Album: Honky Chateau
Year: 1972
My first “favorite artist” was Elton John. I don’t know why, exactly. Probably because his singles were ubiquitous just as I was discovering the radio. But so a lot of people’s singles, so why 10-year-old Jim fixated on Elton John is somewhat of a mystery.
So I’m going to guess that it was three things: his voice, which still sounds like noone else’s; his melodic sense, which was peaking out at just that point, and his musical eclecticism.
None of Elton’s singles sounded like the other ones.
Like, for example, 1972’s “Honky Cat,” a greasy slice of New Orleans funk (I mean, for Elton) that has some of my favorite piano playing of any of his records.
I used to love when KYNO played the longer version, where he’d just repeat:
Get back, honky cat
Get back, honky cat
Get back, honky cat
WHOOO!
Red
Neck
Ways!
while his piano was going crazy.
That was probably the other thing about Elton. Whatever you might wanted to say about his flamboyance and his showmanship, he was one hell of a piano player.
And all of those off-beat notes he was playing on “Honky Cat” were unlike anything else in the Top 10, hell, the Top 40. Even Dr. John’s big hit single didn’t have the same amount of crazy-ass piano.
“Honky Cat” performed live, 1972