'Rock of the Westies'

Rock of the Westies, a play on words of West of the Rockies, was the third album recorded by Elton John at Caribou Ranch in Colorado, his second album of 1975 as well as his second of 1975 to debut at number 1 on the charts and the first album for the then "new" iteration of the Elton John Band. The "new" band consisted of Caleb Quaye on guitar and Roger Pope on drums, formerly of the band Hookfoot and veterans of Elton's earlier albums on which they appeared as session players before Elton started using his touring band full time for recording on Honky Chateau.

Native Colorado Bassist Kenny Passarelli had been bassist for legendary guitar hero Joe Walsh's band Barnstorm who had previously recorded at Caribou with well-known Eagles producer Bill Scymzyk. James Newton Howard was in on additional keyboards and his orchestrating skills would be invaluable many times throughout Elton's career from then on. Davey Johnstone on guitar and Ray Cooper on percussion remained from the previous line-up. While the album suffers from having to follow up an illustrious predecessor Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy, it does have several fine moments. It has been described as Elton's last great rock album considering the much mellower direction Elton's music would go on the following Blue Moves double album and his work in the 1980s.

The first track is a medley consisting of the songs "Yell Help," "Wednesday Night," and "Ugly" which is notable for being the first time Davey Johnstone received a songwriting credit on an Elton album—of which he would receive a handful of over the following decade. It is a generally upbeat opening track with vocal contributions from Rocket Artist and soon to be famous Elton collaborator Kiki Dee.

Dan Dare (Pilot of the Future) is another relatively silly Bernie lyric about a British comic book character but is enhanced with Davey Johnstone using a "voice box" effect.

"Island Girl" has a tropical feel heavily aided by Ray Cooper's congas and marimbas and Davey and Caleb's guitars with a notable synthesizer line played by James Newton Howard.

"Grow Some Funk of Your Own" is Davey Johnstone's second writing credit (with Elton and Bernie) on this album and is a guitar driven rocker, with Ray's chimes, castanets, and vibraphone joining in the fun along with some fine work by Elton and the rhythm section.

"I Feel Like a Bullet (In The Gun Of Robert Ford)" is perhaps the album's best known track. The song is driven by the interplay between Elton's Piano and Ray Cooper's vibraphone with slight touches by James Newton Howard on keyboards and the rhythm section providing subtle backing, with a guitar solo near the end

"Street Kids" opens with a rough sounding guitar lick before the rest of the band comes in. In addition to the guitar interplay of Johnstone and Quaye, piano and rhythm section, Ray Cooper shines playing congas and tambourine setting a rough and tumble portrait of life on the street.

"Hard Luck Story" is an upbeat pop-type song with guitars, keyboards, lively piano, and a driving conga beat by Ray Cooper. Kiki Dee, Clive Franks, and Labelle liven the songs with backing vocals.

"Feed Me" is an electric piano and vibraphone-laden track laid over a bed of congas. It is about a drug addict in a psych ward. Ray Cooper's conga and other percussion work on this album exemplify why he is one of the best-known percussionists of all-time

"Billy Bones and the White Bird" on the other hand is a showcase for Roger Pope on the drums with a fat groove that drives the song along with more dueling guitars from Johnstone and Quaye and a prominent keyboard solo from Newton-Howard and cowbell from Ray Cooper.

This would be Elton's final album to be recorded at Caribou Ranch. The ranch continued to be a favorite recording spot for many years until the studio was destroyed by a fire in the mid-1980s.