Bennie and the Jets

"Bennie and the Jets" is a song composed by Elton John and Bernie Taupin.^[1] The song is written in the key of G major and first appeared on the Goodbye Yellow Brick Road album in 1973. "Bennie and the Jets" has been one of John's most popular songs.

The song tells of "Bennie and the Jets", a fictional band of whom Elton John is a supposed fan. In interviews, Taupin has said that the song's lyrics are a satire on the music industry of the 1970s. The greed and glitz of the early '70s music scene is portrayed by Taupin's words:

We'll kill the fatted calf tonight, so stick around,

you're gonna hear electric music, solid walls of sound.

Taupin also goes on to describe the flashy wardrobe of "Bennie", the leader of the band:

She's got electric boots, a mohair suit

You know I read it in a magazine Ohh...

Elton John was set against releasing "Bennie and the Jets" on side one of the Goodbye Yellow Brick Road album, and was against releasing it as a single, believing it would fail. The song peaked at number one on the singles charts in 1974."^[2] Bennie and the Jets" was also John's first Top 40 hit on the R&B charts.

Axl Rose of Guns N' Roses has stated that he was listening to "Bennie and the Jets" and that inspired him to become a singer.^[3]

Song composition

The song was recorded in France at Château d'Hérouville's Strawberry Studios,^[4] where John and Taupin had recorded their previous two albums, Honky Chateau and Don't Shoot Me I'm Only the Piano Player.

After recording the song in the studio, John and the band worried that it was too plain and unoriginal. According to guitarist Davey Johnstone, "'Bennie and the Jets' was one of the oddest songs we ever recorded. We just sat back and said, 'This is really odd'." Gus Dudgeon, who produced Goodbye Yellow Brick Road as well as most of John's albums up to that point, added the "live from Playhouse Theatre" sound to the track. Dudgeon added applause and audience sounds from John's previous concerts, plus whistles.

While John rarely plays the same song the same way, and often makes subtle or even drastic changes, 'Bennie' is a slight exception. During live renditions, the solo in the middle of the song is played exactly the same way live as it was recorded, but the ending is improvised in a variety of styles (and, at times, for a number of minutes) including classical, swing and, perhaps most notably, boogie-woogie.

Covers

• The NFL's New York Jets used a parody of the song called "Vinny and the Jets" during quarterback Vinny Testaverde's first run with the team from 1998 to 2003.
• The Beastie Boys released a cover of this song on their The Sounds of Science album in 1999.^[5]The song, titled "Benny and the Jets", was recorded live and sung by frequent Beastie Boys collaborator Biz Markie. This recording was first released in 1995 as a flexi disc inside of issue two of the Beastie Boys' Grand Royal Magazine.^[6]
• Biz Markie performed his own humorous rendition of "Bennie and the Jets" on The Chris Rock Show in 2000.
• Katherine Heigl and James Marsden sing along with the song, karaoke-style, while dancing on a bar in the 2008 film 27 Dresses. Both of them make many mistakes in the lyrics.
• Mary J. Blige sampled the melody for her song "Deep Inside". When Blige asked Elton John for permission to sample the piano line, he ended up agreeing to actually play the line on the track instead.
• Ashanti's 2008 single "Good Good" also sampled the melody.
• Cher performed the song in a duet on The Cher Show with Elton John on piano in 1975.^[7]

References in popular culture

• The now defunct Winnipeg Jets NHL team's mascot was named Benny,^[8] in reference to this song.
• Kickboxing champion Benny Urquidez is nicknamed "Benny the Jet."
• In the movie 27 Dresses, the two main characters sing "Bennie and the Jets" at a bar, partially incorrectly in jest. They also continue to mention the song after that scene.
• On the show The Office, Andy Bernard sings "Andy and the Tuna" to the tune of "Bennie and the Jets".
• The title and slow, vamping style of the Ben Folds song "Hiroshima (B-B-B-Benny Hit His Head)" are a homage to "Bennie and the Jets".
• In an episode of The Simpsons, the character Lenny remarks that he thought their gang's name would be "Lenny and the Jets".
• The song also features in the movies Sliding Doors and Running with Scissors, both starring actress Gwyneth Paltrow.
• The song is in the film My Girl 2, when Anna Chlumsky (Vada) and Austin O'Brien (Nick) go out for a walk at night in Los Angeles. The scene occurs about 49 minutes into the movie.
• The song is also referenced in an episode of Futurama in which Bender becomes a pharaoh.

Notes

1. ^ Bennie and the Jets at allmusic.com
2. ^ Bennie and the Jets at Billboard's Hot 100 Chart Listing For The Week Of Apr 13 1974
3. ^ Elton John induction page at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
4. ^ Goodbye Yellow Brick Road at wnew.com
5. ^ The Sounds of Science at Beastie Boys store
6. ^ [1]
7. ^ VH1 Video on YouTube. Early 1970's performance on the Sonny and Cher Show.
8. ^ Photo of Benny, Winnipeg Jets mascot.