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HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE PIANO MAN BILLY JOEL – TIMH

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Whoa Nellie's picture
May 9, 2016 at 7:57am
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William Martin “Billy” Joel is an American pianist, songwriter and composer, who has crafted two seemingly separate twenty-something year careers in pop/rock music. From 1971 to 1993, Billy released 12 studio albums containing an astounding 33 Top 40 singles. Since 1994, Billy has tended to his legacy, taking control of his personal life, playing his hits and a few underrated gems to appreciative audiences, supporting worthy causes, and indulging his interests in boats and motorcycles. Billy Joel songs have been part of the tapestry of American pop music for 5 decades. He has won 6 Grammys in 23 nominations; was inducted into the rock HOF in 1999; and has sold over 150 million albums.

Billy Joel was born in The Bronx, NYC, on May 9, 1949. His parents were Jewish and each immigrated to the US before WW2. They met working in the theater and married. His father was a piano prodigy, and so was Billy. He began taking lessons at age 4. The Joels lived in the planned Long Island suburb of Levittown, now part of Hicksville, NY. Levittown was racially segregated and predominantly Catholic. Billy’s family was not observant, and he occasionally attended Mass (even tried Confession), and was baptized in a Protestant church. His father left the family and returned to Germany when Billy was 8. Divorce carried a stigma in Levittown, and being Jewish and a piano player didn’t help in the “street cred” department. To overcome these social obstacles, and the beat-downs that accompanied them, Billy became an amateur boxer and started running with a gang. His career record in the Golden Gloves was 22-2, ending when he was knocked out and had his nose broken.

Like a lot of teenagers in 1964, Billy tuned in to watch the Beatles on Ed Sullivan. Unlike most, Billy had the musical ability to back up his decision to follow in their footsteps. At 15, he joined a band playing British Invasion covers. A year later, he was recruited into The Hassles, a busy local band that put out two mediocre albums before breaking up. Gigging 3 nights a week took its toll on Billy’s attendance at school and he dropped out when told he couldn’t graduate with his class. His oft-repeated retort was “To hell with it. If I’m not going to Columbia University, I’m going to Columbia Records, and you don’t need a high school diploma over there.”

Attila -- an organ-driven heavy metal duo

Billy Joel’s life is an open book, and his trials and tribulations have been the subject of serious writings, television documentaries and the tabloids. His personal and business relationships have been publicly analyzed and dissected. For a sensitive and nuanced review, this 2014 feature in the New Yorker is highly recommended. 

Billy’s discography:

  • Cold Spring Harbor (1971)
  • Piano Man (1973)
  • Streetlife Serenade (1974)
  • Turnstiles (1976)
  • The Stranger (1977)
  • 52nd Street (1978)
  • Glass Houses (1980)
  • The Nylon Curtain (1982)
  • An Innocent Man (1983)
  • The Bridge (1986)
  • Storm Front (1989)
  • River of Dreams (1993)
  • Fantasies & Delusions (2001), classical compositions

Cold Spring Harbor is infamous as having been recorded at too fast a speed. The record made Billy sound like one of the “Chipmunks” and upon hearing it, he took it off the turntable and threw it against the wall.

While separating himself from his first manager and label to sign with Columbia, Billy famously played 6 months in an LA piano bar, getting his signature song “Piano Man” out of the experience.

Billy moved back to NY in 1975, hired his own band from the Long Island scene, and self-produced Turnstiles. Deciding he needed stronger production for his next album, he hired Phil Ramone, who produced The Stranger, 52nd Street (Billy’s first #1 album), and Glass Houses.

With second wife, Christie Brinkley

In 1987, Billy became the first American rocker to play behind the Iron Curtain. He noticed that the audience seemed inhibited whenever the house lights shone on them and threw a tantrum on stage, including up-ending his electric piano, until the lights were dimmed.

Making a new start after discovering his perilous legal and financial situation, Billy embarked on a 2 year long tour after his 1989 album, Storm Front. The tour earned him $65 million.

Billy and Elton John began an on-again/off-again touring company in 1994, called the Face to Face tours.

River of Dreams (1993) was Billy’s last pop release. In 2001, he released a classical album, reuniting with his father, and also playing with his half-brother from Germany. The album was #1 on the classical chart.

Billy was involved in 3 car crashes in 2 years, hitting a house in the last in 2004. He entered the Betty Ford Clinic to get control of his drinking. Billy has also been plagued by hip pain. He was born with bilateral hip dysplasia and years of jumping off of pianos didn’t help things. He has had both hips replaced.

Billy’s last world tour was in 2006. In 2008, he headlined the all-star lineup that included Paul McCartney, in The Last Play at Shea, before the stadium was demolished. On the last night, Billy insisted Paul close the show, a fitting bookend to the Beatles playing the first rock concert there in 1964. Billy was also part of the Hurricane Sandy relief concert at MSG. He was personally affected by the storm, joking that it flooded his helicopter pad. And, since 2014, Billy has been “in residence” at MSG, playing sold-out concerts there once each month. The shows will continue as long as audiences keep coming. Billy also has tour dates coming up across the US and in Europe.

Happy Birthday to Billy Joel!

 

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