Billy Joel: Piano Man (1973)

History for those of you just catching up or those of you who don't know any of this: when Billy Joel released his debut album "Cold Spring Harbor" on the Family Productions label, it had been a nightmare experience for him. The album had been mastered or recorded at the wrong speed resulting in something that sounded like Billy Joel and the Chipmunks. He went to play the record for a bunch of friends and then that came out of the stereo. Yikes! 

After all of that, Billy went AWOL I believe and became a lounge singer in L.A. under the name Bill Martin, which inspired him to write one of his biggest songs ever. You may have heard of it: "Piano Man". You mean you’ve never heard that song? Well, quickly, go and listen to it now and then come straight back here when you’re finished.

It was another song which was also included on his next album which landed him his deal with Columbia Records. It was 1972 and Billy was performing at Sigma Studios which was being broadcast on Philadelphia 93.3 WMMR FM (thank you Uncle Wikipedia) and he started playing the song "Captain Jack". The song ended up becoming the most requested song in the station's history (thanks again Uncle Wiki) and Columbia wanted to meet with him. Only there was one problem, a fairly considerable one.

Here's what Uncle Wiki has to say again: "He had originally signed the 22-year-old Joel to a ten-record contract that stripped Joel of all rights to the original tapes and to the publishing rights to all current and future songs." Wow, and now you have to explain all of that to the new record label who might have balked at any moment. Billy was lucky though, but he had also written some incredibly brilliant songs. To me, his talent had gotten him through the door.

To free Billy from his earlier contract, Family Productions got their label on the next ten albums and founder/producer of "Cold Spring Harbor" Artie Ripp got a portion of the royalties. That can't have been easy for Billy, as you can imagine, but soon he was at work on his next LP "Piano Man" which was released 9 November 1973 on Columbia.

Produced by Michael Stewart, the album was somewhat more successful than Billy's debut and reached as high as #27 on the US Billboard 200. Several singles were released, including "Piano Man" which got as high as #25 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and #4 on the Adult Contemporary Singles Chart. Seriously, how did it not make #1 for like five weeks or something? It feels like it did, but actually no. Still, it was very good.

Let's have a look at the album. Firstly, with Billy, if you're coming into this music for the first time, you will start to feel like these albums have different themes. "Cold Spring Harbor" is like a diary. "Streetlife Serenade" the next album is like a patchwork of stories from suburban America. "Turnstiles" is the contrast between California and New York. "The Stranger" to me is a great eclectic piece. "52nd Street" brings in jazz while "Glass Houses" was talking about punk. It was like a 60s rock album. "The Nylon Curtain" is a Beatles style studio masterpiece in the vein of "Abbey Road", "An Innocent Man" by contrast are the late 1950s/early 60s groups recording live in the studio. I could go on. This album, "Piano Man", has a Western sound to it, as we'll hear from the very beginning.

"Travelin' Prayer" --- a great contrast to the intimacy of "Cold Spring Harbor", with full rock band playing this upbeat number to kick things off. Sometimes when I listen to this, I can almost imagine this being on the soundtrack for "Back to the Future 3". It's not the only song that will make me think movies. Billy himself said "The Ballad of Billy the Kid" was him trying to write something that would work on a soundtrack. This is one of my favourite songs on here. I just want to get up and dance, really fast.

"Piano Man" --- yes, how many of us know this one? There was one point where a friend and I knew it so well that we couldn't listen to it anymore, and whenever he would play this in his car it would skip over to the next song. It's a classic for a reason. Billy's storytelling just pulls you in. Again, it feels like a movie. The lyrics just land beautifully. The music will stick in your mind. I'm telling you things you probably already know.

"Ain't No Crime" --- a harmless enough song, and probably the follow-up the first two songs needed, but one of the ones on here that don't really stand out to me very much. Yes, a bit of the "Glass Houses" B-side thing going on, I think.

"You're My Home" --- Billy wrote this for his first wife, Elizabeth, I believe, and it really is a beautiful little love song and one of his most underrated.

"The Ballad of Billy the Kid" --- I love this epic! Again, it feels like a movie. This song must have been a huge thrill to hear live back in the day. Like "Piano Man" before it, the storytelling, lyrics, music, will just pull you in. I'm surprised this wasn't a minor single at least, though it would have had to be cut down (which is clearly what happened to "Piano Man" judging by the lyrics of "The Entertainer" from the next album.)

"Worse Comes to Worst" --- again, like "Ain't No Crime", a harmless enough song and I can see why they chose to release it as a single, but I would have picked "You're My Home" instead. Billy probably felt that way too, since it winds up as one of the "Songs in the Attic" in 1981.

"Stop in Nevada" --- love, love this from beginning to end, especially that hook. Again, this is another one that feels like it comes from a film.

"If I Only Had the Words (To Tell You)" --- to me, this is even more underrated than "You're My Home". They're both beautiful little songs, well worth revisiting. I would have liked to have seen this released as a single too.

"Somewhere Along the Line" --- like "Ain't No Crime" and "Worse Comes to Worst", but this is probably the one song on this album I remember the least right now. Who knows? Maybe it will grow on me more eventually.

"Captain Jack" --- this is it! Billy found this song frustrating though, according to an interview in Rolling Stone 2011, because it was too repetitive and depressing, except for the chorus which brings you out of it. Well, yeah. I guess if it didn't I would probably have agreed with him. The line that always stays with me from this is: "They just found your father in the swimming pool". Again, this is another song I can imagine being used in a film. I feel like there's a movie or TV show out there right now that's just screaming for it.

And that brings us to the end of "Piano Man", folks. I've enjoyed listening to it again and coming up next will be the follow-up album "Streetlife Serenade". In the meantime, give the album another spin, or if you haven't heard it before, now is a good time to get started.

Thank you for reading,

Ryan.