Elton John - "Crocodile Rock" (1972)

"Crocodile Rock" is a song written by Elton John and Bernie Taupin, and recorded in June 1972 at the Strawberry Studios, Château d'Hérouville in France. It was released on 27 October 1972 in the UK and 20 November 1972 in the US, as a pre-release single from his forthcoming 1973 album Don't Shoot Me I'm Only the Piano Player, and became his first U.S. number-one single, reaching the top spot on 3 February 1973, and stayed there for three weeks.

In the U.S. it was certified Gold on 2/5/1973 and Platinum on 9/13/1995 by the R.I.A.A.   In Canada, it topped the chart as well, remaining at No.1 on the RPM 100 national singles chart for four weeks from 17 February – 10 March.  It was the first song released as a single on the MCA label (catalogue #40000) after MCA dissolved its Uni, Decca, Kapp and Coral labels. (John had previously been with the Uni label.)

"Crocodile Rock" is dominated by a Farfisa organ, played by John with a carnival-like sound and honky-tonk rhythm, while the lyrics take a nostalgic look at early rock 'n' roll, and a relationship with a woman named Suzy, which the writer instantly associates with the music of the era.  Regular Elton John band members, such as Davey Johnstone and Nigel Olsson, are among the song's performers. Like "Tennessee Waltz", "Crocodile Rock" is a self-referential song, i.e. a song about the song itself, although Ken Mackintosh had a popular song in 1955 called the "Crocodile Crawl", following up his successful song "The Creep" from 1954, so it may also be paying homage to Britain's skiffle and postwar jazz era of music.

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 remaining at No.1 for a record of 10 weeks.  John heard the song and the group on his 1972 Australian tour and was greatly impressed by it.  The cover of John's 1973 album Don't Shoot Me I'm Only the Piano Player (the album on which "Crocodile Rock" is included) features a photo of John's lyricist Bernie Taupin wearing a "Daddy Who?" promotional badge. The song also appears to have been strongly influenced by songs from the late 50s-early 60s ("when Rock was young"), including Del Shannon's 1962 "Cry Myself to Sleep" and "Little Darlin'", most famously recorded in 1957 by The Diamonds (originally recorded by The Gladiolas.) The chorus resembles "Speedy Gonzales" by Pat Boone. While there was no actual "Crocodile Rock", there was a dance called The Alligator.