, penultimate track "Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters", and he would return to the theme on the title song from Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, as well as several years later on Blue Moves' "One Horse Town".

Musically, Elton provides a bouncy New Orleans R&B, Meters-like shuffle; the bass part almost sounds like reggae, and its punctuated by a lot of brass. It's catchy and infectious, and was a #8 hit in the USA, for good reason.