Music Legends - Featured Artist Billy Joel

themagus (68)in #music • 8 years ago

An American singer, songwriter and composer William Martin Joel was born on the 9th day of May in the year 1949. New York was his birthplace!! William ‘Billy’ Joel dropped out of high school to pursue a career as rock star… to quote him:

“I am not going to Columbia University.. I am going to Columbia Records, you don’t need a high school certificate over there”

His mother made him take piano lessons from the age of 4 and by the time he was 16 he had been with three different bands. Joel had been playing in a Piano Bar in the evenings to help his mom make ends meet (his parents were divorced when Billy was 8 years old) and missed a crucial end year English exam and as a result, did not finish high school.

In 1971 he released his first album named Cold Spring Harbour which was produced (poorly) by Family Productions. This was not a success and Billy moved to Los Angeles basically with his tail between his legs. In 1972 he got a gig working under the name Billy Martin as a lounge pianist, this time would inspire his first and most known single “Piano Man”. Joel toured as an opening act for various artists and during this time a Philadelphia radio station started airing a concert recording of Captain Jack, which soon became an underground hit.

Captain Jack Live

Columbia Records sought out the songster and offered him a contract for which his first album was simply named Piano Man released in 1973

The album was only a modest hit but the title track has remained his signature tune throughout his career spanning 4 decades.

Billy Joel has received 6 Grammy Awards (nominated for 23), he has had 33 Top 40 hits in the US, all composed by himself and has sold over 150 million records, making him one of the most successful artists of all time

Billy’s second album with Columbia was Streetlife Serenade which continued to grow Joel’s fan base, but it was not until Columbia introduced the artist to Phil Ramone in 1975 did he relly get traction. Ramone would produce all his studio albums, the first being the massively successful The Stranger
From Wikipedia…

The Stranger was an enormous commercial success, yielding four Top-25 hits on the Billboard charts: "Just the Way You Are" (#3), "Movin' Out" (#17), "Only the Good Die Young" (#24), and "She's Always a Woman" (#17). Joel's first Top Ten album, The Stranger was certified multi-platinum and reached number two on the charts, outselling Simon & Garfunkel's Bridge over Troubled Water,[33] Columbia's previous best-selling album. The Stranger also featured "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant", an album-oriented rock classic, which has become one of his best-known songs. The Stranger song "Just the Way You Are" — written for Joel's first wife, Elizabeth Weber[34] — was inspired by a dream[35] and won Grammy awards for Record of the Year and Song of the Year.[36] On tour in Paris, Joel learned the news late at night in his hotel room.[18] Rolling Stone ranked The Stranger the 70th greatest album of all time

The Stranger – title track …. Best listened to loud.. and impossible not to whistle along with.

On a personal note, this next tune was played at my wedding ceremony …. Classic number which he recorded for his then wife Elizabeth (Small).

Billy Joel has been married on three occasions, each ending in divorce. His marriage to supermodel Christine Brinkley was the direct outcome of her appearing in the promotional video for Uptown Girl.

Watch the video it tells the story ….

After a string of piano driven hits such as The Way you Are, Honesty and She’s Always a Women Billy Joel took umbrage at being labelled a ‘balladeer’ and set out to correct the record (excuse the pun) with his Glass Houses album released in 1980.

Glass Houses spent SIX weeks at no. 1 on the Billboard charts and earned Joel the Grammy for Best Rock Vocal Performance – Male

It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me

Last one from Glass Houses …. Sometimes a Fantasy.

Billy Joel continued recording, and in 1989 released the album Storm Front ..which included to date, his last number one US hit .... give it a listen

A musician who spanned decades, Billy Joel accomplished a lot more than I have managed to cover here.... but hopefully I have piqued your interest enough for you to go off and explore more...

Thank you for reading, and hopefully listening...

Credits:
http://www.biography.com/people/billy-joel-9354859
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Joel