"Billy Joel: And So It Goes" Part One

1 00:00:06,000 --> 00:00:12,074 2 00:00:31,900 --> 00:00:34,610 When I was young, I worked on an oyster boat. 3 00:00:38,370 --> 00:00:40,700 I used to look up at this mansion on the hill 4 00:00:41,540 --> 00:00:44,250 and wonder what it would be like to live in a house like that. 5 00:00:47,130 --> 00:00:49,920 I used to think, "They're rich bastards. 6 00:00:49,920 --> 00:00:51,960 They never had to work a day in their life." 7 00:00:55,130 --> 00:00:56,720 Well, I own that house now. 8 00:00:57,970 --> 00:00:59,390 It's not finished yet. 9 00:01:00,970 --> 00:01:02,100 And neither am I. 10 00:01:03,810 --> 00:01:06,600 Thank you. Good evening to you, New York City! 11 00:01:28,580 --> 00:01:30,790 The most original thing I've ever done in my life 12 00:01:30,790 --> 00:01:31,960 is screw up. 13 00:01:32,630 --> 00:01:34,880 But that's not necessarily a bad thing. 14 00:01:37,260 --> 00:01:41,260 I once asked a truly great chef how he got to be so good. 15 00:01:42,060 --> 00:01:44,850 He said, "It's all in the recovery, 16 00:01:45,480 --> 00:01:47,270 how you correct your mistakes." 17 00:01:53,480 --> 00:01:56,610 I think there's a lot of hard-won wisdom that comes with that. 18 00:02:09,920 --> 00:02:12,420 Everything I've done and everything I've lived through, 19 00:02:13,590 --> 00:02:15,710 it somehow found its way into my music. 20 00:02:21,680 --> 00:02:22,800 We're rolling. 21 00:02:23,390 --> 00:02:25,060 Okay, sound three? 22 00:02:30,940 --> 00:02:32,310 There's no rockstars that come 23 00:02:32,310 --> 00:02:33,980 from a place called Hicksville, you know? 24 00:02:33,980 --> 00:02:37,360 One thing led to another and it became "Billy Joel." 25 00:02:37,360 --> 00:02:39,530 ...nice white dress 26 00:02:39,530 --> 00:02:42,360 And a party on your confirmation 27 00:02:42,370 --> 00:02:44,200 I was tired of being stereotyped. 28 00:02:44,200 --> 00:02:45,200 Tired of being pigeonholed. 29 00:02:45,540 --> 00:02:47,620 It was just time to do something different. 30 00:02:47,620 --> 00:02:49,580 Don't take any shit from anybody. 31 00:02:58,300 --> 00:03:00,590 I do not want to live! 32 00:03:02,260 --> 00:03:05,600 Whoa, oh, oh, oh 33 00:03:05,600 --> 00:03:06,930 - Hello. - Are you the man 34 00:03:06,930 --> 00:03:09,270 - singing "Uptown Girl?" - That's me. 35 00:03:09,270 --> 00:03:13,270 Sing us a song you're the piano man 36 00:03:13,270 --> 00:03:15,110 Sing us a song... 37 00:03:15,110 --> 00:03:17,190 I think if you lose sight of where you come from, 38 00:03:17,190 --> 00:03:18,780 you don't know who you are anymore. 39 00:03:18,780 --> 00:03:20,450 ...for a melody... 40 00:03:21,780 --> 00:03:23,450 Love can make you write music, 41 00:03:23,450 --> 00:03:25,870 but heartbreak can do the same thing. 42 00:03:27,790 --> 00:03:29,450 It can be a pretty nasty business. 43 00:03:29,450 --> 00:03:31,250 I mean, this is not the Boy Scouts. 44 00:03:31,250 --> 00:03:32,580 This is the music business. 45 00:03:33,330 --> 00:03:35,500 I am the entertainer... 46 00:03:35,500 --> 00:03:38,590 One of the most successful recording artists of all time. 47 00:03:38,920 --> 00:03:41,130 The one, the great Billy Joel. 48 00:03:41,130 --> 00:03:42,720 Mr. Billy Joel! 49 00:03:43,930 --> 00:03:45,050 - Billy Joel. - Billy Joel. 50 00:03:45,050 --> 00:03:47,890 Billy Joel! 51 00:04:08,910 --> 00:04:10,660 I've never been comfortable on camera. 52 00:04:11,500 --> 00:04:14,170 When you know you're on camera, like right now, 53 00:04:14,710 --> 00:04:17,210 there's a little bit of uptight thing going on. 54 00:04:17,210 --> 00:04:18,880 It's like, I can't escape. 55 00:04:20,000 --> 00:04:21,630 I can't hide behind the piano. 56 00:04:31,930 --> 00:04:34,480 I don't think of myself as a rock star. 57 00:04:34,480 --> 00:04:36,020 I'm a musician, 58 00:04:36,020 --> 00:04:38,400 and I tend to want to hide within the band. 59 00:04:39,940 --> 00:04:41,020 I'm comfortable with them. 60 00:04:41,030 --> 00:04:42,530 I gained all the weight you lost. 61 00:04:44,150 --> 00:04:45,320 That's where it went. 62 00:04:45,320 --> 00:04:47,070 They know me. I know them. 63 00:04:47,070 --> 00:04:48,740 This is heavier than I remember. 64 00:04:49,830 --> 00:04:51,790 You wanna take it home with you? 65 00:04:51,790 --> 00:04:55,370 And we refer to people who aren't in our gang as civilians. 66 00:04:55,370 --> 00:04:57,670 If you're not in our gang, you're a civilian. 67 00:04:57,670 --> 00:05:00,250 Somebody's got to get a tape or video 68 00:05:00,250 --> 00:05:02,710 of me playing, how much bullshit I'm playing. 69 00:05:06,880 --> 00:05:08,470 I enjoy working with the musicians. 70 00:05:09,220 --> 00:05:11,310 I enjoy playing music for an audience. 71 00:05:11,310 --> 00:05:14,770 We held the concert out in Brooklyn 72 00:05:17,730 --> 00:05:21,060 To watch the island bridges blow 73 00:05:21,070 --> 00:05:24,690 But to create music on a quality scale consistently, 74 00:05:24,690 --> 00:05:26,740 you have to be completely dedicated, 75 00:05:27,320 --> 00:05:29,160 to the detriment of almost everything else. 76 00:05:29,160 --> 00:05:30,450 Two, three, four. 77 00:05:33,330 --> 00:05:35,700 She stood on the tracks 78 00:05:35,710 --> 00:05:37,790 - Somebody has to sing. - Somebody else-- It overlaps. 79 00:05:37,790 --> 00:05:39,120 And she never... 80 00:05:39,130 --> 00:05:42,300 You have to give up other things. You give up a certain amount of your life. 81 00:05:47,680 --> 00:05:49,380 Let me see what it sounds like. 82 00:05:49,390 --> 00:05:51,140 - But if you're enjoying it... - Okay. 83 00:05:51,140 --> 00:05:53,510 ...you don't realize how much life's going by. 84 00:05:56,270 --> 00:05:58,980 I started playing in bands when I was a kid. 85 00:05:59,980 --> 00:06:02,440 What I wanted to do was be able to make a living, 86 00:06:02,440 --> 00:06:06,820 not necessarily become a millionaire or travel the world. 87 00:06:06,820 --> 00:06:08,700 I just wanted to be able to pay the bills. 88 00:06:08,700 --> 00:06:10,320 To me, that was success. 89 00:06:11,870 --> 00:06:15,490 But with my success, I'm not always comfortable with it. 90 00:06:15,500 --> 00:06:19,080 Sometimes it's alien to me. This guy, Billy Joel. 91 00:06:19,080 --> 00:06:21,420 I don't know who that is or what that is. 92 00:06:21,420 --> 00:06:22,830 I'm reminded of it 93 00:06:22,840 --> 00:06:24,340 when I go walk on the streets and somebody goes, 94 00:06:24,340 --> 00:06:26,210 "Oh, Billy Joel." Oh, right. I'm that guy. 95 00:06:29,090 --> 00:06:31,470 Somehow I did it. I came up with these songs. 96 00:06:33,550 --> 00:06:37,390 But ever since I was a little kid, music was the goal. 97 00:06:41,520 --> 00:06:44,650 People think of me as a, an urban guy from New York City. 98 00:06:44,650 --> 00:06:47,320 I'm not. I'm a guy from a small town in Long Island. 99 00:06:48,190 --> 00:06:51,740 And back in the day, in the mid '60s, 100 00:06:51,740 --> 00:06:54,450 it seemed like everybody in my neighborhood was in a band. 101 00:06:55,120 --> 00:06:57,120 First band I was in, we were called 102 00:06:57,120 --> 00:07:00,620 the Lost Souls from Long Island. 103 00:07:04,790 --> 00:07:07,300 The first songs I wrote were bad Beatles songs. 104 00:07:07,300 --> 00:07:11,380 That was the state of the art at the time. We were all trying to be The Beatles. 105 00:07:11,380 --> 00:07:14,800 Well, I climb the highest mountain 106 00:07:15,260 --> 00:07:19,020 And I swim the deepest sea... 107 00:07:19,680 --> 00:07:21,230 This was like when I was in junior high school, 108 00:07:21,230 --> 00:07:23,150 and I was actually making money 109 00:07:23,150 --> 00:07:24,980 by playing the piano and having a great time. 110 00:07:24,980 --> 00:07:27,860 I said, "Wait a minute, this is what I'm going to do." 111 00:07:27,860 --> 00:07:29,400 So I've had a head start. 112 00:07:29,400 --> 00:07:32,200 Like, I knew what I wanted to do since the time I was 14. 113 00:07:32,780 --> 00:07:35,030 How much success did you have with your first band? 114 00:07:35,030 --> 00:07:37,870 Well, obviously, they're a household name now, aren't they? 115 00:07:40,290 --> 00:07:41,660 Back in the '60s, 116 00:07:41,660 --> 00:07:44,500 the Long Island rock scene was tremendous. 117 00:07:45,960 --> 00:07:48,460 Now I may drive... 118 00:07:48,460 --> 00:07:50,380 I was in a band called The Hassles, 119 00:07:50,880 --> 00:07:53,340 and we just lost our keyboard player. 120 00:07:53,720 --> 00:07:56,140 And Billy came in with his guys, 121 00:07:56,140 --> 00:07:58,010 and I saw him perform. 122 00:07:58,010 --> 00:07:59,390 Reflections floating 123 00:07:59,390 --> 00:08:02,850 Through this phantom light... 124 00:08:02,850 --> 00:08:05,980 And it was so corny, it was just ridiculous. 125 00:08:05,980 --> 00:08:07,650 It was the way he was dressed, 126 00:08:07,650 --> 00:08:10,440 and he got down on one knee and sang a song. 127 00:08:11,070 --> 00:08:12,900 But it was a home run to me. 128 00:08:13,610 --> 00:08:15,490 And I said, look. This guy's good. 129 00:08:15,950 --> 00:08:17,070 And I said to him, 130 00:08:17,070 --> 00:08:18,990 "So look, we'd really like you to join The Hassles." 131 00:08:18,990 --> 00:08:22,250 ...the day you left me 132 00:08:23,330 --> 00:08:26,080 And he goes, "I can't join your band. These are my brothers. 133 00:08:26,080 --> 00:08:28,540 I love these guys. I'm not going anywhere." 134 00:08:28,960 --> 00:08:30,960 And I saw I was losing the battle. 135 00:08:30,960 --> 00:08:32,380 So, I said, "Well, look, we'll give you 136 00:08:32,380 --> 00:08:34,680 this Hammond B3 organ if you join the band. 137 00:08:36,340 --> 00:08:40,850 Any of the big bands on the Island usually would end up getting a Hammond B3. 138 00:08:40,850 --> 00:08:43,230 I had never gotten to work on a Hammond B3. 139 00:08:43,230 --> 00:08:45,020 That was my dream organ. 140 00:08:46,190 --> 00:08:49,900 But it was a couple of thousand dollars, and I just couldn't afford one. 141 00:08:49,900 --> 00:08:52,360 And I said to Billy, "Well, if you join our band, 142 00:08:52,360 --> 00:08:54,400 I'll give you that Hammond B3 organ. 143 00:08:55,610 --> 00:08:56,740 And he, like, just looks and goes, 144 00:08:56,740 --> 00:08:58,240 "Fuck those guys, I'm in." 145 00:09:12,000 --> 00:09:14,380 None of the guys in the band had money, 146 00:09:14,380 --> 00:09:16,470 but Billy had no money. 147 00:09:16,470 --> 00:09:19,390 I mean, there was poor, and then there was Billy Joel poor. 148 00:09:19,390 --> 00:09:23,220 You know, he was lucky if he had enough money to buy a pack of cigarettes. 149 00:09:24,770 --> 00:09:27,520 I didn't have a car, so I couldn't drive anywhere. 150 00:09:27,520 --> 00:09:32,480 So I depended on Jon to pick me up and take me wherever we were going, 151 00:09:32,480 --> 00:09:35,320 when it was time to rehearse or time to do a gig. 152 00:09:37,240 --> 00:09:39,950 I remember the first time I met his mom, Roz, 153 00:09:39,950 --> 00:09:42,370 Billy says to her, "See, that's what I want to look like." 154 00:09:42,370 --> 00:09:43,790 And she looks at me. I had hair down to here. 155 00:09:43,790 --> 00:09:45,080 And she goes, "Great." 156 00:09:47,500 --> 00:09:51,130 But I thought she was the best stage mother you could have. 157 00:09:51,130 --> 00:09:53,420 All she did is root for her son. 158 00:09:53,420 --> 00:09:55,630 She knew from the beginning that he had it. 159 00:09:57,170 --> 00:10:00,430 So we hit it off. We were like a pig in a blanket. 160 00:10:00,430 --> 00:10:02,100 He was the pig, and I was the blanket. 161 00:10:02,600 --> 00:10:03,930 We did everything together. 162 00:10:03,930 --> 00:10:06,220 I could tell you don't need me 163 00:10:06,230 --> 00:10:08,140 So Jon and I got very close. 164 00:10:08,140 --> 00:10:10,860 And became very friendly with his wife, Elizabeth. 165 00:10:12,020 --> 00:10:13,980 I was married to Elizabeth Weber. 166 00:10:15,030 --> 00:10:16,780 I was very young when I got married. 167 00:10:17,900 --> 00:10:20,700 He worked in a band, and I was a student. 168 00:10:20,700 --> 00:10:22,200 I was pregnant. 169 00:10:22,620 --> 00:10:26,870 And I told Jon Small that we were getting married. 170 00:10:28,410 --> 00:10:33,380 And so, I met Bill for the first time in 1967. 171 00:10:33,750 --> 00:10:35,300 And he was 17. 172 00:10:36,130 --> 00:10:39,130 He was shy. He was a little bit on the quiet side. 173 00:10:39,130 --> 00:10:42,970 But even when he was a teenager, he was a very hard worker, 174 00:10:42,970 --> 00:10:45,140 and he knew that that's what it would take. 175 00:10:45,140 --> 00:10:48,770 And I saw evidence of that from, you know, almost the very beginning. 176 00:10:49,940 --> 00:10:52,900 Back then, his whole life was the band. 177 00:10:53,940 --> 00:10:55,900 I was die hard, hardcore musician. 178 00:10:57,990 --> 00:11:01,030 I don't know what you got... 179 00:11:02,320 --> 00:11:04,030 So we had a lead singer, 180 00:11:04,030 --> 00:11:06,410 but Billy could sing the pants off that guy. 181 00:11:06,700 --> 00:11:10,330 And, eventually, Billy sang most of the songs 182 00:11:10,330 --> 00:11:12,460 that people came to see us for. 183 00:11:16,420 --> 00:11:19,090 The Hassles were basically a cover band, a jukebox band. 184 00:11:19,090 --> 00:11:20,930 We played what the hits of the day were. 185 00:11:22,340 --> 00:11:23,510 But we wanted some songs 186 00:11:23,510 --> 00:11:26,510 that could be considered Hassles songs. 187 00:11:26,510 --> 00:11:30,560 We had learned if you're going to be a successful recording group, 188 00:11:30,560 --> 00:11:32,060 you have to have original material. 189 00:11:32,060 --> 00:11:35,730 You can't just keep doing cover records. So I just started writing a lot. 190 00:11:36,820 --> 00:11:39,570 "Every Step I Take." That was the single for The Hassles. 191 00:11:40,360 --> 00:11:44,320 Every step I take every move I make 192 00:11:44,320 --> 00:11:48,160 I'm trying to escape my life without you 193 00:11:51,830 --> 00:11:54,210 That was the first song he wrote with The Hassles, 194 00:11:54,210 --> 00:11:55,580 which became a number one hit 195 00:11:55,580 --> 00:11:57,920 on the Long Island stations. 196 00:11:57,920 --> 00:12:00,420 Everything I do... 197 00:12:00,420 --> 00:12:04,890 That was the first time a single was on the radio. 198 00:12:05,340 --> 00:12:10,180 Everyone in my town knew it. They all called each other up. 199 00:12:10,180 --> 00:12:13,390 They were driving down the street with their windows open, 200 00:12:13,390 --> 00:12:15,310 and they'd say, "Turn on the radio!" 201 00:12:15,810 --> 00:12:19,770 Every step I take every move I make 202 00:12:19,780 --> 00:12:24,110 I'm trying to escape my life without you 203 00:12:24,820 --> 00:12:27,120 And we used to pack all these places. 204 00:12:27,450 --> 00:12:29,620 So we were like little rock stars back then. 205 00:12:29,620 --> 00:12:32,710 It was funny, you know? Everybody knew who you were. 206 00:12:34,670 --> 00:12:38,040 The Hassles, I saw them in '67. 207 00:12:38,040 --> 00:12:39,790 What I liked about Billy was 208 00:12:39,800 --> 00:12:42,880 he was an amazing organ player. A Hammond B3. 209 00:12:42,880 --> 00:12:45,050 He could rock the house with that alone. 210 00:12:45,050 --> 00:12:48,090 And just his voice was incredible. 211 00:12:48,100 --> 00:12:51,600 ...A picture of your face before... 212 00:12:51,600 --> 00:12:53,060 The Hassles were signed 213 00:12:53,060 --> 00:12:55,440 to a record label, United Artists. 214 00:12:55,440 --> 00:12:59,480 Made a little noise locally and when we went as far as New Jersey, 215 00:12:59,480 --> 00:13:01,860 you know, like, we were on tour in New Jersey. 216 00:13:02,400 --> 00:13:04,070 We went across the bridge. Wow! 217 00:13:04,070 --> 00:13:05,650 ...Every move I make 218 00:13:05,650 --> 00:13:09,910 I'm trying to escape my life without you 219 00:13:09,910 --> 00:13:11,280 You get better when you play 220 00:13:11,290 --> 00:13:14,830 in front of an audience because they boo you if they don't like you. 221 00:13:14,830 --> 00:13:18,040 Especially on Long Island and New York, they don't hold back. 222 00:13:18,500 --> 00:13:22,670 So it was our school. I learned a lot in that band. 223 00:13:23,630 --> 00:13:25,380 This is Billy Joel of The Hassles. 224 00:13:25,380 --> 00:13:27,380 Now we'd like to do one of our favorite numbers, 225 00:13:27,380 --> 00:13:29,390 and we hope it'll be one of your favorites. 226 00:13:34,640 --> 00:13:37,060 With all bands, you always have arguments 227 00:13:37,060 --> 00:13:39,400 about the creative way you're going. 228 00:13:39,810 --> 00:13:44,990 Amongst The Hassles, only Billy and I were as serious. 229 00:13:46,240 --> 00:13:50,030 Me and Billy, we were in sync and the other guys weren't. 230 00:13:50,030 --> 00:13:52,620 And then we realized that we didn't need the other guys. 231 00:13:52,620 --> 00:13:54,500 So we left The Hassles. 232 00:13:55,790 --> 00:13:59,000 Jon and Bill, they were very serious. 233 00:13:59,000 --> 00:14:02,960 They wanted to advance their musical career. 234 00:14:06,760 --> 00:14:09,430 And we had this great idea. 235 00:14:09,800 --> 00:14:13,220 Rehearsal space is very expensive, hard to find. 236 00:14:13,220 --> 00:14:15,680 And so why don't we get a place together? 237 00:14:15,680 --> 00:14:17,690 And then there'd be a place to rehearse. 238 00:14:18,100 --> 00:14:20,350 And that place became the Rock House. 239 00:14:22,360 --> 00:14:24,940 It was a house that was all made of cobblestones. 240 00:14:26,440 --> 00:14:31,240 And it was Elizabeth, me, Billy, and my son Sean. 241 00:14:32,320 --> 00:14:34,910 And, at that point, we had all gotten very close. 242 00:14:35,620 --> 00:14:38,370 And we started to talk about making music. 243 00:14:38,370 --> 00:14:40,880 And our favorite band was Led Zeppelin. 244 00:14:44,170 --> 00:14:48,460 Led Zeppelin's first album came out. It just pulverized me when I heard this. 245 00:14:48,470 --> 00:14:50,510 It was like hearing Beethoven's Ninth Symphony 246 00:14:50,510 --> 00:14:51,640 for the first time. 247 00:14:53,140 --> 00:14:55,600 In the days of my youth 248 00:14:55,600 --> 00:14:59,390 I was told what it means to be a man 249 00:15:01,020 --> 00:15:03,770 We liked Led Zeppelin. We liked all the heavy metal bands. 250 00:15:03,770 --> 00:15:06,360 And now I've reached that age, I've tried... 251 00:15:06,360 --> 00:15:09,610 And we started writing songs together, 252 00:15:09,610 --> 00:15:11,740 and then we rehearsed it in the basement. 253 00:15:14,450 --> 00:15:16,030 We wanted to be a heavy metal band. 254 00:15:16,040 --> 00:15:18,660 But I'm not a guitar player. I'm a keyboard player. 255 00:15:19,200 --> 00:15:20,910 So I had to try to figure out 256 00:15:20,920 --> 00:15:24,500 how to wire an organ through amplifiers. 257 00:15:27,300 --> 00:15:29,260 And we rehearsed for hours, 258 00:15:29,590 --> 00:15:32,090 hours playing nonsense. 259 00:15:33,180 --> 00:15:34,510 A lot of distortion, fuzz tone. 260 00:15:35,300 --> 00:15:36,560 But to us, it was great. 261 00:15:37,810 --> 00:15:40,020 And then, that turned into Attila. 262 00:15:41,560 --> 00:15:44,150 Attila the Hun. We're going to destroy the world 263 00:15:44,150 --> 00:15:45,360 with amplification. 264 00:15:45,730 --> 00:15:47,780 We just wanted to make as much noise as possible. 265 00:15:48,320 --> 00:15:51,570 Probably one of the worst bands of all time. 266 00:15:52,740 --> 00:15:55,950 Wonder Woman with your skin so fair 267 00:15:57,120 --> 00:15:59,790 Wonder Woman with your long red hair 268 00:15:59,790 --> 00:16:01,000 Da na da da 269 00:16:01,000 --> 00:16:03,000 You have the velvet touch 270 00:16:03,670 --> 00:16:05,290 We got our first gig. 271 00:16:05,290 --> 00:16:09,880 It was sold out because it was advertised as "Formerly from The Hassles." 272 00:16:10,510 --> 00:16:12,050 We drove people out of the clubs. 273 00:16:12,050 --> 00:16:13,550 We were so loud and bad. 274 00:16:14,800 --> 00:16:17,810 The only guy good was Billy, and the only other guy was me. 275 00:16:19,100 --> 00:16:21,770 I didn't know one person who liked what we were doing. 276 00:16:21,770 --> 00:16:25,560 It was really good. I know he hates it, but I loved it. 277 00:16:25,560 --> 00:16:26,560 It was just like... 278 00:16:27,650 --> 00:16:29,320 pounding rock, you know. 279 00:16:29,820 --> 00:16:33,070 Wonder Woman stole my heart away 280 00:16:33,490 --> 00:16:34,570 Wonder Woman... 281 00:16:34,570 --> 00:16:36,740 We did a video with Attila, 282 00:16:36,740 --> 00:16:38,990 and we were on the roller coaster at Coney Island. 283 00:16:39,700 --> 00:16:43,870 But I have no idea why Attila got signed to Epic Records. 284 00:16:44,580 --> 00:16:47,040 Back in those days, they were signing everybody. 285 00:16:47,040 --> 00:16:49,710 If you had hair past your collar, they signed you. 286 00:16:50,380 --> 00:16:51,380 And we got signed. 287 00:16:51,380 --> 00:16:54,300 I don't know what idiot was responsible for that. 288 00:16:55,180 --> 00:16:58,510 And they set us up a photo session to do the album cover, 289 00:16:59,470 --> 00:17:02,430 and having meat carcasses hanging around us. 290 00:17:02,930 --> 00:17:06,980 Full beef hanging behind us. 291 00:17:07,350 --> 00:17:09,230 We were dressed like Huns. 292 00:17:09,690 --> 00:17:12,030 And it was costumes from the movie "Ben Hur." 293 00:17:13,030 --> 00:17:15,780 Fur and metal bracelets. 294 00:17:16,450 --> 00:17:18,780 I walked into this photoshoot and I said, oh, no. 295 00:17:20,950 --> 00:17:23,490 It was literally disgusting, but back then 296 00:17:23,500 --> 00:17:25,710 we laughed at ourselves more than anything. 297 00:17:25,710 --> 00:17:27,250 It was just so funny, you know. 298 00:17:28,000 --> 00:17:30,380 And it was really a fun time 299 00:17:30,380 --> 00:17:32,550 until it became not a fun time. 300 00:17:34,880 --> 00:17:36,510 Elizabeth was very important to me, 301 00:17:36,510 --> 00:17:40,760 but I think I was not the guy she hoped I would be. 302 00:17:42,180 --> 00:17:43,770 Jon and I were not a good fit. 303 00:17:43,770 --> 00:17:46,100 We were very young, and we didn't really know 304 00:17:46,100 --> 00:17:47,310 much of anything, 305 00:17:48,020 --> 00:17:52,270 and I got more and more dissatisfied with the life I was living. 306 00:17:52,270 --> 00:17:54,860 And then things got complicated. 307 00:17:58,610 --> 00:18:00,660 Bill and I spent a lot of time together. 308 00:18:01,330 --> 00:18:03,580 And so we talked. 309 00:18:05,330 --> 00:18:07,210 You can make me free 310 00:18:08,670 --> 00:18:10,380 You can make me smile 311 00:18:11,540 --> 00:18:13,090 You can make me be 312 00:18:14,550 --> 00:18:17,340 Like a little child you can melt the ice... 313 00:18:17,340 --> 00:18:21,350 We'd walk up and down the street, and car rides and dinners. 314 00:18:21,890 --> 00:18:24,560 When you just find someone you're comfortable with 315 00:18:24,560 --> 00:18:26,470 that can finish your sentences 316 00:18:26,480 --> 00:18:29,190 and know what you're thinking without saying anything, 317 00:18:29,190 --> 00:18:31,940 sometimes it's a slow build. 318 00:18:32,440 --> 00:18:34,320 You can make me rise 319 00:18:35,440 --> 00:18:39,820 You can make me see so open up my eyes 320 00:18:39,820 --> 00:18:43,490 Don't you know my only real moments 321 00:18:44,160 --> 00:18:46,540 Are the ones I spend with you 322 00:18:46,540 --> 00:18:50,370 We shared a lot of experiences. I fell in love. 323 00:18:50,370 --> 00:18:53,590 And we went into a relationship. 324 00:18:56,170 --> 00:18:59,220 I kept seeing that Billy was not the same guy. 325 00:18:59,220 --> 00:19:00,800 Something was the matter. 326 00:19:00,800 --> 00:19:03,760 And Billy one day came up to me, 327 00:19:03,760 --> 00:19:05,970 became a little honest and said to me, 328 00:19:06,770 --> 00:19:08,270 "I'm in love with your wife." 329 00:19:09,480 --> 00:19:12,810 So it was a very devastating thing for me 330 00:19:12,810 --> 00:19:15,820 because these were basically my two best friends. 331 00:19:16,860 --> 00:19:18,740 I felt very, very guilty about it. 332 00:19:19,360 --> 00:19:23,030 They had a child, and I always felt like a homewrecker. 333 00:19:24,530 --> 00:19:27,240 He's crying and he's telling me, "I feel so bad." 334 00:19:27,240 --> 00:19:29,160 He didn't know what to do about it. 335 00:19:29,830 --> 00:19:32,750 How does he break his best friend's heart? 336 00:19:33,920 --> 00:19:36,170 But he said she was so powerful to him 337 00:19:36,170 --> 00:19:39,630 that it was worth it to lose our friendship for it. 338 00:19:41,220 --> 00:19:42,970 I was just in love with a woman. 339 00:19:46,310 --> 00:19:50,100 And I got punched in the nose, which I deserved. 340 00:19:50,600 --> 00:19:53,440 You know, Jon was very upset. I was very upset. 341 00:19:53,900 --> 00:19:55,400 And that was the end of Attila. 342 00:19:55,400 --> 00:19:59,740 That was the end of my relationship with Jon for a while. 343 00:20:00,190 --> 00:20:02,280 And Elizabeth just took off. 344 00:20:05,320 --> 00:20:06,990 So I left the Rock House. 345 00:20:08,910 --> 00:20:09,950 I drank a lot. 346 00:20:14,670 --> 00:20:18,670 Billy is comatose. Doesn't eat, doesn't do anything. 347 00:20:19,170 --> 00:20:22,630 And he kept threatening me with, "Yeah, I'm going to kill myself." 348 00:20:26,010 --> 00:20:28,930 I had no place to live. I was sleeping in laundromats. 349 00:20:29,350 --> 00:20:31,060 And I was depressed, I think, 350 00:20:31,890 --> 00:20:33,890 to the point of almost being psychotic. 351 00:20:37,190 --> 00:20:39,070 So I figured that's it. 352 00:20:39,780 --> 00:20:41,030 I don't want to live anymore. 353 00:20:42,950 --> 00:20:45,110 I've been livin' 354 00:20:45,860 --> 00:20:47,490 For the moment 355 00:20:47,490 --> 00:20:51,620 But I just can't have my way 356 00:20:52,000 --> 00:20:53,160 I was just in a lot of pain. 357 00:20:54,000 --> 00:20:55,920 It was sort of like, why hang out? 358 00:20:55,920 --> 00:20:57,790 Tomorrow is going to be just like today is, 359 00:20:57,790 --> 00:20:59,380 and today sucks. 360 00:20:59,380 --> 00:21:03,170 ...tomorrow is today 361 00:21:03,170 --> 00:21:05,800 So I just thought I'd end it all. 362 00:21:05,800 --> 00:21:07,510 People tell me... 363 00:21:07,510 --> 00:21:11,100 I was a medical assistant, and Billy came to the office 364 00:21:11,100 --> 00:21:15,890 and he was sitting in the waiting room, and he was very, very depressed. 365 00:21:16,650 --> 00:21:20,480 He said he can't sleep. And so, I gave him the pills. 366 00:21:20,480 --> 00:21:24,150 And I said take one or two at night and you'll be able to sleep. 367 00:21:24,780 --> 00:21:28,030 But Billy decided that he was going to take all of them. 368 00:21:30,830 --> 00:21:33,120 He was in a coma for days and days and days. 369 00:21:33,790 --> 00:21:36,540 And I went to see him in the hospital, 370 00:21:37,210 --> 00:21:39,710 and he was laying there white as a sheet. 371 00:21:39,710 --> 00:21:43,880 I don't have to see tomorrow 372 00:21:43,880 --> 00:21:45,010 'Cause I... 373 00:21:45,010 --> 00:21:46,590 I felt that I killed him. 374 00:21:49,760 --> 00:21:51,010 It was very selfish. 375 00:21:51,010 --> 00:21:52,510 You know, I didn't think about other people, 376 00:21:53,180 --> 00:21:54,310 how it would impact them. 377 00:21:55,140 --> 00:21:57,310 And then I remember waking up in a hospital. 378 00:21:58,100 --> 00:22:00,730 My first thought was, I couldn't even do this right. 379 00:22:01,270 --> 00:22:03,400 You can't even do yourself in. 380 00:22:03,900 --> 00:22:07,400 So I thought, I'm going to try to do this again. 381 00:22:08,160 --> 00:22:12,870 And what's the use of always dreaming... 382 00:22:13,370 --> 00:22:17,250 Billy was still depressed after that, and he was at my mother's house. 383 00:22:17,250 --> 00:22:19,880 And this time, he drank a bottle of lemon Pledge. 384 00:22:20,920 --> 00:22:25,250 The second time, he drank some type of cleaning fluid, 385 00:22:25,260 --> 00:22:28,630 and I was the one that had to get him in the hospital. 386 00:22:29,470 --> 00:22:32,800 Even though our friendship had blown up, Jon saved my life. 387 00:22:34,100 --> 00:22:37,850 I mean, he never really said anything to me. 388 00:22:37,850 --> 00:22:41,730 The only practical answer I could give why Billy took it so hard 389 00:22:42,150 --> 00:22:45,070 was because he loved me that much 390 00:22:45,530 --> 00:22:48,320 and that it killed him to hurt me that much. 391 00:22:51,240 --> 00:22:53,450 And eventually, I forgave him. 392 00:22:53,910 --> 00:22:54,870 I finally got over it, you know, 393 00:22:54,870 --> 00:22:56,910 where it was, like, okay. 394 00:22:59,370 --> 00:23:00,960 He thought that it was over for him, 395 00:23:00,960 --> 00:23:03,380 and to me, he didn't even start living yet. 396 00:23:05,630 --> 00:23:09,380 I went to my mom's house, which to me was an abject surrender. 397 00:23:09,380 --> 00:23:12,800 You move back into your parent's house, you're a loser. 398 00:23:14,510 --> 00:23:16,220 I didn't really know what was going on with me. 399 00:23:16,220 --> 00:23:19,850 At that point in my life, I was just a lost soul. 400 00:23:20,520 --> 00:23:21,690 And then I said that's it. 401 00:23:22,190 --> 00:23:24,360 I got to go get some psychiatric help. 402 00:23:25,480 --> 00:23:27,780 So I checked into an observation ward. 403 00:23:28,360 --> 00:23:30,320 I remember the door slamming shut, 404 00:23:30,320 --> 00:23:33,280 and it had this clank to it when it closed. 405 00:23:35,160 --> 00:23:38,450 And I thought, "Oh, crap, I'm really, like, in the nuthouse." 406 00:23:38,450 --> 00:23:40,750 And they gave me Thorazine. 407 00:23:41,120 --> 00:23:43,790 And I would go over to the nurses' station and knock and say, 408 00:23:43,790 --> 00:23:46,040 "Hey, I'm okay. These people are crazy." 409 00:23:46,040 --> 00:23:48,420 "Okay, Mr. Joel, here's your pills." 410 00:23:50,300 --> 00:23:52,840 They released me after a couple of weeks, 411 00:23:53,470 --> 00:23:55,010 and I felt chagrined. 412 00:23:55,390 --> 00:23:58,350 These people had really deep psychiatric problems. 413 00:23:58,350 --> 00:24:00,350 I was just feeling sorry for myself. 414 00:24:00,980 --> 00:24:04,650 And I said, that's it. I'm not going to ever feel that sorry for myself again. 415 00:24:04,650 --> 00:24:07,900 And when they let me out, I ran. I just ran down the street. 416 00:24:08,230 --> 00:24:11,030 Let me out of here. I never looked back. 417 00:24:15,820 --> 00:24:19,740 I got out of the observation ward, and I thought to myself, you can utilize 418 00:24:19,740 --> 00:24:23,410 all those emotions to channel that stuff into music. 419 00:24:23,420 --> 00:24:26,460 Well, so here I am 420 00:24:26,460 --> 00:24:29,000 At the end of the road 421 00:24:30,050 --> 00:24:33,680 Where do I go from here? 422 00:24:36,760 --> 00:24:40,140 And I was able to rent an apartment in Oyster Bay. 423 00:24:40,520 --> 00:24:42,730 It was just enough room to fit the piano. 424 00:24:42,730 --> 00:24:45,480 I used to sleep under the piano, as a matter of fact. 425 00:24:45,480 --> 00:24:46,900 During that time, 426 00:24:46,900 --> 00:24:48,610 I had a couple of songs that I had written. 427 00:24:48,610 --> 00:24:52,320 That I've got to begin again 428 00:24:54,400 --> 00:24:57,990 Though I don't know how to start 429 00:25:00,120 --> 00:25:03,830 Yes, I've got to begin again 430 00:25:04,960 --> 00:25:09,170 And it's hard 431 00:25:09,170 --> 00:25:12,760 So I was just writing songs from a personal point of view. 432 00:25:13,670 --> 00:25:16,680 And there was a guy who had been managing The Hassles 433 00:25:16,680 --> 00:25:19,680 who decided he was going to shop my songs around. 434 00:25:20,760 --> 00:25:22,970 He ended up meeting Michael Lang. 435 00:25:22,970 --> 00:25:24,930 Michael Lang was the promoter of Woodstock. 436 00:25:24,940 --> 00:25:26,520 Kind of a hippie type. 437 00:25:27,020 --> 00:25:29,400 And he had a record company called Just Sunshine. 438 00:25:30,190 --> 00:25:34,320 Michael Lang had a terrific keen eye for new talent. 439 00:25:35,110 --> 00:25:38,530 And he said, "Here's this demo of this kid that I'm thinking about signing. 440 00:25:38,530 --> 00:25:40,030 "And if you like him, 441 00:25:40,660 --> 00:25:44,040 I'm going to put you in the studio and you can produce the album." 442 00:25:44,660 --> 00:25:47,210 At the time, I was the drummer in Wings 443 00:25:47,210 --> 00:25:50,380 with Paul McCartney and a brand new producer. 444 00:25:50,380 --> 00:25:53,340 And I heard these demos from Billy. 445 00:25:54,380 --> 00:25:56,470 I almost fell off my chair. 446 00:26:00,890 --> 00:26:02,760 I said wow, this is very special. 447 00:26:02,760 --> 00:26:06,770 I am so sorry that I bothered you 448 00:26:08,810 --> 00:26:12,270 Now I know why I have to hide 449 00:26:12,270 --> 00:26:14,940 The passion of his voice got me. 450 00:26:14,940 --> 00:26:20,280 I didn't know what you were going through 451 00:26:20,740 --> 00:26:26,040 All I could see was my own side 452 00:26:26,040 --> 00:26:30,040 Especially after you heard the lyrics. Just tears your heart right out. 453 00:26:31,590 --> 00:26:35,840 So I got signed to Just Sunshine Records as a solo artist. 454 00:26:35,840 --> 00:26:38,760 I couldn't believe how lucky I was. 455 00:26:39,470 --> 00:26:41,760 But that's how the whole "Cold Spring Harbor" album 456 00:26:41,760 --> 00:26:43,050 project started. 457 00:26:46,600 --> 00:26:48,100 Baby, all the lights are turned on... 458 00:26:48,100 --> 00:26:51,650 Billy's music was nothing at all like anything that was coming out. 459 00:26:53,480 --> 00:26:56,610 He had these piano chops like a classical piano player. 460 00:26:57,030 --> 00:27:00,360 Billy's piano playing was really uniquely astounding. 461 00:27:00,360 --> 00:27:03,200 And you can always have your way somehow 462 00:27:04,120 --> 00:27:06,950 'Cause everybody loves you now 463 00:27:08,410 --> 00:27:11,500 I started to make the album in New York. 464 00:27:11,500 --> 00:27:14,460 During that time, I got traded to another label. 465 00:27:15,460 --> 00:27:19,630 Michael knew a guy named Artie Ripp on the West Coast. 466 00:27:19,630 --> 00:27:24,140 Artie had an artist called Velvert Turner who was like a Jimi Hendrix, 467 00:27:24,140 --> 00:27:27,180 and Michael wanted that guy on his label, 468 00:27:27,180 --> 00:27:28,970 so there was kind of a swap. 469 00:27:28,980 --> 00:27:32,560 It was like baseball trades. I got traded to the West Coast. 470 00:27:32,560 --> 00:27:35,810 Bye, bye... 471 00:27:35,820 --> 00:27:39,940 Michael Lang plays me a tape. He says, "The guy's name is Billy Joel." 472 00:27:40,360 --> 00:27:42,950 I said, "Boy, this guy is terrific." 473 00:27:42,950 --> 00:27:45,990 I said, "Where is Billy now?" He says, "Billy's broke. 474 00:27:45,990 --> 00:27:48,240 "We don't understand why nobody believes 475 00:27:48,240 --> 00:27:50,540 and appreciates Billy's genius." 476 00:27:50,540 --> 00:27:52,870 And I said, "I'm glad nobody else understood it. 477 00:27:52,870 --> 00:27:56,790 "I'm glad you finally wound up at the bottom with me. 478 00:27:56,800 --> 00:27:58,380 We'll go to the top together." 479 00:27:59,460 --> 00:28:04,130 In 1971, I worked with Artie at Family Records. 480 00:28:04,140 --> 00:28:06,260 Billy came to Los Angeles 481 00:28:06,260 --> 00:28:09,470 to record "Cold Spring Harbor" at the Record Plant. 482 00:28:10,350 --> 00:28:11,980 Artie Ripp called me up one night and said, 483 00:28:11,980 --> 00:28:13,850 "I've got a kid from Long Island coming out, 484 00:28:13,850 --> 00:28:15,440 and I'm doing an album on him." 485 00:28:15,440 --> 00:28:18,270 And he said, "I want you to play drums on it." 486 00:28:19,030 --> 00:28:21,820 We met at Record Plant, Studio A, 487 00:28:21,820 --> 00:28:26,070 "Okay, let's get on the instruments and let's play it." 488 00:28:26,070 --> 00:28:27,370 Okay, we're rolling. 489 00:28:27,870 --> 00:28:29,620 Rolling, number one, "Turn Around." 490 00:28:29,620 --> 00:28:32,250 With Billy, he had his material down, 491 00:28:32,250 --> 00:28:36,130 and there wasn't a whole lot to fine tweak. 492 00:28:36,130 --> 00:28:39,210 All you had to do was bring your contribution to it. 493 00:28:39,960 --> 00:28:42,050 Turn around 494 00:28:42,550 --> 00:28:46,090 And I will sing for you a song 495 00:28:48,720 --> 00:28:52,520 I remember when they were recording the "Cold Spring Harbor" record 496 00:28:52,520 --> 00:28:54,810 all the stuff I heard just broke my heart. 497 00:28:55,440 --> 00:28:59,270 I always thought I'd be in the picture. I mean, I felt I should be there. 498 00:28:59,860 --> 00:29:02,240 It was just really, really hard. 499 00:29:05,280 --> 00:29:09,370 And "Cold Spring Harbor," were a lot of soft songs on that. 500 00:29:09,370 --> 00:29:13,160 So you actually saw the emotion of this artist coming out. 501 00:29:17,460 --> 00:29:21,130 She's got a way about her 502 00:29:22,840 --> 00:29:24,920 I don't know what it is 503 00:29:25,550 --> 00:29:29,140 But I know that I can't live without her... 504 00:29:29,140 --> 00:29:32,810 But these were really poetry songs. 505 00:29:32,810 --> 00:29:36,980 And you could tell from the lyrics that he was really in love with Elizabeth. 506 00:29:36,980 --> 00:29:40,110 ...without a sound she touches me 507 00:29:40,110 --> 00:29:44,900 And I get turned around 508 00:29:44,900 --> 00:29:46,530 Oh 509 00:29:46,530 --> 00:29:50,030 It was all from Elizabeth leaving him that he was so sad. 510 00:29:50,030 --> 00:29:52,040 And he put it into music. 511 00:29:53,620 --> 00:29:57,670 She's got a smile that heals me 512 00:29:58,580 --> 00:30:01,880 Oh, I don't know why it is 513 00:30:01,880 --> 00:30:06,220 But I have to laugh when she reveals me 514 00:30:06,220 --> 00:30:09,720 That kid that was just crushed wrote a beautiful album. 515 00:30:10,050 --> 00:30:12,140 It just poured out of him. 516 00:30:12,140 --> 00:30:15,640 Life does things for you that you can't do for yourself sometimes. 517 00:30:15,640 --> 00:30:18,270 ...but I know that I can't live 518 00:30:18,270 --> 00:30:21,980 Without her anyway 519 00:30:26,860 --> 00:30:29,200 - You ready? - Yup. 520 00:30:29,860 --> 00:30:32,200 I was in the studio recording my songs, 521 00:30:32,580 --> 00:30:34,240 and Artie was producing. 522 00:30:34,240 --> 00:30:35,990 And he would say, "Sing it again. 523 00:30:36,000 --> 00:30:37,790 Do another one, sing another take." 524 00:30:38,410 --> 00:30:40,540 - Ah... - One more time. 525 00:30:40,540 --> 00:30:42,170 When you're here... 526 00:30:42,170 --> 00:30:44,710 - One more time. - Ah... 527 00:30:44,710 --> 00:30:46,420 Okay, one more time. Here we go. 528 00:30:46,420 --> 00:30:49,880 I think I realized right off the bat he didn't know what he was doing. 529 00:30:50,640 --> 00:30:53,850 After three or four takes, I start to hate the thing. 530 00:30:53,850 --> 00:30:56,470 You can do one better than that. Again. 531 00:30:56,470 --> 00:31:00,190 It was ridiculous how many times he made Billy do a take. 532 00:31:00,190 --> 00:31:02,400 Standby, we're rolling. This is Lionheart. 533 00:31:02,400 --> 00:31:04,110 Ten, huh. Here you go. 534 00:31:04,690 --> 00:31:08,490 Billy was a quiet young man in those years. 535 00:31:08,900 --> 00:31:12,160 He didn't fight back against Artie. 536 00:31:12,160 --> 00:31:13,280 That's all I got of that. 537 00:31:13,280 --> 00:31:14,620 Yeah, the front sucks. 538 00:31:14,620 --> 00:31:15,700 Yeah, I know. 539 00:31:16,330 --> 00:31:18,330 Working with Artie, it was like pulling teeth. 540 00:31:18,330 --> 00:31:19,620 It wasn't fun. 541 00:31:20,040 --> 00:31:22,370 I really didn't know what it was supposed to be like. 542 00:31:22,380 --> 00:31:24,340 I just heard crazy stories, 543 00:31:25,040 --> 00:31:26,670 like everybody is nuts in the music business, 544 00:31:26,670 --> 00:31:28,630 and that's what it seemed like to me. 545 00:31:28,630 --> 00:31:31,510 And that's, that was what life was for a couple of months. 546 00:31:39,020 --> 00:31:40,890 Once upon a time in the land... 547 00:31:40,890 --> 00:31:43,020 When we'd finished doing all the tracks, 548 00:31:43,650 --> 00:31:45,690 Billy had gone back to New York. 549 00:31:45,690 --> 00:31:48,820 Then Artie had free reign. 550 00:31:50,530 --> 00:31:54,280 The songs themselves were fabulous, 551 00:31:54,280 --> 00:31:56,950 but somehow he got into the studio 552 00:31:56,950 --> 00:32:00,910 with those songs, and they became corrupted. 553 00:32:03,630 --> 00:32:07,380 At the time, some of the singles would be formatted 554 00:32:07,380 --> 00:32:10,630 to the two minute 30 slot for radio. 555 00:32:14,180 --> 00:32:17,850 The tape machine, you can oscillate and speed it up just a little. 556 00:32:17,850 --> 00:32:22,600 Now you're in the center of the stage 557 00:32:23,730 --> 00:32:25,520 Everything revolves on what you... 558 00:32:25,520 --> 00:32:29,610 And so, it seems that when they went and mastered, 559 00:32:29,610 --> 00:32:35,110 they hadn't brought the album track back to regular speed. 560 00:32:37,530 --> 00:32:39,790 When I first sat down and listened 561 00:32:39,790 --> 00:32:41,120 to the finished product, 562 00:32:42,080 --> 00:32:44,000 I said this ain't right. 563 00:32:45,250 --> 00:32:48,500 She's got a smile that heals me 564 00:32:48,500 --> 00:32:51,800 It got screwed up, and my voice came out like a chipmunk on that album. 565 00:32:52,800 --> 00:32:56,550 But I have to laugh when she reveals me 566 00:32:57,680 --> 00:32:58,800 I was humiliated. 567 00:32:58,810 --> 00:33:00,850 I actually took the disk that they gave me, 568 00:33:00,850 --> 00:33:03,310 and I threw it like a Frisbee down the street. 569 00:33:03,730 --> 00:33:06,230 That's what I thought it was worth, thought it was a piece of junk. 570 00:33:07,980 --> 00:33:11,070 I'm so alienated from that whole process. 571 00:33:11,070 --> 00:33:13,110 I feel very distant from it 572 00:33:13,110 --> 00:33:16,530 because it was such an unpleasant experience. 573 00:33:17,820 --> 00:33:21,660 But it was probably around that time that I started to see Elizabeth again. 574 00:33:23,080 --> 00:33:28,580 I remember he would pass a cassette tape to my sister 575 00:33:29,040 --> 00:33:30,420 to pass along to me. 576 00:33:34,590 --> 00:33:37,300 Hearing those songs was overwhelming. 577 00:33:37,300 --> 00:33:40,050 She's got a way about her 578 00:33:40,760 --> 00:33:44,850 It was stunning that he could accomplish something like that. 579 00:33:44,850 --> 00:33:48,350 But I know that I can't live without her 580 00:33:48,350 --> 00:33:51,650 And so, it had an impact. I mean, it's... 581 00:33:52,610 --> 00:33:53,610 Yeah. 582 00:33:54,190 --> 00:33:56,450 I don't know what it is 583 00:33:56,450 --> 00:34:00,820 It must have been close to a year that she wasn't around at all. 584 00:34:00,830 --> 00:34:03,620 And then she was in my life again. 585 00:34:04,700 --> 00:34:08,120 She's got a smile that heals me 586 00:34:09,330 --> 00:34:13,000 So, Elizabeth and I rented a place with some money 587 00:34:13,000 --> 00:34:16,670 that Artie Ripp was giving me on a monthly basis. 588 00:34:17,550 --> 00:34:20,430 We laughed and we had fun like we always did, 589 00:34:21,050 --> 00:34:25,270 but our lives really revolved around his music 590 00:34:25,270 --> 00:34:27,140 and what he wanted to do with his life. 591 00:34:28,350 --> 00:34:31,940 At that time, I was supposed to be on tour promoting the album. 592 00:34:31,940 --> 00:34:33,980 I didn't even know what promoting meant. 593 00:34:33,980 --> 00:34:36,440 I just, "Play over there." Okay. Went and played. 594 00:34:39,990 --> 00:34:41,700 So I would just be playing in clubs 595 00:34:41,700 --> 00:34:45,370 or showcases or conventions, wherever I got booked. 596 00:34:46,000 --> 00:34:50,080 We played The Troubadour. I mean, that was like the showcase place 597 00:34:50,080 --> 00:34:52,080 in Los Angeles at the time. 598 00:34:52,090 --> 00:34:56,050 Good evening. Hello, hello. A lot of people here for the first show? 599 00:34:56,050 --> 00:34:57,630 This is called "Everybody Loves You Now." 600 00:34:58,800 --> 00:34:59,880 See how all the people 601 00:34:59,880 --> 00:35:01,470 Gather 'round 602 00:35:01,470 --> 00:35:04,640 Hey, isn't it a thrill to see them crawl? 603 00:35:05,390 --> 00:35:06,600 We had a great audience. 604 00:35:06,600 --> 00:35:10,060 And after that, there was a whole bunch of attention paid to us. 605 00:35:10,900 --> 00:35:13,980 Ah, this is what you wanted ain't you proud? 606 00:35:14,360 --> 00:35:21,320 'Cause everybody loves you now 607 00:35:25,580 --> 00:35:30,330 And so, the "Cold Spring Harbor" album is getting some good write-ups. 608 00:35:30,330 --> 00:35:33,540 But we would get feedback from fans and so forth 609 00:35:33,540 --> 00:35:36,840 that they couldn't get the album because it wasn't in the stores. 610 00:35:36,840 --> 00:35:40,630 The fans who were turned onto what we're doing here, 611 00:35:40,630 --> 00:35:43,050 they can't go buy the record. That's part of the process. 612 00:35:43,930 --> 00:35:47,010 And so there was distribution lacking here. 613 00:35:48,100 --> 00:35:52,100 Come around when you're feelin' low 614 00:35:52,100 --> 00:35:55,110 I went on tour for over a year, kind of living 615 00:35:55,110 --> 00:35:57,070 on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, 616 00:35:57,070 --> 00:36:00,150 trying to promote this record for this production company. 617 00:36:00,150 --> 00:36:02,030 And I realized I'm getting screwed. 618 00:36:03,110 --> 00:36:05,120 Artie Ripp was supposed to be sending me 619 00:36:05,120 --> 00:36:07,330 a check every month, and the check didn't come, 620 00:36:07,330 --> 00:36:10,330 so I couldn't pay the rent, and then we were locked out of the house. 621 00:36:12,500 --> 00:36:14,880 After, you know, all these months and months of touring 622 00:36:14,880 --> 00:36:17,710 and playing and performing, nobody got paid. 623 00:36:17,710 --> 00:36:20,420 I didn't get paid. I couldn't pay the band. 624 00:36:20,760 --> 00:36:22,300 There was nothing to show for it. 625 00:36:22,300 --> 00:36:24,470 ...been a long, long night 626 00:36:25,390 --> 00:36:27,100 And there isn't an end in... 627 00:36:27,100 --> 00:36:28,680 With my first record contract, 628 00:36:28,680 --> 00:36:31,470 I gave up my publishing, I gave up my copyrights, 629 00:36:31,480 --> 00:36:33,270 I gave up my record royalties, 630 00:36:33,270 --> 00:36:35,600 everything but my firstborn child, I think. 631 00:36:35,610 --> 00:36:37,270 Just signed it all away. 632 00:36:37,650 --> 00:36:41,280 And that's kind of par for the course for the music business back in those days. 633 00:36:41,900 --> 00:36:43,650 It was pretty rough. 634 00:36:52,210 --> 00:36:54,250 So I said, you know, this is ridiculous. 635 00:36:54,540 --> 00:36:57,340 Let's go out to California. Maybe I can figure this out. 636 00:36:59,710 --> 00:37:02,710 You know, my first real memory is when we drove cross-country to California, 637 00:37:02,720 --> 00:37:04,930 in I think 1972. 638 00:37:04,930 --> 00:37:08,850 And I remember my mom had a Datsun station wagon 639 00:37:08,850 --> 00:37:11,890 for the journey of 3,000 miles. 640 00:37:12,730 --> 00:37:17,150 You know, my life up until that point, there wasn't a lot of stability. 641 00:37:17,150 --> 00:37:19,110 But to me, as a five-year-old, it was adventure. 642 00:37:19,110 --> 00:37:22,150 I was going on an adventure with my mother and with Billy. 643 00:37:27,320 --> 00:37:28,570 You know, we were young. 644 00:37:28,570 --> 00:37:30,450 We both wanted adventures. 645 00:37:30,450 --> 00:37:36,160 And Bill was offering me something that was completely different. 646 00:37:36,170 --> 00:37:37,920 It was like, oh, let's see. 647 00:37:37,920 --> 00:37:42,210 I'm just going to stay here and keep going to school 648 00:37:42,210 --> 00:37:45,670 and working and taking care of Sean, or I'm going to go 649 00:37:45,680 --> 00:37:47,340 to California with my boyfriend. 650 00:37:47,340 --> 00:37:51,260 Oh, and now she's heading out to California 651 00:37:52,770 --> 00:37:54,180 And she doesn't know what's comin' 652 00:37:54,640 --> 00:37:56,980 But she's sure of what she's leaving behind 653 00:37:56,980 --> 00:37:58,650 So we drove across country. 654 00:37:59,520 --> 00:38:03,990 I got to see a good amount of America on that trip that I'd never seen before, 655 00:38:04,610 --> 00:38:06,530 and it was so different than where I was from. 656 00:38:06,530 --> 00:38:08,780 It was completely unknown. 657 00:38:10,450 --> 00:38:13,200 Our trip cross country, it was kind of scary. 658 00:38:13,200 --> 00:38:17,210 It was like, is this happening? Am I doing the right thing? 659 00:38:17,330 --> 00:38:20,920 And when you hear the song "Stop in Nevada," 660 00:38:20,920 --> 00:38:22,790 it was so haunting. 661 00:38:22,800 --> 00:38:24,750 It was like a conscience. 662 00:38:24,760 --> 00:38:28,180 Though she finds it hard to leave him 663 00:38:30,970 --> 00:38:34,350 She knows it would be worse to stay 664 00:38:34,770 --> 00:38:36,350 We got to California, 665 00:38:36,350 --> 00:38:39,850 and we tried to figure out how we could make a living 666 00:38:39,850 --> 00:38:41,980 and figure out what was going on. 667 00:38:42,320 --> 00:38:44,570 There was a little bit of money, but not much. 668 00:38:45,820 --> 00:38:49,030 Things were tight. You know, we were... 669 00:38:49,030 --> 00:38:51,660 we were making it, I think, very much day to day. 670 00:38:52,990 --> 00:38:54,580 We stayed in a hotel. 671 00:38:54,580 --> 00:38:56,450 And we didn't know where we were going to live. 672 00:38:56,450 --> 00:39:00,120 We didn't have any prospects. I was worried about it. 673 00:39:06,300 --> 00:39:10,220 When you look into my eyes 674 00:39:10,220 --> 00:39:14,510 And you see the crazy gypsy in my soul 675 00:39:17,310 --> 00:39:18,770 It was Valentine's Day. 676 00:39:18,770 --> 00:39:22,230 We didn't have money, so I wasn't able to go and buy a gift. 677 00:39:22,650 --> 00:39:24,230 My gift was the song. 678 00:39:25,820 --> 00:39:27,730 Well, I never had a place 679 00:39:27,740 --> 00:39:30,780 That I could call my very own 680 00:39:31,160 --> 00:39:33,030 But that's alright my love 681 00:39:33,030 --> 00:39:34,910 'Cause you're my home 682 00:39:34,910 --> 00:39:37,500 I wanted Elizabeth to know, you're my home. 683 00:39:38,080 --> 00:39:39,620 Wherever you are, that's where 684 00:39:39,620 --> 00:39:41,330 our house is. That's our home. 685 00:39:43,500 --> 00:39:46,500 And you tell me everything will be alright 686 00:39:46,500 --> 00:39:50,720 When I listen to those songs, I don't hear what anybody else hears. 687 00:39:51,010 --> 00:39:53,130 I feel the feelings that I had then. 688 00:39:53,140 --> 00:39:56,600 I see the shaft of light coming in through the window 689 00:39:56,600 --> 00:39:58,520 and reflecting off Billy's hair. 690 00:39:58,970 --> 00:40:01,440 I hear Sean playing in the background. 691 00:40:02,020 --> 00:40:03,520 That's what I hear. 692 00:40:03,940 --> 00:40:08,030 Whenever we're together that's my home 693 00:40:09,030 --> 00:40:12,400 Billy didn't have any allies until Elizabeth. 694 00:40:12,410 --> 00:40:16,120 Then, it was the two of them against the world. 695 00:40:16,660 --> 00:40:20,620 Indiana's early morning too 696 00:40:21,040 --> 00:40:26,250 Oh, high up in the hills of California 697 00:40:26,880 --> 00:40:30,510 Home is just another word for you 698 00:40:30,510 --> 00:40:32,090 Oh 699 00:40:33,180 --> 00:40:36,590 So I decided I needed to get a lawyer, 700 00:40:36,600 --> 00:40:38,300 I needed to get an accountant, 701 00:40:38,310 --> 00:40:41,350 and I needed to get out of this deal that I had signed with Artie Ripp. 702 00:40:44,190 --> 00:40:46,600 And I was going to sit Artie Ripp out. 703 00:40:46,610 --> 00:40:49,940 If he's not going to negotiate, he's not going to get anything from me. 704 00:40:49,940 --> 00:40:51,280 He's not going to get any music, 705 00:40:51,280 --> 00:40:53,200 not any promotion, nothing, 706 00:40:53,700 --> 00:40:55,450 because it was the only leverage I had. 707 00:40:58,990 --> 00:41:03,870 They made a decision to not take any money from Artie, 708 00:41:04,670 --> 00:41:06,580 so they were on strike. 709 00:41:08,130 --> 00:41:11,090 And so, I had to get an apartment, I had to get a job. 710 00:41:11,760 --> 00:41:15,470 I started looking in these different clubs where a piano player could play. 711 00:41:16,430 --> 00:41:19,800 Obviously, Bill could not work as Billy Joel, 712 00:41:19,810 --> 00:41:23,480 and so he got a job at a place called the Executive Room. 713 00:41:25,690 --> 00:41:28,230 I needed to use an alibi to work. 714 00:41:28,230 --> 00:41:32,610 My full name is William Martin Joel, so I was Bill Martin at the keyboards. 715 00:41:35,070 --> 00:41:37,490 It was a small local bar, 716 00:41:37,490 --> 00:41:40,950 and it had one of these pianos that had a leatherette rim around it 717 00:41:40,950 --> 00:41:43,790 so people could lean on the piano while they were drinking. 718 00:41:44,460 --> 00:41:45,910 And I really put on the act. 719 00:41:45,920 --> 00:41:48,750 Good evening. It's really great to see you. 720 00:41:48,750 --> 00:41:50,880 You know, this whole... the lawdy schmooze guy 721 00:41:50,880 --> 00:41:53,460 with the shirt open to here. How you doing? 722 00:41:53,460 --> 00:41:55,470 And the funny thing was this was in Hollywood. 723 00:41:55,470 --> 00:41:58,430 These guys would come over and go, "Hey, kid, you're really great. 724 00:41:58,430 --> 00:42:00,350 I can get you in the recording business," you know? 725 00:42:00,350 --> 00:42:01,720 And I'd be, "No, thanks. 726 00:42:01,720 --> 00:42:04,930 I just want to be here on the lounge. It's great." 727 00:42:06,640 --> 00:42:09,270 I knew this is a real-life experience. 728 00:42:09,270 --> 00:42:11,820 And I thought, I've got to get a song out of this. 729 00:42:12,360 --> 00:42:15,070 This next song is a true story. 730 00:42:16,400 --> 00:42:17,740 It's called "Piano Man." 731 00:42:17,740 --> 00:42:20,490 And that's where the "Piano Man" song came from. 732 00:42:24,870 --> 00:42:29,170 I liked the way it sounded, but I was told it was unusual. 733 00:42:33,500 --> 00:42:37,300 It ended up being written in 6/8 time, like a waltz. 734 00:42:38,550 --> 00:42:40,590 It was a very strange tempo, 735 00:42:41,600 --> 00:42:44,350 but melody was always primary to me. 736 00:42:52,400 --> 00:42:55,730 It's 9 o'clock on a Saturday 737 00:42:57,280 --> 00:42:59,780 The regular crowd shuffles in 738 00:43:00,530 --> 00:43:03,950 There's an old man sittin' next to me 739 00:43:04,490 --> 00:43:06,950 Making love to his tonic and gin... 740 00:43:06,950 --> 00:43:08,540 With "Piano Man," I don't think 741 00:43:08,540 --> 00:43:10,870 of it as a personal narrative very much, you know? 742 00:43:10,870 --> 00:43:13,380 I think he's kind of like a painter of milieu, you know? 743 00:43:13,380 --> 00:43:15,550 Like in the piano bar, he's talking about a scene 744 00:43:15,550 --> 00:43:17,130 that he's passing through 745 00:43:17,130 --> 00:43:18,670 more than talking about himself. 746 00:43:18,670 --> 00:43:22,300 He says, son, can you play me a memory? 747 00:43:22,640 --> 00:43:25,760 I'm not really sure how it goes 748 00:43:26,560 --> 00:43:28,270 But it's sad and it's sweet 749 00:43:28,270 --> 00:43:30,310 And I knew it complete 750 00:43:30,810 --> 00:43:34,020 When I wore a younger man's clothes 751 00:43:34,520 --> 00:43:36,730 And then, when you hear this harmonica, 752 00:43:36,730 --> 00:43:39,280 no one ever pulled out a harmonica in a piano bar. 753 00:43:39,280 --> 00:43:43,030 It's not a piano lounge song. This sounds like a sea shanty, you know. 754 00:43:46,910 --> 00:43:50,330 Sing us a song you're the piano man 755 00:43:50,790 --> 00:43:53,710 Sing us a song tonight 756 00:43:54,670 --> 00:43:57,920 Well, we're all in the mood for a melody 757 00:43:59,010 --> 00:44:01,260 And you've got us feelin' alright 758 00:44:01,260 --> 00:44:04,430 "Piano Man" exists as a kind of Billy's theme song. 759 00:44:04,430 --> 00:44:07,850 But the depth of "Piano Man" is something that's overlooked. 760 00:44:07,850 --> 00:44:11,890 It's so much a part of the culture that it's hard to really hear it fresh. 761 00:44:11,890 --> 00:44:14,770 But if you take the time to actually listen to it, 762 00:44:14,770 --> 00:44:16,650 there's a kind of empathy in that song. 763 00:44:16,650 --> 00:44:20,070 Now John at the bar is a friend of mine 764 00:44:20,530 --> 00:44:22,070 He gets me my drinks... 765 00:44:22,070 --> 00:44:26,030 All of those characters are talking about dreams they had 766 00:44:26,030 --> 00:44:28,160 that are unfulfilled. 767 00:44:28,660 --> 00:44:31,790 But there's someplace that he'd rather be 768 00:44:31,790 --> 00:44:33,170 It's quite moving. 769 00:44:34,540 --> 00:44:38,250 He says, "Bill, I believe this is killing me," 770 00:44:38,250 --> 00:44:41,510 As the smile ran away from his face 771 00:44:41,510 --> 00:44:44,510 "Piano Man" is a mirror facing a mirror. 772 00:44:44,930 --> 00:44:47,180 I mean, you can just see infinite reflections. 773 00:44:47,180 --> 00:44:52,020 Because here's a musician talking about another musician 774 00:44:52,020 --> 00:44:54,100 who's telling us about other people's lives. 775 00:44:54,850 --> 00:44:58,230 There's a lot of emotion involved because you care about the stories. 776 00:44:58,230 --> 00:45:02,490 You care about the people involved, and that's how this thing lives on and on. 777 00:45:02,490 --> 00:45:06,030 Now Paul is a real estate novelist 778 00:45:06,910 --> 00:45:09,490 Who never had time for a wife 779 00:45:10,830 --> 00:45:14,870 And he's talking with Davy who's still in the navy 780 00:45:14,870 --> 00:45:17,540 And probably will be for life 781 00:45:17,540 --> 00:45:19,500 So these are all based on real people. 782 00:45:19,500 --> 00:45:23,260 And Elizabeth got a job as a waitress at this place. 783 00:45:23,260 --> 00:45:24,670 So even in the song, 784 00:45:24,680 --> 00:45:27,260 it says "the waitress is practicing politics," 785 00:45:27,260 --> 00:45:28,760 she was the waitress. 786 00:45:28,760 --> 00:45:32,930 And the waitress is practicing politics 787 00:45:33,310 --> 00:45:36,650 As the businessmen slowly get stoned 788 00:45:37,100 --> 00:45:39,060 Yes, they're sharing a drink 789 00:45:39,060 --> 00:45:42,280 They call loneliness, but it's better... 790 00:45:42,280 --> 00:45:46,700 Bill can take a kernel of something that happened 791 00:45:46,700 --> 00:45:50,450 and create a story that is universal. 792 00:45:50,950 --> 00:45:55,910 And he would get to the DNA of the human experience. 793 00:45:55,910 --> 00:46:01,210 And that's why that song, it's like the everyman anthem. 794 00:46:01,210 --> 00:46:02,880 Sing us a song 795 00:46:02,880 --> 00:46:04,800 You're the Piano Man 796 00:46:04,800 --> 00:46:07,680 Early in our career, when you're playing the bars, 797 00:46:07,680 --> 00:46:09,970 all you're looking for is for all these people 798 00:46:09,970 --> 00:46:11,140 to get on the same page. 799 00:46:11,510 --> 00:46:12,890 It's going to be these singalongs, right? 800 00:46:12,890 --> 00:46:14,560 But I'm telling you right now, there ain't a crowd 801 00:46:14,560 --> 00:46:16,730 I've ever played that didn't want "Piano Man" 802 00:46:16,730 --> 00:46:17,850 once you started playing it. 803 00:46:19,150 --> 00:46:20,400 "Piano Man" comes on, 804 00:46:20,400 --> 00:46:22,230 I don't care where you are, the world stops, 805 00:46:22,230 --> 00:46:23,980 and that's what we're doing for the next five minutes 806 00:46:23,980 --> 00:46:25,240 and 50 seconds. 807 00:46:25,990 --> 00:46:26,990 And it doesn't matter the age. 808 00:46:26,990 --> 00:46:28,400 It doesn't matter when you first heard it 809 00:46:28,410 --> 00:46:30,320 or what you were into, you're singing "Piano Man." 810 00:46:30,320 --> 00:46:32,030 Sing us a song 811 00:46:32,030 --> 00:46:34,040 You're the Piano Man 812 00:46:34,040 --> 00:46:37,710 Sing us a song tonight 813 00:46:37,710 --> 00:46:41,710 Well, we're all in the mood for a melody 814 00:46:42,420 --> 00:46:46,170 And you've got us feelin' alright 815 00:47:00,150 --> 00:47:04,730 I didn't think I'd get stuck with a hook, but it's become a signature piece. 816 00:47:04,730 --> 00:47:07,440 I actually did a couple of gigs at one time 817 00:47:07,440 --> 00:47:09,280 when we didn't even play the song. 818 00:47:09,280 --> 00:47:12,450 And I caught a lot of flack for it. "You didn't even do 'Piano Man.'" 819 00:47:13,160 --> 00:47:15,740 Oh, I'm sorry. Okay, I guess we got to do it. 820 00:47:15,740 --> 00:47:18,160 So it's mandatory. 821 00:47:19,920 --> 00:47:22,000 On the other hand, that's not the worst thing 822 00:47:22,000 --> 00:47:23,380 that could happen either. 823 00:47:23,880 --> 00:47:24,960 Thank you! 824 00:47:28,840 --> 00:47:30,300 Hey, do another one! 825 00:47:32,090 --> 00:47:33,340 The Executive Room, 826 00:47:33,350 --> 00:47:36,850 it was how we supported ourselves while we were trying to figure out 827 00:47:36,850 --> 00:47:38,890 the contractual issues. 828 00:47:40,020 --> 00:47:43,190 But then at some point, we had the opportunity 829 00:47:43,190 --> 00:47:45,940 to move to Malibu to the top of a mountain. 830 00:47:54,280 --> 00:47:57,540 Today I'm livin' like a rich man's son 831 00:47:58,200 --> 00:48:00,830 Tomorrow mornin' I could be a bum 832 00:48:00,830 --> 00:48:04,130 We were moving to New York to work at Atlantic Records, 833 00:48:04,130 --> 00:48:05,710 so our house was empty. 834 00:48:05,710 --> 00:48:09,170 It was a rustic, adorable little A-frame. 835 00:48:09,590 --> 00:48:11,670 We're at the very top of the canyon, 836 00:48:11,680 --> 00:48:15,390 and we had a baby grand right at the window. 837 00:48:16,850 --> 00:48:20,480 We had this idyllic life up in the Malibu mountains. 838 00:48:21,270 --> 00:48:24,480 We just fell into this fantastic situation. 839 00:48:25,020 --> 00:48:27,400 Those were just golden years. 840 00:48:29,150 --> 00:48:31,280 And during that time, 841 00:48:31,280 --> 00:48:36,530 my mother had been very supportive of everything I'd done, 842 00:48:36,990 --> 00:48:40,370 but my mother said, "It's time to come home." 843 00:48:44,000 --> 00:48:48,960 But I knew if we were married, I didn't have to go home. 844 00:48:49,760 --> 00:48:54,090 In 1973, Elizabeth said, "We're getting married today." 845 00:48:54,590 --> 00:48:59,100 And I said, "We are?" And she said, "Yeah. Or else I'm leaving." 846 00:49:01,020 --> 00:49:02,930 We went to the Malibu courthouse. 847 00:49:02,940 --> 00:49:04,560 It was real quick. It was a ceremony. 848 00:49:04,560 --> 00:49:06,520 "Okay. I now pronounce you man and wife." Boom. 849 00:49:08,650 --> 00:49:10,730 I did have trepidation about getting married. 850 00:49:10,730 --> 00:49:15,700 I realized I'm just at the beginning of a rock 'n' roll career here. 851 00:49:15,700 --> 00:49:17,370 I'm going to be going on the road. 852 00:49:17,370 --> 00:49:18,780 I'm going to be touring. I'm going to be writing. 853 00:49:18,780 --> 00:49:20,120 I'm going to be recording. 854 00:49:20,660 --> 00:49:25,250 There's a lot I'm going to be doing that's not going to be a home life. 855 00:49:25,250 --> 00:49:27,250 So that's where my trepidations come from. 856 00:49:27,250 --> 00:49:30,210 It wasn't because I didn't love the woman I was with. 857 00:49:30,670 --> 00:49:34,220 I was just scared. For good reason. 858 00:49:35,840 --> 00:49:39,640 So it was a lot of emotions going on all at the same time. 859 00:49:40,600 --> 00:49:43,350 But I saw it as being good for me. 860 00:49:43,930 --> 00:49:46,890 Because at that time in our lives, all we did was music. 861 00:49:46,900 --> 00:49:48,230 It was all about music. 862 00:49:49,150 --> 00:49:51,360 I was living in this beautiful little chalet 863 00:49:52,070 --> 00:49:54,990 and just writing my head off. 864 00:49:56,410 --> 00:49:58,160 In that house in Malibu, 865 00:49:58,160 --> 00:50:03,540 that is where we got the first phone call from Clive Davis. 866 00:50:03,540 --> 00:50:07,790 Clive Davis, the man who signed Janis Joplin, Santana, Chicago, 867 00:50:08,210 --> 00:50:10,590 Blood, Sweat & Tears, and Neil Diamond. 868 00:50:11,130 --> 00:50:12,920 And I'll always remember that. 869 00:50:12,920 --> 00:50:15,090 I mean, it's like one of those things that, 870 00:50:15,090 --> 00:50:17,590 you know, "Oh, it's Columbia Records on the phone." 871 00:50:17,590 --> 00:50:20,590 Hah! "Who is this?" You know. 872 00:50:20,600 --> 00:50:22,100 But it was Columbia Records. 873 00:50:24,600 --> 00:50:29,440 A year or so before we moved to California, I had been touring. 874 00:50:29,730 --> 00:50:34,570 We had done a promotional concert in Philadelphia at this radio station. 875 00:50:35,530 --> 00:50:36,900 Well, good evening, I'm Ed Sciaky. 876 00:50:36,900 --> 00:50:38,570 I'd like to welcome all of you here in the studio, 877 00:50:38,570 --> 00:50:42,160 and all of you at home to WMMR'S live radio concert. 878 00:50:42,160 --> 00:50:44,120 So now let's welcome Billy Joel! 879 00:50:45,000 --> 00:50:47,790 And I played the song "Captain Jack," which was a new song. 880 00:50:50,880 --> 00:50:52,080 Saturday night 881 00:50:52,090 --> 00:50:56,010 And you're still hangin' around 882 00:50:56,920 --> 00:51:01,180 You're tired of livin' in your one horse town 883 00:51:01,180 --> 00:51:04,060 The radio station recorded it, and they continued to play it 884 00:51:04,060 --> 00:51:06,970 because they got requested by people calling in. 885 00:51:06,980 --> 00:51:09,600 "Just play that song about Captain Jack." 886 00:51:09,600 --> 00:51:12,730 And it was the most requested song in the radio station's history. 887 00:51:13,860 --> 00:51:16,610 I didn't know that it was being played on the radio. 888 00:51:16,610 --> 00:51:21,570 And the local record promotion guys, they reported back to Columbia Records. 889 00:51:21,570 --> 00:51:23,620 "There's all these people calling in for this song 890 00:51:23,620 --> 00:51:27,000 by this guy named Billy Joel. Nobody knows who he is or where he is." 891 00:51:27,870 --> 00:51:29,620 Oh 892 00:51:29,620 --> 00:51:33,210 'Cause Captain Jack will get you high tonight 893 00:51:35,170 --> 00:51:39,420 And take you to your special island 894 00:51:41,680 --> 00:51:43,090 Captain Jack... 895 00:51:43,100 --> 00:51:45,350 I first came to know about Billy Joel, 896 00:51:45,350 --> 00:51:49,810 it was a recording that he had done of "Captain Jack" 897 00:51:49,810 --> 00:51:51,770 that piqued my interest, 898 00:51:51,770 --> 00:51:55,900 and I told people I would love to meet him, 899 00:51:55,900 --> 00:51:57,860 I would love to see him perform, 900 00:51:57,860 --> 00:52:03,120 I would love to listen to the rest of his material. 901 00:52:06,280 --> 00:52:08,950 So I had a meeting with Clive in his bungalow 902 00:52:08,950 --> 00:52:12,620 at the Beverly Hills Hotel, which was very hoity-toity. 903 00:52:12,620 --> 00:52:13,790 Wow, look at this. 904 00:52:13,790 --> 00:52:17,000 And Clive expressed an interest in signing me to Columbia Records. 905 00:52:17,880 --> 00:52:21,760 Now, I'd heard that Atlantic was interested in signing me. 906 00:52:21,760 --> 00:52:24,680 This is a nice situation to find myself in. 907 00:52:24,680 --> 00:52:26,600 Nobody wanted to sign me before. 908 00:52:26,600 --> 00:52:28,430 All of a sudden, I got the biggest record companies 909 00:52:28,430 --> 00:52:29,890 in the world wanting to sign me. 910 00:52:30,980 --> 00:52:35,110 I decided to go with Columbia because it was the label of Bob Dylan. 911 00:52:36,520 --> 00:52:40,530 Bob Dylan wasn't known as a great record seller, 912 00:52:40,530 --> 00:52:42,150 but he was Bob Dylan. 913 00:52:42,150 --> 00:52:43,530 And I thought, you know what? 914 00:52:43,530 --> 00:52:45,360 If this is a label 915 00:52:45,370 --> 00:52:47,450 that's continuing to release records 916 00:52:47,450 --> 00:52:50,870 by this guy who doesn't really sell number one albums, 917 00:52:51,410 --> 00:52:53,960 but they're committed to him, I thought, okay, 918 00:52:54,580 --> 00:52:56,330 I would like to have a career like that. 919 00:52:57,210 --> 00:52:58,750 So I went with Columbia Records. 920 00:53:00,170 --> 00:53:02,340 Okay, sound two. 921 00:53:02,340 --> 00:53:03,920 The day I signed, 922 00:53:03,930 --> 00:53:06,510 I remember meeting with the head of Columbia Records 923 00:53:06,510 --> 00:53:08,890 and playing them some of my stuff. 924 00:53:12,980 --> 00:53:14,440 Hey Lord, would ya look out for her tonight 925 00:53:14,440 --> 00:53:16,770 And make sure that all her dreams are sweet 926 00:53:19,190 --> 00:53:20,730 Said now, would ya guide her along... 927 00:53:20,730 --> 00:53:24,280 When I approach any of the artists that I have signed, you don't say, 928 00:53:24,280 --> 00:53:25,910 oh, they'll be a star. 929 00:53:26,410 --> 00:53:29,450 You would ask, is there enough original talent? 930 00:53:29,450 --> 00:53:32,370 Is there enough innate ability? 931 00:53:32,370 --> 00:53:35,460 Is there a touch of genius in the best case? 932 00:53:36,710 --> 00:53:38,540 Hey Lord, would ya look out for her tonight 933 00:53:38,540 --> 00:53:40,340 If she is sleepin' under the sky 934 00:53:40,340 --> 00:53:42,710 Probably the last artist that I signed to Columbia was 935 00:53:42,710 --> 00:53:45,590 an artist that I think is going to happen in a very, very big way. 936 00:53:45,590 --> 00:53:48,180 I'm talking Billy Joel. He's a marvelous talent. 937 00:53:49,640 --> 00:53:51,930 Hey, don'tcha give her too much rain... 938 00:53:51,930 --> 00:53:57,730 The level of the material was extremely high, and his charisma, 939 00:53:57,730 --> 00:54:00,480 his energy level was extraordinary. 940 00:54:00,480 --> 00:54:02,480 Hey now, would ya look out for her tonight 941 00:54:02,480 --> 00:54:04,150 And make sure that she's gonna be alright 942 00:54:04,150 --> 00:54:06,910 Until she's home and here with me 943 00:54:08,570 --> 00:54:12,990 With me 944 00:54:20,590 --> 00:54:23,710 For "Piano Man," I'm not sure what I was trying to do with the album. 945 00:54:23,710 --> 00:54:27,220 I know I had all kinds of disparate material. 946 00:54:27,220 --> 00:54:29,390 Kind of a lot of different influences. 947 00:54:29,390 --> 00:54:33,010 There's some country western, bluegrass even, the waltz. 948 00:54:33,010 --> 00:54:36,270 I suppose the through line on "Piano Man" was the West, 949 00:54:36,270 --> 00:54:39,400 because to me it was all new. The Wild West. 950 00:54:40,110 --> 00:54:42,570 And I didn't know what was going to be a hit or not. 951 00:54:43,980 --> 00:54:46,740 Billy had such an interesting range of influences. 952 00:54:47,110 --> 00:54:51,410 He found a way to not be beholden to just one genre, 953 00:54:51,410 --> 00:54:55,740 even though maybe that would've made him more acceptable to critics, for instance. 954 00:54:55,750 --> 00:54:59,460 He said, "Son, can you play me a memory?" 955 00:54:59,460 --> 00:55:04,550 Billy, he just had all of these kind of un-rock-and-roll-y influences 956 00:55:04,550 --> 00:55:09,010 that-that knee-jerked some-some critics and some people who didn't understand 957 00:55:09,010 --> 00:55:11,590 sort of exactly what he was up to, you know? 958 00:55:14,600 --> 00:55:16,930 And so, earlier in his career, 959 00:55:16,930 --> 00:55:19,440 he was misunderstood, which is kind of a shame 960 00:55:19,440 --> 00:55:21,770 because they really kind of misperceived 961 00:55:21,770 --> 00:55:23,980 the value of some of his greatest work, you know? 962 00:55:23,980 --> 00:55:27,820 He says, "Bill, I believe this is killing me" 963 00:55:27,820 --> 00:55:30,990 As the smile ran away from his face 964 00:55:32,320 --> 00:55:35,830 It took about six months for that record to start getting played. 965 00:55:35,830 --> 00:55:38,710 And they had to work it. And then it kind of went crazy. 966 00:55:40,580 --> 00:55:43,790 "Piano Man" was actually a hit. 967 00:55:43,790 --> 00:55:50,470 But the part of the contract with Artie was becoming a terrible problem. 968 00:55:54,140 --> 00:55:58,220 After Columbia looked at the contract eight ways to Sunday and saw 969 00:55:58,220 --> 00:56:03,150 there ain't no way to break this contract, they realized they had to deal with me. 970 00:56:06,690 --> 00:56:11,650 If I only had the words to tell you 971 00:56:12,780 --> 00:56:16,910 If you only had the time to understand 972 00:56:16,910 --> 00:56:22,160 Artie got a quarter for every album sold for the first ten years 973 00:56:22,170 --> 00:56:24,790 that Billy was on Columbia Records. 974 00:56:25,380 --> 00:56:28,920 He got my publishing rights. He even had my copyrights. 975 00:56:28,920 --> 00:56:31,380 I didn't know at the time what I had given away. 976 00:56:31,970 --> 00:56:35,840 But to be fair, the only person who believed in me back 977 00:56:35,850 --> 00:56:38,140 at the beginning of things was Artie Ripp. 978 00:56:38,930 --> 00:56:42,730 He put his money where his mouth-- Or he put my money where his mouth was. 979 00:56:42,730 --> 00:56:45,900 And it wasn't a good deal, but it was a deal. 980 00:56:46,690 --> 00:56:49,690 It was a very good investment on Artie's part. 981 00:56:50,110 --> 00:56:55,820 But Bill only made $7,768 from "Piano Man," 982 00:56:55,820 --> 00:56:58,240 and all the other money went to someone else. 983 00:56:58,240 --> 00:57:03,540 So Bill, you know, worked and toured more and the gigs were better, 984 00:57:03,920 --> 00:57:06,540 but it didn't change our lives all that much 985 00:57:06,540 --> 00:57:09,090 because we didn't make any money. 986 00:57:09,090 --> 00:57:15,390 But I only have these arms to hold you 987 00:57:15,970 --> 00:57:21,270 And it's all that you can ask of any man 988 00:57:29,770 --> 00:57:32,900 At the end of that tour, which was about a year, they told me, 989 00:57:32,900 --> 00:57:34,400 "You got to go in and do another album." 990 00:57:34,900 --> 00:57:37,370 Flying east on a plane... 991 00:57:38,070 --> 00:57:40,620 On the "Streetlife" album, I was kind of following 992 00:57:40,620 --> 00:57:42,870 the Jackson Browne school of songwriting, 993 00:57:42,870 --> 00:57:47,330 which was confessional, softer approach with a little bit of country music in it. 994 00:57:47,330 --> 00:57:50,130 And I know it should be fun 995 00:57:50,630 --> 00:57:53,510 But I think I should've packed my gun 996 00:57:53,920 --> 00:57:56,680 Got that old suburban showdown... 997 00:57:56,680 --> 00:58:00,800 When I listen to "Streetlife Serenade," the influence, of course, 998 00:58:00,810 --> 00:58:04,310 of the California sound, it's evident. 999 00:58:04,310 --> 00:58:06,480 ...same old tired jokes 1000 00:58:07,230 --> 00:58:09,100 Bored to death on... 1001 00:58:09,110 --> 00:58:14,110 In the '60s and early '70s, there was a mythology about California. 1002 00:58:14,110 --> 00:58:16,530 It was just a place where a lot of people showed up. 1003 00:58:18,450 --> 00:58:20,450 There were artists like Joni Mitchell, 1004 00:58:20,450 --> 00:58:23,160 Cat Stevens, James Taylor. 1005 00:58:24,830 --> 00:58:27,660 California was a very open and wonderful scene. 1006 00:58:27,670 --> 00:58:31,090 But Billy did not fit in. He wasn't in that group of people. 1007 00:58:31,750 --> 00:58:33,090 I'm sure it pissed him off. 1008 00:58:33,090 --> 00:58:35,920 He was putting out this stuff, and they were good-sounding records, 1009 00:58:35,920 --> 00:58:38,590 but they weren't viewed the same as other people. 1010 00:58:45,430 --> 00:58:47,600 Perhaps his songs were too poppy. 1011 00:58:47,600 --> 00:58:50,190 They weren't moody and self-referential enough. 1012 00:58:50,810 --> 00:58:52,730 Perhaps he was too New York. 1013 00:58:52,730 --> 00:58:55,860 Los Angelenos 1014 00:58:56,570 --> 00:58:59,320 All come from somewhere 1015 00:59:00,200 --> 00:59:03,160 To live in sunshine 1016 00:59:03,790 --> 00:59:05,200 Their funky... 1017 00:59:05,200 --> 00:59:08,250 I just imagine that he must have felt horribly out of place. 1018 00:59:08,250 --> 00:59:09,790 Just his attitude 1019 00:59:09,790 --> 00:59:12,750 does not seem very California to me. 1020 00:59:13,250 --> 00:59:15,090 You know, that sort of mellow, 1021 00:59:15,090 --> 00:59:18,050 let's all be friends-type mentality. 1022 00:59:18,050 --> 00:59:21,720 That seems like a very un-Billy Joel-type vibe. 1023 00:59:22,430 --> 00:59:26,140 Tanning out in the beaches with their Mexican reefers 1024 00:59:26,140 --> 00:59:29,850 No one ever has to feel like a refugee 1025 00:59:29,850 --> 00:59:33,610 Going into garages for exotic massages 1026 00:59:33,610 --> 00:59:37,820 Making up for all the time gone by 1027 00:59:40,740 --> 00:59:43,240 Ooh ooh 1028 00:59:44,240 --> 00:59:46,410 The "Streetlife" album was written in a hurry, 1029 00:59:46,410 --> 00:59:47,830 recorded in a hurry. 1030 00:59:48,790 --> 00:59:50,500 And there was all this pressure. 1031 00:59:50,500 --> 00:59:53,670 It was like, "Okay, well, you better come up with a hit." 1032 00:59:54,290 --> 00:59:58,550 The song "The Entertainer," it was basically autobiographical 1033 00:59:58,550 --> 01:00:00,720 about putting out "Piano Man." 1034 01:00:00,720 --> 01:00:02,680 The magic number in those days 1035 01:00:02,680 --> 01:00:05,890 to put out a single was the three minute mark. 1036 01:00:05,890 --> 01:00:10,770 The original song of "Piano Man" was a much longer recording, 1037 01:00:10,770 --> 01:00:12,390 and they said, "We gotta edit it." 1038 01:00:12,400 --> 01:00:13,900 I said, what do you mean you gotta edit it? 1039 01:00:13,900 --> 01:00:18,070 I was very touchy about that. Don't, don't be chopping my song up. 1040 01:00:19,110 --> 01:00:22,570 I was starting to become disenchanted with the music business, 1041 01:00:22,570 --> 01:00:26,120 and "The Entertainer" was my way of complaining about it, I suppose. 1042 01:00:26,870 --> 01:00:28,700 I am the entertainer 1043 01:00:28,700 --> 01:00:31,200 And I know just where I stand 1044 01:00:31,210 --> 01:00:33,290 Another serenader 1045 01:00:33,290 --> 01:00:35,880 In another long-haired band 1046 01:00:35,880 --> 01:00:38,000 Today I am your champion 1047 01:00:38,000 --> 01:00:40,050 I may have won your hearts 1048 01:00:40,050 --> 01:00:42,220 But I know the game you'll forget my name 1049 01:00:42,220 --> 01:00:44,800 And I won't be here in another year 1050 01:00:44,800 --> 01:00:47,430 If I don't stay on the charts 1051 01:00:47,430 --> 01:00:50,890 When he wrote "The Entertainer," it became such a negative 1052 01:00:50,890 --> 01:00:53,060 to a number of people in the music business, 1053 01:00:53,060 --> 01:00:54,650 because they looked at, 1054 01:00:54,650 --> 01:00:59,610 "I'm out here slogging away every day trying to get your records on the radio, 1055 01:00:59,610 --> 01:01:02,280 and you say these things about me." 1056 01:01:02,900 --> 01:01:08,030 And they stopped working for him completely because they were so mad 1057 01:01:08,030 --> 01:01:12,750 that they were doing the best they could, and this was the gratitude they got. 1058 01:01:13,710 --> 01:01:18,170 I am the entertainer I bring to you my songs 1059 01:01:18,170 --> 01:01:20,550 I'd like to spend a day or two 1060 01:01:20,550 --> 01:01:22,260 But I can't stay that long 1061 01:01:22,260 --> 01:01:25,130 No, I got to meet expenses 1062 01:01:25,130 --> 01:01:27,220 I got to stay in line 1063 01:01:27,220 --> 01:01:29,470 Gotta get those fees to the agencies 1064 01:01:29,470 --> 01:01:31,720 And I'd love to stay but there's bills to pay... 1065 01:01:31,720 --> 01:01:33,680 Essentially, the "Piano Man" song 1066 01:01:33,690 --> 01:01:36,900 was about a guy kvetching about playing at a piano bar, 1067 01:01:36,900 --> 01:01:38,560 and this follow-up is the guy kvetching 1068 01:01:38,560 --> 01:01:41,030 about having a hit record in the music business. 1069 01:01:41,440 --> 01:01:44,900 So it's sort of like, alright, I'm doing well, 1070 01:01:44,900 --> 01:01:46,530 let me screw this up somehow. 1071 01:01:46,530 --> 01:01:49,070 Ah, it took me years to write it 1072 01:01:49,080 --> 01:01:51,540 They were the best years of my life 1073 01:01:51,540 --> 01:01:53,700 It was a beautiful song but it ran too long 1074 01:01:53,710 --> 01:01:55,120 If you're going to have a hit 1075 01:01:55,120 --> 01:01:56,620 You gotta make it fit so they cut it 1076 01:01:56,620 --> 01:01:58,630 Down to 3:05 1077 01:02:00,420 --> 01:02:02,210 So "Streetlife" bombed. 1078 01:02:04,130 --> 01:02:06,430 Columbia Records was pretty disappointed. 1079 01:02:06,880 --> 01:02:08,050 They wanted a hit. 1080 01:02:10,010 --> 01:02:11,390 What people were trying to do, 1081 01:02:11,390 --> 01:02:13,060 wherever they were, whether it was Laurel Canyon 1082 01:02:13,060 --> 01:02:17,020 or it was Greenwich Village, they were trying to find out who they are. 1083 01:02:17,020 --> 01:02:19,230 And I think a lot of that involves leaving 1084 01:02:19,230 --> 01:02:20,940 where you're from and going somewhere else. 1085 01:02:22,780 --> 01:02:24,230 But I think what you find is something 1086 01:02:24,240 --> 01:02:25,900 about where you're from. 1087 01:02:25,900 --> 01:02:28,030 And where Billy's from is New York. 1088 01:02:28,570 --> 01:02:32,240 Streetlife serenader... 1089 01:02:32,240 --> 01:02:35,250 He was a bridge-and-tunnel artist, you know? 1090 01:02:35,250 --> 01:02:37,620 As I count myself as, you know? 1091 01:02:37,620 --> 01:02:42,040 We stuck to a lot of where we came from in what we wrote about, 1092 01:02:42,040 --> 01:02:44,760 but we wrote about it using slightly different tools, 1093 01:02:44,760 --> 01:02:46,010 I would say. 1094 01:02:46,010 --> 01:02:48,510 I'm obviously more identified with New Jersey, 1095 01:02:48,510 --> 01:02:50,510 so I probably came more out of 1096 01:02:50,510 --> 01:02:53,470 a folk rock 'n' roll background, you know. 1097 01:02:54,060 --> 01:02:56,680 Billy is still more identified with New York. 1098 01:02:56,680 --> 01:02:59,310 Midnight masquerader... 1099 01:02:59,310 --> 01:03:02,150 He had all that Broadway and that Tin Pan Alley, 1100 01:03:02,150 --> 01:03:04,530 which is why Billy's melodies are better than mine. 1101 01:03:06,610 --> 01:03:10,030 With Billy, he's able to walk in with a melody 1102 01:03:10,030 --> 01:03:14,030 and make it sound like he just made it up on his way into the room, 1103 01:03:14,040 --> 01:03:15,950 but I know he didn't. 1104 01:03:16,660 --> 01:03:21,540 His melodies are unbelievably intricate. I don't know how he does it. 1105 01:03:21,540 --> 01:03:24,130 I've always thought that was Billy's strong suit. 1106 01:03:30,300 --> 01:03:34,470 When you listen to Billy, you hear a lot of the American songbook. 1107 01:03:34,470 --> 01:03:36,310 His influences are deep. 1108 01:03:41,400 --> 01:03:45,020 And so what I would say is that he found his voice, 1109 01:03:45,020 --> 01:03:47,610 but it was not a Californian voice. 1110 01:03:49,570 --> 01:03:51,150 It was an interesting time in my life. 1111 01:03:51,160 --> 01:03:52,820 Things were in flux. 1112 01:03:53,780 --> 01:03:56,580 So I decided I wanted to get back... 1113 01:03:56,580 --> 01:04:00,120 to New York and make more of a rock 'n' roll album. 1114 01:04:04,420 --> 01:04:06,880 Say goodbye to Hollywood 1115 01:04:08,130 --> 01:04:10,970 Say goodbye, my baby 1116 01:04:11,970 --> 01:04:14,510 Say goodbye to Hollywood 1117 01:04:15,760 --> 01:04:19,180 Say goodbye, my baby 1118 01:04:22,520 --> 01:04:27,320 I was on a bus on my way back to Highland Falls, New York. 1119 01:04:28,150 --> 01:04:31,240 Elizabeth found us a house up on the Hudson River, 1120 01:04:31,240 --> 01:04:32,360 and it was fall. 1121 01:04:32,360 --> 01:04:33,950 It was just gorgeous. 1122 01:04:33,950 --> 01:04:37,620 The colors were ablaze, the trees were like gold 1123 01:04:37,620 --> 01:04:39,830 and red, and I remember thinking, 1124 01:04:39,830 --> 01:04:43,080 this is the New York state that I loved when I was a kid. 1125 01:04:43,080 --> 01:04:45,920 This is magic. We don't have this in California. 1126 01:04:45,920 --> 01:04:48,750 And I wrote this love song to New York on the bus. 1127 01:04:49,550 --> 01:04:52,090 Some folks like to get away 1128 01:04:52,090 --> 01:04:55,850 Take a holiday from the neighborhood 1129 01:04:57,010 --> 01:05:02,020 Hop a flight to Miami Beach or to Hollywood 1130 01:05:04,270 --> 01:05:07,270 But I'm taking a Greyhound 1131 01:05:07,270 --> 01:05:10,780 On the Hudson River line 1132 01:05:12,860 --> 01:05:18,530 I'm in a New York state of mind 1133 01:05:18,530 --> 01:05:19,990 "Some folks like to get away. 1134 01:05:19,990 --> 01:05:21,830 "Take a holiday from the neighborhood. 1135 01:05:21,830 --> 01:05:23,370 I'm in a New York state of mind." 1136 01:05:24,080 --> 01:05:26,960 And the minute I got back to this rented house 1137 01:05:27,750 --> 01:05:30,250 and I saw my wife, I said, "Do we have a piano?" 1138 01:05:30,250 --> 01:05:31,420 "Yeah. It's upstairs." 1139 01:05:31,420 --> 01:05:34,880 Let me just go up to the piano. Ran up to the piano and wrote the song 1140 01:05:35,550 --> 01:05:37,140 probably within about an hour. 1141 01:05:38,100 --> 01:05:39,550 It just came out. 1142 01:05:39,560 --> 01:05:40,930 ...I'm needing 1143 01:05:41,520 --> 01:05:44,390 And I don't want to waste more time 1144 01:05:47,310 --> 01:05:50,730 I'm in a New York state of mind 1145 01:05:54,610 --> 01:05:56,820 "New York State of Mind," that one stood out. 1146 01:05:57,370 --> 01:06:02,450 It was a phrase that I heard my dad say all the time with his friends, 1147 01:06:02,450 --> 01:06:04,540 and I thought it was the most sophisticated, 1148 01:06:04,540 --> 01:06:06,000 brilliant phrase. 1149 01:06:06,000 --> 01:06:07,870 ...out of touch 1150 01:06:07,880 --> 01:06:11,670 With the rhythm and blues 1151 01:06:13,260 --> 01:06:16,170 It doesn't matter who you are, what race, 1152 01:06:16,180 --> 01:06:19,100 ethnicity, whatever you-- religion you come from. 1153 01:06:19,430 --> 01:06:20,470 In New York, yeah, New York. 1154 01:06:20,470 --> 01:06:23,520 That's the religion. And here's a song for you. 1155 01:06:24,100 --> 01:06:27,440 It's soothing, it's elegant, and, you know, 1156 01:06:27,440 --> 01:06:30,560 it's the anthem for New York. 1157 01:06:33,400 --> 01:06:36,110 You know, it comes right down to reality 1158 01:06:36,110 --> 01:06:40,370 And that's fine with me 'cause I have let it slide 1159 01:06:41,370 --> 01:06:44,330 Don't care if it's Chinatown 1160 01:06:44,330 --> 01:06:47,670 Or on Riverside, no, no 1161 01:06:48,420 --> 01:06:51,040 I don't have any reasons 1162 01:06:52,590 --> 01:06:56,210 Billy's a huge Sinatra fan. He's a huge Tony Bennett fan. 1163 01:06:56,220 --> 01:07:01,510 And I think he wanted to write a song that was an homage to that style. 1164 01:07:02,350 --> 01:07:05,100 But what ended up happening was he wrote a song 1165 01:07:05,100 --> 01:07:07,390 that has lasted for decades. 1166 01:07:07,390 --> 01:07:10,900 I'm just taking a Greyhound 1167 01:07:10,900 --> 01:07:14,480 On the Hudson River line 1168 01:07:16,900 --> 01:07:20,860 I'm in a New York... 1169 01:07:20,870 --> 01:07:23,030 ...in a New York... 1170 01:07:23,030 --> 01:07:32,670 I'm in a New York... 1171 01:07:33,170 --> 01:07:34,500 We're in a New York... 1172 01:07:34,960 --> 01:07:37,260 I'm in a New York... 1173 01:07:37,260 --> 01:07:47,310 ...state of... 1174 01:07:49,520 --> 01:07:52,940 Mind 1175 01:07:52,940 --> 01:07:56,030 Yeah, yeah! 1176 01:08:06,450 --> 01:08:08,910 I grew up in New York. I'm a New Yorker. 1177 01:08:09,370 --> 01:08:11,120 My speech patterns are New York. 1178 01:08:11,120 --> 01:08:14,340 The music that I like, it was all New York based. 1179 01:08:14,960 --> 01:08:17,130 That's what I think of when I think of home. 1180 01:08:17,130 --> 01:08:18,510 It's my roots. 1181 01:08:19,170 --> 01:08:22,130 They say that these are not the best of times 1182 01:08:22,130 --> 01:08:26,970 But they're the only times I've ever known 1183 01:08:29,350 --> 01:08:33,190 In 1949, my parents had a rented apartment in the Bronx, 1184 01:08:33,190 --> 01:08:37,730 and they moved to Long Island when I was a year old, 1185 01:08:38,280 --> 01:08:40,150 and that's where I grew up. 1186 01:08:40,860 --> 01:08:43,240 My mom was in love with Long Island. 1187 01:08:43,240 --> 01:08:45,950 She grew up in Brooklyn, so she saw Long Island 1188 01:08:45,950 --> 01:08:49,830 as this vast playground, the 120 mile long beach. 1189 01:08:50,250 --> 01:08:52,160 And she would always take us to the water. 1190 01:08:53,420 --> 01:08:55,960 And I fell in love with boating because of that. 1191 01:08:55,960 --> 01:08:58,250 It was a mystical experience for me. 1192 01:09:07,810 --> 01:09:10,980 Everybody in my neighborhood was Catholic, Protestant, white. 1193 01:09:11,350 --> 01:09:14,440 But we were Jewish. So it was a weird place to grow up. 1194 01:09:14,770 --> 01:09:18,570 And right outside of New York City, which is the melting pot of all places. 1195 01:09:18,570 --> 01:09:20,110 And here I am in Hicksville. 1196 01:09:20,530 --> 01:09:23,320 I might as well have been in Kansas or something. 1197 01:09:26,620 --> 01:09:29,450 My mom grew up in a, in a family that all sang 1198 01:09:29,450 --> 01:09:31,200 in Gilbert and Sullivan operettas. 1199 01:09:31,870 --> 01:09:35,790 She met my dad in a production of "The Mikado." 1200 01:09:36,830 --> 01:09:38,330 He was a piano player, actually. 1201 01:09:38,340 --> 01:09:41,300 He assisted the conductor, and that's how they met. 1202 01:09:43,420 --> 01:09:46,380 My mom would play records of classical music, 1203 01:09:46,390 --> 01:09:50,060 Broadway shows, Gilbert and Sullivan, jazz. 1204 01:09:50,680 --> 01:09:52,970 So I was always enchanted with music 1205 01:09:52,980 --> 01:09:55,480 before I actually knew how to play the piano. 1206 01:09:56,400 --> 01:10:00,570 And my mom was the one who encouraged taking classical piano lessons. 1207 01:10:02,360 --> 01:10:06,530 When I was taking piano lessons, I started not wanting to read the dots. 1208 01:10:06,530 --> 01:10:07,780 It was like homework. 1209 01:10:07,780 --> 01:10:10,620 And I thought, I wanted to make up my own stuff. 1210 01:10:10,620 --> 01:10:13,490 But my mom knew what Beethoven sounded like. 1211 01:10:13,500 --> 01:10:17,170 My mom knew what Mozart sounded like. She knew what Bach sounded like. 1212 01:10:17,170 --> 01:10:21,290 I had to make stuff up like Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven. 1213 01:10:21,300 --> 01:10:24,920 'Cause if it didn't sound like them, she'd go, "That doesn't sound like Bach." 1214 01:10:32,010 --> 01:10:33,310 And keep going with stuff like that. 1215 01:10:33,310 --> 01:10:35,060 And my mother would be in the kitchen cooking, 1216 01:10:35,060 --> 01:10:37,560 and she'd go, "Hey, you're picking that one up pretty quick." 1217 01:10:37,560 --> 01:10:40,190 I'd go, "Yeah, I like this piece. It's pretty easy." 1218 01:10:40,190 --> 01:10:42,980 And then the next day, when it was time for me to practice again, 1219 01:10:42,980 --> 01:10:44,400 I didn't remember what I played the day before. 1220 01:10:44,400 --> 01:10:45,820 So I'd make up something else. 1221 01:10:46,610 --> 01:10:49,530 And she'd go, "What's that?" I'd say, "Oh, that's the second movement." 1222 01:10:50,120 --> 01:10:51,530 I started developing an ear. 1223 01:10:52,490 --> 01:10:54,290 So I just started writing music. 1224 01:10:54,290 --> 01:10:55,960 That's when I think I really started writing. 1225 01:10:57,040 --> 01:10:59,830 The piano teacher lived right down the block from where my house was. 1226 01:10:59,830 --> 01:11:01,290 She also taught ballet. 1227 01:11:02,420 --> 01:11:04,670 And there were a couple of guys in the neighborhood 1228 01:11:05,460 --> 01:11:07,340 that used to call me out. 1229 01:11:07,340 --> 01:11:09,510 "Hey, Billy, where's your tutu?" 1230 01:11:09,510 --> 01:11:11,800 And they'd knock the books out of my hand and smack me. 1231 01:11:13,310 --> 01:11:16,770 So I took up boxing to learn how to protect myself, 1232 01:11:16,770 --> 01:11:18,890 'cause I would get picked on and I was tired of it. 1233 01:11:20,690 --> 01:11:23,650 I was never really comfortable with the rest of the world. 1234 01:11:24,780 --> 01:11:26,240 I felt like an outsider. 1235 01:11:26,690 --> 01:11:27,900 Let's put it that way. 1236 01:11:29,700 --> 01:11:31,820 He really didn't like school very much. 1237 01:11:31,820 --> 01:11:35,540 He would get dressed, and he would then wait 1238 01:11:35,540 --> 01:11:37,620 till my mother pulled the car out and went, 1239 01:11:37,620 --> 01:11:40,790 went to work, and he would go back into the house. 1240 01:11:41,420 --> 01:11:44,040 And he would then go up into my closet, 1241 01:11:44,040 --> 01:11:47,630 and he'd bring books and a pillow and a flashlight. 1242 01:11:48,630 --> 01:11:50,970 Billy had stacks of books everywhere. 1243 01:11:51,260 --> 01:11:53,720 You'd almost break your neck walking into the room. 1244 01:11:54,310 --> 01:11:57,350 He would read everything he could get his hands on, 1245 01:11:57,350 --> 01:11:59,350 but he loved history. 1246 01:11:59,980 --> 01:12:02,440 So he was an avid reader, 1247 01:12:03,440 --> 01:12:05,770 and he would play the piano all the time. 1248 01:12:07,230 --> 01:12:08,440 My father was a pianist. 1249 01:12:08,440 --> 01:12:12,660 And we had a piano in the house, an old upright that wasn't very good, 1250 01:12:12,660 --> 01:12:16,620 but my father could make it sound good because of the way he played. 1251 01:12:16,620 --> 01:12:20,160 I thought he was a wonderful pianist, but he didn't teach me anything. 1252 01:12:21,080 --> 01:12:22,670 My father, Howard, 1253 01:12:22,670 --> 01:12:26,710 he never really showed Bill kindness and compassion 1254 01:12:26,710 --> 01:12:29,920 and understanding towards his talent. 1255 01:12:29,920 --> 01:12:31,840 He didn't really see it. 1256 01:12:31,840 --> 01:12:36,100 And with Howard, classical music, it had to be strict by the book. 1257 01:12:36,100 --> 01:12:38,640 Exactly how, say, Beethoven wrote it. 1258 01:12:39,810 --> 01:12:41,180 One thing I remember, 1259 01:12:41,190 --> 01:12:43,650 I was supposed to be playing the "Moonlight Sonata." 1260 01:12:44,360 --> 01:12:47,150 Must have been about eight years old, 1261 01:12:47,900 --> 01:12:51,110 and rock 'n' roll was around at that point. 1262 01:12:51,110 --> 01:12:52,450 And I started playing... 1263 01:12:52,450 --> 01:12:53,780 Instead of playing... 1264 01:13:00,750 --> 01:13:02,120 I started playing... 1265 01:13:09,880 --> 01:13:11,300 He came down the stairs. 1266 01:13:11,840 --> 01:13:13,840 Bam! I got whacked. 1267 01:13:14,300 --> 01:13:16,470 And I got whacked so hard, I... 1268 01:13:16,970 --> 01:13:18,050 he knocked me out. 1269 01:13:18,060 --> 01:13:20,060 I was unconscious for, like, a minute. 1270 01:13:23,730 --> 01:13:26,980 And I remember waking up going, well, that got his attention. 1271 01:13:28,770 --> 01:13:30,730 And that was my memory of... 1272 01:13:31,320 --> 01:13:33,030 of his piano lessons. 1273 01:13:33,530 --> 01:13:35,910 So, he didn't teach me much. 1274 01:13:38,240 --> 01:13:42,910 You know, I don't remember my mother and my father together having fun. 1275 01:13:43,910 --> 01:13:45,870 I saw stuff with them when I was a little kid 1276 01:13:45,870 --> 01:13:48,130 that was not, not good. 1277 01:13:48,710 --> 01:13:52,050 Things were very tense between them. 1278 01:13:53,470 --> 01:13:57,800 In the '50s, when I was about eight, he left when my parents got divorced, 1279 01:13:57,800 --> 01:13:59,600 and actually my sister and I 1280 01:13:59,600 --> 01:14:01,470 were kind of relieved when they got divorced, 1281 01:14:01,470 --> 01:14:03,980 because then there wasn't going to be any more arguments or fighting 1282 01:14:03,980 --> 01:14:06,190 or any of that scary stuff. 1283 01:14:06,190 --> 01:14:09,570 So I was brought up by my mother. I didn't know much about him. 1284 01:14:11,190 --> 01:14:15,990 When Howard left, it was a relief in that my mother felt more free, 1285 01:14:15,990 --> 01:14:20,700 but it did give her a lot more stress in that she had to then work... 1286 01:14:20,700 --> 01:14:23,870 work very, very hard to keep the family going. 1287 01:14:25,960 --> 01:14:28,080 Judy, she was my best friend. 1288 01:14:28,080 --> 01:14:32,000 I was there almost all the time. I could walk in their house anytime. 1289 01:14:33,300 --> 01:14:37,760 But a depression settled over the house after Howard was gone. 1290 01:14:39,340 --> 01:14:41,260 Roz, she was a young mother. 1291 01:14:41,260 --> 01:14:45,430 And suddenly, she's left alone to raise two children. 1292 01:14:45,930 --> 01:14:47,270 And it wasn't easy. 1293 01:14:47,270 --> 01:14:50,560 She didn't have beyond a high school education, 1294 01:14:51,020 --> 01:14:52,820 and she worried about money. 1295 01:14:54,900 --> 01:14:57,030 My mother was a very loving woman. 1296 01:14:57,030 --> 01:15:00,280 I was surrounded by love. I was almost smothered by it. 1297 01:15:02,080 --> 01:15:05,200 I think it was to try to compensate for my dad's lack of it. 1298 01:15:06,710 --> 01:15:10,040 But there were also some troubling things about her. 1299 01:15:11,500 --> 01:15:12,840 She was very isolated. 1300 01:15:13,420 --> 01:15:14,550 She was lonely a lot. 1301 01:15:14,550 --> 01:15:18,550 And I think she drank to assuage her loneliness. 1302 01:15:20,180 --> 01:15:25,350 I would see Mom drinking very often. And we would say, "Mom, don't start, 1303 01:15:25,350 --> 01:15:26,640 you know how you get." 1304 01:15:28,100 --> 01:15:29,770 And she would be crying 1305 01:15:29,770 --> 01:15:32,860 and screaming for hours and hours and hours. 1306 01:15:33,690 --> 01:15:35,480 It was a difficult household to grow up in, 1307 01:15:35,480 --> 01:15:38,570 because you never knew if the mother you left 1308 01:15:38,570 --> 01:15:40,570 when you went to school would be the same mother 1309 01:15:40,570 --> 01:15:43,370 that was there when you came home from school. 1310 01:15:44,410 --> 01:15:46,410 We knew that there was something very wrong, 1311 01:15:46,410 --> 01:15:48,250 that she was most likely bipolar. 1312 01:15:48,250 --> 01:15:49,750 We didn't know the word at the time. 1313 01:15:51,460 --> 01:15:56,090 And in those days, they didn't have a lot of medicine for it, you know? 1314 01:15:56,090 --> 01:15:57,920 When you're depressed like that, 1315 01:15:58,670 --> 01:16:03,890 it affects your mental state, your physical state, everything. 1316 01:16:04,350 --> 01:16:07,520 And the children naturally were hurt by it, you know? 1317 01:16:08,020 --> 01:16:12,230 And I think they were deeply affected. Deeply. 1318 01:16:13,230 --> 01:16:14,650 There wasn't peace, 1319 01:16:14,650 --> 01:16:17,530 because we knew that we had to walk on eggshells. 1320 01:16:17,990 --> 01:16:19,650 That anything could throw her off. 1321 01:16:20,990 --> 01:16:25,030 Sometimes she drove me nuts, and she was difficult to live with. 1322 01:16:25,700 --> 01:16:28,790 And then sometimes she was so loving and she saved my life. 1323 01:16:29,370 --> 01:16:33,790 So, it's a dichotomy. Yeah. 1324 01:16:37,050 --> 01:16:42,510 We felt each other's pain and worry, and we would get strength from each other. 1325 01:16:42,510 --> 01:16:46,180 We're very close. We are very close. Yes, we had to be. 1326 01:16:49,060 --> 01:16:50,770 We were kind of outcasts. 1327 01:16:50,770 --> 01:16:53,520 We were the divorced family on the block. 1328 01:16:54,230 --> 01:16:57,070 We didn't have a new car. We didn't have a dad. 1329 01:16:57,570 --> 01:16:59,900 We were the Jews. We didn't have any money. 1330 01:16:59,900 --> 01:17:01,610 Sometimes we didn't have any food. 1331 01:17:02,900 --> 01:17:04,620 So there were, there were some struggles. 1332 01:17:07,120 --> 01:17:10,290 Philip Nyman was my maternal grandfather, my mother's father. 1333 01:17:10,290 --> 01:17:11,370 He was English. 1334 01:17:11,370 --> 01:17:16,080 He was dressed so perfectly. Always the perfect English gentleman. 1335 01:17:16,790 --> 01:17:19,670 He was the dominant male figure in my life. 1336 01:17:19,670 --> 01:17:22,340 Brilliant man. He was a big influence on me. 1337 01:17:22,340 --> 01:17:25,590 And he would always be quizzing me about classical music. 1338 01:17:33,230 --> 01:17:35,350 He would take us to the Brooklyn Academy of Music, 1339 01:17:35,350 --> 01:17:38,610 and he would sneak us in by giving the guy at the door 1340 01:17:38,610 --> 01:17:41,070 a pack of cigarettes, because he never had any money. 1341 01:17:42,780 --> 01:17:45,240 Billy would come home and tell us all about it, 1342 01:17:45,240 --> 01:17:48,080 and then he would sit down on their clunky piano 1343 01:17:48,490 --> 01:17:51,870 and just play it for us fully, completely. 1344 01:17:52,330 --> 01:17:55,330 I mean, as a child, I didn't know that much about music, 1345 01:17:55,330 --> 01:17:59,090 but I knew what he was playing was what he had heard, 1346 01:17:59,590 --> 01:18:01,250 which to me was absolutely amazing. 1347 01:18:01,250 --> 01:18:03,170 The piano was an extension of Billy. 1348 01:18:03,170 --> 01:18:07,220 And that's, I think, how he dealt with Roz sometimes, 1349 01:18:07,220 --> 01:18:09,050 the moods that she displayed. 1350 01:18:09,680 --> 01:18:12,100 But she always did the best she could. 1351 01:18:12,470 --> 01:18:15,270 She always had their best interest at heart. 1352 01:18:16,560 --> 01:18:19,020 And no matter how poor we were at the time 1353 01:18:19,020 --> 01:18:22,610 or how hard she had to work, Mom, she knew that Billy had 1354 01:18:22,610 --> 01:18:26,900 to have piano lessons, that this had to be nurtured. 1355 01:18:26,910 --> 01:18:29,530 She knew that he was going to be something someday. 1356 01:18:31,620 --> 01:18:32,910 Mom was my cheerleader. 1357 01:18:32,910 --> 01:18:36,040 Mom said, "Anything you set your mind out to do, you can do." 1358 01:18:36,040 --> 01:18:39,670 And I credit my mom with sticking with me. 1359 01:18:40,630 --> 01:18:41,880 She never gave up. 1360 01:18:43,260 --> 01:18:45,380 She was a, a believer. 1361 01:18:48,510 --> 01:18:51,680 I decided at that point in my life, I'm going to be a musician. 1362 01:18:52,350 --> 01:18:54,930 That was the year I was supposed to graduate high school. I didn't. 1363 01:18:54,930 --> 01:18:56,770 Get my diploma. I said to hell with it. 1364 01:18:57,390 --> 01:19:00,150 And my mom, she was worried. 1365 01:19:00,150 --> 01:19:02,190 She worried that I was going to-- not going to be able 1366 01:19:02,190 --> 01:19:05,190 to get a job if I didn't graduate high school, 1367 01:19:05,190 --> 01:19:06,820 at least to have a diploma. 1368 01:19:07,360 --> 01:19:09,070 At least have the ability to go to college. 1369 01:19:09,070 --> 01:19:12,990 But I had already written that off. I said, I'm not going to college. 1370 01:19:14,040 --> 01:19:17,160 As I recall, what I said to her was "You don't have to worry about... 1371 01:19:17,160 --> 01:19:20,620 "I'm not going to Columbia University. I'm going to go to Columbia Records. 1372 01:19:20,630 --> 01:19:23,250 And you don't need a high school diploma there." 1373 01:19:27,840 --> 01:19:31,760 After "Streetlife Serenade," Bill needed a manager, 1374 01:19:31,760 --> 01:19:36,310 so we asked Columbia who their favorite managers were. 1375 01:19:36,810 --> 01:19:42,980 And one of the names that they gave us was Caribou Management. 1376 01:19:43,730 --> 01:19:46,490 And Jim Guercio, he was part of the company. 1377 01:19:47,690 --> 01:19:50,280 He was a famous producer. He produced Chicago, 1378 01:19:50,780 --> 01:19:52,200 he produced the Beach Boys, 1379 01:19:52,700 --> 01:19:55,200 and he was going to produce the next album. 1380 01:19:56,080 --> 01:19:58,790 The initial thing Jimmy Guercio wanted me to do was, 1381 01:19:58,790 --> 01:20:01,040 "Okay, well, you're a piano player. 1382 01:20:01,040 --> 01:20:03,540 "So the musicians who would be good for you to work with 1383 01:20:03,540 --> 01:20:05,000 would be Elton's band." 1384 01:20:05,000 --> 01:20:06,840 Which I thought was a terrible idea. 1385 01:20:07,800 --> 01:20:09,220 Why would I want to work 1386 01:20:09,220 --> 01:20:11,970 with the other well-known piano player's band? 1387 01:20:11,970 --> 01:20:14,890 I mean, the lack of imagination was staggering. 1388 01:20:14,890 --> 01:20:19,350 And I was already having critical issues with people comparing me to Elton. 1389 01:20:19,350 --> 01:20:21,350 I don't play the same way he does. 1390 01:20:21,350 --> 01:20:25,230 Elton's style is very rhythmic, you know? Like... 1391 01:20:32,820 --> 01:20:36,160 You know? And my style is probably... 1392 01:20:38,410 --> 01:20:39,660 it's more five-fingered. 1393 01:20:42,080 --> 01:20:45,080 It's more movement stuff. It took a while for people 1394 01:20:45,090 --> 01:20:48,300 to get away from using the Elton John comparison. 1395 01:20:48,300 --> 01:20:50,380 I think it's pretty much died down at this point. 1396 01:20:50,380 --> 01:20:52,220 I hope so. Please! 1397 01:20:53,130 --> 01:20:54,720 If you knew anything about Billy Joel, 1398 01:20:54,720 --> 01:20:57,140 the last thing in the world he wanted to do 1399 01:20:57,140 --> 01:20:58,640 was make an Elton John record, 1400 01:20:58,640 --> 01:21:02,690 and the furthest he wanted to be from any other artist was Elton John. 1401 01:21:05,770 --> 01:21:09,280 But then he goes in the studio with the Elton John band, 1402 01:21:09,280 --> 01:21:11,070 and it's awful. 1403 01:21:12,400 --> 01:21:15,660 I've seen the lights go out on Broadway 1404 01:21:15,660 --> 01:21:16,870 They were good musicians, 1405 01:21:16,870 --> 01:21:18,200 but they didn't get it. 1406 01:21:19,160 --> 01:21:22,120 I saw the ruins at my feet 1407 01:21:22,120 --> 01:21:23,750 It sounded like Elton. I said, I don't want 1408 01:21:23,750 --> 01:21:25,210 to sound like Elton. I want to sound like me. 1409 01:21:26,750 --> 01:21:30,550 I left. I said this isn't going to work. I want to make my own sound. 1410 01:21:31,460 --> 01:21:33,880 And Jimmy Guercio is not going to be the producer. 1411 01:21:35,680 --> 01:21:38,970 I wanted to put together a group of New York musicians 1412 01:21:38,970 --> 01:21:40,760 who had had New York experiences, 1413 01:21:40,770 --> 01:21:42,640 because that's what I had. 1414 01:21:44,100 --> 01:21:47,610 Well, the first member of that band was Doug Stegmeyer, the bass player, 1415 01:21:48,110 --> 01:21:50,530 who really put the rest of them together. 1416 01:21:51,070 --> 01:21:54,900 And he recommended that I work with the drummer, 1417 01:21:54,910 --> 01:21:56,320 Liberty DeVitto. 1418 01:21:56,320 --> 01:22:00,120 Because I didn't want polite drums. I wanted nasty drums. 1419 01:22:01,080 --> 01:22:04,410 And then Richie Cannata and Russell joined us. 1420 01:22:04,410 --> 01:22:05,830 And they were from Long Island too. 1421 01:22:06,420 --> 01:22:08,590 That was the nucleus of the band for a while. 1422 01:22:10,750 --> 01:22:15,260 So I went into the studio with my guys and we recorded "Turnstiles." 1423 01:22:15,260 --> 01:22:18,010 And I decided to produce it myself. 1424 01:22:18,010 --> 01:22:19,760 And I don't know anything about production. 1425 01:22:19,760 --> 01:22:22,930 We held the concert out in Brooklyn... 1426 01:22:23,430 --> 01:22:25,390 But I wanted some rock 'n' roll. 1427 01:22:25,390 --> 01:22:28,100 I wanted the volume that we played at live. 1428 01:22:28,100 --> 01:22:30,570 I wanted that somehow represented on a recording. 1429 01:22:32,070 --> 01:22:34,650 They turned our power down 1430 01:22:34,650 --> 01:22:37,700 And drove us underground 1431 01:22:38,110 --> 01:22:43,290 But we went right on with the show 1432 01:22:43,290 --> 01:22:44,790 Oh 1433 01:22:47,540 --> 01:22:49,630 Oh, oh, oh 1434 01:22:52,170 --> 01:22:56,010 I've seen the lights go out on Broadway 1435 01:22:56,010 --> 01:22:59,300 Nobody really gave a shit about us, you know? 1436 01:22:59,300 --> 01:23:01,550 We were just these bunch of guys from Long Island, 1437 01:23:01,550 --> 01:23:05,430 and then Billy decided to use us rather than Elton's band. 1438 01:23:05,980 --> 01:23:08,770 But we were the better fit. He needed some grease. 1439 01:23:08,770 --> 01:23:12,270 He did not need boiled meat. He needed pizza. 1440 01:23:12,610 --> 01:23:14,730 And we were the sauce. 1441 01:23:15,280 --> 01:23:19,110 They burned the churches up in Harlem 1442 01:23:20,910 --> 01:23:22,200 "Turnstiles," there was nobody 1443 01:23:22,200 --> 01:23:24,450 over our shoulders saying, you know, what to do, 1444 01:23:24,450 --> 01:23:26,250 and everybody played their ass off. 1445 01:23:27,290 --> 01:23:31,040 The flames were everywhere but no one really... 1446 01:23:31,040 --> 01:23:34,090 You know, they grew with the material as I was writing it, 1447 01:23:34,090 --> 01:23:37,300 and they became part of the recording process. 1448 01:23:37,720 --> 01:23:39,880 And there was a formative aspect to it 1449 01:23:39,880 --> 01:23:42,720 that we were getting together with the band that you could hear. 1450 01:23:43,220 --> 01:23:45,810 We learned a lot together. We grew together. 1451 01:23:47,430 --> 01:23:50,980 I've seen the rats lie down on Broadway 1452 01:23:53,150 --> 01:23:57,070 Oh, I watched the mighty skyline fall 1453 01:23:59,200 --> 01:24:02,950 The "Turnstiles" album, it's not the most well-produced album in the world, 1454 01:24:02,950 --> 01:24:06,080 but the material has a certain maturity to it. 1455 01:24:06,080 --> 01:24:09,080 And I feel like I kind of hit my stride as a writer. 1456 01:24:10,710 --> 01:24:14,750 Bill was in the studio. We're making a record. Everything's great. 1457 01:24:14,750 --> 01:24:17,920 But now we had a whole other problem. We had to get another manager. 1458 01:24:17,920 --> 01:24:22,380 I thought all they cared about was what Bill could do for them 1459 01:24:22,390 --> 01:24:23,970 and not what they could do for Bill. 1460 01:24:24,430 --> 01:24:27,720 And I saw that repeatedly played out over and over 1461 01:24:27,720 --> 01:24:29,270 and over again, and it drove me crazy. 1462 01:24:30,310 --> 01:24:33,730 She understood the business. She was watching everybody else screw up. 1463 01:24:33,730 --> 01:24:35,860 And we would have these discussions about it. 1464 01:24:35,980 --> 01:24:38,110 She took this all in. She was a sponge. 1465 01:24:38,110 --> 01:24:41,530 And I realized I need somebody who knows me. 1466 01:24:41,530 --> 01:24:44,620 Elizabeth was my wife. Who knows me better than she does? 1467 01:24:45,330 --> 01:24:48,240 And Bill just said, "You know, why don't you manage me? 1468 01:24:48,240 --> 01:24:50,790 "I mean, you can't do any worse than the rest of them." 1469 01:24:51,460 --> 01:24:54,250 And I thought, well, yeah. 1470 01:24:54,790 --> 01:24:59,250 And the story he likes to tell is that he woke up the next morning, 1471 01:24:59,260 --> 01:25:02,800 and there were like, you know, 15 super phones 1472 01:25:02,800 --> 01:25:05,340 on the main floor of our apartment 1473 01:25:05,350 --> 01:25:08,640 and that there were cabinets installed and... 1474 01:25:10,020 --> 01:25:12,980 And that's not really true, but it's close to true. 1475 01:25:14,940 --> 01:25:16,900 And she was critical at that point. 1476 01:25:16,900 --> 01:25:19,270 It was imperative that she took over the management 1477 01:25:19,280 --> 01:25:21,030 because she knew what needed to be done. 1478 01:25:22,360 --> 01:25:24,910 I had no reason for anybody to believe in me. 1479 01:25:26,030 --> 01:25:27,320 This back-breakin' bone-shakin' 1480 01:25:27,330 --> 01:25:28,740 Belly-achin', hard... 1481 01:25:28,740 --> 01:25:31,290 But I knew that we needed a management company. 1482 01:25:31,960 --> 01:25:34,870 Yes, it's keeping me alive doin' nine to five... 1483 01:25:34,870 --> 01:25:38,920 And I slowly but surely put together a team of people. 1484 01:25:39,420 --> 01:25:42,840 I have a different management company. You might not know who they are. 1485 01:25:43,680 --> 01:25:45,760 I was with another management company. 1486 01:25:45,760 --> 01:25:48,720 But the company I'm with now is New York-based. 1487 01:25:49,140 --> 01:25:52,890 It's called Home Run. Nothing to do with baseball. 1488 01:25:53,560 --> 01:25:55,400 It's a home-run agency. 1489 01:25:56,270 --> 01:25:58,520 So we started a little office 1490 01:25:58,520 --> 01:25:59,770 at Home Run, 1491 01:25:59,770 --> 01:26:03,070 and there was like a little gang called the Mean Bros. 1492 01:26:03,070 --> 01:26:05,660 And the guys were like his brothers. 1493 01:26:07,490 --> 01:26:08,570 If you're friends with somebody in New York, 1494 01:26:08,580 --> 01:26:09,950 you're always testing your friendship. 1495 01:26:10,540 --> 01:26:13,200 You punch them in the shoulder when you see them, and ow! 1496 01:26:13,200 --> 01:26:15,000 Or you insult them. 1497 01:26:15,000 --> 01:26:16,710 You know, that's how you know somebody's your friend. 1498 01:26:18,460 --> 01:26:22,710 With Billy, I met him in November of 1974, 1499 01:26:22,710 --> 01:26:25,590 and we've had this incredible ride. 1500 01:26:26,890 --> 01:26:27,930 So, you know, 1501 01:26:27,930 --> 01:26:32,310 the Mean Brothers and all of us, we became close as a little family. 1502 01:26:34,140 --> 01:26:35,560 We've been at this forever. 1503 01:26:36,190 --> 01:26:38,900 We're like brothers, you know? It's very tight. 1504 01:26:39,230 --> 01:26:42,570 You know, we protect him, we watch him, make sure he's okay. 1505 01:26:43,400 --> 01:26:45,200 Oh, baby 1506 01:26:45,780 --> 01:26:48,030 I think you were lost in the '70s 1507 01:26:48,030 --> 01:26:49,950 You know, it's like he had a band, 1508 01:26:49,950 --> 01:26:54,000 and then he had a band around him that tried to enhance his career. 1509 01:26:55,290 --> 01:26:59,540 We were like a band of warriors, and we were all in the same boat. 1510 01:27:02,960 --> 01:27:06,220 There was a closeness and a camaraderie that still exists today. 1511 01:27:09,090 --> 01:27:12,430 It's weird to be sitting here 50 years later, 1512 01:27:12,430 --> 01:27:13,970 like, reflecting on this thing. 1513 01:27:14,930 --> 01:27:17,310 I remember the one time I thought we really made it, 1514 01:27:17,850 --> 01:27:19,690 we were staying at a Holiday Inn, 1515 01:27:20,100 --> 01:27:22,190 and they had on the marquee at the Holiday Inn, 1516 01:27:22,190 --> 01:27:24,190 "Welcome, Billy Joel Band." 1517 01:27:24,190 --> 01:27:25,940 And we're like, we made it! 1518 01:27:25,940 --> 01:27:28,820 We're on the marquee! We're getting top billing! 1519 01:27:29,450 --> 01:27:31,370 We all went by the sign and took a picture, 1520 01:27:31,370 --> 01:27:32,620 look, Billy Joel band! 1521 01:27:34,160 --> 01:27:36,040 But we didn't have a big hit album. 1522 01:27:38,330 --> 01:27:41,500 "Turnstiles" came out in 1976, 1523 01:27:41,500 --> 01:27:42,960 and then I went out on the road again. 1524 01:28:16,160 --> 01:28:17,700 We used to open up for a lot of acts. 1525 01:28:17,700 --> 01:28:19,370 We used to open up for the Doobie Brothers, 1526 01:28:19,370 --> 01:28:21,670 Olivia Newton-John, Beach Boys. 1527 01:28:21,670 --> 01:28:23,750 Da, da, da, da. Everybody. We opened up for everybody. 1528 01:28:23,750 --> 01:28:27,210 And if you're not good, 20,000 people are going to go, 1529 01:28:27,210 --> 01:28:29,380 "Get off the sta-- Boo!" 1530 01:28:29,380 --> 01:28:30,630 You know, they'd be yelling for the other band, 1531 01:28:30,630 --> 01:28:32,550 so you got to get good really quick. 1532 01:28:40,600 --> 01:28:44,020 By the time we got to the "Turnstiles" tour, 1533 01:28:44,020 --> 01:28:47,980 he had both become accomplished as a songwriter 1534 01:28:47,980 --> 01:28:49,530 as well as a performer. 1535 01:28:50,400 --> 01:28:52,490 He had a great sense of drama. 1536 01:28:52,990 --> 01:28:54,280 He had the magic. 1537 01:28:57,080 --> 01:29:02,040 There's so many nights I remember Billy breaking a bass piano string. 1538 01:29:02,040 --> 01:29:06,290 Who hits the piano that hard that you can break a piano string? 1539 01:29:07,300 --> 01:29:10,210 You know, and now, all of a sudden, we're coming into our own. 1540 01:29:11,720 --> 01:29:13,090 We were doing great on the road. 1541 01:29:13,090 --> 01:29:14,380 The crowds were going crazy. 1542 01:29:14,390 --> 01:29:16,140 We were blowing headliners off the stage. 1543 01:29:16,930 --> 01:29:18,680 But we weren't selling any records. 1544 01:29:19,560 --> 01:29:21,770 "Turnstiles," it was a total bust. 1545 01:29:27,900 --> 01:29:30,650 I had not had that big hit record 1546 01:29:31,070 --> 01:29:33,990 that the record company wants all their artists to have. 1547 01:29:35,110 --> 01:29:36,820 And I got a little worried, 1548 01:29:37,370 --> 01:29:40,330 so I started to write new songs. 1549 01:29:40,750 --> 01:29:42,620 You know, it was like, "Time for the follow-up. 1550 01:29:42,620 --> 01:29:44,500 "Let's go Bill, get in that studio. 1551 01:29:44,500 --> 01:29:46,040 Make another album." 1552 01:29:47,460 --> 01:29:49,800 But I didn't have a producer at that time. 1553 01:29:52,470 --> 01:29:53,630 Here comes the beat. 1554 01:29:53,630 --> 01:29:56,430 So, I talked with George Martin, who produced The Beatles. 1555 01:29:56,430 --> 01:29:58,350 He was my idol. He was my hero. 1556 01:29:58,350 --> 01:29:59,810 Still to this day, I think, 1557 01:29:59,810 --> 01:30:01,560 is one of the greatest producers that ever lived. 1558 01:30:02,430 --> 01:30:05,520 So Billy's looking for somebody to produce the next album. 1559 01:30:05,520 --> 01:30:07,440 And George Martin comes to see us. 1560 01:30:21,200 --> 01:30:24,000 You got to open your eyes in the morning 1561 01:30:24,000 --> 01:30:25,830 We were all excited. Oh, my God. 1562 01:30:25,830 --> 01:30:28,670 The Beatles producer's coming. This is amazing. 1563 01:30:29,920 --> 01:30:32,840 Ain't no crime 1564 01:30:34,050 --> 01:30:35,590 So he watches the show. 1565 01:30:35,590 --> 01:30:37,840 Billy meets with them after and they talk, 1566 01:30:37,840 --> 01:30:39,970 and we say, "What did he say? What did he say?" 1567 01:30:39,970 --> 01:30:43,140 And Billy looks at us and goes, "He wants to produce me." 1568 01:30:43,720 --> 01:30:45,730 Great! That's great! 1569 01:30:46,440 --> 01:30:49,310 "But he doesn't want to use the band. He wants to use studio guys." 1570 01:30:50,820 --> 01:30:54,150 We're like, "Oh, my God, what did you tell him?" 1571 01:30:55,570 --> 01:30:58,110 I met with him, and he didn't want to work with my band. 1572 01:30:58,110 --> 01:31:01,200 He was like, "Well, I'd like to work with different musicians." 1573 01:31:01,200 --> 01:31:03,580 And I passed on working with George Martin. 1574 01:31:04,750 --> 01:31:07,620 And Billy says, "I told him, love me, love my band. 1575 01:31:08,250 --> 01:31:09,540 And I told him no." 1576 01:31:09,540 --> 01:31:11,840 As I wander through the world... 1577 01:31:11,840 --> 01:31:13,710 Love me, love my band. 1578 01:31:13,710 --> 01:31:16,300 Session guys are guys who can come in and read the dots. 1579 01:31:16,300 --> 01:31:18,010 They can read the music, 1580 01:31:18,010 --> 01:31:22,100 but there's not necessarily a chemistry within that ensemble, 1581 01:31:22,100 --> 01:31:23,720 which is very, very important. 1582 01:31:23,720 --> 01:31:25,600 You've got to have the chemistry. 1583 01:31:25,600 --> 01:31:27,270 We were killing it live. 1584 01:31:27,270 --> 01:31:28,900 Let me use my guys. 1585 01:31:30,270 --> 01:31:36,570 This was an amazing thing for someone who was so focused on making it, 1586 01:31:36,570 --> 01:31:39,610 to know that the band 1587 01:31:39,610 --> 01:31:42,780 is such a part of what is happening here 1588 01:31:42,780 --> 01:31:46,240 that I can't lose them just to get this guy 1589 01:31:46,250 --> 01:31:48,920 that produced the Beatles to produce my records. 1590 01:31:50,460 --> 01:31:53,340 So the record company had to be sitting there going, 1591 01:31:53,340 --> 01:31:56,210 wait a minute, he fired the Caribou Management, 1592 01:31:56,210 --> 01:31:59,220 which was the biggest management company there was at the time. 1593 01:31:59,220 --> 01:32:01,930 He fired Jimmy Guercio from being his producer. 1594 01:32:01,930 --> 01:32:04,050 Now he doesn't want to work with the Beatles producer, 1595 01:32:04,060 --> 01:32:06,260 George Martin, and his wife is managing him? 1596 01:32:06,270 --> 01:32:08,060 So you've got to imagine the little red pencil 1597 01:32:08,060 --> 01:32:09,390 went through my name. 1598 01:32:09,390 --> 01:32:11,400 That's it for him. That's it for this guy. 1599 01:32:12,610 --> 01:32:15,900 I was aware that if we didn't have a big hit record, 1600 01:32:15,900 --> 01:32:17,820 I'd probably get dropped by the label. 1601 01:32:18,610 --> 01:32:20,450 We'd go to bed at night, and, you know, 1602 01:32:20,450 --> 01:32:22,160 we'd lie there just before you'd fall asleep, 1603 01:32:22,160 --> 01:32:24,030 you'd think, oh, I hope they don't drop us. 1604 01:32:24,780 --> 01:32:26,990 So it was stressful. 1605 01:32:28,250 --> 01:32:31,920 After "Streetlife" came out and "Turnstiles" came out, 1606 01:32:31,920 --> 01:32:34,710 it looked like he was in a very critical point 1607 01:32:34,710 --> 01:32:37,760 in his career, because it could have just gone away. 1608 01:32:41,550 --> 01:32:46,890 But back in '76, we had a base that was just his fans, 1609 01:32:46,890 --> 01:32:49,310 whether it was 1,500 seats, 2,000, 1610 01:32:49,310 --> 01:32:53,770 that was based on how good he is as a live entertainer. 1611 01:32:54,610 --> 01:32:57,020 The road is the thing that made him successful. 1612 01:32:57,020 --> 01:32:59,030 He got broken on the road. 1613 01:32:59,030 --> 01:33:02,530 I've never seen anybody since that worked as hard as he did. 1614 01:33:03,660 --> 01:33:06,280 Dennis Arfa said, "You guys shouldn't be opening up 1615 01:33:06,280 --> 01:33:09,450 for a bigger act. You should be doing theaters." 1616 01:33:10,870 --> 01:33:14,040 When Billy decided that he wanted to do Carnegie Hall 1617 01:33:14,040 --> 01:33:17,460 and they put those tickets up for sale and instantly sold out, 1618 01:33:17,920 --> 01:33:22,550 they saw that if he could sell out Carnegie Hall, there is something there. 1619 01:33:22,550 --> 01:33:24,300 And so Elizabeth, 1620 01:33:24,890 --> 01:33:27,890 she knew that Billy needed a new producer for the next record, 1621 01:33:27,890 --> 01:33:30,310 and that's where Phil Ramone came in. 1622 01:33:31,520 --> 01:33:33,520 Phil Ramone was a staff producer 1623 01:33:33,520 --> 01:33:34,810 with Columbia Records. 1624 01:33:34,810 --> 01:33:36,940 Gentlemen, sorry, but we're going to run it once more. 1625 01:33:37,400 --> 01:33:40,820 He was an engineer early on in the pop music industry. 1626 01:33:40,820 --> 01:33:42,780 He worked with Sinatra. 1627 01:33:43,150 --> 01:33:45,950 He worked with Ray Charles. He worked with Bob Dylan. 1628 01:33:45,950 --> 01:33:49,490 He worked with Paul Simon. He worked with everybody, this guy. 1629 01:33:50,620 --> 01:33:52,410 So Elizabeth calls Phil Ramone and says, 1630 01:33:52,410 --> 01:33:54,960 "I want you to come see Billy at Carnegie Hall." 1631 01:33:58,090 --> 01:34:00,840 And the lines were around the block. 1632 01:34:01,300 --> 01:34:04,050 And Billy saw this and said, "This is really a big deal." 1633 01:34:05,680 --> 01:34:07,640 You sold it out three nights? 1634 01:34:07,640 --> 01:34:09,010 Yeah, three nights. 1635 01:34:09,430 --> 01:34:12,270 Did you get a special feeling walking out on that stage? 1636 01:34:12,640 --> 01:34:14,390 Yeah, well, it's Carnegie Hall. 1637 01:34:14,390 --> 01:34:15,690 - Yeah. - You walk backstage 1638 01:34:15,690 --> 01:34:19,070 and there's pictures of Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff. 1639 01:34:19,400 --> 01:34:23,490 And, you know, you go to the bathroom, and Liszt was on this can, you know. 1640 01:34:24,280 --> 01:34:27,070 I was a little awe-inspired by the whole thing. 1641 01:34:27,870 --> 01:34:32,790 So we do a show at Carnegie Hall. And Phil Ramone is in the audience 1642 01:34:32,790 --> 01:34:34,370 to come and see us. 1643 01:34:34,370 --> 01:34:37,120 And I remember, Billy, he looked at me, he goes, 1644 01:34:37,120 --> 01:34:40,090 "Let's do it. 110%. Let's go for it." 1645 01:34:42,250 --> 01:34:45,090 And so it's time 1646 01:34:45,090 --> 01:34:48,140 To change our ways 1647 01:34:50,850 --> 01:34:56,190 But I've loved these days 1648 01:35:08,660 --> 01:35:11,030 Phil, he saw the audience go crazy. 1649 01:35:11,030 --> 01:35:12,950 He goes, "We've got to get this recorded." 1650 01:35:12,950 --> 01:35:15,290 Well, they're going to have to drag me off this stage. 1651 01:35:16,620 --> 01:35:19,000 There's something magical about the band and him. 1652 01:35:19,460 --> 01:35:21,340 And I felt we should capture that. 1653 01:35:21,960 --> 01:35:24,670 And that started it. It started on that simplistic term. 1654 01:35:30,590 --> 01:35:34,060 For a musician, eventually you find your family, 1655 01:35:34,060 --> 01:35:36,140 and you find the person that can champion you 1656 01:35:36,140 --> 01:35:37,690 and get you what you need. 1657 01:35:38,310 --> 01:35:40,860 And, of course, with Billy, that was Phil Ramone. 1658 01:35:41,940 --> 01:35:44,230 He goes, "I want to take you guys in the studio 1659 01:35:44,230 --> 01:35:47,740 and I want you to be the rock 'n' roll animals that you are." 1660 01:35:48,150 --> 01:35:51,280 Amazing. He loves us. 1661 01:35:53,410 --> 01:35:55,040 The first song we recorded was "Movin' Out." 1662 01:35:55,750 --> 01:35:58,460 - Okay, here we go. - One, two, three. 1663 01:36:00,580 --> 01:36:03,290 And when we came back in to listen to the playback, 1664 01:36:03,290 --> 01:36:05,960 Phil had these gigantic speakers. 1665 01:36:07,130 --> 01:36:09,220 He used to play it so loud. 1666 01:36:09,800 --> 01:36:13,050 And you could hear it like, oh, my God, that's so good. 1667 01:36:13,050 --> 01:36:16,430 Anthony works in the grocery store 1668 01:36:16,430 --> 01:36:18,980 Savin' his pennies for someday 1669 01:36:20,270 --> 01:36:22,810 Mama Leone left a note on the door 1670 01:36:22,810 --> 01:36:24,310 She said, "Sonny..." 1671 01:36:24,320 --> 01:36:28,860 I hit it off right away with Phil Ramone. He was as crazy as we were. 1672 01:36:28,860 --> 01:36:32,450 It was like having another musician behind the control board. 1673 01:36:32,450 --> 01:36:34,620 I'm movin' out 1674 01:36:35,580 --> 01:36:38,290 I'm movin' out 1675 01:36:38,290 --> 01:36:40,920 If the musicians are having fun, you can hear it. 1676 01:36:41,710 --> 01:36:44,960 It wasn't smooth. It wasn't polished. But it was unique. 1677 01:36:44,960 --> 01:36:47,380 Phil kind of liked that aspect of it. 1678 01:36:47,380 --> 01:36:50,550 He said, "It's kind of rough, but that's your sound." 1679 01:36:50,550 --> 01:36:53,890 It felt great in here, man. Come in here, Billy? 1680 01:36:53,890 --> 01:36:56,970 And he would point out things that we weren't even aware of, 1681 01:36:56,970 --> 01:36:58,390 like when we did "The Stranger." 1682 01:36:58,390 --> 01:37:01,440 It starts off with "The Stranger" theme. It goes... 1683 01:37:09,940 --> 01:37:12,070 And I'd whistle that. 1684 01:37:12,070 --> 01:37:14,530 And then I'd go into the studio and ask Phil, 1685 01:37:14,530 --> 01:37:15,740 so what instrument should do that? 1686 01:37:15,740 --> 01:37:17,200 He says, "You just did it. 1687 01:37:17,830 --> 01:37:18,910 You whistled it." 1688 01:37:24,580 --> 01:37:25,920 I never even thought of that. 1689 01:37:26,500 --> 01:37:28,130 A whistle. Oh, okay. 1690 01:37:28,670 --> 01:37:30,210 And that's how it ended up on the recording. 1691 01:37:30,210 --> 01:37:32,260 So stuff like that would happen all the time. 1692 01:37:32,260 --> 01:37:35,130 Spontaneous things that you don't really do 1693 01:37:35,140 --> 01:37:36,390 a lot of deep thinking about. 1694 01:37:36,390 --> 01:37:38,060 They just kind of happen naturally. 1695 01:37:38,970 --> 01:37:42,520 So I felt it was finally not like pulling teeth to record. 1696 01:37:43,060 --> 01:37:44,020 It was chemistry. 1697 01:37:45,400 --> 01:37:48,480 We're both easily stimulated by each other, you know, 1698 01:37:48,480 --> 01:37:51,110 and have a lot of fun and are very straight ahead 1699 01:37:51,110 --> 01:37:52,610 about what the music is about. 1700 01:37:53,070 --> 01:37:54,530 And he trusted me. 1701 01:37:54,530 --> 01:37:55,990 This is a brand new song. 1702 01:37:55,990 --> 01:37:58,660 This is called "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant." 1703 01:38:00,950 --> 01:38:04,370 And Phil, he got the concept of "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant." 1704 01:38:04,370 --> 01:38:07,630 I always wanted to write a cinematic type of song 1705 01:38:07,630 --> 01:38:10,210 about the lives of people I knew in high school, 1706 01:38:10,210 --> 01:38:11,800 people who peaked too early. 1707 01:38:12,260 --> 01:38:14,170 A bottle of white 1708 01:38:15,300 --> 01:38:16,970 A bottle of red 1709 01:38:17,850 --> 01:38:21,470 It was actually three or four, maybe five, song ideas 1710 01:38:21,470 --> 01:38:22,930 that I had not developed. 1711 01:38:23,390 --> 01:38:24,930 They were just fragments. 1712 01:38:24,940 --> 01:38:27,850 We'll get a table near the street... 1713 01:38:27,860 --> 01:38:30,770 Phil put together Billy's songs. 1714 01:38:30,770 --> 01:38:33,280 Billy would have three different ideas, 1715 01:38:33,280 --> 01:38:37,030 and Phil would say, "Let's put this here and put this one here" 1716 01:38:37,360 --> 01:38:40,870 and create the arrangement of the song and how it goes. 1717 01:38:40,870 --> 01:38:42,990 Brenda and Eddie were the popular steadies 1718 01:38:43,000 --> 01:38:45,160 And the king and the queen of the prom 1719 01:38:45,790 --> 01:38:49,210 Riding around with the car top down and the radio on 1720 01:38:50,500 --> 01:38:52,550 Nobody looked any finer 1721 01:38:52,550 --> 01:38:55,340 Or was more of a hit at the Parkway Diner... 1722 01:38:55,970 --> 01:39:00,050 Billy's songs are built like the Rock of Gibraltar. 1723 01:39:00,050 --> 01:39:04,100 They are simply incredibly well put together. 1724 01:39:05,480 --> 01:39:10,190 And one of Billy's gifts was his ability as the great storyteller. 1725 01:39:11,070 --> 01:39:13,400 Well, they got an apartment with deep pile carpets 1726 01:39:13,400 --> 01:39:15,610 And a couple of paintings from Sears 1727 01:39:16,070 --> 01:39:18,150 A big water bed they bought with the bread 1728 01:39:18,160 --> 01:39:20,700 They had saved for a couple of years 1729 01:39:20,700 --> 01:39:23,120 They started to fight when the money got tight 1730 01:39:23,120 --> 01:39:25,330 And they just didn't count on the tears 1731 01:39:25,330 --> 01:39:27,410 Whoa, whoa 1732 01:39:31,460 --> 01:39:34,340 People want to hear those stories over and over again. 1733 01:39:35,050 --> 01:39:38,930 So his lyrical ability was just a part of who he was 1734 01:39:38,930 --> 01:39:40,470 and where he came from. 1735 01:39:40,470 --> 01:39:42,430 And I think people relate to that. 1736 01:39:44,260 --> 01:39:46,810 Well, they lived for a while in a very nice style 1737 01:39:46,810 --> 01:39:49,310 But it's always the same in the end 1738 01:39:49,310 --> 01:39:51,350 They got a divorce as a matter of course... 1739 01:39:51,360 --> 01:39:54,230 So we figured out a way to record this thing 1740 01:39:54,230 --> 01:39:56,110 where it was going to all flow together, 1741 01:39:56,110 --> 01:39:58,570 even the time signature changes in the middle of it, 1742 01:39:58,570 --> 01:40:01,950 which is really difficult to get back into the regular time. 1743 01:40:11,750 --> 01:40:15,420 Yeah, yeah, yeah 1744 01:40:19,720 --> 01:40:23,760 I would say there's a lot of autobiographical stuff in my music. 1745 01:40:23,760 --> 01:40:25,600 One, two, three. 1746 01:40:27,220 --> 01:40:28,390 They say write what you know. 1747 01:40:28,390 --> 01:40:29,980 So I wrote what I knew. 1748 01:40:29,980 --> 01:40:32,270 A lot of the songs were based on Elizabeth. 1749 01:40:34,270 --> 01:40:37,780 Don't go changing 1750 01:40:37,780 --> 01:40:40,820 To try and please me 1751 01:40:41,450 --> 01:40:44,700 You never let me down before 1752 01:40:44,700 --> 01:40:46,580 We were really short of a song. 1753 01:40:46,580 --> 01:40:50,000 Here comes this song. And he said, "I don't like it. 1754 01:40:50,000 --> 01:40:52,580 "It's like a wedding song. I'm not going to play this." 1755 01:40:52,580 --> 01:40:55,290 And I tell you, it was a battle. 1756 01:40:55,920 --> 01:40:59,050 And I don't see you anymore 1757 01:40:59,050 --> 01:41:00,970 - That part. - It don't feel right. 1758 01:41:00,970 --> 01:41:02,720 If it don't feel right, it ain't going to sound right. 1759 01:41:02,720 --> 01:41:06,180 Billy, if it feels uncomfortable, just stay out of it. Just sing the song. 1760 01:41:06,180 --> 01:41:07,970 Just try it, I don't think it can hurt. 1761 01:41:08,470 --> 01:41:11,100 Phil Ramone was the one who was pushing to have that song. 1762 01:41:11,100 --> 01:41:13,600 But it just didn't feel right to me. 1763 01:41:13,600 --> 01:41:15,190 It was too mushy. 1764 01:41:15,190 --> 01:41:18,520 Did you think that that particular song was something special when you did it? 1765 01:41:18,530 --> 01:41:20,360 - It was okay. You know. - What did-- 1766 01:41:20,360 --> 01:41:22,030 what did it sound like? Could you give a little bit 1767 01:41:22,030 --> 01:41:23,280 of what it would sound like? Just... 1768 01:41:23,280 --> 01:41:24,860 Well, we used to do it in a different beat. 1769 01:41:24,870 --> 01:41:26,240 - Mm-hmm. - And then Phil came in 1770 01:41:26,240 --> 01:41:27,910 and he said to Liberty DeVitto, 1771 01:41:27,910 --> 01:41:31,250 who's the drummer, he said, "Why don't you play this backwards Samba?" 1772 01:41:31,250 --> 01:41:33,790 Liberty's going, "What's a Samba?" 1773 01:41:33,790 --> 01:41:36,130 You know, he's a rock and roll guy, he didn't know from Samba. 1774 01:41:36,130 --> 01:41:38,710 Hey, Lib? You can play a tom tom thing in there, you know? 1775 01:41:38,710 --> 01:41:40,130 You can hit the tom. 1776 01:41:40,130 --> 01:41:42,090 It's just creative in here too, you know. 1777 01:41:42,470 --> 01:41:45,840 And Phil said, "How about boom, da doom cha." 1778 01:41:45,840 --> 01:41:47,550 Everybody with him. 1779 01:41:52,520 --> 01:41:54,980 So Liberty went, okay. Boom, da doom cha. 1780 01:41:56,020 --> 01:41:58,610 "Okay, that works." And Phil Ramone came up with that. 1781 01:41:58,730 --> 01:42:01,440 Let's do it then. One, two, three, four. 1782 01:42:01,440 --> 01:42:05,450 I said I love you 1783 01:42:06,200 --> 01:42:08,410 That's forever 1784 01:42:09,490 --> 01:42:13,700 And this I promise from the heart 1785 01:42:13,710 --> 01:42:15,870 Mm, mm, mm 1786 01:42:15,870 --> 01:42:18,210 I couldn't love you 1787 01:42:19,460 --> 01:42:21,510 Any better 1788 01:42:22,550 --> 01:42:25,930 I love you just the way you are 1789 01:42:25,930 --> 01:42:27,930 I heard the playback and went, 1790 01:42:27,930 --> 01:42:30,760 okay, it's a nice recording, well-written song, 1791 01:42:30,760 --> 01:42:32,100 but I don't think it should be on the album. 1792 01:42:32,100 --> 01:42:35,100 So Phil, he brings in a couple of people. 1793 01:42:35,100 --> 01:42:38,270 And they're listening to it and they're looking at each other like... 1794 01:42:39,110 --> 01:42:42,190 And I came back into the control room. I said, I don't know. What do you think? 1795 01:42:42,190 --> 01:42:44,280 "That's one of the best songs we ever heard." 1796 01:42:44,280 --> 01:42:46,360 I said, I don't really want to put it on the album. 1797 01:42:46,360 --> 01:42:47,950 "You're crazy! 1798 01:42:47,950 --> 01:42:49,990 That's got to be on the album. It's a big hit." 1799 01:42:49,990 --> 01:42:51,660 I said, it is? 1800 01:42:51,660 --> 01:42:56,540 And it was Linda Ronstadt and Phoebe Snow. And they were right. 1801 01:43:00,130 --> 01:43:03,550 I loved the music before I ever heard a lyric. 1802 01:43:03,550 --> 01:43:07,220 But artists are artists, and they, they take a little bit of this 1803 01:43:07,220 --> 01:43:09,590 and a little bit of that, and they shake it together 1804 01:43:09,600 --> 01:43:11,010 and they make magic. 1805 01:43:11,010 --> 01:43:13,720 And magic struck with that song. 1806 01:43:14,350 --> 01:43:16,770 I just want someone 1807 01:43:17,810 --> 01:43:20,190 That I can talk to 1808 01:43:21,150 --> 01:43:26,820 I want you just the way you are 1809 01:43:27,200 --> 01:43:31,330 Ooh 1810 01:43:44,130 --> 01:43:46,960 When "The Stranger" was finished and mastered, 1811 01:43:46,970 --> 01:43:49,890 we thought it was a masterpiece. We were, like, thrilled. 1812 01:43:50,470 --> 01:43:52,050 It has hard rock. 1813 01:43:53,510 --> 01:43:55,560 It has soft rock. 1814 01:43:57,560 --> 01:44:01,480 It has love and sadomasochism. 1815 01:44:03,860 --> 01:44:05,650 And even has food. 1816 01:44:09,320 --> 01:44:10,530 "The Stranger." 1817 01:44:14,740 --> 01:44:17,200 The first time anybody really heard the record 1818 01:44:17,200 --> 01:44:21,580 was at the listening party at CBS. 1819 01:44:21,580 --> 01:44:23,000 ...tradin' in his Chevy 1820 01:44:23,000 --> 01:44:25,210 For a Cadillac ac-ac-ac-ac-ac... 1821 01:44:25,210 --> 01:44:27,340 Everyone goes south 1822 01:44:27,340 --> 01:44:29,260 ...you just the way you... 1823 01:44:29,260 --> 01:44:31,300 ...remember those days hangin' out 1824 01:44:31,300 --> 01:44:33,050 Slow down 1825 01:44:33,050 --> 01:44:34,550 Whoa, whoa, whoa 1826 01:44:34,550 --> 01:44:36,560 She takes care of herself 1827 01:44:36,560 --> 01:44:38,350 Oh 1828 01:44:40,190 --> 01:44:43,270 And the room was dead silent. 1829 01:44:44,110 --> 01:44:46,440 The first person that spoke up said, 1830 01:44:46,780 --> 01:44:49,360 "Well, you know, it's very nice, but I don't hear any singles." 1831 01:44:49,900 --> 01:44:52,110 And so I said, "Well, you better find a single 1832 01:44:52,110 --> 01:44:54,200 because we're not changing one note." 1833 01:44:54,200 --> 01:44:56,530 She can kill with a smile 1834 01:44:56,540 --> 01:44:58,910 She can wound with her eyes 1835 01:44:59,500 --> 01:45:02,120 Everything Billy wrote, he would stand by. 1836 01:45:02,670 --> 01:45:06,750 And if the record company didn't like it, he would still do it. 1837 01:45:07,340 --> 01:45:10,720 And she would fight for that. Yeah, she would. 1838 01:45:10,720 --> 01:45:12,510 She hides like a child 1839 01:45:12,510 --> 01:45:16,390 But she's always a woman to me 1840 01:45:17,060 --> 01:45:21,180 They said they don't hear a single, and she said, "You're wrong." 1841 01:45:21,180 --> 01:45:24,400 She's telling these people, the president of Columbia Records, that they're wrong. 1842 01:45:25,060 --> 01:45:29,570 But she was very powerful. Always was. 1843 01:45:31,190 --> 01:45:35,870 Billy wasn't a schmoozer. He did not want to play the game. 1844 01:45:35,870 --> 01:45:39,410 Elizabeth really had the street smarts, 1845 01:45:39,410 --> 01:45:43,500 the sensibilities, of dealing with a corporate environment. 1846 01:45:44,790 --> 01:45:46,080 And she really never let 1847 01:45:46,080 --> 01:45:48,250 Billy fall off anybody's radar. 1848 01:45:48,670 --> 01:45:51,840 She can wait if she wants 1849 01:45:52,670 --> 01:45:56,760 She's ahead of her time 1850 01:45:58,510 --> 01:46:01,850 Elizabeth, she had to negotiate for Billy. 1851 01:46:03,310 --> 01:46:05,150 Had to be a babysitter for us. 1852 01:46:06,560 --> 01:46:07,730 Hey, Liberty! 1853 01:46:08,730 --> 01:46:10,820 Ah! Ah! 1854 01:46:10,820 --> 01:46:12,650 - Speak into the microphone. - Hello? 1855 01:46:12,650 --> 01:46:13,990 - Is this on? Is this on? - Yes. 1856 01:46:13,990 --> 01:46:15,950 You're talking to America right now. 1857 01:46:15,950 --> 01:46:18,410 - Hello, America. - Put your lips right on it. 1858 01:46:20,450 --> 01:46:22,290 It was tough to hang around us. 1859 01:46:22,290 --> 01:46:24,080 It wasn't easy. 1860 01:46:24,710 --> 01:46:26,670 You know, doing donuts in a car and driving it 1861 01:46:26,670 --> 01:46:29,380 into the lobby of a hotel and ending up in jail. 1862 01:46:29,380 --> 01:46:31,590 I don't like this hotel. I don't like it. 1863 01:46:31,590 --> 01:46:35,590 They were, you know, basically, they were a bunch of hooligans from Long Island. 1864 01:46:36,760 --> 01:46:41,260 You know, we were just this bunch of twenty-something year-old guys. 1865 01:46:41,260 --> 01:46:45,270 Had no idea what we were doing. And she molded us. 1866 01:46:45,270 --> 01:46:46,690 Fifteen minutes. 1867 01:46:46,690 --> 01:46:48,270 ...in the cars in 15 minutes. 1868 01:46:48,270 --> 01:46:49,270 Okay. 1869 01:46:49,860 --> 01:46:55,610 With Billy and Elizabeth as the duo, her real talent was understanding 1870 01:46:55,610 --> 01:46:58,820 how important it was for her 1871 01:46:58,820 --> 01:47:02,740 to be able to create a landing field 1872 01:47:02,740 --> 01:47:04,330 for this talent. 1873 01:47:05,830 --> 01:47:07,750 We'd never broken through with a recording. 1874 01:47:07,750 --> 01:47:10,540 We needed, you know, the backing of the record company 1875 01:47:10,540 --> 01:47:12,210 to help us break through. 1876 01:47:12,210 --> 01:47:14,800 And now was the time. It was either now or never. 1877 01:47:16,260 --> 01:47:18,680 Elizabeth tells the president of CBS, 1878 01:47:18,680 --> 01:47:20,720 "You've gotta be crazy not to hear a single on that." 1879 01:47:21,260 --> 01:47:24,010 Elizabeth says, "You can pick the first single, 1880 01:47:24,020 --> 01:47:27,480 whatever you think, as long as I can pick the second single." 1881 01:47:27,940 --> 01:47:29,310 He picks "Movin' Out." 1882 01:47:30,060 --> 01:47:33,190 If that's what it's all about, Mama... 1883 01:47:33,190 --> 01:47:38,030 Columbia released "Movin' Out," which did well, but not terribly well. 1884 01:47:38,030 --> 01:47:40,030 I'm movin' out 1885 01:47:40,030 --> 01:47:41,490 She picks "Just The Way You Are." 1886 01:47:42,660 --> 01:47:46,830 ...we never could have come this far 1887 01:47:47,330 --> 01:47:49,170 Mm, mm 1888 01:47:49,170 --> 01:47:51,750 I took the good times 1889 01:47:52,670 --> 01:47:54,960 I'll take the bad times 1890 01:47:56,300 --> 01:48:00,720 I'll take you just the way you are 1891 01:48:02,220 --> 01:48:04,220 When I first heard Billy, it was like, 1892 01:48:04,220 --> 01:48:07,020 oh, wait a minute, he's good. Who's this? 1893 01:48:07,020 --> 01:48:09,140 You know, like you do, your ears prick up. 1894 01:48:09,140 --> 01:48:12,190 ...some new fashion 1895 01:48:12,610 --> 01:48:14,940 Don't change the color of... 1896 01:48:14,940 --> 01:48:18,820 The song that really made me know 1897 01:48:18,820 --> 01:48:21,200 that that was happening was "Just The Way You Are." 1898 01:48:22,450 --> 01:48:25,200 ...unspoken passion 1899 01:48:25,200 --> 01:48:26,620 And where-- I get asked, 1900 01:48:26,620 --> 01:48:29,870 "Is there a song that you wish you'd written?" 1901 01:48:29,870 --> 01:48:32,250 And I always-- That's the one I always say. 1902 01:48:32,250 --> 01:48:37,170 I don't want clever convers... 1903 01:48:37,170 --> 01:48:39,010 "Just The Way You Are," 1904 01:48:39,010 --> 01:48:43,890 it was one of those songs that changed the landscape. 1905 01:48:43,890 --> 01:48:45,300 And I remember we had 1906 01:48:45,310 --> 01:48:49,390 a programming director in Atlanta, and he calls me up and he says, 1907 01:48:49,390 --> 01:48:51,230 "Hey, we just played this track, 1908 01:48:51,230 --> 01:48:53,690 'Just The Way You Are,' and it's exploding." 1909 01:48:53,690 --> 01:48:59,530 I want you just the way you are 1910 01:48:59,530 --> 01:49:04,160 "Just The Way You Are" was on in every station, heavy rotation, Top 40. 1911 01:49:04,620 --> 01:49:07,030 You couldn't stand the song at the end of the time, 1912 01:49:07,040 --> 01:49:09,080 but we'd sold a million units. 1913 01:49:10,080 --> 01:49:12,620 I couldn't recognize a hit if I stepped on it. 1914 01:49:12,620 --> 01:49:14,380 You know, I got to give her credit 1915 01:49:14,380 --> 01:49:16,210 because I didn't pick "Just The Way You Are." 1916 01:49:18,550 --> 01:49:21,510 That is what put Billy over the top. 1917 01:49:22,680 --> 01:49:25,840 It took Billy from three nights at Carnegie Hall 1918 01:49:25,850 --> 01:49:28,180 to three nights at Madison Square Garden. 1919 01:49:28,180 --> 01:49:30,230 And that's what happened all around the world. 1920 01:49:36,650 --> 01:49:39,940 There were 105 performances that year 1921 01:49:39,940 --> 01:49:42,740 in different parts of the country, different parts of the world. 1922 01:49:42,740 --> 01:49:44,410 It was intense. 1923 01:49:46,450 --> 01:49:47,950 After "The Stranger" album came out, 1924 01:49:47,950 --> 01:49:50,370 we went on the road, and by the time we finished the tour, 1925 01:49:50,370 --> 01:49:52,500 we ended up playing in these huge coliseums 1926 01:49:52,500 --> 01:49:54,120 and people were going, wahh! 1927 01:49:54,120 --> 01:49:55,420 And we're looking at each other like, 1928 01:49:55,420 --> 01:49:58,130 what's going on here? We really didn't know. 1929 01:49:58,130 --> 01:50:01,170 And by the end of the tour, we, I guess we knew it was a big album. 1930 01:50:04,880 --> 01:50:07,890 And then he wins two Grammys. 1931 01:50:07,890 --> 01:50:10,010 Okay, and the Song of the Year is... 1932 01:50:10,020 --> 01:50:12,270 The Record of the Year is... 1933 01:50:12,270 --> 01:50:15,190 "Just The Way You Are," Billy Joel, songwriter. 1934 01:50:15,190 --> 01:50:17,150 Billy Joel, "Just The Way You Are." 1935 01:50:17,610 --> 01:50:19,150 Phil Ramone, producer. 1936 01:50:20,280 --> 01:50:23,490 And then things really took off. 1937 01:50:23,490 --> 01:50:26,450 Out on Long Island is having their reunion tonight. 1938 01:50:26,450 --> 01:50:29,700 And one alumnus will not be there because he's here as my special guest. 1939 01:50:29,700 --> 01:50:30,990 Ladies and gentlemen, Billy Joel. 1940 01:50:32,370 --> 01:50:33,830 Come out, Virginia 1941 01:50:33,830 --> 01:50:35,370 Don't let me wait 1942 01:50:35,370 --> 01:50:38,080 You Catholic girls start much too late 1943 01:50:38,080 --> 01:50:41,460 Aw, but sooner or later it comes down to fate 1944 01:50:41,460 --> 01:50:44,130 I might as well be the one... 1945 01:50:44,130 --> 01:50:46,510 "Only The Good Die Young," it was put out as a single. 1946 01:50:47,140 --> 01:50:50,010 But it ended up being banned by the Catholic Church. 1947 01:50:50,010 --> 01:50:52,260 Billy Joel is a rock performer. 1948 01:50:52,270 --> 01:50:55,140 And though he may be popular, a Catholic school has banned 1949 01:50:55,140 --> 01:50:56,890 a familiar song of his 1950 01:50:56,900 --> 01:50:59,060 because of its references to Catholic girls. 1951 01:50:59,060 --> 01:51:01,610 ...die young 1952 01:51:02,650 --> 01:51:04,940 And it wasn't selling all that well. 1953 01:51:04,940 --> 01:51:07,910 And then as soon as they banned the sale of it, 1954 01:51:07,910 --> 01:51:10,410 kids went out in droves to buy this thing. 1955 01:51:10,410 --> 01:51:12,240 What can't we have? What shouldn't we hear? 1956 01:51:12,240 --> 01:51:15,080 So I wrote a letter to the Archdiocese of St. Louis 1957 01:51:15,080 --> 01:51:16,210 who banned it. 1958 01:51:16,210 --> 01:51:18,420 I said, please ban my next record 1959 01:51:18,420 --> 01:51:20,880 because, you know, I'm coming out with a new single soon. 1960 01:51:20,880 --> 01:51:23,550 But that never hurt no one 1961 01:51:23,550 --> 01:51:27,010 So come on, Virginia show me a sign 1962 01:51:27,010 --> 01:51:29,930 Send up a signal I'll throw you the line 1963 01:51:29,930 --> 01:51:33,310 The stained-glass curtain you're hiding behind 1964 01:51:33,310 --> 01:51:35,600 Never lets in the sun 1965 01:51:36,060 --> 01:51:38,690 Darlin', only the good die young 1966 01:51:39,770 --> 01:51:41,940 That's what I said 1967 01:51:42,940 --> 01:51:47,820 Only the good die young 1968 01:51:48,950 --> 01:51:50,530 You got a nice white dress 1969 01:51:50,530 --> 01:51:53,740 And a party on your confirmation 1970 01:51:53,740 --> 01:51:55,580 Well, it turned out that "The Stranger" became 1971 01:51:55,580 --> 01:52:00,000 the best-selling album Columbia Records had ever put out, 1972 01:52:00,420 --> 01:52:02,630 which we had never conceived of. 1973 01:52:02,630 --> 01:52:05,380 ...got enough information 1974 01:52:05,380 --> 01:52:08,010 I mean, we started off in rent-a-cars and-and buses. 1975 01:52:08,010 --> 01:52:09,220 Now, you know, by the end, 1976 01:52:09,220 --> 01:52:10,550 it's private planes and whatever. 1977 01:52:10,550 --> 01:52:14,760 You feel the enormity of the situation starting to grow. 1978 01:52:20,400 --> 01:52:22,020 After the arena shows started, 1979 01:52:22,020 --> 01:52:28,530 I saw how many people there were, and that record was really hitting hard. 1980 01:52:28,990 --> 01:52:32,030 And it was exhilarating and exciting. 1981 01:52:32,700 --> 01:52:36,700 But, you know, there was a bittersweet to it. 1982 01:52:39,330 --> 01:52:43,960 Because that's really the moment I knew that we're going to lose him. 1983 01:52:44,290 --> 01:52:47,420 Like, this is going to change. And things did change. 1984 01:52:52,800 --> 01:52:58,560 Before I started to be a manager, I had no idea what I was getting in for. 1985 01:53:02,060 --> 01:53:05,060 And as much as Bill, this is what he wanted, 1986 01:53:05,060 --> 01:53:06,520 this was his dream. 1987 01:53:06,520 --> 01:53:10,150 I don't think he ever imagined what it would be like. 1988 01:53:13,280 --> 01:53:15,330 I wasn't used to being, like, a star. 1989 01:53:16,030 --> 01:53:18,080 As a matter of fact, I wasn't all that comfortable with it. 1990 01:53:19,410 --> 01:53:21,410 And then I realized after a while, well, you are. 1991 01:53:21,750 --> 01:53:24,120 So stop knocking yourself down. 1992 01:53:24,130 --> 01:53:25,750 You know, get used to it. 1993 01:53:32,840 --> 01:53:36,470 I guess when you talk about widespread popularity for Billy Joel, 1994 01:53:36,470 --> 01:53:38,430 the record that did it for him was "The Stranger." 1995 01:53:38,430 --> 01:53:42,180 The Stranger in 1977 sold well over five million copies. 1996 01:53:42,190 --> 01:53:43,980 His last album had five hit singles, 1997 01:53:43,980 --> 01:53:45,940 and no one's done that since The Beatles. 1998 01:53:46,310 --> 01:53:49,360 "The Stranger" was the album that helped Billy Joel on his way 1999 01:53:49,360 --> 01:53:51,780 to becoming one of the most successful artists 2000 01:53:51,780 --> 01:53:53,240 in the history of rock music. 2001 01:53:54,990 --> 01:53:59,120 I remember saying to Bill, we just had a monster hit, 2002 01:53:59,120 --> 01:54:01,540 and now we need another monster hit. 2003 01:54:02,210 --> 01:54:04,500 The pressure was enormous. 2004 01:54:04,500 --> 01:54:08,420 But it was thrilling to see his progression as an artist 2005 01:54:08,420 --> 01:54:13,380 who was now learning to hold onto the reins of fame. 2006 01:54:14,510 --> 01:54:16,430 The fact that "The Stranger" was as successful 2007 01:54:16,430 --> 01:54:18,890 as it was gave me the self-confidence. 2008 01:54:19,600 --> 01:54:21,470 I'm not going to pay any attention to record company 2009 01:54:21,470 --> 01:54:23,520 executives, the music biz. 2010 01:54:23,940 --> 01:54:25,100 I'm going to write for me. 2011 01:54:27,020 --> 01:54:29,480 "52nd Street" was a very confident album. 2012 01:54:30,150 --> 01:54:33,570 I didn't want to repeat "The Stranger." You can't stay in the same place. 2013 01:54:33,570 --> 01:54:35,240 You must grow. 2014 01:54:35,240 --> 01:54:38,200 And I was trying to think, What's the theme of this album? 2015 01:54:38,200 --> 01:54:39,280 As I was writing it. 2016 01:54:39,280 --> 01:54:41,660 What is this album? Where are we? 2017 01:54:41,660 --> 01:54:43,710 52nd Street 2018 01:54:46,880 --> 01:54:50,790 Our studio where we recorded was right on 52nd Street. 2019 01:54:50,800 --> 01:54:54,170 The street, 52nd Street, was a very famous street at one time, you know. 2020 01:54:54,170 --> 01:54:56,970 In the '40s and the '50s, it was called Swing Street. 2021 01:54:56,970 --> 01:54:58,430 And Charlie Parker had a club, 2022 01:54:58,430 --> 01:55:01,560 and every musician had a jazz club on 52nd Street. 2023 01:55:02,180 --> 01:55:03,270 And we were sitting there, 2024 01:55:03,270 --> 01:55:04,430 what are we going to call this album? 2025 01:55:04,430 --> 01:55:06,690 Well, it's kind of got a New York flavor. Let's call it "52nd Street." 2026 01:55:07,020 --> 01:55:11,020 52nd Street is so important in the history of music. 2027 01:55:11,650 --> 01:55:16,030 But when they were recording, you know, the neighborhood was pretty grim. 2028 01:55:19,620 --> 01:55:22,370 In the late '70s, there was a lot of crime. 2029 01:55:22,370 --> 01:55:25,410 A lot of drug problems. The city was filthy. 2030 01:55:25,410 --> 01:55:30,210 They weren't picking up the garbage. It was not a pleasant atmosphere. 2031 01:55:31,250 --> 01:55:34,210 But there was something about it that was gritty. 2032 01:55:34,880 --> 01:55:36,220 Something that was real. 2033 01:55:36,670 --> 01:55:39,340 And we found that to be the theme. 2034 01:55:39,340 --> 01:55:42,390 And that's where we went. We went into this kind of New York thing. 2035 01:55:43,510 --> 01:55:45,810 Okay, here we go. 2036 01:55:48,650 --> 01:55:53,860 It was done with a full band and me singing live all in one shot. 2037 01:55:54,360 --> 01:55:57,900 I wanted that live energy to be translated to a recording. 2038 01:55:57,900 --> 01:56:01,780 Well, you went uptown ridin' in your limousine 2039 01:56:01,780 --> 01:56:04,740 With your fine Park Avenue clothes 2040 01:56:04,740 --> 01:56:07,410 You had the Dom Pérignon in your hand 2041 01:56:07,410 --> 01:56:09,670 And the spoon up your nose 2042 01:56:10,500 --> 01:56:13,090 Ooh, and when you wake up in the morning 2043 01:56:13,090 --> 01:56:14,960 With your head on fire... 2044 01:56:14,960 --> 01:56:16,630 "Big Shot" was a hangover song. 2045 01:56:16,630 --> 01:56:18,510 I don't know how many times I woke up in the morning 2046 01:56:18,510 --> 01:56:20,970 realizing I was an idiot the night before. 2047 01:56:20,970 --> 01:56:24,390 Felt like hell. Had a hangover. And you looked in the mirror and you go, 2048 01:56:24,390 --> 01:56:26,720 you had to be a big shot, didn't you? 2049 01:56:27,140 --> 01:56:30,060 You had to open up your mouth to be a big shot. 2050 01:56:30,060 --> 01:56:33,770 You had to be a big shot didn't you? 2051 01:56:33,770 --> 01:56:36,820 All your friends were so knocked out 2052 01:56:37,280 --> 01:56:39,490 I'm yelling at myself, you idiot! 2053 01:56:39,490 --> 01:56:42,450 Why do I feel so terrible? Why? Because you drank too much. 2054 01:56:42,450 --> 01:56:44,530 I did a lot of my own research for "Big Shot." 2055 01:56:44,530 --> 01:56:47,740 It's partly about me, and it's partly about, 2056 01:56:47,750 --> 01:56:49,040 somebody else. 2057 01:56:51,000 --> 01:56:53,920 It's often been remarked that that song is about me. 2058 01:56:53,920 --> 01:56:57,590 You know, just because I might have worn a Halston dress 2059 01:56:57,590 --> 01:56:58,920 and, you know, the people 2060 01:56:58,920 --> 01:57:00,920 that I knew at Elaine's and all that stuff. 2061 01:57:00,930 --> 01:57:03,260 Well, they were all impressed 2062 01:57:03,260 --> 01:57:04,680 With your Halston dress 2063 01:57:04,680 --> 01:57:07,020 And the people that you knew at Elaine's 2064 01:57:07,600 --> 01:57:09,520 And the story of your latest success 2065 01:57:09,520 --> 01:57:12,270 Kept 'em so entertained 2066 01:57:12,270 --> 01:57:15,940 But in my opinion, that song is about him. 2067 01:57:16,400 --> 01:57:18,030 ...you're not sure that you wanna know 2068 01:57:18,030 --> 01:57:21,030 We were just starting to taste the good life 2069 01:57:21,030 --> 01:57:23,610 from whatever success that I had had. 2070 01:57:23,610 --> 01:57:24,870 We were new to it. 2071 01:57:28,160 --> 01:57:30,790 And "52nd Street" turned out to be this huge, 2072 01:57:30,790 --> 01:57:32,620 constantly growing thing. 2073 01:57:34,670 --> 01:57:36,170 I think "52nd Street," 2074 01:57:36,170 --> 01:57:39,420 any doubters that were left in the business were gone. 2075 01:57:39,420 --> 01:57:42,090 You cannot argue with the number one album. 2076 01:57:43,380 --> 01:57:45,010 And the album of the year is... 2077 01:57:45,010 --> 01:57:46,600 Envelope! Oh. 2078 01:57:46,600 --> 01:57:48,970 Ah, "52nd Street," Billy Joel. 2079 01:57:48,970 --> 01:57:50,350 Phil Ramone, producer. 2080 01:57:52,190 --> 01:57:55,600 After that Grammy, there was no time off. 2081 01:57:55,610 --> 01:57:57,520 There was a world tour. 2082 01:57:59,030 --> 01:58:02,650 And my job as his manager, you need to make sure 2083 01:58:02,650 --> 01:58:06,570 everybody shows up in the same place on the same night, 2084 01:58:06,570 --> 01:58:08,450 and they're 100% ready to work. 2085 01:58:09,830 --> 01:58:12,620 There's nobody driving the train if you do not have 2086 01:58:12,620 --> 01:58:15,920 a strong, efficient, effective manager. 2087 01:58:16,540 --> 01:58:18,590 In fact, some of my friends called me The General. 2088 01:58:20,300 --> 01:58:21,920 You know, her management style, 2089 01:58:21,920 --> 01:58:26,470 she could be tough as an executive, as a boss, as a manager. 2090 01:58:27,970 --> 01:58:29,100 We were friends, 2091 01:58:29,100 --> 01:58:32,810 and we had a lot of fun together, but she was forceful when it came time 2092 01:58:32,930 --> 01:58:35,310 to make decisions of what we were going to do. 2093 01:58:35,310 --> 01:58:38,110 With total respect to her... 2094 01:58:38,110 --> 01:58:40,690 I'm not going to say that I was afraid of her, 2095 01:58:40,690 --> 01:58:42,740 but I was afraid of her. 2096 01:58:43,400 --> 01:58:47,530 I felt bad for people because she had to crack the whip, 2097 01:58:47,530 --> 01:58:49,700 I suppose, and make things work 2098 01:58:49,700 --> 01:58:51,290 and make people do what they're supposed to do. 2099 01:58:51,830 --> 01:58:54,370 I wasn't always comfortable with her doing that. 2100 01:58:55,210 --> 01:58:57,620 But the truth is, a lot of the things she did 2101 01:58:57,630 --> 01:58:59,210 were on my behalf. 2102 01:59:00,090 --> 01:59:02,760 Elizabeth never made a plan that he didn't approve, 2103 01:59:03,170 --> 01:59:06,380 but being a woman, Elizabeth had to be tough. 2104 01:59:07,010 --> 01:59:09,600 People would see that toughness and misinterpret it. 2105 01:59:11,430 --> 01:59:15,350 If a man is strong and assertive, it's all good. 2106 01:59:15,350 --> 01:59:17,890 But if you're a woman who makes a decision 2107 01:59:17,900 --> 01:59:20,650 that people don't like, the gendered language comes out. 2108 01:59:22,480 --> 01:59:24,530 You know, some people got upset, 2109 01:59:24,530 --> 01:59:26,570 especially a lot of these macho guys 2110 01:59:26,570 --> 01:59:29,700 didn't like the idea of some woman coming in 2111 01:59:29,700 --> 01:59:31,660 and telling them what had to happen. 2112 01:59:33,370 --> 01:59:36,750 And she got some bad mouthing about her. 2113 01:59:36,750 --> 01:59:38,460 Wouldn't have happened if she was a guy. 2114 01:59:40,380 --> 01:59:43,250 The hard part was being married to the artist, 2115 01:59:43,250 --> 01:59:46,380 because if she had an idea that he didn't want to do 2116 01:59:46,380 --> 01:59:49,340 and she thought it was a good idea, that's a hard rub. 2117 01:59:50,800 --> 01:59:54,510 And by that point, the boundaries were so loose 2118 01:59:54,520 --> 01:59:58,190 and crossed over, and it just became clear to me that, 2119 01:59:58,190 --> 02:00:00,350 oh, this is tricky stuff. 2120 02:00:01,940 --> 02:00:05,730 And so I would like to talk about one of my favorite songs of all time, 2121 02:00:05,740 --> 02:00:07,070 which is "Stiletto." 2122 02:00:11,490 --> 02:00:14,080 Now, what is that-- What does that rhythm imply? 2123 02:00:14,790 --> 02:00:18,120 To me, it kind of implied stabbing. 2124 02:00:18,620 --> 02:00:19,830 I don't know why. 2125 02:00:20,370 --> 02:00:24,540 Maybe it was the nature of my relationship, at the time, 2126 02:00:24,550 --> 02:00:26,510 but I came up with these lyrics, 2127 02:00:27,880 --> 02:00:32,340 about being emasculated by a relationship. 2128 02:00:32,350 --> 02:00:34,140 She cuts you once she cuts you... 2129 02:00:34,140 --> 02:00:35,600 It's kind of a nasty song. 2130 02:00:38,020 --> 02:00:41,650 Once the song was finished, I listened back to it, I said, that's kind of heavy. 2131 02:00:42,860 --> 02:00:44,900 But it got written. 2132 02:00:50,780 --> 02:00:53,160 She cuts you once she cuts you twice 2133 02:00:53,160 --> 02:00:55,240 But still you believe 2134 02:00:55,240 --> 02:00:58,120 Although he has churned out several tender tunes on the topic 2135 02:00:58,120 --> 02:01:02,540 of womanhood, he has been called sexist because of songs like "Stiletto." 2136 02:01:03,000 --> 02:01:05,460 Sexist? The point of the song is okay, 2137 02:01:05,460 --> 02:01:07,800 the woman is a sadist, but the guy's a masochist. 2138 02:01:07,800 --> 02:01:09,300 I don't think that's sexist. 2139 02:01:11,800 --> 02:01:15,180 Then she says she wants forgiveness 2140 02:01:16,470 --> 02:01:19,230 It's such a clever masquerade 2141 02:01:20,770 --> 02:01:23,560 Oh! She's so good with her stiletto... 2142 02:01:23,560 --> 02:01:27,230 If somebody's going to take shots about him being misogynist, 2143 02:01:27,230 --> 02:01:29,230 I am living proof that he's not that. 2144 02:01:29,240 --> 02:01:32,200 I mean, he hired me, way ahead of the curve, 2145 02:01:32,610 --> 02:01:35,820 to take care of his career and what was most important to him. 2146 02:01:35,830 --> 02:01:38,330 Oh, she cuts you hard, she cuts you deep 2147 02:01:38,330 --> 02:01:40,910 Oh, she's got so much skill 2148 02:01:40,910 --> 02:01:44,170 To me, it's another song that is about a marriage. 2149 02:01:44,170 --> 02:01:49,380 And it's not just about our relationship, but some of it was. 2150 02:01:49,380 --> 02:01:51,010 You've been left there to bleed 2151 02:01:51,010 --> 02:01:52,420 You wanna run away 2152 02:01:52,430 --> 02:01:53,720 But you know you're gonna stay 2153 02:01:53,720 --> 02:01:56,390 'Cause she gives you what you need 2154 02:01:56,390 --> 02:01:59,810 And sometimes with couples, there are things that happen. 2155 02:01:59,810 --> 02:02:01,640 There's disloyalties. 2156 02:02:01,640 --> 02:02:05,100 And thinking, oh, yeah, I'm going to say this, 2157 02:02:05,100 --> 02:02:06,770 and that's really going to get them going. 2158 02:02:06,770 --> 02:02:10,110 She's so good with her stiletto 2159 02:02:10,110 --> 02:02:14,030 I don't remember thinking, this'll show her, this is about her. 2160 02:02:17,620 --> 02:02:19,200 And that's all I've got to say about that. 2161 02:02:21,080 --> 02:02:23,160 Oh, good God almighty... 2162 02:02:34,840 --> 02:02:38,430 Well, by the time we had finished the "52nd Street" tour, 2163 02:02:38,430 --> 02:02:41,810 one of the things I realized about arenas and coliseums 2164 02:02:41,810 --> 02:02:47,100 was you got to have the music that works in those kind of venues. 2165 02:02:47,100 --> 02:02:49,980 I wanted an album of power pop 2166 02:02:49,980 --> 02:02:52,230 just to go bang, bang, bang, bang 2167 02:02:52,230 --> 02:02:53,530 to play in arenas. 2168 02:02:57,700 --> 02:02:59,660 It's been almost 15 years now 2169 02:02:59,660 --> 02:03:02,700 since Billy didn't graduate from Hicksville High School. 2170 02:03:02,700 --> 02:03:05,660 He's moved into a modern glass house on Long Island, 2171 02:03:05,660 --> 02:03:08,120 a stone's throw from where he used to live. 2172 02:03:08,130 --> 02:03:09,920 ...throw a rock through that window. 2173 02:03:10,630 --> 02:03:14,670 His picture window is on the cover of his latest album, "Glass Houses." 2174 02:03:15,720 --> 02:03:18,220 And I was throwing a rock at my own image, 2175 02:03:18,220 --> 02:03:21,810 which was balladeer, you know, singer-songwriter. 2176 02:03:22,470 --> 02:03:24,600 And I thought, we're going to try something different here. 2177 02:03:24,600 --> 02:03:26,810 It's just a fantasy 2178 02:03:26,810 --> 02:03:27,940 Oh 2179 02:03:27,940 --> 02:03:29,850 It's not the real thing 2180 02:03:29,860 --> 02:03:31,060 Oh 2181 02:03:31,070 --> 02:03:32,860 It's just a fantasy 2182 02:03:32,860 --> 02:03:34,400 Oh 2183 02:03:34,400 --> 02:03:37,650 You are such a prisoner of prizes you receive 2184 02:03:37,660 --> 02:03:39,910 Is that too poetic? Purple prose-y? 2185 02:03:39,910 --> 02:03:41,780 No, not really. I think if you come out of it alright. 2186 02:03:41,780 --> 02:03:43,870 - If it comes out-- - And I am just a... 2187 02:03:43,870 --> 02:03:47,120 Working with Billy, I got to see his process in the studio. 2188 02:03:47,580 --> 02:03:50,330 He would start by writing a few rough ideas, 2189 02:03:50,330 --> 02:03:51,920 a verse here, a chorus there, 2190 02:03:52,290 --> 02:03:54,340 and stitch them together pretty quickly. 2191 02:03:54,340 --> 02:03:56,090 Everybody's waiting for me to finish these songs. 2192 02:03:56,670 --> 02:03:58,130 It's like squeezing a lemon. 2193 02:03:58,590 --> 02:04:01,680 I remember we were cutting the album, and it was pretty much done. 2194 02:04:01,680 --> 02:04:03,850 And then Billy came up with "Still Rock and Roll to Me." 2195 02:04:04,560 --> 02:04:09,440 Well, I wrote the lyrics in the car on the way into the studio. 2196 02:04:09,440 --> 02:04:12,400 I had an idea for a rhythmic pattern. 2197 02:04:12,400 --> 02:04:16,190 Dunk, gudunk, gudunk, gudunk, gudunk, gudunk, gudunk, da da dun. 2198 02:04:16,190 --> 02:04:17,360 They came in, and they cut it. 2199 02:04:17,360 --> 02:04:18,860 And that's a simple song. 2200 02:04:18,860 --> 02:04:21,490 They lay it down, Billy doubles some vocals, and it's over. 2201 02:04:21,490 --> 02:04:22,740 And I'm sitting there going, this is the hit. 2202 02:04:22,740 --> 02:04:23,990 What's the matter 2203 02:04:23,990 --> 02:04:25,580 With the clothes I'm wearing? 2204 02:04:25,580 --> 02:04:28,290 Can't you tell that your tie's too wide? 2205 02:04:29,830 --> 02:04:32,540 Well, maybe I should buy some old tab collars? 2206 02:04:32,540 --> 02:04:35,130 Welcome back to the age of jive 2207 02:04:36,920 --> 02:04:39,800 Where have you been hidin' out lately, honey? 2208 02:04:39,800 --> 02:04:41,180 You can't dress trashy 2209 02:04:41,180 --> 02:04:43,300 Till you spend a lot of money 2210 02:04:43,300 --> 02:04:46,010 Everybody's talkin' 'bout the new sound 2211 02:04:46,020 --> 02:04:49,140 Funny, but it's still rock and roll to me 2212 02:04:52,400 --> 02:04:53,810 What's the matter with... 2213 02:04:53,810 --> 02:04:57,900 "Glass Houses" obliterated everyone's expectations. 2214 02:04:57,900 --> 02:05:00,400 Billy Joel, "Glass Houses." 2215 02:05:01,860 --> 02:05:04,410 Are you gonna cruise a miracle mile? 2216 02:05:06,950 --> 02:05:10,910 That was the third hit that Bill had had in a row. 2217 02:05:10,920 --> 02:05:13,290 And that really doesn't happen. 2218 02:05:13,290 --> 02:05:15,670 ...cool punk, even if it's old junk 2219 02:05:15,670 --> 02:05:16,960 It's still rock and roll... 2220 02:05:16,960 --> 02:05:20,720 A lot of people think Billy Joel is the best songwriter and performer 2221 02:05:20,720 --> 02:05:22,180 in the United States today. 2222 02:05:22,180 --> 02:05:25,050 In the past eight years, Billy Joel has sold 2223 02:05:25,050 --> 02:05:28,930 more than 12 million albums, won four Grammy Awards, 2224 02:05:28,930 --> 02:05:33,690 grossed more than $80 million dollars, and sells out every concert performance. 2225 02:05:34,610 --> 02:05:37,110 Everybody's talkin' 'bout the new sound 2226 02:05:37,110 --> 02:05:40,030 Funny, but it's still rock and roll to me 2227 02:05:45,030 --> 02:05:47,410 I think I was perceived as a balladeer 2228 02:05:47,410 --> 02:05:49,160 until we did that album. 2229 02:05:49,160 --> 02:05:52,370 And when we did the album, there was a lot of criticism of, 2230 02:05:52,370 --> 02:05:55,630 "He's trying to be punk and new wave." 2231 02:05:58,670 --> 02:06:02,420 It was curious to me that he was, you know, kind of a contrast 2232 02:06:02,420 --> 02:06:04,260 to what his music sounded like. 2233 02:06:04,260 --> 02:06:07,680 I mean, he was born in the Bronx and grew up in Hicksville. 2234 02:06:08,260 --> 02:06:11,680 Was, you know, kind of a scrappy, confrontational kid. 2235 02:06:11,680 --> 02:06:13,390 I mean, if it were a novel, 2236 02:06:13,390 --> 02:06:16,230 the next step would have been to become a punk rocker. 2237 02:06:16,810 --> 02:06:19,070 But instead, his music was polished 2238 02:06:19,070 --> 02:06:23,030 and there was this underpinning of accessibility. 2239 02:06:24,110 --> 02:06:28,280 And a lot of what was complex and articulate about him 2240 02:06:28,280 --> 02:06:33,790 and his music was overlooked because he was topping the charts. 2241 02:06:34,960 --> 02:06:36,330 When everything's going good, 2242 02:06:37,080 --> 02:06:38,420 I tend to worry about, okay, 2243 02:06:38,420 --> 02:06:40,000 when's the other shoe going to drop? 2244 02:06:40,000 --> 02:06:42,800 When is the end of this great run going to happen? 2245 02:06:42,800 --> 02:06:44,220 Because it's going to happen. 2246 02:06:45,930 --> 02:06:48,510 You know, when you look at Billy Joel's career, 2247 02:06:48,510 --> 02:06:52,310 he really hits the mainstream in 1977 with "The Stranger." 2248 02:06:52,310 --> 02:06:55,100 And I think it's important to remember, like, 2249 02:06:55,100 --> 02:06:58,900 what else was going on in the music world, especially in the critical community. 2250 02:06:58,900 --> 02:07:02,530 There was a big embrace of punk music at that time. 2251 02:07:02,530 --> 02:07:04,780 You know, 1977, you have The Talking Heads. 2252 02:07:05,490 --> 02:07:08,530 Psycho Killer qu'est-ce que c'est? 2253 02:07:08,530 --> 02:07:10,120 And Suicide. 2254 02:07:11,620 --> 02:07:13,200 Whoo! 2255 02:07:13,200 --> 02:07:17,880 And it's this very confrontational, anti-authoritarian type music. 2256 02:07:18,710 --> 02:07:20,840 And it was very easy, I think, to paint someone 2257 02:07:20,840 --> 02:07:23,300 like Billy Joel as the authority. 2258 02:07:23,300 --> 02:07:25,340 You know, he's with Columbia Records. 2259 02:07:25,340 --> 02:07:28,430 He's the biggest-selling artist at that moment in time. 2260 02:07:28,430 --> 02:07:33,140 So I think Billy Joel was a very convenient target 2261 02:07:33,140 --> 02:07:36,020 for, "This is everything that we're against." 2262 02:07:36,940 --> 02:07:39,310 "You don't belong here. You know, like, get out." 2263 02:07:39,310 --> 02:07:41,020 To this in Paul Nelson's review 2264 02:07:41,020 --> 02:07:43,190 of the album "Glass Houses" in "Rolling Stone," 2265 02:07:43,190 --> 02:07:46,740 "His material is catchy, but then so is the flu." 2266 02:07:46,740 --> 02:07:50,530 "It's Still Rock and Roll to Me," your first American number one single, 2267 02:07:50,990 --> 02:07:54,200 named worst Rock 'n' Roll Single of the Year by "Rolling Stone" Magazine. 2268 02:07:56,040 --> 02:07:58,830 With the critics, a lot of it was self-inflicted. 2269 02:07:59,330 --> 02:08:02,170 I used to court battles with the press, 2270 02:08:02,170 --> 02:08:04,090 which was stupid. 2271 02:08:06,800 --> 02:08:08,760 What is it? You don't get into a pissing contest 2272 02:08:08,760 --> 02:08:10,800 with someone who orders ink by the barrel. 2273 02:08:10,800 --> 02:08:14,310 One LA critic, who on this particular day wrote that Billy Joel was 2274 02:08:14,310 --> 02:08:16,060 the great spoiled brat of rock. 2275 02:08:16,520 --> 02:08:18,100 Make way for the brat. 2276 02:08:18,100 --> 02:08:20,310 Okay, where's the Brat Room? 2277 02:08:21,860 --> 02:08:24,530 Billy always took things personally, you know. 2278 02:08:24,900 --> 02:08:27,490 He used to review the reviewer. 2279 02:08:27,490 --> 02:08:31,160 He would read the review that the reviewer gave, 2280 02:08:31,660 --> 02:08:35,540 and if it was a bad review, he'd rip up the paper on stage. 2281 02:08:36,450 --> 02:08:39,370 So I ripped up the reviews. I said this is what I think it's worth. 2282 02:08:39,920 --> 02:08:44,250 Now, it was a mistake to do that because there could be five good reviews. 2283 02:08:44,250 --> 02:08:47,050 What did I pay attention to? The one bad review. 2284 02:08:47,510 --> 02:08:49,630 But I had a chip on my shoulder. 2285 02:08:50,760 --> 02:08:52,720 I think the chip on the shoulder thing comes 2286 02:08:52,720 --> 02:08:54,890 from being a Long Islander. 2287 02:08:56,270 --> 02:09:00,020 I got into fights, and I had to learn how to defend myself. 2288 02:09:00,980 --> 02:09:04,360 I can't say there was ever a time where I wasn't struggling with something. 2289 02:09:05,400 --> 02:09:07,360 There's always a struggle, to the end. 2290 02:09:08,440 --> 02:09:11,490 And so, I learned life is a fight. 2291 02:09:12,320 --> 02:09:14,320 And it was a good lesson to learn. 2292 02:09:18,040 --> 02:09:20,290 After "Glass Houses" came out, 2293 02:09:20,870 --> 02:09:22,210 I was always on the road. 2294 02:09:22,830 --> 02:09:24,040 Working, working. 2295 02:09:24,040 --> 02:09:27,380 I look back on that guy, I don't even know who he was. 2296 02:09:27,380 --> 02:09:30,720 He had to be so ambitious to work that hard and work that much. 2297 02:09:32,090 --> 02:09:35,180 So, it must've not been easy to be married to me at the time. 2298 02:09:37,390 --> 02:09:40,180 The toll that fame and celebrity 2299 02:09:40,180 --> 02:09:43,980 was taking on everybody was at this point palpable. 2300 02:09:45,730 --> 02:09:49,820 You know, everyone thinks that fame is something special. 2301 02:09:49,820 --> 02:09:53,200 And there was a lot of nice things about the life we had. 2302 02:09:53,200 --> 02:09:57,280 But, you know, the sense of humor of the Gods is fantastic 2303 02:09:57,280 --> 02:10:00,330 because you get this, and this is what you pay for it. 2304 02:10:02,330 --> 02:10:07,920 And living with someone who is so firmly planted 2305 02:10:08,420 --> 02:10:12,420 in the public eye is the antithesis of what I wanted. 2306 02:10:13,180 --> 02:10:17,680 I wasn't asking him to change, but I just did not want to live like that. 2307 02:10:19,720 --> 02:10:23,140 My response to it was to get a place in New York City 2308 02:10:23,140 --> 02:10:25,230 where you can enjoy anonymity. 2309 02:10:26,310 --> 02:10:30,530 And so it wasn't so much as we separated. 2310 02:10:31,150 --> 02:10:34,820 But we started to get a little bit isolated from one another. 2311 02:10:35,160 --> 02:10:39,080 And I also knew that he wasn't in a good place. 2312 02:10:45,290 --> 02:10:47,210 We were all under a lot of stress. 2313 02:10:47,210 --> 02:10:50,040 All of us dealt with our stresses in different ways. 2314 02:10:50,050 --> 02:10:54,590 And so there was, you know, a lot, a lot of alcohol use. 2315 02:10:55,130 --> 02:10:57,220 And eventually, a lot of drug use. 2316 02:10:59,430 --> 02:11:02,010 Elizabeth was concerned about everybody's drinking, 2317 02:11:02,020 --> 02:11:04,930 but she was really concerned about Billy's drinking. 2318 02:11:04,940 --> 02:11:07,520 She realized that there was some alcoholism in this group. 2319 02:11:08,690 --> 02:11:12,440 Billy, like the rest of us, we were very destructive to ourselves. 2320 02:11:12,900 --> 02:11:14,400 It was our second career. 2321 02:11:14,400 --> 02:11:16,150 You know, we used to go out to dinners, 2322 02:11:16,150 --> 02:11:18,570 and if anybody left drinks as I was walking out, 2323 02:11:18,570 --> 02:11:22,330 I would just drink everybody's drink no matter what it was on the way out. 2324 02:11:23,120 --> 02:11:24,540 We loved our alcohol. 2325 02:11:30,340 --> 02:11:34,840 I don't think that he was unaware of the damage he was doing to himself. 2326 02:11:35,340 --> 02:11:38,890 But as you become a superstar, the pressure doesn't abate. 2327 02:11:38,890 --> 02:11:43,560 And then you've got to keep beating and doing better than your last album. 2328 02:11:44,270 --> 02:11:47,310 And it's very hard to deal with that kind of pressure. 2329 02:11:49,230 --> 02:11:51,610 You know, I remember telling band members, 2330 02:11:51,610 --> 02:11:54,110 I can't stand watching my friend kill himself. 2331 02:11:54,110 --> 02:11:57,740 It's my whole world right here, and it's crumbling. 2332 02:12:03,240 --> 02:12:05,790 I remember Elizabeth came on the road with us. 2333 02:12:06,460 --> 02:12:10,000 She was uncomfortable being there. I was uncomfortable with her being there. 2334 02:12:10,460 --> 02:12:13,340 The band was uncomfortable. It was uncomfortable for everybody. 2335 02:12:13,340 --> 02:12:15,510 And there was more fighting 2336 02:12:16,470 --> 02:12:19,220 and more negativity than there was fun. 2337 02:12:19,220 --> 02:12:20,800 The fun was gone. 2338 02:12:21,890 --> 02:12:26,020 It was just out of control in a way that I was, I was frightened. 2339 02:12:26,020 --> 02:12:31,100 My life was so different than the band and the crew 2340 02:12:31,100 --> 02:12:36,610 because I had a child, and I was not going to do anything 2341 02:12:36,610 --> 02:12:39,860 that would hurt him, leave him without a mother. 2342 02:12:42,280 --> 02:12:47,080 I was a very young user of drugs and alcohol. 2343 02:12:47,080 --> 02:12:49,290 I was going down the very same roads 2344 02:12:49,290 --> 02:12:52,040 that all those guys were, 'cause I looked up to them. 2345 02:12:52,460 --> 02:12:56,000 I think she kind of saw, like, I gotta get out for this kid. 2346 02:12:58,340 --> 02:13:01,050 That was my guiding force and my guiding light. 2347 02:13:01,430 --> 02:13:05,180 And so it became an insurmountable reality. 2348 02:13:05,680 --> 02:13:08,350 And then I kind of decided, 2349 02:13:08,350 --> 02:13:12,850 I'm going to step back from this business of music. 2350 02:13:15,570 --> 02:13:18,240 She didn't want anybody to try to talk her into staying. 2351 02:13:18,820 --> 02:13:20,490 She just wanted to go away. 2352 02:13:23,120 --> 02:13:27,280 I started to interview candidates to take my place. 2353 02:13:27,290 --> 02:13:31,660 And then Bill gets this idea in his head that he wants to hire Frank Weber, 2354 02:13:31,670 --> 02:13:33,750 who is my brother. 2355 02:13:35,710 --> 02:13:38,590 At family events, they always talked to each other. 2356 02:13:38,590 --> 02:13:41,220 And I was like, I understand you like him, 2357 02:13:41,220 --> 02:13:44,050 Frank's a nice guy, but I don't see it. 2358 02:13:47,680 --> 02:13:49,640 Frank started working at Home Run. 2359 02:13:49,640 --> 02:13:53,350 Must have been '77, '78. 2360 02:13:54,190 --> 02:13:56,770 Eventually, I became more familiar with Frank, 2361 02:13:56,770 --> 02:13:59,530 and we ended up discussing more about the business, 2362 02:13:59,530 --> 02:14:03,410 and he represented himself to be pretty straight ahead 2363 02:14:03,950 --> 02:14:06,240 and understanding my point of view about things. 2364 02:14:08,330 --> 02:14:11,080 I didn't like it for a myriad of reasons, 2365 02:14:11,710 --> 02:14:17,040 but Bill wanted Frank and that's who we hired. 2366 02:14:18,300 --> 02:14:20,920 Warm tears... 2367 02:14:21,470 --> 02:14:23,220 Elizabeth and Billy, 2368 02:14:23,220 --> 02:14:25,970 they were still very involved with each other. 2369 02:14:25,970 --> 02:14:28,890 Their lives were completely, totally mixed. 2370 02:14:29,770 --> 02:14:35,190 But the drinking was a very big problem. Every day, Elizabeth kept saying, 2371 02:14:35,190 --> 02:14:37,810 you know, "Tomorrow is the day he's going to stop." 2372 02:14:39,270 --> 02:14:42,610 I think he was so constrained in his own life 2373 02:14:42,610 --> 02:14:45,990 that he was pushing the envelope in the places that he could. 2374 02:14:51,620 --> 02:14:53,120 Hey 2375 02:14:54,160 --> 02:14:55,670 Come on 2376 02:14:59,340 --> 02:15:01,590 I always romanticized motorcycles. 2377 02:15:02,170 --> 02:15:03,710 There's something about it. 2378 02:15:03,720 --> 02:15:07,470 I feel like I could be completely disconnected from the world. 2379 02:15:07,470 --> 02:15:09,180 There's a sense of freedom about that. 2380 02:15:10,890 --> 02:15:12,600 But I just remember hearing, 2381 02:15:12,600 --> 02:15:13,890 "The insurance company doesn't want you 2382 02:15:13,890 --> 02:15:15,430 "to ride motorcycles, 2383 02:15:15,440 --> 02:15:18,440 and the record company doesn't want you to ride motorcycles." 2384 02:15:18,440 --> 02:15:19,980 And I was like, fuck them. 2385 02:15:19,980 --> 02:15:23,240 ...sleeping with the television on 2386 02:15:28,120 --> 02:15:30,830 You getting this? You gotta get this, man. This is the thing. 2387 02:15:33,370 --> 02:15:38,750 So, when Bill had a motorcycle, I was hearing he was in this place 2388 02:15:38,750 --> 02:15:41,550 or he'd been drinking here and he was going there. 2389 02:15:42,130 --> 02:15:45,420 And so I was scared all the time. 2390 02:15:45,420 --> 02:15:49,140 I, on many occasions, said to him, 2391 02:15:49,140 --> 02:15:51,510 you know, you can't do this. This is dangerous. 2392 02:15:51,510 --> 02:15:53,470 One, two, three, four! 2393 02:16:02,520 --> 02:16:04,070 "You May Be Right," I wrote that 2394 02:16:04,070 --> 02:16:05,730 one night, it was four o'clock in the morning. 2395 02:16:05,740 --> 02:16:09,870 I was coming back from a bar. It was raining out. I was on a bike. 2396 02:16:10,240 --> 02:16:12,200 I had no headlight. There were no street lights. 2397 02:16:12,200 --> 02:16:16,370 I was wearing a suit, and it was raining. And I got into the house, 2398 02:16:17,210 --> 02:16:18,830 and I made it home in one piece. 2399 02:16:18,830 --> 02:16:20,670 I should have been splattered all over the road. 2400 02:16:20,670 --> 02:16:22,130 And my wife looked at me and she said, 2401 02:16:22,710 --> 02:16:25,710 "You're out of your mind. You're crazy. I don't believe you're alive." I said, 2402 02:16:26,380 --> 02:16:29,130 "Well, I made it, didn't I? I'm here in one piece." 2403 02:16:29,130 --> 02:16:31,340 And she said, "Yeah, but that only proves you're crazy, 2404 02:16:31,340 --> 02:16:33,300 because only a crazy man would have made it home." 2405 02:16:33,310 --> 02:16:34,850 And that's where I got the idea from. 2406 02:16:35,930 --> 02:16:40,520 Even rode my motorcycle in the rain 2407 02:16:41,860 --> 02:16:44,820 And you told me not to drive 2408 02:16:44,820 --> 02:16:48,070 But I made it home alive 2409 02:16:48,070 --> 02:16:50,860 So you said that only proves 2410 02:16:50,860 --> 02:16:53,660 That I'm insane 2411 02:16:53,660 --> 02:16:55,990 You may be right 2412 02:16:57,790 --> 02:16:59,210 And there was a line that's like, 2413 02:16:59,210 --> 02:17:01,920 "Turn out the lights. Don't try to save me." 2414 02:17:02,330 --> 02:17:05,750 You know, really, to me at that time, really said it all. 2415 02:17:06,670 --> 02:17:08,840 Well, turn out the lights 2416 02:17:09,930 --> 02:17:12,090 Don't try to save me 2417 02:17:13,430 --> 02:17:16,470 You may be wrong for all I know 2418 02:17:16,470 --> 02:17:18,430 But you may be right 2419 02:17:23,150 --> 02:17:24,270 Elizabeth had warned me. 2420 02:17:24,270 --> 02:17:27,610 "Just be careful, be careful. Because you're going to have an accident." 2421 02:17:28,070 --> 02:17:31,820 And I was riding with a couple of other people on other bikes, 2422 02:17:31,820 --> 02:17:36,660 and we got to an intersection, and the light turned green for me, 2423 02:17:37,160 --> 02:17:39,040 so I went through the intersection. 2424 02:17:39,040 --> 02:17:41,370 But a woman had run a red, red light 2425 02:17:41,870 --> 02:17:43,460 and crossed right in front of me. 2426 02:17:43,460 --> 02:17:45,710 It was too late to stop the bike. 2427 02:17:46,090 --> 02:17:48,710 I was wearing a helmet and boots and gloves 2428 02:17:48,710 --> 02:17:50,210 and a leather jacket. 2429 02:17:50,220 --> 02:17:51,720 I smashed into her car. 2430 02:17:51,720 --> 02:17:54,720 The bike went like that. It dislocated this wrist. 2431 02:17:54,720 --> 02:17:56,930 It yanked my wrist out of my socket 2432 02:17:57,430 --> 02:18:00,560 and crushed this thumb against the tank. 2433 02:18:00,560 --> 02:18:04,020 So this thumb got smashed. And I flipped over the car. 2434 02:18:04,020 --> 02:18:08,480 I landed on my back. Hit the helmet on the pavement. Kaboom. 2435 02:18:09,030 --> 02:18:12,740 I was amazed that I was still alive. I should have died in that accident. 2436 02:18:13,530 --> 02:18:16,160 And I laid there in shock for a couple of minutes, 2437 02:18:16,620 --> 02:18:18,660 and I went to the hospital right after that. 2438 02:18:20,910 --> 02:18:25,000 He gets into the hospital. They immediately take him into surgery, 2439 02:18:25,460 --> 02:18:28,340 and nobody knew the extent of the damage. 2440 02:18:28,340 --> 02:18:29,710 It was a great concern. 2441 02:18:29,710 --> 02:18:34,380 They only knew that it was very serious and that it was his hands and his head. 2442 02:18:35,550 --> 02:18:38,850 You know, everybody standing around going, oh, my God, what's going to happen? 2443 02:18:39,600 --> 02:18:43,100 Didn't know if he'd ever be able to play music again. 2444 02:18:43,100 --> 02:18:46,690 This arm was broken, this leg was broken, this wrist was broken. 2445 02:18:47,440 --> 02:18:50,980 And I think a lot of the time that I was in that hospital, 2446 02:18:50,980 --> 02:18:52,780 I wasn't aware of what was going on. 2447 02:18:53,150 --> 02:18:54,280 I was just out of it. 2448 02:18:55,530 --> 02:18:59,580 I was in the room every day while he was in the hospital. 2449 02:18:59,580 --> 02:19:02,370 Dealt with the press. Whatever had to be done. 2450 02:19:02,910 --> 02:19:06,620 One day, Elizabeth comes in and he overhears her telling me 2451 02:19:06,620 --> 02:19:09,790 that I should hire private nurses to go home with him. 2452 02:19:10,800 --> 02:19:12,800 And he says to her... 2453 02:19:15,550 --> 02:19:16,800 "Well, aren't you going to be there?" 2454 02:19:18,220 --> 02:19:19,510 She says... 2455 02:19:20,720 --> 02:19:22,720 "I'm not going back with you. I live in the city." 2456 02:19:23,680 --> 02:19:25,180 I would've stayed. 2457 02:19:25,190 --> 02:19:29,230 I would've been able, like so many women before me, 2458 02:19:29,230 --> 02:19:32,190 to make that accommodation for someone you love. 2459 02:19:32,860 --> 02:19:38,110 But there was no way that I could stand by and watch him kill himself. 2460 02:19:38,870 --> 02:19:40,660 I just didn't have that in me. 2461 02:19:41,200 --> 02:19:44,870 And I felt very strongly that that's where it was going. 2462 02:19:47,040 --> 02:19:49,750 She slipped the key to the house 2463 02:19:49,750 --> 02:19:53,090 off of her keychain and put it on the tray, 2464 02:19:53,090 --> 02:19:55,720 that hospital tray that goes over the bed. 2465 02:19:57,340 --> 02:19:59,260 I remember him looking at that key. 2466 02:20:01,760 --> 02:20:05,930 She was his muse. And he made some comment about, 2467 02:20:06,560 --> 02:20:09,150 "She's not going to be there to hear my music anymore." 2468 02:20:12,570 --> 02:20:16,690 It wasn't going to work as much as I wanted it to. 2469 02:20:16,690 --> 02:20:17,860 I didn't want to fail. 2470 02:20:22,660 --> 02:20:26,620 Billy, I sometimes say, even with his amazing talent, 2471 02:20:26,620 --> 02:20:30,290 without her know-how, he might not be Billy Joel. 2472 02:20:30,290 --> 02:20:33,000 And Elizabeth, with all of her brilliance, 2473 02:20:33,000 --> 02:20:35,550 if she had represented somebody with no talent, 2474 02:20:35,550 --> 02:20:36,590 you know, what was the point? 2475 02:20:38,010 --> 02:20:39,260 And they did love each other 2476 02:20:39,260 --> 02:20:41,260 because they more or less grew up together. 2477 02:20:41,260 --> 02:20:46,180 They matured from teenage years to young adulthood. 2478 02:20:48,940 --> 02:20:50,190 And I said, you know, 2479 02:20:50,190 --> 02:20:51,850 someday they may write about us. 2480 02:20:51,860 --> 02:20:55,780 And I hope that they say that we really did something. 2481 02:20:56,230 --> 02:20:58,070 And his rejoinder was, 2482 02:20:58,070 --> 02:21:01,320 "I hope they could say we went all the way." 2483 02:21:03,700 --> 02:21:07,700 And that was, that was it. That really was the final... 2484 02:21:08,790 --> 02:21:09,870 That was it. 2485 02:21:14,500 --> 02:21:16,340 Yeah. That was the end. 2486 02:21:18,050 --> 02:21:19,170 It was sad. 2487 02:21:21,220 --> 02:21:24,850 When they split up, when it was over, I don't think there was a, 2488 02:21:25,310 --> 02:21:28,930 "Hey, I'm really going to miss you. Good luck." 2489 02:21:29,980 --> 02:21:31,900 Yeah, there was no closure with Billy. 2490 02:21:32,850 --> 02:21:36,020 But I think if he could communicate about feelings, 2491 02:21:36,020 --> 02:21:38,650 I don't know whether he would be able 2492 02:21:38,650 --> 02:21:43,110 to create the songs and the feelings that they all convey. 2493 02:21:44,780 --> 02:21:48,370 And that's where I have to look and go, 2494 02:21:48,370 --> 02:21:51,750 alright, whatever he didn't do, whatever his shortcomings were, 2495 02:21:51,750 --> 02:21:53,120 he did do that. 2496 02:21:54,290 --> 02:21:57,420 And that's powerful. That's-- that moves people. 2497 02:21:59,840 --> 02:22:01,670 I still have room in my heart. 2498 02:22:01,670 --> 02:22:03,930 I love Bill. I always will. 2499 02:22:04,340 --> 02:22:09,430 I love the memories of the family life that he and Sean and I shared. 2500 02:22:09,430 --> 02:22:11,930 And so those memories are personal, 2501 02:22:11,940 --> 02:22:14,270 and they belong to me and to Sean and to Bill. 2502 02:22:14,770 --> 02:22:18,900 But what doesn't belong to us is the achievement 2503 02:22:19,690 --> 02:22:23,110 that we had working together. 2504 02:22:25,780 --> 02:22:29,290 We together were greater than the sum of the parts. 2505 02:22:29,870 --> 02:22:33,040 And I am really proud of that. 2506 02:22:57,020 --> 02:22:59,730 I've had a lot of hard lessons in my life. 2507 02:23:01,320 --> 02:23:03,530 Break all the records 2508 02:23:04,150 --> 02:23:06,410 Burn the cassettes 2509 02:23:06,410 --> 02:23:09,320 I'd be lying if I told you 2510 02:23:09,330 --> 02:23:11,950 That I had no regrets 2511 02:23:11,950 --> 02:23:14,910 There were so many mistakes 2512 02:23:14,910 --> 02:23:17,830 And what a difference it makes 2513 02:23:17,830 --> 02:23:22,800 But still it shouldn't surprise you at all 2514 02:23:24,170 --> 02:23:26,010 You know 2515 02:23:26,680 --> 02:23:30,470 I've realized that life doesn't always have a happy ending. 2516 02:23:31,810 --> 02:23:33,680 I was alone again... 2517 02:23:34,890 --> 02:23:36,890 and going into the unknown. 2518 02:23:36,890 --> 02:23:39,480 You were so young and naive 2519 02:23:39,480 --> 02:23:42,360 I know it's hard to believe 2520 02:23:42,360 --> 02:23:47,780 But now it shouldn't surprise you at all 2521 02:23:48,490 --> 02:23:50,870 You know 2522 02:23:51,200 --> 02:23:55,910 No, it shouldn't surprise you at all 2523 02:23:57,000 --> 02:23:58,710 You know 2524 02:24:08,680 --> 02:24:13,180 Ali dances and the audience applauds 2525 02:24:13,720 --> 02:24:15,720 Though he's bathed in sweat 2526 02:24:15,730 --> 02:24:18,310 He hasn't lost his style 2527 02:24:21,610 --> 02:24:24,030 Ali, don't you go downtown 2528 02:24:24,650 --> 02:24:29,200 You gave away another round for free 2529 02:24:29,200 --> 02:24:30,530 Whoa 2530 02:24:31,320 --> 02:24:36,040 Me, I'm just another face at Zanzibar 2531 02:24:36,410 --> 02:24:41,000 But the waitress always serves a secret smile 2532 02:24:42,170 --> 02:24:43,880 Whoa 2533 02:24:43,880 --> 02:24:46,590 She's waiting out in Shantytown 2534 02:24:47,340 --> 02:24:51,840 She's gonna pull the curtains down for me 2535 02:24:52,850 --> 02:24:54,140 For me 2536 02:24:54,930 --> 02:24:57,310 I've got the old man's car 2537 02:24:58,100 --> 02:25:00,440 I've got a jazz guitar 2538 02:25:01,270 --> 02:25:05,230 I've got a tab at Zanzibar 2539 02:25:05,650 --> 02:25:08,530 Tonight, that's where 2540 02:25:08,990 --> 02:25:11,070 I'll be 2541 02:25:12,320 --> 02:25:13,990 I'll be 2541 02:25:14,305 --> 02:26:14,781 Support us and become VIP member to remove all ads from www.OpenSubtitles.org