The Piano Player That Hit No. 1 Released as an LP album in the UK by DJM Records (catalogue: DJLPS 427) on January 22, 1973, Elton John’s Don’t Shoot Me I’m Only the Piano Player was his sixth studio album. The first of two albums in 1973 (followed nine months later by Goodbye Yellow Brick Road), it marked his second consecutive No. 1 on the US Billboard 200 and his first No. 1 on the UK Albums Chart. The lead single "Crocodile Rock" gave John his first No. 1 hit in both the