• Billy Joel
    9 replies, posted
Yeah there was a thread on it already but it had no content whatsoever. [img]http://redriverautographs.files.wordpress.com/2008/12/billy_joel_003.jpg[/img] Little info from wikipedia: [quote=wikipedia] Billy Joel was born in the Bronx and raised in Hicksville, New York. His father, Howard (born Helmut), was born in Germany as the son of Jewish merchant and manufacturer Karl Amson Joel who emigrated to Switzerland and later to the United States, because of Nazi antisemitism. Billy Joel's mother, Rosalind Nyman, was born in England to a Jewish family (Philip and Rebecca Nyman). His parents divorced in 1960, and his father moved to Vienna, Austria. Billy has a sister, Judith Joel, and a half-brother, Alexander Joel, who is an acclaimed classical conductor in Europe, currently chief musical director of the Staatstheater Braunschweig. Upon seeing the Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1964, Joel decided to pursue a full-time musical career, and set about finding a local Long Island band to join. Eventually he found the Echoes, a group that specialized in British Invasion covers. The Echoes became a popular New York attraction, convincing him to leave high school to become a professional musician. He began playing for the Echoes when he was 14 years old. For the album, The Stranger, Columbia Records united Joel with producer Phil Ramone. The album yielded four Top-25 hits on the Billboard Charts in the US: "Just the Way You Are" (#3), "Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)" (#17), "Only the Good Die Young" (#24), and "She's Always a Woman" (#17). Album sales exceeded Columbia's previous top-selling album, Simon & Garfunkel's Bridge Over Troubled Water, and was certified multi-platinum. His first-ever Top Ten album, it reached #2 on the charts. Ramone subsequently produced every Billy Joel studio release up to Storm Front, initially released in 1989. This album also featured "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant", an album-oriented rock classic, which has become one of his most well known songs. The song references the days when he would visit a popular restaurant in New York's Little Italy area. [/quote] If you listen to his music, you'll notice that he has a Bronx accent even when he sings. Good songs (Most aren't the original music videos because they disabled embedding): Piano Man: [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=se9rfWucgeY[/media] You May Be Right: [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TA4_Or0IpBs[/media] Scenes From An Italian Restaurant [b](Amazing song, my favorite)[/b]: [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIUeyDLV6LQ[/media] Sometimes a Fantasy: [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6I_TCCf6Qpk[/media] It's Still Rock and Roll To Me [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuqailiLhAI[/media] The Stranger: [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jI2BnzF1860[/media] The Stranger (Live, better version (in my opinion)): [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUzDaRN3C3w[/media] Only The Good Die Young: [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgmWwMheXkk[/media] Just The Way You Are: [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjCoBTzrN9E[/media] Movin' Out (Anthony's Song) [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjQSF1bFMsk[/media] And one a lot of people know- We didn't start the fire: [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jR-A4QFHZBA[/media]
Billy Joel is a god damn legend, nice post man!
I fuckin' love Billy Joel. He has a wide variety of songs that are all good, and don't have the exact same sound, some bands have that problem. I like Prelude and Vienna quite a bit.
I've lost count of how many times I've seen him in concert.
Really like him. Piano Man is my fav song by him =)
Fuck Yes. Either "We Didn't Start The Fire", "Uptown Girl" or "Piano Man" are my favorites.
Oh yes, his songs are classic. I also like Buster Poindexter. [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBfWJDg9Pwk[/media] Not as good though.
I saw this guy live... Holy crap he is just simply an amazing artist. When he play We Didn't Start the Fire, I nearly jizzed myself.
[QUOTE=uber sky;16670943]I saw this guy live... Holy crap he is just simply an amazing artist. When he play We Didn't Start the Fire, I nearly jizzed myself.[/QUOTE] Haha, one time when I saw him in concert he had forgotten the lines to We Didn't Start the Fire so he had to ask the fans.
Yesterday I decided to listen to Scenes From An Italian Restaurant for the first time. I thought it sounded really cheezy at first and then it got really awesome. Good song. [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIUeyDLV6LQ[/media] (Yeah yeah, big bump, waah)
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