‘Bennie and the Jets’ (also titled ‘Benny & the Jets’) is a song written by English musician Elton John and songwriter Bernie Taupin, and performed by John. The song first appeared on the Goodbye Yellow Brick Road album in 1973. ‘Bennie and the Jets’ has been one of John's most popular songs and was performed during his appearance at Live Aid.
The track was a massive hit in the United States and Canada, released in 1974 as an A-side using the spelling "Bennie". In most territories the track was released as the B-side to ‘Candle in the Wind’, using the spelling "Benny". Album artwork (back-cover track listing and center-panel design) consistently lists the song as "Bennie" while either "Bennie" or "Benny" appears on the vinyl album depending on territory. The track was released as an A-side in the UK in 1976, as ‘Benny and the Jets’. It is ranked number 371 on Rolling Stone's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
The song tells of "Bennie and the Jets", a fictional band of whom the song's narrator is a fan. In a 2014 Rolling Stone interview, Taupin said "I saw Bennie and the Jets as a sort of proto-sci-fi punk band, fronted by an androgynous woman, who looks like something out of a Helmut Newton photograph."
Despite sounding as though recorded live, the song was actually recorded in studio, with live sound effects added in later. Producer Gus Dudgeon explained: “For some weird reason, Elton happened to have hit the opening piano chord of the song exactly one bar before the song actually started. So, I was doing the mix and this chord kept coming on which you normally wouldn't expect to hear. I turned to engineer [David Hentschel] and I said, 'What does that remind you of? … It's the sort of thing that people do on stage just before they're going to start a song.' Just to kind of get everybody, 'Okay, here we go, ready?' For some reason that chord being there made me think, 'Maybe we should fake-live this.'” Dudgeon mixed in sounds from a 1972 performance of John in Royal Festival Hall and a 1970 Jimi Hendrix concert at the Isle of Wight. He included a series of whistles from a live concert in Vancouver, and added hand claps and various shouts.
The song was the closing track on side one of the double album Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, and John was set against releasing it as a single, believing it would fail. CKLW in Windsor, Ontario, began heavy airplay of the song and it became the No. 1 song in the Detroit market. This attention caused other American and Canadian Top 40 stations to add it to their playlists as well. As a result, the song peaked at No. 1 on the US singles chart in 1974. In the US, it was certified Gold on 8 April 1974 and Platinum on 13 September 1995 by the RIAA, and had sold 2.8 million copies by August 1976.
Cash Box said that "the song is a strong one and worth every second of its 5:10." Record World said that "With Elton showcasing his remarkable voice range, it can't miss grabbing the top spot." ‘Bennie and the Jets’ was John's first Top 40 hit on the Billboard Hot Soul Singles chart, where it peaked at No. 15, the highest position out of the three of his singles which reached that chart. The acceptance of "Bennie" on R&B radio helped land John, a huge soul music fan, a guest appearance on 17 May 1975 edition of Soul Train, where he played ‘Bennie and the Jets’ and ‘Philadelphia Freedom’. In Canada, it held the No. 1 spot on the RPM national singles chart for two weeks (13–20 April), becoming his first No. 1 single of 1974 and his fourth overall.
Labels – MCA, DJM
Songwriters – Elton John, Bernie Taupin
Producer – Gus Dudgeon
SONG LYRICS
[Verse 1]Hey kids, shake it loose together
The spotlight's hitting something
That's been known to change the weather
We'll kill the fatted calf tonight so stick around
You're gonna hear electric music, solid walls of sound
[Pre-Chorus]
Say, Candy and Ronnie, have you seen them yet?
Ooh, but they're so spaced out
B-B-B-Bennie and the Jets
Oh, but they're weird and they're wonderful
Oh, Bennie, she's really keen
[Chorus]
She's got electric boots, a mohair suit
You know I read it in a magazine, oh
B-B-B-Bennie and the Jets
[Verse 2]
Hey kids, plug into the faithless
Maybe they're blinded, but Bennie makes them ageless
We shall survive, let us take ourselves along
Where we fight our parents out in the streets
To find who's right and who's wrong
[Pre-Chorus]
Say, Candy and Ronnie, have you seen them yet?
Ooh, but they're so spaced out
B-B-B-Bennie and the Jets
Oh, but they're weird and they're wonderful
Oh, Bennie, she's really keen
[Chorus]
She's got electric boots, a mohair suit
You know I read it in a magazine, oh
B-B-B-Bennie and the Jets
[Pre-Chorus]
Oh, Candy and Ronnie, have you seen them yet?
Oh, but they're so spaced out
B-B-B-B-B-Bennie and the Jets
Oh, but they're weird and they're wonderful
Oh, Bennie, she's really keen
[Chorus]
She's got electric boots, a mohair suit
You know I read it in a magazine
B-B-B-Bennie and the Jets
[Outro]
Bennie, Bennie and the Jets
Bennie, Bennie, Bennie, Bennie and the Jets
Bennie, Bennie, Bennie, Bennie, Bennie and the Jets
Bennie, Bennie, Bennie, Bennie and the Jets
Bennie, Bennie, Bennie, Bennie, Bennie, Bennie, Bennie, Bennie and the Jets, the Jets, the Jets
Bennie, Bennie, Bennie, Bennie, Bennie, Bennie, Bennie, Bennie, Bennie, Bennie, Bennie and the Jets