Tag Archives: Billy Joel

by

Song of the Day #4,147: ‘ The Ballad of Billy the Kid’ – Billy Joel

As I mentioned in a Dolly Parton anthology post two weeks back, a TV show is in the works that dramatizes the songs of Billy Joel. This week I’ll feature five Joel songs I’d like to see converted.

‘The Ballad of Billy the Kid’ is a western epic from Joel’s sophomore album, 1973’s Piano Man. That album’s title song is the most obvious candidate for a TV version (I won’t be surprised if it lends its title to the whole series) but I’m trying to stay away from the popular picks (sorry, Anthony, you won’t be movin’ out this week!).

Continue reading →

by

Song of the Day #4,138: ‘Half a Mile Away’ – Billy Joel

The Random iTunes Fairy has been peeking in on the weekday conversation, as she is wont to do.

Just the other day I proposed a theme week on Billy Joel songs that would make good fodder for a Netflix anthology show. And she serves up ‘Half a Mile Away,’ a very strong candidate. With street smart characters like Little Geo and Angelina circling our restless narrator, this song could make for a great little New York-set character sketch.

Continue reading →

by

Song of the Day #4,108: ‘Travelin’ Prayer’ – Billy Joel

Yesterday I covered the seventh studio album by Elton John, one of the great piano rockers of our time. Today I’ll focus on the sophomore album by another of them, Billy Joel.

Piano Man was inspired by John’s Tumbleweed Connection, in its use of Western themes and country-fueled character sketches (including a literal ‘Ballad of Billy the Kid’). The album’s classic title track offers up a bar full of memorable characters, enough to stock a decent NetFlix series.

Continue reading →

by

Song of the Day #3,792: ‘You’re My Home’ – Billy Joel

Billy Joel’s compilation of live performances, Songs in the Attic, is my third favorite album released in 1981. It might have cracked the top two but I subtracted a few points because it’s a greatest hits collection of sorts.

Joel was riding a commercial high after the releases of The Stranger, 52nd Street and Glass Houses, and saw an opportunity to introduce his new fans to the music he had recorded prior to breaking into the mainstream. Rather than release the original recordings, which were performed with session musicians, he preferred to put them in new context with the backing of his talented touring band.

Continue reading →

by

Song of the Day #3,775: ‘Everybody Loves You Now’ – Billy Joel

Here’s a great song from Billy Joel’s debut album, 1971’s Cold Spring Harbor. A live version was later released on the 1981 compilation album Songs in the Attic.

‘Everybody Loves You Now’ is a bitter serenade to a woman who hit it big and, in the narrator’s eyes, turned her back on the neighborhood (“you ain’t got the time to go to Cold Spring Harbor no more”).

Continue reading →