Record #149: Elton John – Don’t Shoot Me I’m Only the Piano Player (1973)

There is only one Elton John. Even when he is mimicking Bobby Vee (Crocodile Rock) or Van Morrison (High Flying Bird) or T-Rex (I’m Gonna Be a Teenage Idol), there is no mistaking his pounding piano chords or his smooth-as-smoke singing voice. Even between the hard rock of Midnight Creeper, the Caribbean opener Daniel, and the over-the-top symphonic blues of Have Mercy on the Criminal, every track is distinctly Sir Elton, even on an album that pushes the limits of what “distinctily Elton” means.