Piano Man (Billy Joel album)

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For the greatest hits album, see Piano Man: The Very Best of Billy Joel.
Piano Man
Billy Joel - Piano Man.jpg
Studio album by Billy Joel
Released November 9, 1973
Recorded September 1973, Devonshire Sound, Los Angeles, California
Genre Rock, country rock, soft rock
Length 42:51
Label Family Productions/Columbia
Producer Michael Stewart
Billy Joel chronology
Cold Spring Harbor
(1971)Cold Spring Harbor1971		 Piano Man
(1973)		 Streetlife Serenade
(1974)Streetlife Serenade1974
Singles from Piano Man
  1. "Piano Man"/"You're My Home"
    Released: November 2, 1973
  2. "Worse Comes to Worst"
    Released: 1974
  3. "Travelin' Prayer"
    Released: 1974
  4. "The Ballad of Billy the Kid"
    Released: April 1974
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
AllMusic 4/5 stars[1]
Robert Christgau C[2]
Rolling Stone positive[3]

Piano Man is the second studio album by the American singer-songwriter Billy Joel, released on November 9, 1973. Joel's first recording with Columbia Records, Piano Man emerged from legal difficulties with his former label, Family Productions, and became his breakthrough album. However, the Family Productions print logo was used until 1986.

The single "Piano Man", a fictionalized retelling of Joel's experiences with people Joel met as a lounge singer in Los Angeles, peaked at #25 on Billboard's Pop Singles chart, and at #4 on the Adult Contemporary singles chart. "Travelin' Prayer" and "Worse Comes to Worst" peaked at #77 and #80, respectively, on the Pop Singles chart, while the album reached #27 on the Pop Albums chart. ("Travelin' Prayer" later earned Dolly Parton a Grammy Award, when she covered it in 1999.)

Legacy edition

Columbia Records released a 2-disc legacy version of Piano Man in November 2011.[4]

This edition included a slightly truncated live 1972 radio broadcast of early songs that Joel recorded at the Philadelphia radio station WMMR's Sigma Sound Studios. This radio broadcast was extremely important to the success of Joel's music career because, after the show was recorded, the live recording of "Captain Jack" was played by the station and quickly became "the most requested song in the station's history". Once the popularity of this live recording was known, people working for Columbia Records heard the recording and signed Joel to the label.[5] The radio broadcast included three songs ("Long, Long Time", "Josephine" and "Rosalinda") that were never on any of Joel's studio albums.

Track listing

All songs written by Billy Joel.

Side one
No. Title Length
1. "Travelin' Prayer"   4:16
2. "Piano Man"   5:37
3. "Ain't No Crime"   3:20
4. "You're My Home"   3:14
5. "The Ballad of Billy the Kid"   5:35
Side two
No. Title Length
1. "Worse Comes to Worst"   3:28
2. "Stop in Nevada"   3:40
3. "If I Only Had the Words (To Tell You)"   3:35
4. "Somewhere Along the Line"   3:17
5. "Captain Jack"   7:15
Total length:
 42:51

2011 Legacy Edition bonus disc

Disc 2
Live at Sigma Sound Studios, April 15, 1972
  1. "Introduction by Ed Sciaky" - 0:29
  2. "Falling of the Rain" - 2:33
  3. "Intro to Travelin' Prayer" - 0:17
  4. "Travelin' Prayer" - 3:11
  5. "Intro to Billy the Kid" - 0:50
  6. "The Ballad of Billy The Kid" - 5:36
  7. "Intro to She's Got a Way" - 1:03
  8. "She's Got a Way" - 3:08
  9. "Intro to Everybody Loves You Now" - 1:19
  10. "Everybody Loves You Now" - 2:56
  11. "Intro to Nocturne" - 0:59
  12. "Nocturne" - 2:46
  13. "Station ID and Intro to Turn Around" - 1:31
  14. "Turn Around" - 3:26
  15. "Intro to Long, Long Time" - 1:19
  16. "Long, Long Time" - 4:46
  17. "Intro to Captain Jack" - 1:19
  18. "Captain Jack" - 6:56
  19. "Intro to Josephine" - 1:40
  20. "Josephine" - 3:23
  21. "Intro to Rosalinda" - 0:33
  22. "Rosalinda" - 3:03
  23. "Tomorrow Is Today" - 5:11

Personnel

Live at Sigma Sound Studios, April 15, 1972

  • Billy Joel – piano, harmonica, vocals
  • Rhys Clark – drums
  • Al Hertzberg – acoustic and electric guitars
  • Larry Russell – bass guitar
  • Dennis Wilen – producer

Production

Charts

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Originally published in Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Posted at Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Billy Joel website
  5. ↑ Online Billy Joel Interview
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ "GFK Chart-Track Albums: Week 24, 2013". Chart-Track. IRMA.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH
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