"Crocodile Rock" is a song written by

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...

and

Bernie Taupin Bernard John Taupin (born 22 May 1950) is an English songwriter, singer and visual artist. He is best known for his long-term collaboration with musician Elton John, a songwriting partnership that is one of the most successful in history. Tau ...

, and recorded in summer 1972 at the Château d'Hérouville studio in France (it was listed as "Strawberry Studios" in the album's credits), where John and his team had previously recorded the ''

Honky Château ''Honky Château'' is the fifth studio album by English musician Elton John. It was released in 1972, and was titled after the 18th century French chateau where it was recorded, Château d'Hérouville. The album reached number one in the US, t ...

'' album. It was released on 27 October 1972 in the UK and 20 November 1972 in the U.S., as a pre-release single from his forthcoming 1973 album ''

Don't Shoot Me I'm Only the Piano Player ''Don't Shoot Me I'm Only the Piano Player'' is the sixth studio album by English musician Elton John. Released in January 1973 by DJM Records, it was the first of two studio albums he released in 1973 (the second was ''Goodbye Yellow Brick ...

'', and became his first U.S. number-one single, reaching the top spot on 3 February 1973, and staying there for three weeks. In the U.S., it was certified Gold on 5 February 1973 and Platinum on 13 September 1995 by the

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/ ...

. In Canada, it topped the chart as well, remaining at number one on the ''RPM 100'' national singles chart for four weeks from 17 February through 10 March. It was the first song released as a single on the

MCA MCA may refer to: Astronomy * Mars-crossing asteroid, an asteroid whose orbit crosses that of Mars Aviation * Minimum crossing altitude, a minimum obstacle crossing altitude for fixes on published airways * Medium Combat Aircraft, a 5th gen ...

label (catalogue #40000) after MCA dissolved its Uni,

Decca Decca may refer to: Music * Decca Records or Decca Music Group, a record label * Decca Gold, a classical music record label owned by Universal Music Group * Decca Broadway, a musical theater record label * Decca Studios, a recording facility in We ...

, Kapp and

Coral Corals are marine invertebrates within the class Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact colonies of many identical individual polyps. Coral species include the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and se ...

labels. (John had previously been with the Uni label.) "Crocodile Rock" is dominated by a

Farfisa Farfisa (Fabbriche Riunite di Fisarmoniche) is a manufacturer of electronics based in Osimo, Italy, founded in 1946. The company manufactured a series of compact electronic organs in the 1960s and 1970s, including the Compact, FAST, Professio ...

organ Organ may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a part of an organism Musical instruments * Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone ** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument ** Hammond ...

, played by John. The lyrics take a nostalgic look at early rock 'n' roll, pop culture, dating and youthful independence of that era. John's band members, including

Davey Johnstone David William Logan Johnstone (born 6 May 1951) is a British rock guitarist and vocalist, best known for his long-time collaboration with Elton John as a member of the Elton John Band. Career Johnstone's first work was with Noel Murphy in ...

on guitars,

Dee Murray Dee Murray (born David Murray Oates; 3 April 1946 – 15 January 1992) was an English bass guitarist. He was best known for his long-time collaboration with Elton John as a member of the Elton John Band. Biography Murray was born in Gillingham ...

on bass and Nigel Olsson on drums, were also performers on the song. John, however, did all the vocals, including the falsetto backing vocals.

Inspiration

The song was inspired by John's discovery of leading Australian band Daddy Cool and their hit single " Eagle Rock", which was the most successful Australian single of the early 1970s (with 1,000,000 sold), remaining at No.1 for a record of 10 weeks. NOTE: Used for Australian Singles and Albums charting from 1970 until ARIA created their own charts in mid-1988. John heard the song and the group on his 1972 Australian tour and was greatly impressed by it. A photo included in the album packaging features John's lyricist, Bernie Taupin, wearing a "Daddy Who?" promotional badge. The song also includes a lyrical reference to the 1950s hit record "

Rock Around the Clock "Rock Around the Clock" is a rock and roll song in the 12-bar blues format written by Max C. Freedman and James E. Myers (the latter being under the pseudonym "Jimmy De Knight") in 1952. The best-known and most successful rendition was record ...

" by Bill Haley and his Comets ("While the other kids were rocking around the clock..."). In a 1974 lawsuit filed in the US District Court of Los Angeles by attorney Donald Barnett on behalf of "

Speedy Gonzales Speedy Gonzales is an animated cartoon character in the Warner Bros. ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of cartoons. He is portrayed as "The Fastest Mouse in all Mexico" with his major traits being the ability to run extremely fas ...

"' composer

Buddy Kaye Jules Leonard "Buddy" Kaye (January 3, 1918 – November 21, 2002) was an American songwriter, lyricist, arranger, producer, and author. His songs were recorded by top performers, including Frank Sinatra, Bob Dylan, Sarah Vaughan, Dinah Washingto ...

, it was alleged that defendants John and Taupin illegally incorporated chords from "Speedy Gonzales" which produced a falsetto tone into the "Crocodile" song co-written by defendants. The parties reached a settlement between them and the case was then dismissed. Taupin also stated in an ''Esquire'' magazine interview that "Crocodile Rock" was a funny song in that he did not mind creating it, but it would not be something he would listen to; it was simply something fun at the time. John has dismissed criticism of the song that it was "derivative", quoted in the booklet for the 1995 reissue of ''Don't Shoot Me ...'' as saying, "I wanted it to be a record about all the things I grew up with. Of course it's a rip-off, it's derivative in every sense of the word." ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large adverti ...

'' reviewed the single, stating that it "is a clever easy beat rocker with a sound and flavor of the 50's hits."

Live performances

John has played the song numerous times live in concert from 1972 to 1984, and then again from 1998 to present (excluding the ballad version of this song performed from 1993 to 1994, that he performed at the Greek Theater with

Ray Cooper Raymond Cooper (born 19 September 1947) is an English musician who has worked as a session and road-tour percussionist. During his career, Cooper has worked and toured with numerous musically diverse bands and artists including Elton John (as ...

in September 1994). Live versions released include an audio version from 1974 on the '' Here and There'' original LP and 1995 CD reissue, and a video concert version on the '' Elton 60 – Live at Madison Square Garden'' DVD release. In 2021, John revealed that "Crocodile Rock" was "written as a kind of joke" and that he does not enjoy playing the song any more. He has continued singing it in concert because fans enjoy it, but has vowed never to play it again once his

Farewell Yellow Brick Road Farewell Yellow Brick Road is an ongoing tour by English musician Elton John that began in Allentown, Pennsylvania, on September 8, 2018 and will end in Stockholm, Sweden on July 8, 2023. It is intended to be John's final tour and will consist ...

tour has ended.

Personnel

– piano,

organ, vocals *

– electric guitar *

– bass * Nigel Olsson – drums

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

All-time charts

Certifications

References

{{authority control 1972 songs 1972 singles Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Cashbox number-one singles Elton John songs The Beach Boys songs Baha Men songs RPM Top Singles number-one singles Number-one singles in New Zealand Number-one singles in Italy Number-one singles in Switzerland Songs with music by Elton John Songs with lyrics by Bernie Taupin Song recordings produced by Gus Dudgeon Songs about rock music Songs about dancing Songs about nostalgia DJM Records singles MCA Records singles