Crocodile Rock

"Crocodile Rock"
Single by Elton John
from the album Don't Shoot Me I'm Only the Piano Player
B-side	"Elderberry Wine"
Released	UK 27 October 1972  US 20 November 1972
Genre	Rock
Length	3:23
Label	MCA (US) DJM (UK)
Writer(s)	Elton John, Bernie Taupin
Elton John singles chronology
"Honky Cat" (1972) Crocodile Rock (1972) "Daniel" (1973)

"Crocodile Rock" is a song written by Elton John and Bernie Taupin, and recorded in June 1972 at the Strawberry Studios, Château d'Hérouville in France. It was released on 27 October 1972 in the UK and 20 November 1972 in the US, as a pre-release single from his forthcoming 1973 album Don't Shoot Me I'm Only the Piano Player, and became his first U.S. number-one single, reaching the top spot on 3 February 1973, and stayed there for three weeks. In the U.S. it was certified Gold on 2/5/1973 and Platinum on 9/13/1995 by the R.I.A.A.^[1]

In Canada, it topped the chart as well, remaining at No.1 on the RPM 100 national singles chart for four weeks from 17 February – 10 March.^[2] It was the first song released as a single on the MCA label (catalogue #40000) after MCA dissolved its Uni, Decca, Kapp and Coral labels. (John had previously been with the Uni label.)^[3] "Crocodile Rock" is dominated by a Farfisa organ, played by John with a carnival-like sound and honky-tonk rhythm, while the lyrics take a nostalgic look at early rock 'n' roll, and a relationship with a woman named Suzie, which the writer instantly associates with the music of the era. Regular Elton John band members, such as Davey Johnstone and Nigel Olsson, are among the song's performers.

Like "Tennessee Waltz", "Crocodile Rock" is a self-referential song, i.e. a song about the song itself, although Ken Mackintosh had a popular song in 1955 called the "Crocodile Crawl", following up his successful song "The Creep" from 1954, so it may also be paying homage to Britain's skiffle and postwar jazz era of music.

Inspiration

The song was inspired by John's discovery of leading Australian band Daddy Cool and their hit single "Eagle Rock",^[4] which was the most successful Australian single of the early 1970s, remaining at No.1 for a record of 10 weeks.^[5][6] John heard the song and the group on his 1972 Australian tour and was greatly impressed by it.^[4] The cover of John's 1973 album Don't Shoot Me I'm Only the Piano Player (the album on which "Crocodile Rock" is included) features a photo of John's lyricist Bernie Taupin wearing a "Daddy Who?" promotional badge. The song also appears to have been strongly influenced by songs from the late 50s-early 60s ("when Rock was young"), including Del Shannon's 1962 "Cry Myself to Sleep" and "Little Darlin'", most famously recorded in 1957 by The Diamonds (originally recorded by The Gladiolas.) The chorus resembles "Speedy Gonzales" by Pat Boone. While there was no actual "Crocodile Rock", there was a dance called The Alligator.

Covers and tributes

In 1971, Hong Kong singer Teddy Robin (泰迪羅賓) covered the song on his LP album Melody Chain with Fontana Records.

Between 1972 and 1974, this song was covered by Singapore-based female singer Ervinna, backing music by The Stylers, on her LP album Top Hits with the local White Cloud Record.

On the tribute album Two Rooms: Celebrating the Songs of Elton John & Bernie Taupin recorded in 1991 by a symposium of eminent performers as the soundtrack of the documentary film Two Rooms, the song "Crocodile Rock" is covered by The Beach Boys. Their interpretation emphasises the vocal reminiscence of the Rock and Roll era and tones down the honky tonk and cha-cha-cha ambiance of the original.

Alvin and the Chipmunks covered the song for the 1990 TV special Rockin' Through the Decades and its corresponding soundtrack.

In 2002, the Baha Men covered the song for the 2002 movie The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course, with slight lyric changes.

Crocodile Rock is featured as one of the songs in the video game Lego Rock Band.

Nelly Furtado and John himself covered the song in 2010 redoing a few of the lyrics, i.e., "I remember when rock was young, Gnomeo and Juliet had so much fun.", instead of "Me and Susie had so much fun". It was recorded for the soundtrack of the 2011 film Gnomeo and Juliet.

See also

• Hot 100 No. 1 Hits of 1973 (USA)

References

1. ^ Dean, Maury (2003). Rock N' Roll Gold Rush. Algora. p. 46. ISBN 0-87586-207-1. 
2. ^ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_RPM_number-one_singles_of_1973
3. ^ "Crocodile Rock". Songfacts.com. http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=2037. Retrieved 19 March 2009. 
4. ^ ^{a b} Creswell, Toby; Samantha Trenoweth (2006). "Ross Wilson". 1001 Australians You Should Know. North Melbourne, Victoria: Pluto Press. pp. 242–243. ISBN 9781864033618. 
5. ^ "No. 1 Hits 1971". The Menzies Era. http://www.menziesera.com/number_1_hits/1971.shtml. Retrieved 22 February 2009. 
6. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0646119176.  NOTE: Used for Australian Singles and Albums charting from 1970 until ARIA created their own charts in mid-1988.

Preceded by "Superstition" by Stevie Wonder	US Billboard Hot 100 number one single (Elton John version) 3 February 1973 – 17 February 1973	Succeeded by "Killing Me Softly with His Song" by Roberta Flack
Preceded by "Last Song" by Edward Bear	Canadian RPM 100 number-one single (Elton John version) 17 February – 10 March 1973	Succeeded by "Danny's Song" by Anne Murray