Beatles/Billy Joel : general opinions ?
Olli-Matti Sopanen
"You´d never be able to tell that from my music, because I´m a keyboard
player, but I love Cream and Jimi Hendrix. And Traffic. They´re probably
my favorite bands of all time right after The Beatles."
BILLY JOEL in his Rolling Stone interview (this magazine is featuring
Cindy C. on the cover page).
At the age of 14 Joel was inspired by seeing The Beatles on US TV´s "Ed
Sullivan Show", and he wanted be a piano man.
When you think about some of Bill Joel´s best works like "The Stranger"
(1977) and "The Nylon Curtain" (1982) albums, what are his musical
merits and faults comparing to Paul McCartney or John Lennon ? At least
one common thing among them is that they have written certain songs in
which piano has been in a central role.
Furthermore May Pang mentioned in her book Bill Joel and his first wife
Elizabeth Weber (married 1973-1982; also his manager) as a good example of
how husband-wife relationship could be a positive effect to songwriting
creativity. As you can guess May Pang compared them to John & Yoko in the
late Seventies.
So any opinions about Bill Joel ?
O-M.S.
Neil Koomen
The first thing I have to say is that I've always found the Beatles much
more charming, engaging, enjoyable, and charismatic than Joel. And they
were funny too. I don't care much for Joel, and that's a matter of
personal taste. YMMV.
If you're a Joel fan, you may want to stop reading here.
Olli-Matti Sopanen wrote:
>
> "You´d never be able to tell that from my music, because I´m a keyboard
> player, but I love Cream and Jimi Hendrix. And Traffic. They´re probably
> my favorite bands of all time right after The Beatles."
>
> BILLY JOEL in his Rolling Stone interview (this magazine is featuring
> Cindy C. on the cover page).
>
> At the age of 14 Joel was inspired by seeing The Beatles on US TV´s "Ed
> Sullivan Show", and he wanted be a piano man.
Him and 20 zillion other people. Me too, only I wasn't 14.
> When you think about some of Bill Joel´s best works like "The Stranger"
> (1977) and "The Nylon Curtain" (1982) albums, what are his musical
> merits and faults comparing to Paul McCartney or John Lennon ?
He's prolific (a merit, perhaps, but also a coincidence) and was
mismanaged (a coincidence) for part of his career. He writes pop music
with varying success, another coincidence.
I'd say Joel's main fault is his humorlessness, whininess, and lack of
wit. Too often, I just feel like the guy's shouting at me; kinda like
reading some people in Usenet, come to think of it. I like some of his
material, but somehow this has never led to me actually buying his
records.
"Just the Way You Are" seems intended as a love song, but to me it's
about a guy who wants to keep a woman frozen in time and is never
allowed to change because the singer can't tolerate it. That's not love
or acceptance of another. She's not even allowed to have a different
haircut. Yet there's no irony at all. Creepy.
There are Beatles songs that seem repressive and threatening to women,
but at least the angry mood is on the surface and they performed in a
more engaging style.
Also, all the Beatles seemed to be more interesting people and were
clearly huge, enthusiastic music fans themselves. It's sort of
surprising to me that Joel's interested in anybody but himself.
Also, the Beatles had the advantage of being individuals with apparently
different, but initially compatible, personalities. It's like they were
this cool little club. Because there's more of them, there's more to get
interested in. And marrying Yoko Ono seems like a more interesting
choice than marrying a supermodel. Nothing against Christie Brinkley,
but Ono's done more interesting things than posing in swimsuits, IMHO.
Plus they had books, movies, visual art, and acted in movies, so if you
like the Beatles, there's more stuff to explore than there is for Joel.
> At least
> one common thing among them is that they have written certain songs in
> which piano has been in a central role.
This puts them in the same league with practically everybody who's made
music in the past few hundred years that the piano has existed and
evolved.
> Furthermore May Pang mentioned in her book Bill Joel and his first wife
> Elizabeth Weber (married 1973-1982; also his manager) as a good example of
> how husband-wife relationship could be a positive effect to songwriting
> creativity.
I think Pang is rather peripheral to the music scene. Lennon obviously
could write songs with or without her. Same for Joel and Weber.
Joel's chronic mismanagement, some of that from his ex-wife's family, is
practically legendary.
> As you can guess May Pang compared them to John & Yoko in the
> late Seventies.
Troubled marriage? I think I read Pang's book a zillion years ago, but
don't remember it.
> So any opinions about Bill Joel ?
YMMV, but I'll take the Beatles over Joel any day. The clerks at my
local record store can confirm this.
Again, this is just my personal opinion. I'm not saying anybody is
better than anybody else. My taste just favors the Beatles.
Ed Igoe
Olli-Matti Sopanen wrote:
> "You悲 never be able to tell that from my music, because I惴 a
> Beatles."
{SNIP}
> So any opinions about Bill Joel ?
> O-M.S.
I'm a big fan of both The Beatles and Billy Joel, and now, Billy's
making an attempt at classical (Or at least non-lyrical) music just
like Paul. Sounds great! As I'm sure Billy will when my wife and I
see him in concert next month in washington DC.
--
-Ed Igoe
To Reply, please change E-Mail to eji...@ix.netcom.com
***********************************************************
"Think what we would have missed if we had never heard
The Beatles, or seen Margot Fonteyn dance, never have
watched television, used a mobile phone or surfed the
Net - or, to be honest, listened to other people talking
about surfing the Net." -Queen Elizabeth II on the 50th
anniversary of her marriage.
***********************************************************
-Hey! Who stole my .SIG!
SlvrHmr
> "You´d never be able to tell that from my music, because I´m a
> Beatles."
While I agree somewhat with the sentiment that Joel's music can be preachy and
humorless, I also believe him to be one of the more gifted and prolific
songwriters of the past 30 years, in the grand Tin Pan Alley tradition to a
large extent. Despite what one feels about his subject matter, the fact
remains that he is one of the more intelligent composers and lyricists rock has
produced.
One of his many talents has been touched upon in this thread -- the ability to
uncannily mimic the style and sound of others. Such songs are meant as a
tribute, rather than out-and-out plagarism of another style (a la Oasis).
Songs like "A Room of Our Own," "Scandanavian Skies" and, especially, the
magnificent "Laura" (all on THE NYLON CURTAIN) are closer to the true Beatle
sound than anything XTC ever produced. On "Laura," especially, Joel manages
the feat of sounding like either John or Paul on alternating lines.
Interesting, too, that Billy mentions Traffic, one of the great, quirky,
underrated bands of all time, as one of his influences. Joel's "Getting
Closer" from THE BRIDGE album is, to my ears, another example of Joel's
"tributes," as the song sounds just like vintage Steve Winwood/Traffic. (The
fact that Steve plays the Hammond b-3 on the cut doesn't hurt either!)
All in all, I can well understand how Joel's approach to things may rub some
the wrong way. But I also contend that there's no denying the man's enormous
talent.
John L
Jim Demes
Neil Koomen wrote:
> I'd say Joel's main fault is his humorlessness, whininess, and lack of
> wit.
If you get the chance, turn on VH-1 when they're interviewing Billy or
showing the Storytellers performance. I think he's pretty funny.
> "Just the Way You Are" seems intended as a love song, but to me it's
> about a guy who wants to keep a woman frozen in time and is never
> allowed to change because the singer can't tolerate it.
The lyrics say "Don't go changing to try to please me"
Although some of the lyrics refer to "trying some new fashion", I get
the impression he's talking more about personality changes.
If you're happy with someone, of course you don't want them to change
(for the worse)!
> There are Beatles songs that seem repressive and threatening to women,
> but at least the angry mood is on the surface and they performed in a
> more engaging style.
When he & Christy broke up, I thought we'd get a whole album of "I hate
Christy". But performing angry - try "Angry Young Man" live (forget the
studio version - he sounds too happy).
> Also, all the Beatles seemed to be more interesting people and were
> clearly huge, enthusiastic music fans themselves. It's sort of
> surprising to me that Joel's interested in anybody but himself.
Before his current tour, Billy visited a lot of colleges for question
and answer sessions. His goal was to try to teach people, specifically
budding musicians, all the lessons he learned the hard way.
He's also been a supporter of the Long Island fishermen - even got
arrested with them.
One of my favorite Billy stories is seeing him in Philly on the River of
Dreams tour. It was at the same time that the Phillies were in the
playoffs. He actually gave the audience score updates during the
concert!
> Plus they had books, movies, visual art, and acted in movies, so if you
> like the Beatles, there's more stuff to explore than there is for Joel.
Billy provided the voice of one of the dogs in the Disney cartoon movie
"Oliver & Company".
--
Jim Demes - de...@udel.edu - http://udel.edu/~demes/
Ali Assa Seen
>
> So any opinions about Bill Joel ?
>
>
I just got a copy (cheap, thank God) of the album he put out around the
time of Sgt. Pepper and it is one of the worst things I've heard in my
life. Hands down the worst version of "A Taste of Honey" ever *possible*!
john maxwell
cart...@vianet.net.au wrote:
>
> well...i can say billy joel has had a much better choice in wives than the
> beatles. and some person said john chose a much better mate in yoko ono than
> billys christy brinkley, a supermodel. Hello? you aren't one of those persons
> more interested in what the woman thinks. phew, i'm glad i'm not like that, or
> i'll have these boring art conceptual nuts hangin off my arms. i'm sure Ringo
> agrees with me. and 'We can start the fire' is a great song
I see by your address that your from the "G'day Sheila, fancy a
screw?" set of yobbo's,
JM
Ray Martinez
Neil Koomen <neilk...@NOSPAMearthlink.net> wrote:
>
>I'd never have guessed Joel could do such an uncanny impression of
>Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons, as Joel did on "Uptown Girl." I'm not
>a big Joel fan, but I really got a kick out of that one.
Sorry, but I think you meant "The Longest Time".
Ray
cart...@vianet.net.au
SlvrHmr
<<As for Traffic, they were awfully uneven, but could they sound cool! I
saw them once 25+ years ago in their post-Blind Faith Winwood/Rebop
configuration, I think with Grech on bass. I think Capaldi had left too;
can't remember the drummer.
Yeah, we're getting away from both the Beatles and the topic of this thread,
but seeing as how there's no Traffic newsgroup, I'll carry this on for one more
post!
Capaldi never left the band. He and Winwood are the only two consistent
members, right up to their '94 incarnation. What you probably saw was the
early-70's version of Traffic, in which Capaldi was no longer the band's main
drummer -- he just did percussion and vocals on that tour. The drummer at the
time was the late Jim Gordon, who came to a sad end (killed his mother, then
himself).
>Really mediocre show, unfortunately. Winwood
played both guitar and keyboards. Really tiny, inadequate PA for a
college gym.
They had a reputation as a crummy live act. Precision playing was never their
strength, as evidenced by the many clams and mistakes that crop up on their
studio recordings. Winwood always preferred the takes that had the right feel,
as opposed to the ones that were note-perfect. In addition, Chris Wood was
having severe drug and alcohol problems around this time and was known to mess
up many a concert, as he would draw a mental blank in the middle of a sax or
flute solo.
Blame Winwood for the "inadequate PA." He was on record at the time as saying
that the band intentionally travelled with minimal power, as he wanted people
to listen to them.
>On record, Traffic had arrangements and a texture that was
really cool, but somehow I never connected with them lyrically, as I did
the Beatles. I also remember liking the live stuff on the "Last Exit"
LP.
True, Winwood has never had a lyricist to match his musical talents --
including Jim Capaldi, who did most of the lyrics for Traffic. "Faceless
music" is how Keith Richards described Winwood's stuff. An apt description,
based on their impersonal, purely-for-function lyrics. The saving grace of the
band was indeed their musical inventiveness, and perhaps why "Glad" (an
instrumental) and "The Low Spark of High-Heeled Boys" (two minutes of lyric,
ten minutes of music) are among their better-known cuts.
For another great instrumental Traffic cut, check out their live version of
"Mozambique" from the performance at Woodstock in '94. A great Santana-ish
salsa-rocker, guaranteed to rev up any party! In fact, their performance at
Woodstock (their complete set is available only on bootleg) may well be
Traffic's greatest live performance of all time -- although only Winwood and
Capaldi were left, and they had some ace session players backing them up.
Beatle content: Traffic seriously considered asking George Harrison to join the
band upon the Beatles' breakup in '70.
John L
rjoh...@enteract.com
Nope...Uptown Girl definitely sounded like FV&FS, with his "whiney" high vocals
on UG. Longest Time was a acapella (sp?) doo-wop song which sounded like tons
of bands from the 50's.
I like them both, and I like almost all of Billy Joel's
work. The Italian Restaurant song is a classic, as well as "Movin' Out",
"She's Got a Way" (which challenges some of Paul's best love ballads IMO),
"We Didn't Start the Fire", "New York State of Mind", "Piano Man", etc., etc.
Of course, everyone's entitled to their own opinions, but the guy who began
this thread is way off! Billy is a great talent...lyrically and musically.
--Rob
--
Rob Johnson
rjoh...@enteract.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
|"This is what you'll get when |
| you mess with us." --Radiohead|
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
MURKsoyg
Billy Joel is Rock and Roll for thinking people who don't put too much thought
into what they think. The only difference between him and Elton John (until the
90's) is that Elton had the good sense not to take himself too seriously.
"Stomping on your granny, 'til she's good and dead,
Then I take her diaper, and wear it on my head"- anonymous
MHHedgeco
Despite what one feels about his subject matter, the fact
remains that he is one of the more intelligent composers and lyricists rock has
produced.>>>
He has a way with words that I would say are better than any of the Beatles.
Listen to the words on songs like "She's Always a Woman" and "Moving Out".
It's amazing...he finds a way to say so much, in only a few words. Has anybody
ever heard his copy of Elvis' "All Shook Up"? I think it's better than the
King himself...
John Varda
I liked Billy Joel most when I was in High School...
I still love the Beatles.
Nothing wrong with Billy, he's just not, to me, the most subtle lyric
writer, nor the greatest melodicist (though he's pretty good at that), nor
the finest musician or singer around. The Beatles rank pretty close to
the top in all those categories, so while I wouldn't say billy is bad, I
would say he's not in the same league as the Beatles--in my opinion.
JCAT
ps. I think my fave Joel stuff is his most beatley...the nylon curtain
LP. Also, I'd have to say what I remember of the Stranger LP was pretty
darn good too. It's just that when I converted to CD in 87, I didn't
replace any of my Joel LPs. (of course, that doesn't mean I never
will...those two records I mention ARE pretty good, and so's that kinda
weird live one...some interesting tunes on that, like "say goodbye to
hollywood" which is pretty catchy).
Orange
On Wed, 11 Mar 1998 11:14:50 -0500, Neil Koomen
<neilk...@NOSPAMearthlink.net> thought "Why don't I post
something?", and did just that:
>x-no-archive: yes
>
>SlvrHmr wrote:
<snip>
>> Beatle content: Traffic seriously considered asking George Harrison to join the
>> band upon the Beatles' breakup in '70.
>
>Although Traffic isn't apropos to this newsgroup, I'm glad they're
>getting discussed. I think a lot of Beatles fans, particularly those too
>young to have experienced the Beatles' era and might be unaware of other
>bands, would enjoy Traffic.
If one is fond of the Sgt. Pepper/Magical Mystery Tour era of the
Beatles, one should do oneself a favour and check out the three first
albums by Traffic: "Mr. Fantasy", "Traffic" and "Last Exit".
Especially Dave Mason's songs are in the same vein.
Christian Henriksson
--
A sign in front of a roadworks in Japan:
Stop. Drive sideways.
--
BTW, to mail me, remove the REMOVE from my e-mail
address
jmi...@awod.com
In article <Pine.OSF.3.93.980310...@cc.joensuu.fi>,
Olli-Matti Sopanen <sop...@cc.joensuu.fi> wrote:
>
>
> "You=B4d never be able to tell that from my music, because I=B4m a keyboard
> player, but I love Cream and Jimi Hendrix. And Traffic. They=B4re probably
> my favorite bands of all time right after The Beatles."
>
> Cindy C. on the cover page).
>
> Sullivan Show", and he wanted be a piano man.=20
>
> When you think about some of Bill Joel=B4s best works like "The Stranger"
> (1977) and "The Nylon Curtain" (1982) albums, what are his musical
> one common thing among them is that they have written certain songs in
>
> Furthermore May Pang mentioned in her book Bill Joel and his first wife
> Elizabeth Weber (married 1973-1982; also his manager) as a good example of
> how husband-wife relationship could be a positive effect to songwriting
> late Seventies. =20
>
> So any opinions about Bill Joel ?
>
Yeah, I like his stuff. I think that he and Paul McCartney have one major
thing in common, too: both are thought of as balladeers and not able to
"rock."
I personally like Joel, but consider his pre-1985 stuff to be his best.
However, the hit songs on "River of Dreams" were great.
Another thing he has in common with Paul is that both have moved on to
doing classical pieces and orchestral piano pieces. That's what Joel has
done for the last three or four years.
Jeff
-----== Posted via Deja News, The Leader in Internet Discussion ==-----
http://www.dejanews.com/ Now offering spam-free web-based newsreading
SlvrHmr
>I'm not really sure who the main drummer was. If it was Capaldi, he
didn't sing, so I suspect it wasn't Capaldi.
Surprising. During the time you describe, Capaldi more or less took the job of
the band's front man. Sang lead on cuts like "Light Up or Leave Me Alone" and
"Dealer," played various percussion instruments and hosted the shows. There
was never a time when he left the band, so maybe he got stuck in, uh, traffic
along with the band's gear!
>Rebop (an African percussionist, who I referred to above) was the
percussionist. I think Rebop may be on Traffic's live "Canteen" album (unsure
of album title).
His full name was something like Rebop Kwaku Baa (again from my fading
memory).
Close -- only left off one letter ('Rebop' Kwaku Baah). Rebop also passed away
several years ago. Don't know the details.
>I remember reading an excellent review of Capaldi's solo album around
then, so perhaps it was Gordon I saw.
It may also have been Roger Hawkins, who played drums for Traffic during some
of their early 70's tours. For two albums ("The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys"
and "Shootout at the Fantasy Factory"), Capaldi was no longer the main drummer,
but he was still with the band.
>I don't know who it was. It was around '70-'72. Sorry, don't have my
ticket stubs anymore! It was at Duke University, if that's any help.
Nuts. My old girlfriend went to Duke. And I ain't lookin' her up for this
question!:)
>I'd forgotten about Wood. I'm not really sure if he was there or not. I
just don't remember.
He probably was. But given his state at the time, he may have been
near-invisible.
>I'm no big fan of loud music, but what they had was inadequate. I saw a
lot of other bands at the same basketball stadium, which is actually
rather small for a college, and Traffic was the only band w/o an
adequate PA. I suspected then that somehow there had been a breakdown
and most of the PA gear hadn't arrived.
I really don't know the answer here, but as I said in my last post, Winwood
wanted the band to travel with minmal power. 100 watts apiece, to be exact
(cripes, my stereo practically outdoes that!). As you say, this seems
ridiculous for a stadium show, but it also seems consistent with Winwood's
statements around then. If it was indeed all the power they traveled with, it
was a poor decision on Winwood's part.
>Winwood also had a wonderful voice, somewhat in the style of Ray
Charles.
I think he's one of the top five vocalists in rock history, and I never meant
to imply that their mediocre lyrics rendered them primarily an instrumental
band. One of the greatest examples of both Steve's singing ability as well as
his (at times) uncanny resemblance to Ray Charles is on The Spencer Davis
Group's recording of "Nobody Knows When You're Down and Out." (Not to be
confused with the Lennon song of nearly the same name -- although it sounds
like John was "borrowing" again!)
>Although Traffic isn't apropos to this newsgroup, I'm glad they're
getting discussed. I think a lot of Beatles fans, particularly those too
young to have experienced the Beatles' era and might be unaware of other
bands, would enjoy Traffic.
Much agreed. Their first album ("Mr. Fantasy" -- and for once the U.S. version
is slightly better!) shows obvious Beatle/Sgt. Pepper influences, full of odd
sounds and effects, as well as unique and creative instrumentation. In fact, I
can't imagine any Beatle fan not finding something to like among most all of
Traffic's albums. They were my two favorite bands in high school, and I
suppose they are today! (Though I did get seriously into the Stones in
college...)
For the uninitiated, and to clear up some of the personel confusion, here's a
rundown of Traffic's albums and the band's lineup for each:
MR. FANTASY (1967)
Steve Winwood (Vocals, keyboards, guitars, bass, percussion)/Dave Mason
(Vocals, guitars, bass, sitar, percussion)/Chris Wood (Sax, flute, keyboards,
percussion, backing vocals)/Jim Capaldi (Drums, percussion, vocals)
TRAFFIC (1968)
(Same as above)
LAST EXIT (1969)
Same as above, though Mason had officially left the band by the time this album
was released. One of their better albums, though made up of singles, leftover
cuts from old sessions, and 2 lengthy live tracks. (The live tracks,
incidentally, feature only the core trio of Steve, Chris and Jim. I had
originally thought that Mason played bass on these tracks, but a closer listen
reveals the "bass" to be the foot-pedals on Winwood's Hammond organ.)
JOHN BARLEYCORN MUST DIE (1970)
Winwood, Wood and Capaldi. IMO, their greatest album.
WELCOME TO THE CANTEEN (1971)
A (very mediocre) live album, with Mason rejoining the lineup. Add Rick Grech
(bass), Jim Gordon (drums), Rebop Kwaku Baah (percussion). Capaldi relegated
to tambourine-shaking.
THE LOW SPARK OF HIGH-HEELED BOYS (1971)
A good album, though its reputation rests on the title cut. Same lineup as
"Canteen," minus Mason.
SHOOTOUT AT THE FANTASY FACTORY (1973)
Winwood, Wood, Capaldi and Rebop joined by Roger Hawkins on drums and David
Hood on bass.
ON THE ROAD (1973)
Another live set, same personel as "Fantasy Factory," but add Barry Beckett on
keyboards.
WHEN THE EAGLE FLIES (1974)
Winwood, Wood, and Capaldi once again the drummer. Rebop officially dropped
from the lineup, though he plays on a few cuts. New member Rosko Gee on bass.
FAR FROM HOME (1994)
The reunion album, if you can call it that. Capaldi on drums and backing
vocals, Winwood on all other instruments.
WOODSTOCK '94 (Bootleg)
Too bad it's only a boot, as it's far and away the best-recorded live set
Traffic ever recorded. Versions of "Glad," "Freedom Rider," "Empty Pages,"
"The Low Spark of High-Heeled Boys" that all leave the studio versions behind
in the dust. They played with plenty of power at Woodstock, and the crowd
loved 'em!
And that's the last Traffic post you'll see from me on this board -- if only
because this exhausts my knowledge!
John L
MHHedgeco
Another thing he has in common with Paul is that both have moved on to
doing classical pieces and orchestral piano pieces. That's what Joel has
done for the last three or four years.>>
The main difference between them has to be that Paul writes so many
"meaningless" songs....I mean, songs like "Uncle Albert" and "Band on the Run"
and "Junk".....great songs, by all means, but songs that could be sung along to
in a kindergarten class. Joel's songs always seem to have more of a message.
I view it as Paul being the conservative and Joel being the liberal, if that
helps. But I like them both just the same.
Sheldon Robertson
In <varda-11039...@noname-210.astro.wisc.edu>, va...@madraf.astro.wisc.edu (John Varda) writes:
>I liked Billy Joel most when I was in High School...
>I still love the Beatles.
>
>Nothing wrong with Billy, he's just not, to me, the most subtle lyric
>writer,
Do you mean the fact that you can actually understand his lyrics? :) People don't
realize it sometimes, but it takes a lot of effort to write lyrics the way Billy does.
To have line after line contribute something meaningful to the overall theme of
the song is very unusual in our throwaway-lyric world. One of the things I always
thought was cool about Joel is the fact that he can come up with such interesting
rhymes, in a way that's not disruptive to the flow of the song.
>nor the greatest melodicist (though he's pretty good at that),
I think Joel shows his melodic genius not in the melodies he sings so much as the
ones he uses for song intros, such as the ones for "Vienna" or "Honesty".
> nor the finest musician or singer around.
No offense to the Beatles, but I don't think any of them could hold a candle to Billy
when it comes to piano playing. As for singing, there might be better singers around,
but the fact that he could pull off something like "The Longest Time" says that he's
not a complete slouch...
The Beatles rank pretty close to
>the top in all those categories, so while I wouldn't say billy is bad, I
>would say he's not in the same league as the Beatles--in my opinion.
The Beatles top Bill Joel in the same way they top most other artistes -- in terms of
songwriting and innovative studio techniques. But Joel's songwriting cannot be easily
dismissed, IMO...
Sheldon
"You may never understand
How the stranger is inspired
But he is not always evil
And he is not always wrong
Though we drown in good intentions
We may never quench the fire
Don't give in to your desire
When the stranger comes along..."
-- Billy Joel
"The Stranger"
All non-mass-mailers may remove the "nospam" from my e-mail address to
write to me
The Midnight Rambler
Sheldon Robertson wrote:
I agree with most of the above. I think Joel's main problem has always been his penchant for copying
other's styles, but he's never been a true hack job. And he IS one of the finest lyricists of the 20th
century...
You got a nice white dress and a party on your confirmation
You got a brand new soul
And a cross of gold
But Virginia they didn't give you quite enough information
You didn't count on me
When you were counting on your rosary
--
Extremely damaging anti-Clinton testimony from
Lonesome Rob Fontenot or maybe The Midnight Rambler
(rfon...@earthlink.net)
-------------------------
ExotiCon '98: http://www.dervishdatasystems.com/whip
Beatles at the Mining Co: http://beatles.miningco.com
Phil Tate
I was a big Billy Joel fan during the late 70s to mid 80s. He is a great
performer, with excellent piano and vocal chops. I love his voice; his
singing is definitely under-rated.
That said, as I got into listening to older music from the 50s and 60s, I
became less satisfied with him because I discovered that alot (not all) of
his music (and much of modern rock) is pretty derivative. What about that
number on River of Dreams (I can't think of the title) where he screams out
his vitriol and pain. Plastic Ono Band anyone? I know the Beatles
"borrowed" too, but most of the time they weren't so obvious about it.
I still listen to Bill from time to time; I still have a soft spot for him.
In the early 80s, I got Bill to autograph a concert program in Portland, OR,
which at the time was very cool. He was pretty cool about it, but it was
his birthday and I think he and the band had partied after the because he
looked rather toasted.
Cheers,
Phil