Billy Joel - She's Got a Way

[srblue5]

Had trouble sleeping last night -- I'm probably anxious about a reunion gig with my old band tonight -- so I finally gave up and watched a new Billy Joel documentary that just came out. I'm already a big fan but it was a great documentary and a good reminder of what I love about his music.

Won't go into any spoilers but if you're a fan, I recommend it.

The guy gets a lot of flak but he knows his way around a good melody and wrote some great songs (sometimes with very insightful lyrics). It was nice to be reminded of this one by the documentary.

 

[goonie]

Billy Joel gets a lot of flak? Not at my house . Turnstiles/The Stranger is one of the great one-twos in popular music. Just an absolute craftsman when it came to songwriting. Can't wait to check out the doco!

 

[srblue5]

Billy Joel gets a lot of flak? Not at my house . Turnstiles/The Stranger is one of the great one-twos in popular music. Just an absolute craftsman when it came to songwriting. Can't wait to check out the doco!

For some reason, I've run into a lot of people who don't like Billy Joel. In some cases, like, vehemently disliking him with reactions I would understand/expect for some more polarizing contemporary artists. I really don't understand why.

By contrast, I am very vocal of my love of his music. Definitely check out that documentary -- I only meant to watch a few minutes of it while I battled insomnia but instead I watched the whole first part.

 

[Jakedog]

For some reason, I've run into a lot of people who don't like Billy Joel. In some cases, like, vehemently disliking him with reactions I would understand/expect for some more polarizing contemporary artists. I really don't understand why.

By contrast, I am very vocal of my love of his music. Definitely check out that documentary -- I only meant to watch a few minutes of it while I battled insomnia but instead I watched the whole first part.

I don’t think most people who claim to hate Billy Joel could name three songs that aren’t Piano Man. He’s just one of those acts it’s cool to hate. Like U2. Or The Eagles. Or Taylor Swift, for that matter. In many of these cases, the people who spew the most bile don’t even know enough about the artist to dislike them that much. They just know the “cool kids” don’t like that stuff.

In Billy’s case, it’s well documented what a complete donkey’s appendage the guy can be. In my world, that has nothing to do with the quality of his music. He is world class. A songwriter’s songwriter. He’s the real deal. Sure, there’s some schlocky pop stuff in his catalog. If there weren’t, he’d never have gotten folks attention to listen to just how incredible he’s capable of being as an artist. It’s a testament to his business sense that he’s able to create really deep and strong stuff, and also pepper it with plenty of pop money hits to keep the truck rolling for all these decades. Smart guy. Solid businessman. Kind of a jerk sometimes. World class songwriter. He’s not the only one in the business employing that model.

 

[brookdalebill]

Strangely, most of my friends don’t “get” Billy.
I got him instantly.
I saw him at the now demolished, then new Frank Irwin Center in Austin, about the time of the OP’s video.
The man is obscenely talented, in all the major ways.
He’s a dog gone national treasure, IMO!
Viva Billy!

 

[Chester P Squier]

My wife and I saw Billy Joel at Madison Square Garden in 2019 on a vacation trip to NYC. Because it was on the first night, we got the cheap seats, allowing for flight and other delays. Our seats were behind the stage, but the piano was on a rotating turntable of sorts, so he could turn around and see us. We enjoyed the concert, and everybody there did also.

I have seen some distaste for Billy Joel on some guitar forums, but not anywhere else. I suppose it's because he's a piano man and not a guitar man. (He did start his show playing guitar and standing behind a microphone.)

 

[badinfinities]

I have a musician/music producer friend who hates Billy Joel because "all his music sounds like Broadway showtunes." Make of that what you will.

I like a fair number of tunes by the guy. One of the first albums I owned was The Nylon Curtain. I dig all the Beatles worship on that album.

I think if he never wrote "We Didn't Start The Fire," he would raise a lot less ire.

 

[Jakedog]

I have a musician/music producer friend who hates Billy Joel because "all his music sounds like Broadway showtunes." Make of that what you will.

I like a fair number of tunes by the guy. One of the first albums I owned was The Nylon Curtain. I dig all the Beatles worship on that album.

I think if he never wrote "We Didn't Start The Fire," he would raise a lot less ire.

Now I’m singing “He’d raise a lot less ire…”

 

[ndcaster]

I think he started out in the right era for his music, but when the 80s hit full stride, his doo-wop boyhood made him seem like Pat Boone. He tried to stay relevant, but he was from another generation.

"Just the Way You Are" is a masterpiece.

 

[SnidelyWhiplash]

Great musician & songwriter. He's a hard person, but he had to be. He was ripped off by his first manager & then his business manager. I remember a quote that many people made $ off the Stranger except he wasn't one of them. That would make anyone suspicious of everyone's motives. The Stranger, at one time was the biggest selling album in the history of CBS until Thriller.

 

[SnidelyWhiplash]

I think he started out in the right era for his music, but when the 80s hit full stride, his doo-wop boyhood made him seem like Pat Boone. He tried to stay relevant, but he was from another generation.

"Just the Way You Are" is a masterpiece.

Pat Boone???

BJ had hits in the '80s & beyond. Seems ole Pat sells out every show he headlines.

 

[ndcaster]

Pat Boone???

BJ had hits in the '80s & beyond. Seems ole Pat sells out every show he headlines.

Look, I'm a big fan of "Love Letters in the Sand." What I mean is that doo-wop, which Joel comes out of, struck us 80s kids as pretty square compared to "Hot For Teacher." Pop success, sure, and well-deserved.

 

[buster poser]

Put the doc in "My List" last night, it looks fantastic.

I also know a lot of people who dislike Billy, but he was all over radio and my folks’ 8-tracks and turntables when I was coming online in the early 70s, so it’s impossible for me to be unbiased against the nostalgia of those formative musical memories.

That in mind, I think he’s among the “best” melody writers in modern pop history. Great at setting them against wonderful chords too like Paul Simon.

I also liked a lot of his lyrical commentary; maybe obviously “Allentown,” but also others like “Movin Out,” “Pressure.”

Anyhow. Some think he’s schmaltzy and/or a jerk etc (I get it) but these are well written tunes in my opinion, dude knows what he’s doin’. Love his bridges and late hooks with repeated or altered phrases.

 

[elihu]

I recently read that Joel had a residency gig at Madison Square Garden-played one sold out concert a month there for 10 years.

Imagine 150+ sold out shows at the Garden!

 

[Chester P Squier]

I recently read that Joel had a residency gig at Madison Square Garden-played one sold out concert a month there for 10 years.

Imagine 150+ sold out shows at the Garden!

And as I mentioned above, I got to see one of them.

 

[srblue5]

I have a musician/music producer friend who hates Billy Joel because "all his music sounds like Broadway showtunes." Make of that what you will.

I like a fair number of tunes by the guy. One of the first albums I owned was The Nylon Curtain. I dig all the Beatles worship on that album.

I think if he never wrote "We Didn't Start The Fire," he would raise a lot less ire.

I also know a lot of people who dislike Billy, but he was all over radio and my folks’ 8-tracks and turntables when I was coming online in the early 70s, so it’s impossible for me to be unbiased against the nostalgia of those formative musical memories.

It's interesting because I do find that some of the more "hit"/well-known stuff like "We Didn't Start The Fire", "Piano Man", or "Only The Good Die Young" are overplayed and/or (at the very least) kind of just "okay". A lot of people I know who dislike Billy only know those songs but some of the deeper cuts are way more interesting, in my opinion -- sadly, those people won't give those deer cuts a chance on the basis of the few hits they've heard.

For better or worse, I didn't have the nostalgia aspect of Billy's music because my parents (as major jazz fans, especially my dad) listened to very little pop music in my childhood home and the very mention of Elton John or Billy Joel (and even Paul McCartney and The Monkees, the latter of which I've written about in another recent thread) was enough to raise their hackles. I discovered Billy's music later in life -- long after "moving out" (pun intended) so I could listen to whatever I want without criticism -- and couldn't find anything significant to necessarily dislike about it. I may not like every song or album but there's plenty to like, in my opinion.

 

[srblue5]

I have seen some distaste for Billy Joel on some guitar forums, but not anywhere else. I suppose it's because he's a piano man and not a guitar man. (He did start his show playing guitar and standing behind a microphone.)

Interestingly (and I've told this story many times before) but I discovered Billy through discovering one of his longtime guitarists David Brown playing with Simon & Garfunkel as part of their Central Park reunion concert. I loved his tone and playing in that concert and wondered what else he played on.

When I heard his playing with Billy, I initially felt he was under-utilized (and still kinda do sometimes) but over time I realized how he (and Russell Javors and other guitarists that have worked with Billy over the years) managed to work their guitar playing around his piano-centred sound without clashing. Around the time I got into Billy's music, I was playing in a function band that was very piano-heavy and I dare say listening to Billy's music (especially his classic band era with David and Russell on guitars) helped me figure out how to fit into that band's sound rather than just cranking up my amp, clashing with the piano, and ultimately not fitting in and/or getting fired.

Maybe not the cool thing to talk about on a guitar forum but important to me in the notion of playing music with a band rather than simply playing the guitar.

 

[Peegoo]

I'm a fan.

His tune You May Be Right was always a staple in my bands' setlist; if there was room on the dance floor, the tune took care of that problem.

The sax solo works really well played on guitar.

 

[AAT65]

I’ve been a fan of Billy Joel since My Life came out… the run of albums that goes Turnstiles - The Stranger - 52nd Street - Glass Houses - The Lace Curtain is pretty freakin’ awesome. (I found the doo-wop / retro stuff on An Innocent Man less interesting and stopped keeping up but he’s still one of pop / rock’s most consistent, talented and impressive performers.)

 

[brookdalebill]

I'm a fan.

His tune You May Be Right was always a staple in my bands' setlist; if there was room on the dance floor, the tune took care of that problem.

The sax solo works really well played on guitar.

Great tune, so much fun to sing and play!