Don't Shoot Me I'm Only the Piano Player

Don't Shoot Me
I'm Only the Piano Player
Studio album by Elton John
Released 26 January 1973
Recorded Château d'Hérouville, Hérouville, France, June 1972
Genre
Length 42:45
Label MCA (US)
DJM (UK)
Producer Gus Dudgeon
Elton John chronology

Honky Château
(1972)		 Don't Shoot Me I'm Only the Piano Player
(1973)		 Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
(1973)
Singles from Don't Shoot Me I'm Only the Piano Player
  1. "Crocodile Rock"/"Elderberry Wine"
    Released: 27 October 1972
  2. "Daniel"
    Released: 26 March 1973
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic [1]
Robert Christgau C+[2]
Rolling Stone (favourable)[3]

Don't Shoot Me I'm Only the Piano Player is the sixth studio album by British singer-songwriter Elton John, released by DJM Records.

This was John's second straight No. 1 album in the US and yielded his first No. 1 single in both the US and Canada: "Crocodile Rock".[4] "Daniel" was also a major hit from the album, giving him his second Canadian No. 1 single on the RPM Top Singles Chart[5] and just missing the top slot south of the border, stalling at No. 2 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and reaching No. 4 in the UK, one place higher than achieved by "Crocodile Rock".

Background

Once again, the team returned to France to record at the Château d'Hérouville, also known at the time as "Strawberry Studios," which was how the studio was credited in the album's sleeve. The album featured horns arranged by producer Gus Dudgeon on "Elderberry Wine" (the B-side to "Crocodile Rock"), "Midnight Creeper" and "I'm Gonna Be a Teenage Idol", the latter of which was inspired by John's friend, T-Rex frontman Marc Bolan. The horn players were the same ones, in fact, who were used on Honky Château. Paul Buckmaster returned to add strings on "Blues for My Baby and Me" and "Have Mercy on the Criminal". During his Australian concerts with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra in 1986, John lauded Buckmaster's work on songs such as "Have Mercy on the Criminal", calling the string arrangements "revolutionary".

The album was a huge hit on both sides of the Atlantic, topping the UK and US album charts. It is one of only two albums to feature just the core band of John on pianos and keyboards, Davey Johnstone on guitars, Dee Murray bass and Nigel Olsson on drums, without percussionist Ray Cooper. The other album is Breaking Hearts in 1984.

An outtake of note was a re-recording of "Skyline Pigeon", which became the B-side to the single of "Daniel".

Critics at the time called some of the performances, especially "Crocodile Rock", derivative, which John freely acknowledged years later. In His Song: The Musical Journey of Elton John by author Elizabeth Rosenthal, John said "Crocodile Rock" was written as an overt homage to '50s records, and his vocal intentionally mimicked singer Bobby Vee. "High Flying Bird" was designed to sound like a Van Morrison record, and "Midnight Creeper" was a tip of the hat to the Rolling Stones.

John toured Australia during 1972 and was so inspired by Daddy Cool's hit single "Eagle Rock" that, with Taupin, he wrote "Crocodile Rock". The cover of this album has a photo of lyricist Taupin wearing a "Daddy Who?" promotional badge.

"Don't Shoot Me..." was also, according to John, the first album during which he felt comfortable experimenting with his vocal performances and style.

Packaging

The album's title comes from something Elton said during an evening spent with Groucho Marx. After an evening of constant ribbing from Marx, Elton's comeback was to hold his hands up and say, "Don't shoot me, I'm only the piano player."[6] The album's cover photograph, which shows a young couple outside a movie theatre whose marquee reads: Don't Shoot Me I'm Only The Piano Player starring Elton John, also includes a movie poster of the Marx Brothers' film Go West. Whether this was an intentional tribute to Groucho, or merely a coincidence, is uncertain.

Track listing

All songs written by Elton John and Bernie Taupin.

Side one

  1. "Daniel" – 3:54
  2. "Teacher I Need You" – 4:10
  3. "Elderberry Wine" – 3:33
  4. "Blues for My Baby and Me" – 5:42
  5. "Midnight Creeper" – 3:55

Side two

  1. "Have Mercy on the Criminal" – 5:57
  2. "I'm Going to Be a Teenage Idol" – 3:55
  3. "Texan Love Song" – 3:33
  4. "Crocodile Rock" – 3:58
  5. "High Flying Bird" – 4:12

Bonus tracks (1995 Mercury and 1996 Rocket reissue)

  1. "Screw You (Young Man's Blues)" – 4:43
  2. "Jack Rabbit" – 1:49
  3. "Whenever You're Ready (We'll Go Steady Again)" – 2:51
  4. "Skyline Pigeon" (Piano version) – 3:56

B-sides

Song Format
"Skyline Pigeon" (Piano Version) Daniel 7" (US/UK)

Personnel

Additional musicians

Charts

Peak positions

Chart Position
Australian Kent Music Report Albums Chart[7] 1
Canadian RPM Albums Chart[8] 1
Dutch Mega Albums Chart[9] 2
Finnish Albums Chart[10] 2
Italian Albums Chart[11] 1
Japanese Oricon LPs Chart[12] 4
Norwegian VG-lista Albums Chart[13] 1
Spanish Albums Chart[14] 1
UK Albums Chart[15] 1
US Billboard 200[16] 1
West German Media Control Albums Chart[17] 16

Year-end charts

Chart (1973) Position
Australian Albums Chart[7] 4
Dutch Albums Chart[18] 17
Italian Albums Chart[11] 4
UK Albums Chart[19] 1
U.S. Billboard Pop Albums[20] 8
Chart (1974) Position
U.S. Billboard Pop Albums [21] 67

Certifications

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Region Certification
United States (RIAA)[22] 3× Platinum

Chart precession and succession

Preceded by
20 Dynamic Hits by Various Artists		 UK Year-End Album
1973 		Succeeded by
The Singles: 1969–1973 by The Carpenters
Preceded by
The World Is a Ghetto by War		 US Billboard 200 number-one album
3–16 March 1973 		Succeeded by
Dueling Banjos by Eric Weissberg
Preceded by
Slayed? by Slade		 UK number-one albums
10 February – 17 March 1973 		Succeeded by
Billion Dollar Babies by Alice Cooper
Preceded by
The Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd		 Italian albums chart number-one album
10 March – 24 April 1973 		Succeeded by
Dettagli by Ornella Vanoni
Preceded by
No Secrets by Carly Simon		 Canadian RPM 100 number-one album
17–31 March 1973 		Succeeded by
Dueling Banjos by Eric Weissberg/Various Artists
Preceded by
No Secrets by Carly Simon		 Australian Kent Music Report number-one album
30 April – 20 May 1973 		Succeeded by
Hot August Night by Neil Diamond
Preceded by
Back to Front by Gilbert O'Sullivan
Norsk på topp by Various artists		 Norwegian VG-lista number-one album
10 – 11 / 1973
14 / 1973 		Succeeded by
Who Do We Think We Are by Deep Purple
Norsk på topp by Various artists

References

  1. ↑ "Don't Shoot Me I'm Only the Piano Player". Allmusic. Retrieved 5 January 2012.
  2. ↑ "CG: Elton John". Robert Christgau. Retrieved 5 January 2012.
  3. ↑ Holden, S. (15 March 1973). "Don't Shoot Me I'm Only The Piano Player". Rolling Stone Magazine. Retrieved 29 February 2012.
  4. ↑ "Item Display – RPM – Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. Retrieved 5 January 2012.
  5. ↑ "Item Display – RPM – Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. Retrieved 5 January 2012.
  6. ↑ Buckley, David (2007). Elton The Biography. Chicago Review Press. ISBN 1556527136.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  8. ↑ Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 29 October 2011
  9. ↑ "dutchcharts.nl Elton John – Don't Shoot Me I'm Only the Piano Player" (ASP). Hung Medien (in Dutch). MegaCharts. Retrieved 29 October 2011.
  10. ↑ Billboard – 30 June – 1973. Retrieved 12 February 2012.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 "Hit Parade Italia – Gli album più venduti del 1973" (in Italian). hitparadeitalia.it. Retrieved 3 October 2011.
  12. ↑ Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970–2005. Roppongi, Tokyo: Oricon Entertainment. 2006. ISBN 4-87131-077-9.
  13. ↑ "norwegiancharts.com Elton John – Don't Shoot Me I'm Only the Piano Player" (ASP). Hung Medien. VG-lista. Retrieved 29 October 2011.
  14. ↑ Salaverri, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN 84-8048-639-2.
  15. ↑ "Chart Stats – Elton John – Don't Shoot Me I'm Only the Piano Player" (PHP). UK Albums Chart. Retrieved 29 October 2011.
  16. ↑ "allmusic ((( Don't Shoot Me I'm Only the Piano Player > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums )))". allmusic.com. Retrieved 29 October 2011.
  17. ↑ "Album Search: Elton John – Don't Shoot Me I'm Only the Piano Player" (in German). Media Control. Retrieved 29 October 2011.
  18. ↑ "Dutch charts jaaroverzichten 1973" (ASP) (in Dutch). Retrieved 2 April 2014.
  19. ↑ "The Official UK Charts Company : ALBUM CHART HISTORY". Archived from the original on 13 August 2010. Retrieved 17 December 2007.
  20. ↑ "Billboard.BIZ Top Pop Albums of 1973". billboard.biz. Archived from the original on 4 December 2012. Retrieved 29 April 2014.
  21. ↑ "Billboard.BIZ Top Pop Albums of 1974". billboard.biz. Archived from the original on 31 December 2012. Retrieved 29 April 2014.
  22. ↑ "American album certifications – Elton John – Don't Shoot Me I'm Only the Piano Player". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH