"Grow Some Funk of Your Own" is a song by English musician

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 ...

. It was released as a single in 1976 from the album ''

Rock of the Westies ''Rock of the Westies'' is the tenth studio album by English musician Elton John, released on 4 October 1975. The title is a spoonerism on the phrase "West of the Rockies", the album having been recorded at Caribou Ranch in the Rocky Mountain ...

''. It shared its A-side status with "

I Feel Like a Bullet (In the Gun of Robert Ford) "I Feel Like a Bullet (In the Gun of Robert Ford)" is a song by English musician Elton John written by John and Bernie Taupin, released in 1976 as a double A-side single with " Grow Some Funk of Your Own" from his tenth studio album '' Rock of t ...

". The song went to No. 14 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, but in Britain broke a five-year run of successful singles by failing to reach the top 50 despite extensive radio play. Guitarist

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 1 ...

is credited as a co-writer.

Synopsis

The song centers on a man who wakes up after a bad dream entailing an episode set in Mexico, where the protagonist (presumably either John or Taupin) falls for a young lady in a small town but is dismissed by her boyfriend, telling him to return to where he came from (hence the lyric, "Take my advice/take the next flight/and grow your funk/grow your funk at home").

Reception

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' called it "a hard-driving rocker which has a part audiences will sing along to and maybe provide another encore to his live show" with "an absolutely frantic ending with the

vibraphone The vibraphone is a percussion instrument in the metallophone family. It consists of tuned metal bars and is typically played by using mallets to strike the bars. A person who plays the vibraphone is called a ''vibraphonist,'' ''vibraharpist,' ...

s receiving the beating of their lives."

Personnel

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 ...

–

castanets Castanets, also known as ''clackers'' or ''palillos'', are a percussion instrument (idiophone), used in Spanish, Kalo, Moorish, Ottoman, Italian, Sephardic, Swiss, and Portuguese music. In ancient Greece and ancient Rome there was a similar ...

, tambourine,

bell tree A bell tree, also known as tree bellsBeck, John. ''Encyclopedia of Percussion.'' Taylor and Francis, 1995. or Chinese bell tree (often confused with the mark tree), is a percussion instrument, consisting of vertically nested inverted metal bowl ...

Kiki Dee Pauline Matthews (born 6 March 1947), better known by her stage name Kiki Dee, is an English singer. Known for her blue-eyed soul vocals, she was the first female singer from the UK to sign with Motown's Tamla Records. Dee is best known for h ...

– backing vocals *

– electric guitars, backing vocals *

– piano, vocals *

Kenny Passarelli Kenny Passarelli (born October 28, 1949 in Denver, Colorado) is an American bass guitarist. Passarelli was a founding member of the Joe Walsh-led band Barnstorm, co-writing the hit "Rocky Mountain Way". He later served as a contract player for ...

– bass, backing vocals * Roger Pope – drums *

Caleb Quaye Caleb Quaye (born 9 October 1948), is an English rock guitarist and studio musician best known for his work in the 1960s and 1970s with Elton John, Mick Jagger, Pete Townshend, Paul McCartney, Hall & Oates and Ralph McTell, and also toured with ...

– electric guitars, backing vocals

Chart performance

References

{{authority control Elton John songs 1975 songs 1976 singles Songs with music by Elton John Songs with lyrics by Bernie Taupin Song recordings produced by Gus Dudgeon DJM Records singles MCA Records singles