Billy Joel
Piano Man: Legacy Edition
Columbia/Legacy
www.legacyrecordings.com
By George W. Harris

One of America’s most overlooked composers, Billy Joel, first came upon
the scene in the early 70s when there was a surfeit of male
singer/songwriters. You had John Hiatt, Elton John, Kenny Rankin, Danny
O’Keefe, Jim Croce, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen and Cat Stevens, just
to name a few, vying for FM radio ears. At the time, Joel was just
another NJ kid trying to get his foot in some door when this record,
his second came out. At the time, his first release, Cold Spring
Harbor, was going nowhere, and Joel was making a living playing in LA
bars. This 73 disc changed everything for him, with a handful of
classics like “Piano Man,” “Travellin’ Prayer,” and “Captain Jack”
still keeping their edge to this day.

Billy Joel was still trying to find himself, and on this disc, you can
hear hints of his influences like Elton John on songs like “The Ballad
Of Billy The Kid.” The cocky kid from Jersey shows deep emotional
insight throughout this release, and his East Coast cynicism (or was it
70s cynicism?) matches the musical mood perfectly. A bonus cd is
included here as well; the famous “Live” recording of Joel at the
Sigman Sound Studios in 1972, just before Piano Man got released. With
his working band, and between sips of beer, he gives his songs like
“She’s Got A Way” and “Everybody Loves You Now” with an intensity that
can only be delivered by a new kid on the block trying to prove
something. It would be interesting to have the elder Mr. Joel comment
on the overconfident and filled with vinegar youth of these sessions,
and what advice he might dispense to him, if he would have listened. A
pop classic, no doubt.