Billy Joel
Piano Man (1973)
Billy Joel has a more troubled background as a musician (and person) than perhaps many are aware of. Serving time in a few bands before going solo at the start of the 1970s, he was signed to a rather restrictive ten-album deal to a label called Family Productions, releasing his debut, the little known Cold Spring Harbor in 1971. Unfortunately for Joel, this first album was a mess - label boss Artie Ripp had screwed up the mastering, resulting in the songs being played too fast and making Joel sound "like a Chipmunk". Worse than that, the terms of Joel's deal meant he had no ownership over any of his master tapes, and he had no publishing rights to any song he might write in the future.
Thankfully, Columbia Records were able to negotiate (for a rather hefty royalty deal) a release for Joel, and he responded by producing Piano Man, his second album and a quite introspective release. It was to launch Joel as a star (even if it hardly set the charts on fire), and featured two of his defining songs - the title track being one of them.
The Album
While most of the songs on Piano Man are straightforward piano-based rock tunes, there are definite country and gospel influences throughout also. Lyrically, the album explores an array of personal themes, from tales of Joel's early life in the New York suburbs to the trials and tribulations of his time spent as a piano bar entertainer, playing under a false name while his label contract was being sorted out; and, of course, there's the obligatory love songs written for his then girlfriend (one of which was a Valentine's Day gift from the then-broke singer).
Everybody goes on about the album's title track, and it's one of those ubiquitous drunken singalong songs that people only ever seem to know, or want to hear, when they're pissed. While it's been played TO DEATH over the forty years of its life so far, it's a great, heartfelt 'story' tune, with lyrics that describe actual customers at the piano bar that Joel (billed as Bill Martin) played at throughout 1972, just trying to earn a living. That now familiar piano progression, accompanied by mandolin and accordion, and the earworm chorus, are the key to the song's charm. Equally as important a 'signature song' is the album closer Captain Jack, a song I've always loved even though it's overly long and a little wanky. Written about Joel's suburban experiences, it describes the life of a drug-dependent loser who buys drugs from the eponymous drug dealer of the title (a real person, by the way. Arguably the arrangement is the cleverest part of the track - the verses, quiet and understated, represent the flat drudgery of life, the bold, bombastic, quicker choruses detail the purchase and shooting up of heroin and the associated high, and finally the instrumental bridge that links chorus to verse represents the comedown.
Yet the album's highlight for mine is the opener, Travelin' Prayer. A rocking bluegrass/country tune that cracks along at a fearsome pace, it features some outstanding honky-tonk piano playing by Joel, and is the first evidence on the album of his ivory-tickling talent. This is matched by the insanely magical banjo playing of session muso Eric Weissberg (the man who played Dueling Banjos in the movie Deliverance, for those of you who enjoy watching movies where Ned Beatty is gangraped by American backwoodsmen while Burt Reynolds FUCKS SHIT UP). Album track Stop In Nevada is also rather enjoyable; a song about a woman leaving her family to start a new life, it's a punchy tune thanks to Joel's gutsy vocal, some sweeping string arrangements and an attempt to sound massive in the choruses. Touches of slide guitar also add a slight country twang. The string bombast is also seen on the Western-motif laden The Ballad of Billy The Kid, which is not an attempt to be historically accurate, and lyrically isn't great, but the multitude of string overdubs make it sound like something out of a movie soundtrack.
There's a few misses though. Worse Comes To Worst is uninspired pop rock with porn guitar, If I Only Had The Words (To Tell You) is an attempt to be a grand, sprawling piano ballad but ends up being rather a throwaway tune, while Ain't No Crime would be decent if it wasn't aping Elton John's piano rock sound (right down to the flickering organ lines and rock-solid riffage) and if Elton didn't already do it better. Joel's great albums that were truly cohesive works with very little in the way of weak spots was still a few years away, but the potential of the man is certainly here on Piano Man.
The Verdict
Piano Man is a decent, if somewhat inconsistent, album. It's typical of an early work from a long-term legendary artist, in that all the hallmarks that made the artist great are there, but it's obvious that polish is required. As a whole it's not Joel's greatest work but there are enough tunes here to keep you fairly interested from start to finish.
My rating: ***
Standout Tracks
Travelin' Prayer
Piano Man
Captain Jack
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