By: Katie Romano, Jaclyn Ruggirello, Augusta Falletta ... - Home

By: Katie Romano, Jaclyn Ruggirello, Augusta Falletta,
Brianna Davis, Michelle Gowen & Alex DeVries

“I think music in itself is healing. It's an explosive
expression of humanity. It's something we are all
touched by. No matter what culture we're from,
everyone loves music.” - Billy Joel

Born: William Martin Joel
“Piano Man”
May 9, 1949
~ Born in the Bronx but grew up on
Long Island in Levittown. Went to
school in Hicksville.
~ Father was a classically trained
Pianist.
~ Started taking piano lessons at 4.
Billy hated to practice and learn theory.
~As a teen, he took up boxing.
~Teachers refused to let him graduate
due to his many absences from
school.
~Joel’s father divorced Joel’s
mother when Billy was 8.
~ Billy Joel did not serve in
Vietnam because he was the sole
provider for his mother and sister.

~ Billy Joel discovered his love for
music again when he was in high
school.
~At the age of 14, he became a
member of the band, Echos.
~ The band was later renamed to The
Lost Souls.
~ In 1967, he joined The Hassles
which produced two records; The
Hassles & Hour of the Wolf.
Attila
The Hassles
~ He formed a duo, Attila, which lasted
only a few months.
~ With his failed attempts in music and
a terrible break-up, Billy Joel attempted
to commit suicide, but failed.
Although Billy put out four records, his fifth
one, set the stage for his career…..

Track List:
1. Movin’ Out (Anthony’s Song)
2. The Stranger
3. Just the Way You Are
4. Scenes From an Italian Restaurant
5. Vienna
6. Only The Good Die Young
7. She’s Only a Woman
8. Get It Right The First Time
9. Everybody Has A Dream
“The Stranger sets it up to say:
here’s this versatile songwriter.
And he’s the undiscovered guy
who is the overnight sensation
after seven years.” – Phil
Ramone, producer
This is the fifth album by Billy
Joel. However, it is the first
album with a Top 10 hit. If this
album had not done well, the
record company would have
dropped him. This album
launched Joel’s career.

1. Piano Man
2. We Didn’t Start The Fire
3. Uptown Girl
4. Only The Good Die Young
5. It’s Still Rock ‘n’ Roll To Me
6. The Longest Time
7. Just The Way You Are
8. She’s Always a Woman
9. Pressure
10. Scenes From An Italian
Restaurant
11. New York State of Mind
12. My Life
13. You May Be Right
14. Movin’ Out (Anthony’s
Song)
15. The River of Dreams
16. Capitan Jack
17. She’s Got A Way
18. The Downeaster “Alexa”
19. Allentown
20. Big Shot

~As most everyone knows, Billy Joel is
also known as the Piano Man. But did you
ever wonder how he got the nickname?
~ The nickname comes from his first album
with Columbia Records, Piano Man. When
he was writing the songs for this album, he
was working in Los Angeles at a bar. He
moved to L.A. to avoid the lifetime record
contract he made with Family Productions,
the releaser of Cold Spring Harbor. While at
the bar, he wrote about his experience there
and the people he met. The song became a
hit when Joel became a hit, in 1978. At the
end of every show, Billy Joel plays this
song.

The Beatles
Dave Brubeck
Beethoven
George Gershwin
Phil Spector
Fats Domino

Ray Charles was a big musical influence for Billy Joel.
Ray Charles was a pianist that achieved the same goal
Joel did, making the piano a popular instrument. The two
recorded the song “Baby Grand” together, featured on The
Bridge. This song emulates the jazz style of Ray Charles
and the powerful lyrics of Billy Joel. The song is about
Joel’s daughter Alexa Ray, named after Ray Charles.
Late at night
When it's dark and cold
I reach out
For someone to hold
When I'm blue
When I'm lonely
She comes through
She's the only one who can
My baby grand
Is all I need
In my time
I've wandered everywhere
Around this world
She would always be there
Any day
Any hour
All it takes
Is the power in my hands
This baby grand's
Been good to me
I've had friends
But they have slipped away
I've had fame
But it doesn't stay
I've made fortunes
Spent them fast enough
As for women
They don't last with just one man
But my baby grand
Will stand by me
They say that no one's gonna play this on the radio
They said the melancholy blues were dead and gone
But only songs like these
Played in minor keys
Keep those memories holding on
I've come far
From the life I've strayed in
I've got scars
From those dives I've played in
Now I'm home
And I'm weary
In my bones
Every dreary one night stand
But baby grand
Came home with me

~ When most people think of “rock
‘n’ roll”, they think of guitars and
drums. Billy Joel challenged this
idea when he sat down at his
piano and started to play rock ‘n’
roll.
~ Although Billy Joel is not the first
person to use piano in the genre of
rock ‘n’ roll, he made the piano a
staple of bands.
~ Another way Bully Joel influenced
music is by showing his musical
diversity. He uses orchestration, dowop,
jazz, pop, classical, rhythm and
blues, romantic ballads, soul, acapella
numbers, writes about history, the
places he loves and of course love
itself.

Movin' Out tells the story of five friends in 1960s suburbia. Eddie, Tony, and James
are three good-natured high school guys looking to make their mark on the world.
James is going steady with Judy, and they decide to get engaged. Eddie’s going
out with Brenda, but she soon ends their volatile relationship, and she and Tony fall
in love. Then the guys head off to Vietnam and James is killed in action. Eddie and
Tony come home, but their lives along with Brenda and Judy’s are totally changed.
The remaining four try to put their lives back together, but they are lost and
damaged, particularly the self-destructive Eddie. However, after this rocky period,
they are all able to turn their lives around and begin the next chapters in their
stories.

"I look in the mirror and say, 'Well, you ain't Cary Grant,
but you ain't in the junkyard, either.' But I'm happy with
my life. Very happy. It's nothing at all like I pictured it
would be."
“I am no longer afraid of becoming lost,
because the journey back always
reveals something new, and that is
ultimately good for the artist.”
“I have a theory that the
only original things we
ever do are mistakes.”
“If you are not doing
what you love, you
are wasting your
time.”
His goal is to make music that “meant
something during the time in which I
lived...and transcended that time.”
“I love telling stories, and I love hearing a good story
being told. Songwriting is fascinating in that it
incorporates two things that I love to do: create a
story and write the music to it. Then I get to sing it
and play the piano on top of that. My job allows me
to do four things that I absolutely love. It doesn't get
much better than that. “

His song "Just the Way You Are"
released in 1977 is one of the most
covered and radio played songs of
all-time.
He was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk Of
Fame in 2004. It is placed outside Pantages
Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard.
In 1991, Joel
collected the
Grammy Living
Legend award.
Billy Joel enjoys collecting
motorcycles. One of his motorcycles
is located at the Hard Rock Café in
New York City.
Inducted into the Rock and
Roll Hall of Fame in 1999.
One of the few artists
who have hits in the
70s, 80s & 90s.
Writes all of his songs single-handedly.
Formed the Long Island Boating
Company in 1996.
First American rock star to tour Russia
with a fully staged show.
First rock act to play Yankee
Stadium.

Strings, Woodwinds, Brass, Percussion, Piano, Male Vocalist,
Synthesizer, Harmonica, Electric Guitar, Electric Bass, Drums….Very
reminiscent of Aaron Copland, sounds like a Western movie Theme
Strings, Woodwinds, Brass, Percussion, Piano, Synthesizer,
Harmonica, Electric Guitar, Electric Bass, Drums…Add to the sound
of a movie score, do not overpower the artist
Allegro, 4/4 Time, Upbeat American Tempo
Male Vocalist & at times Piano, Reminiscent of a folk singer
Synthesizer; piano, strings percussion; harmonica; guitar,
woodwinds & brass; verse; musical interlude; verse; musical
interlude; chorus; verse; musical interlude; call & response with
orchestra & piano; brief musical interlude; verse; musical interlude;
chorus; brief musical interlude; verse; musical interlude; call &
response with orchestra & piano; brief musical interlude

According to Billy Joel, “this song is
an exercise in cowboy movie
impressionism. Totally inaccurate
historically; the themes are pure east
coast suburban romanticism. Elmer
Bernstein shot in hot blood by the
infamous Newman brothers, Alfred
and Lionel, avenging the murder of
Aaron Copland. * By the way, “Billy” in
this case is not me, myself and I. He
still tends bar in Oyster Bay.”
Lionel Newman
Alfred Newman
Aaron Copland
Elmer Bernstein