Honky Cat - Elton John

Another one of my favorites to play, as it is a fun song to do some improvisation on. The song is Honky Cat and comes from the Honky Chateau album from 1972. The song did well in the charts in America, but not quite as good in the UK.

The song has been played live on many occasions, although not quite as frequently as one could expect. Last time it was played with the band was in 2013. The song has been a bigger part of Elton's solo sets, which is what I'm trying to cover here.

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Instagram: emilpchristensen

[FrostbitePano]

A channel that does only Elton john songs. Ight I'm hooked

[NCHuntersville]

I wish I were multilingual because there are no words in the English language to describe exactly how amazing this is. What a fantastic job.

[wrxkblue]

Sigh….makes me just want to throw out my piano because i will never achieve this level of expertise. This is truly incredible on so many levels.

[lionsrawr]

Honky Cat!!! How??? how did you figure out how to play this??? I want to make it my life musical ambition to be able to play this one day!! Will you please teach me how? I have tried so many times but I cannot figure it out. You play it exactly the way EJ does when he does it solo. Ive seen a lot of tutorials on YT on how to play more simple versions of it, but nobody ever gets it right and this is spot on.

[DongWorkYuda]

Thanks for posting

been learning some Elton on the Piano and this piece has been inspirational. I do well with 8th in my left hand but my watching this video I am now going to have to master 8ths with my right hands. Its time to make that move.

I also need to learn to bounce up and down the keyboard with much better precision. Songs like this will be challenging but should open up another skill for me

[donpetruzzi]

Exactly like his version in the Ephesus concert. That's awesome!

[Charliebdrummer]

I finally found a version on YouTube worth listening to. Thank you

[dosenwurst]

Amazing. I've waited for this song. It's a hidden Gem and one of my favourites in Eltons solo shows in the 90's and 00's.
When I close my eyes and just listen, I see Elton at his epic solo show at Ephesus 2001 playing. Great Job

[d.p.]

That was so funky, it hurt. God bleess you and your chops.

[lloydreedjr]

Im late but i been longin to find someone tht could master this song❤️❤️🔥🔥

[donaquilone]

I’m truly blown away…..I loved every single second of that. Bravo maestro

[MatthewWilkinson]

Nailed it, please do a tutorial of some of the riffs over the improvs at the end!

[isaachernandez]

When I look back, boy, I must have been green
Bopping in the country, fishing in a stream
Looking for an answer, trying to find a sign
Until I saw your city lights, honey, I was blind
They said, get back, honky cat
Better get back to the woods
Well, I quit those days and my redneck ways
And, oh, the change is gonna do me good
You better get back, honky cat
Living in the city ain't where it's at
It's like trying to find gold in a silver mine
It's like trying to drink whiskey from a bottle of wine
Well, I read some books, and I read some magazines
About those high-class ladies down in New Orleans
And all the folks back home, well, said I was a fool
They said, oh, believe in the Lord is the golden rule
They said, get back, honky cat
Better get back to the woods
Well, I quit those days and my redneck ways
And, ooh ooh ooh ooh, oh, change is gonna do me good
They said, get back, honky cat
Better get back to the woods
Well, I quit those days and my redneck ways
And, oh oh oh oh, oh, change is gonna do me good
They said, stay at home, boy, you gotta tend the farm
Living in the city, boy, is going to break your heart
But how can you stay when your heart says no?
How can you stop when your feet say go?
You better get back, honky cat
Better get back to the woods
Well, I quit those days and my redneck ways
And, ooh ooh ooh ooh, oh, the change is gonna do me good
You better get back, honky cat
Living in the city ain't where it's at
It's like trying to find gold in a silver mine
It's like trying to drink whiskey, oh, from a bottle of wine
Oh, yeah
Get back, honky cat
Get back, honky cat
Get back, whoo
Get back, honky cat
Get back, honky cat
Get back, whoo
Get back, honky cat
Get back, get back, honky cat, whoo (oh yeah)

[irishman]

Unbelievable! You continue to amaze me

[andrewdownes]

You are a very talented person. Incredible.

[BryanKidder]

Thank you for your covers! Could you do one of my all time favorites, Indian Sunset?

[AlexGonzalez-vydx]

Your work is amazing, all your videos are awesome. Congrats 🍾🎈

[improvisedbasscovers]

I think you would really like improvising some honkey tonk piano on The Black Crowe's "Hard To Handle". I came up with something for just one verse of the song, but I'm just a little notch above beginner on the piano.

[jetson]

amazing, can you do an over head recording so we can see your fingers better or sell your sheet music thanks

[seangraham]

Wow! Incredible performance. Loved it. :-)