Billy Joel

Author: Fred Schruers
Publisher: Crown
ISBN: 0804140219
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 418

Book Description
The all-access biography and unprecedented look at the life, career, and legacy of a pint-sized kid from Long Island who became a music legend. “A funny, revealing, and poignant look at [Billy] Joel’s long career.”—Boston Globe Exhibiting unparalleled intimate knowledge, Schruers chronicles Joel’s rise to the top of the charts, from his working-class origins in Levittown and early days spent in boxing rings and sweaty clubs to his monumental success in the seventies and eighties. He also explores Joel’s creative transformation in the nineties, his dream performance with Paul McCartney at Shea Stadium in 2008, and beyond. Along the way, Schruers reveals the stories behind all the key events and relationships—including Joel’s high-profile marriages and legal battles—that defined his path to stardom and inspired his signature songs, such as “Piano Man,” “Scenes from an Italian Restaurant,” “New York State of Mind,” and “She’s Always a Woman.” Throughout, he captures the spirit of a restless artist determined to break through by sharing, in his deeply personal lyrics, the dreams and heartbreaks of suburban American life. Comprehensive, vibrantly written, and filled with Joel’s memories and reflections—as well as those of the family, friends, and band members who have formed his inner circle, including Christie Brinkley, Alexa Ray Joel, Jon Small, and Steve Cohen—this is the definitive account of a beloved rock star’s epic American journey.

New York State of Mind

Author: Billy Joel
Publisher: Hal Leonard Corporation
ISBN: 1495043118
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 12

Book Description
(Piano Vocal). This sheet music features an arrangement for piano and voice with guitar chord frames, with the melody presented in the right hand of the piano part, as well as in the vocal line.

Goodnight, My Angel

Author: Billy Joel
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780439788984
Category : Children's songs
Languages : en
Pages : 36

Book Description
A father sings his love to his daughter in a lullaby. With words as tender as a kiss on the cheek, Billy Joel reassures readers young and old that the love between a parent and child lasts forever, even if families are separated. Dreamy paintings of a father and daughter illustrate the profound ways that small moments -- like tucking a child into bed -- affirm parents' devotion to their children.

The Book of Joel

Author: Billy Joel
Publisher: HarperCollins
ISBN: 9780061797491
Category : Rock musicians
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description
Billy Joel chronicles his musician's career while also offering insight into the details of his personal life, including his second marriage to model Christie Brinkley.

Billy Joel - Piano Man

Author: Billy Joel
Publisher: Hal Leonard Corporation
ISBN: 1458430448
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 163

Book Description
(Piano/Vocal/Guitar Artist Songbook). David Rosenthal has carefully arranged all the tracks from Joel's classic 1973 release to combine the piano parts and vocal melodies into playable arrangements while transcribing those classic piano parts that are integral to each song. This book features the iconic title track and nine others: Ain't No Crime * (The) Ballad of Billy the Kid * Captain Jack * If I Only Had the Words (To Tell You) * Somewhere Along the Line * Stop in Nevada * Travelin' Prayer * Worse Comes to Worst * You're My Home.

Billy Joel

Author: Hank Bordowitz
Publisher: Backbeat Books
ISBN: 1617130788
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 427

Book Description
(Book). Billy Joel: The Life and Times of an Angry Young Man is a look at the superstar's entire career, including his troubled youth as a gang member; the controversy surrounding his first hit, "Captain Jack"; his legal problems; his storied marriage with Christie Brinkley; and his continued artistic frustration. "The Beatles did 'Michelle' and 'Yesterday,'" he has said. "They also did 'Revolution' and 'Helter Skelter' and they weren't pegged as balladeers. But because I had hit singles that were ballads, I became known as a balladeer. I've always resented it." Joel one of the top ten touring takes of the decade has continued his standing road date with Elton John on the never-ending Two Pianos tour.

Billy Joel

Author: Joshua S. Duchan
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 144224206X
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 217

Book Description
Despite his tremendous success, Billy Joel’s gifts as a composer and commentator on American life are long overdue for a thorough investigation. In Billy Joel: America’s Piano Man, music historian Joshua S. Duchan looks at the career and music of this remarkable singer-songwriter, exploring the unique ways Joel channels and transforms the cultural life of a changing America over four decades into bestselling song after song and album after album. Billy Joel has not always enjoyed the acclaim of music critics, who have characterized his music as inauthentic and lacking a uniqueness of style. Duchan corrects this misunderstanding by exploring the depth and degree to which Joel’s songs engage with social, cultural, political, and economic issues. Organized by major themes and including original interviews with Joel himself, Duchan’s book delves into Joel’s endeavors as a musician, lyricist, and commentator on questions of geography and regionalism, politics, working- and middle-class culture, human relationships, and the history of music itself. Duchan draws on key songs from Joel’s career to explore each theme, from his folk-like lament for Long Island’s changing industry and lifestyle in “The Downeaster ‘Alexa’” to his emotional ode to Vietnam veterans in “Goodnight Saigon.” Original interviews with Billy Joel blend with Duchan’s engaging analysis to provide readers of all backgrounds and ages a new look at these unforgettable songs. Music lovers and historians of both the academic and armchair variety will find this exploration of Joel’s work a rewarding adventure into America’s social, cultural, political, economic, and—above all—musical history.

"We Didn't Start the Fire"

Author: Ryan Raul Bañagale
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1793601828
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 261

Book Description
Billy Joel has sold over 150 million records, produced thirty-three Top-40 hits, received six Grammy Awards, and been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Fans celebrate him, critics deride him, and scholars have all but ignored him. This first-of-its-kind collection of essays offers close analysis and careful insight into the ways his work has impacted popular music during the last fifty years. Using diverse approaches, this volume serves as a model for how any scholar can approach the study of popular music. Ultimately, these chapters interrogate how popular music frames our experiences, constitutes our history and culture, and gains importance in our daily lives.

Experiencing Billy Joel

Author: Thomas MacFarlane
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1442257695
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 199

Book Description
Over the course of his career, Billy Joel has released a series of remarkable albums that together chart his journey as an artist from relative obscurity to international success. In Experiencing Billy Joel, musician and writer Thomas MacFarlane explores that musical journey, from Joel’s apprenticeship in the Long Island music scene to his experiences in both New York and Los Angeles writing and recording his own unique brand of piano rock and pop. After achieving a certain degree of musical success in the late 1960s, Joel embarked on a career as a singer-songwriter in the early 1970s. Although his initial albums demonstrated a precocious mastery that helped establish him in the field, his full potential as a recording artist blossomed on The Stranger (1977), created under the guidance of legendary producer Phil Ramone. Subsequent releases explored a variety of musical styles and helped solidify Joel’s reputation as one of the most important pop composers of his era. Experiencing Billy Joel explores each of Joel’s albums, laying out their appeal to musicians and non-musicians alike while also exploring the various production styles that have characterized Joel’s development in the studio. Along the way, MacFarlane reveals how Billy Joel’s recorded works as a whole serve as the foundation for a complex and enduring musical legacy.

Billy Joel - River of Dreams

Author: Billy Joel
Publisher: Hal Leonard Corporation
ISBN: 1705182712
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 106

Book Description
(Piano/Vocal/Guitar Artist Songbook). Billy Joel's keyboardist and music director David Rosenthal has attentively arranged all the tracks from Joel's final pop studio album to combine the piano parts and vocal melodies into playable arrangements with accurate transcriptions of those classic piano parts that are integral to each song. It also includes a foreword by David Rosenthal, a reflection by Billy Joel about the album, and great photos of Billy. Songs include: All About Soul * Blonde over Blue * Famous Last Words * The Great Wall of China * Lullabye (Goodnight, My Angel) * A Minor Variation * No Man's Land * The River of Dreams * Shades of Grey * Two Thousand Years.