Keno's
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ALBUM REVIEW
ELTON JOHN
Don't Shoot Me I'm Only The Piano Player
Released - December 1972, MCA Records. Produced by Gus
Dudgeon
Elton John - Lead & Backing Vocals, Piano, Organ, Mellotron,
Harmonium
Davey Johnstone - Lead & Rhythm Guitars, Mandolin, Sitar,
Backing Vocals
Dee Murray - Bass Guitar and Backing Vocals
Nigel Olsson - Drums, Percussion and Backing Vocals
Additional Personnel - Jacques Bolognese, Ivan Julien, Jean-Louis
Chautemps, Alain Hatot
All songs written by Elton John and Berine
Taupin
| SONG | RATING |
| Daniel | 10.0 |
| Teacher I Need You | 9.0 |
| Elderberry Wine | 9.1 |
| Blues For Baby And Me | 7.2 |
| Midnight Creeper | 6.5 |
| Have Mercy On The Criminal | 7.3 |
| I'm Going To Be A Teenage Idol | 8.5 |
| Texan Love Song | 10.0 |
| Crocodile Rock | 10.0 |
| High Flying Bird | 6.9 |
| Ave | 8.5 |
REVIEW
Maybe the album Goodbye Yellow Brick Road was what made Elton John a big star, but Don't Shoot Me I'm Only The Piano Player is my favorite EJ album. No question a classic piece of work!
"Daniel" is one beautiful song, about a wounded Viet Nam Vet, with some great use of the old mellotron by Elton. Next best song is "Crocodile Rock", with a happy go-lucky 1950's feel to it, one of those types of tunes that just makes you smile. "Elderberry Wine" is another happy sounding song, even if its lyrics don't seem to point in that direction. Then there's the tongue-in cheek "Texan Love Song", taking a redneck's point of view. No question, this song is country rock at its best!
"Teacher I Need You" is another good one and laid the foundation years later for Van Halen's "Hot For Teacher". But even if Van Halen ripped off Elton's lyrics on their song, he does the same thing here with "Midnight Creeper". If you take it for what it is, not a bad song at all. But you can't tell me that the lyrics are just too close to the Stones' "Midnight Rambler". Of course all artist borrow from one another, so no big deal. This album also showed the growing importance of guitarist Davey Johnstone to Elton's success, as he shows here why even today, some 30 years later, he's still EJ's main guitar man. The line up used on this album (and on a few other LPs), IMO, was the best one Elton ever had.
- Keno 2000
To listen to some soundclips from Don't
Shoot Me I'm Only The Piano Player or to purchase it, click on any
of these links: Don't Shoot Me I'm Only The Piano Player (Buy.com) or Don't Shoot Me I'm Only the Piano Player (CC Music)
For the MP3 download, click on: Don't Shoot Me I'm Only The Piano Player - MP3 Download
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