glass houses

Billy Joel shattered his image as a balladeer with the hard edged arena rock and new wave pop of this borderline blockbuster.  Despite the massive back-to-back success of 'The Stranger' and '52nd Street', Joel had found little credibility among critics.  This, combined with the large stadium shows that he was playing, led him to try something different for his next album.  Joel would reveal:   "It’s a definite temptation to repeat a successful formula. But I have never done the same thing twice. I don’t care what anybody says! After Stranger, I could have done Son of Stranger, but I’ve never done that. To keep me interested, there always has to be something new, something different.  When I come up with a melody, it is not calculated. It’s like an erection: It happens. There’s no formula. I do try to write complete melodies; that’s a constant. Because there are only so many notes and so many combinations, it gets tougher all the time to stay away from what’s been done before. But everything I’ve done is different. The proof is that some people think I’m a balladeer, others think I’m a rock-’n’-roller, still others think I’m the “piano man.” I don’t have a signature. Yes, critics have said I write cleverly and without spontaneity, in cold blood. I don’t. I write in hot blood. If it’s commercial, it just happens to be commercial. If you don’t like my music, fine. But don’t question my motives...It was, 'I’m going to throw a rock at the image people have of me as this mellow balladeer.' We had been doing rock ‘n’ roll before, but there happened to be more of it on this record. The old thing about people who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones—I don’t believe it. I think, Why not? Take chances. I really wanted to throw a rock at my own house.  Anyway, playing all that rock ‘n’ roll was fun. One rock-’n’-roll song kicked off another. Also, I’ve started to jump around onstage more. I used to stay behind the piano ... We’d had two or three years of playing in arenas and coliseums, and I recognized that I needed to write bigger music.  Ballads don’t always fly that well in an arena; you need big sound. So I started harder-edged songs, more guitar-based songs...It was fun to do. This was probably the most fun album that I ever made. It happened fairly quickly, the band loved playing it, the audiences loved the material that was on the recording and we were on a roll.”

'Glass Houses' was recorded at A&R Studios with producer Phil Ramone and features  Billy Joel on synthesizers, harmonica, acoustic & electric pianos, accordion, and vocals;   Dave Brown and Russell Javors on acoustic guitar and electric guitar;   Richie Cannata on organ, flute, and saxophone;   Liberty DeVitto on drums & percussion;    and Doug Stegmeyer on bass guitar.  

'Glass Houses' sold more than eight million copies worldwide, going to number twenty-four in Germany; twenty-one in France; twenty in the Netherlands; nine in the UK; six in Japan, New Zealand, and Sweden; four in Austria; two in Norway; and number one in Canada and the US.  The album was nominated for the Grammy Award for Album of the Year and won for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance.  It also won an American Music Award for Favorite Pop/Rock Album.






http://www.billyjoel.com/







"It's Still Rock and Roll to Me" laid out the thesis for the album and became his first number one hit in Canada and the US.  Joel says:   "Everybody puts things in categories. Everything has to fit into a certain bag: New Wave, next phase, dance, funk, punk. . . . Call it what you want, but it sounds like the music I heard in the early Sixties. The New Wave isn’t new. It’s just the explosion of a lot of groups, which I think is good...It’s music with a beat. No, that’s not right. It’s music that has passion in it, whether it’s a ballad or whatever. There’s some kind of intensity...Take M.O.R. [middle of the road]: You can hear it and not hear it. That’s how a lot of music is. Rock ‘n’ roll is music you have to hear. People say I’m not rock ‘n’ roll because of my ballads, but that’s not right: Take a song like Yesterday, a ballad created by a member of a rock-’n’-roll band. Is that rock ‘n’ roll? If you’re a rock-’n’-roll snob who hates ballads, you never would have listened to the Beatles. If the Beatles were around today, they would never make the hard-rock stations. You see, elitism of any kind is bad. You’re shutting yourself off. Christ—Led Zeppelin and The Rolling Stones have done ballads. I think a lot of it has to do with the emotion behind it. If it’s performed with passion and recorded with intensity, and it’s written in some rock form, it’s rock ‘n’ roll. If I like it and I hear it on the radio and it gets me going, stimulates me, it’s rock ‘n’ roll."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eAQa4MOGkE


What's the matter with the clothes I'm wearing?
"Can't you tell that your tie's too wide?"
Maybe I should buy some old tab collars?
"Welcome back to the age of jive
Where have you been hidin' out lately, honey?
You can't dress trashy till you spend a lot of money"
Everybody's talkin' 'bout the new sound
Funny, but it's still rock and roll to me 
What's the matter with the car I'm driving?
"Can't you tell that it's out of style?"
Should I get a set of white wall tires?
"Are you gonna cruise a miracle mile?
Nowadays you can't be too sentimental
You best bet's a true baby blue Continental"
Hot funk, cool punk, even if it's old junk
It's still rock and roll to me 
Oh, it doesn't matter what they say in the papers
Cause it's always been the same old scene
There's a new band in town
But you can't get the sound from a story in a magazine...
Aimed at your average teen 
How about a pair of pink sidewinders
And a bright orange pair of pants?
"You could really be a Beau Brummel baby
If you just give it half a chance
Don't waste your money on a new set of speakers
You get more mileage from a cheap pair of sneakers"
Next phase, new wave , dance craze, anyways
It's still rock and roll to me 
What's the matter with the crowd I'm seeing?
"Don't you know that their out of touch?"
Should I try to be a straight 'A' student?
"If you are then you think too much
Don't you know about the new fashion honey?
All you need are looks and a whole lotta money"
It's the next phase, new wave , dance craze, anyways
It's still rock and roll to me
Everybody's talkin' 'bout the new sound
Funny, but it's still rock and roll to me




"Don't Ask Me Why" hit number four in Canada and number one on the US adult contemporary chart. 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktbDhgjh0n0





"You May Be Right" was a top ten hit in Canada and the US.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jo9t5XK0FhA





"Sometimes a Fantasy" reached number twenty-one in Canada and broke into the top forty in the US. 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhJg1finpyU




"All for Leyna" charted at number forty in the UK.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzE1-NlOthY






'Glass Houses' 
full album:

https://myspace.com/billyjoel/music/album/glass-houses-8113830

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLraUXdMOSKKEpSFg4k6EEuXKBfPAQhNex



All songs written by Billy Joel.

Side one
"You May Be Right" – 4:15
"Sometimes a Fantasy" – 3:40
"Don't Ask Me Why" – 2:59
"It's Still Rock and Roll to Me" – 2:57
"All for Leyna" – 4:15
Side two
"I Don't Want to Be Alone" – 3:57
"Sleeping with the Television On" – 3:02
"C'était Toi (You Were the One)" – 3:25
"Close to the Borderline" – 3:47
"Through the Long Night" – 2:43




'20/20' interview



interview

piano man

Billy Joel had his breakthrough success with this album composed and recorded while he was trying to escape a bad record deal.  Joel had signed with Family Productions and recorded his debut album 'Cold Spring Harbor' with label owner Artie Ripp, who made an error in the mastering that sped up the songs.  Joel recalls:   "I got a job after I did the 'Cold Spring Harbor' album, I dropped out of sight. I had to get out of this horrible deal that I’d signed. I signed away everything – the copyrights, publishing, record royalties, everything. My first child. I gave it all away, and I said, “I’ve got to get out of this deal,” and I hid in L.A. and I worked in a piano bar under the name Bill Martin. This was down in the Wilshire district. It’s not a real bar town, L.A. Long Island has a pub on every corner. It’s a pub culture, every corner there’s a bar...Some people think I did it for years. I worked in this piano bar for six months. I needed to make some money. I made union scale. I got tips. I mostly played the major seven chords."

A live version of 'Captain Jack' became an underground hit on the east coast and led to a record deal with Columbia Records; which bought his contract from Ripp, who stipulated that the Family Productions logo appear alongside Columbia and that he receive a twenty-five cent royalty on every record sold.  'Piano Man' was recorded at Devonshire Sound in Los Angeles with producer Michael Stewart.  The sessions featured Billy Joel on harmonica, keyboards, piano, and vocals; Larry Carlton, Richard Bennett, and Dean Parks on guitar; Emory Gordy, Jr. on bass guitar; Wilton Felder on bass guitar and keyboards; Eric Weissberg and Fred Heilbrun  on banjo; Billy Armstrong on violin; Rhys Clark and Ron Tutt on drums; Michael Omartian on  accordion; and Laura Creamer, Mark Creamer, and Susan Steward on vocals.  

Joel says:   "We did 'Piano Man' in L.A. And there was an album—that wasn’t a hit album. People perceived that to be a hit. It was not a hit...'Piano Man' was not a hit record. It was a turntable hit. In other words, it didn’t sell through, but this is back in the early ‘70s. In those days they still had FM progressive radio. Disc jockeys could spin whatever they wanted." 

'Piano Man' charted at one hundred and twelve in Japan, ninety-eight in the UK, twenty-seven in the US, twenty-six in Canada, and fourteen in Australia.  It has been certified quadruple-platinum.  





http://www.billyjoel.com/





The title track became his signature song and gave him his first taste of success, going to number one hundred and thirty-six in the UK, twenty-five on the US pop chart, twenty in Australia, ten in Canada, and number four on the US adult contemporary chart.  It was based on his experiences working at The Executive Room  piano bar on Wilshire Boulevard.  Joel says:    "John was the bartender. Paul was this real estate guy who wanted to write the great American novel and Davey was a guy who was in the Navy.  It’s a true story and I knew when I was doing the gig, I said, ‘I gotta get a song out of this’ and it worked out...Even the girl in the song, that says ‘And the waitress is practicing politics, as the businessmen slowly get stoned’ – that was my first wife.  She was working there too, as a waitress ... It was a gig I did for about 6 months just to pay rent. I was living in LA and trying to get out of a bad record contract I'd signed. I worked under an assumed name, the Piano Stylings of Bill Martin, and just bulls--ted my way through it. I have no idea why that song became so popular. It's like a karaoke favorite. The melody is not very good and very repetitious, while the lyrics are like limericks. I was shocked and embarrassed when it became a hit. But my songs are like my kids and I look at that song and think: 'My kid did pretty well.'"

It's nine o'clock on a Saturday
 the regular crowd shuffles in
 There's an old man sitting next to me
 Makin' love to his tonic and gin
 He says, Son can you play me a memory
 I'm not really sure how it goes
 But it's sad and it's sweet and I knew it complete
 When I wore a younger man's clothes
La la la de de da
 la la de de da da dum
Chorus:
 Sing us a song, you're the piano man
 sing us a song tonight
 Well, we're all in the mood for a melody
 And you've got us feelin' alright
Now John at the bar is a friend of mine
 He gets me my drinks for free
 And he's quick with a joke or to light up your smoke
 But there's someplace that he'd rather be
 He says Bill, I believe this is killing me
 As the smile ran away from his face
 Well I'm sure that I could be a movie star
 If I could get out of this place
Oh, la la la de de da
 la la de de da da dum
Now Paul is a real estate novelist
 Who never had time for a wife
 And he's talking with Davy who's still in the navy
 And probably will be for life
And the waitress is practicing politics
 As the businessmen slowly get stoned
 Yes, they're sharing a drink they call loneliness
 But it's better than drinking alone
Chorus:
 Sing us a song, you're the piano man
 Sing us a song tonight.
 Well, we're all in the mood for a melody
 And you've got us feelin' alright.
It's a pretty good crowd for a Saturday,
 And the manager gives me a smile
 'Cause he knows that it's me they've been coming to see
 To forget about life for awhile.
 And the piano sounds like a carnival
 And the microphone smells like a beer
 And they sit at the bar and put bread in my jar
 And say "Man, what are you doin' here?"
La la la de de da
 la la de de da da dum
Chorus:
 Sing us a song, you're the piano man
 Sing us a song tonight.
 Well, we're all in the mood for a melody
 And you've got us feelin' alright.

'Piano Man'
full album: 




All songs written by Billy Joel.

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

52nd street

Billy Joel threw a soul parade and generated a lot of heat with this jazzy pop exposition.  After the massive success of 'The Stranger', Joel was ready to try something new:   "I always made it clear to management, producers, record company executives:  don't tell me what to write...What intrigues me to write?  Doing something different...That was the height of punk and new wave...There was a lot of vital new music going on at that time; which was probably another reason for me changing the kind of music that I was going to do...When I did '52nd Street' after 'The Stranger' I thought that was a complete[ly] different approach...It was jazzier than 'The Stranger', and there was a little more risk taken I think on some crazy songs that weren't going to be singles...The substance of our success - the longevity of my career has been based not on singles solely...mostly to the substance in the albums, the things that don't get released as hit singles, things that may not receive a lot of concentrated airplay on certain formats, songs that people discovered for themselves...To me an album is all of one thing, it's an entity, it's a complete work.  A single is something which is lifted from the album, an excerpt...a little slice of the pie just to give people a taste of the kind of work I've been doing...when I write one song, I write a song in reaction to the song I've just written and then I write another one in reaction to that one; so to me they all have to sort of live with one another...You take one thing out of the context of the album, you're not getting the concept.  You're not getting what came before or what came after...Think of each album as a movie or a musical or a broadway show."      

'52nd Street' was produced by Phil Ramone at A&R Recording, Inc., 799 7th Avenue at 52nd Street in New York City with Billy Joel on piano and vocals; Doug Stegmeyer on bass and backing vocals; Liberty DeVitto on drums; Richie Cannata on saxophones, organ, and clarinet; Steve Khan on electric guitar, acoustic guitar, and backing vocals; Freddie Hubbard on flugelhorn and trumpet on "Zanzibar"; Mike Mainieri on vibes and marimba on "Zanzibar" and "Rosalinda's Eyes"; David Spinozza on acoustic guitar on "Honesty"; Donnie Dacus and Peter Cetera on background vocals on "My Life"; David Friedman on orchestral chimes and percussion on "Until the Night"; Ralph MacDonald on percussion on "Rosalinda's Eyes" and "Half a Mile Away"; Eric Gale on electric guitar on "Half a Mile Away"; Frank Floyd, Babi Floyd, Zack Sanders, Milt Grayson, Ray Simpson on background vocals on "Half a Mile Away"; George Marge on sopranino recorder on "Rosalinda's Eyes"; Hugh McCracken on nylon string guitar on "Until the Night" and "Rosalinda's Eyes"; Robert Freedman on horn and string orchestration on "Until the Night" and "Honesty"; Dave Grusin on horn orchestration on "Half a Mile Away"; and David Nadien as concertmaster.  

'52nd Street' was a hit around the world, going to number thirty-three in the Netherlands; number nineteen in West Germany; eighteen in Sweden; thirteen in Spain; twelve in Italy; ten in the UK; nine in Japan; five in Norway; four Austria; two in France; and number one in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the US.  In the US, the album spent eight weeks at number one and went on to win the Grammy for Album of the Year as well as Best Male Pop Vocal Performance.  It has sold over seven million copies.  






http://www.billyjoel.com







'My Life' went to thirty-seven in Germany, twenty-two in the Netherlands, twelve in the UK, eleven in Austria, six in Australia and New Zealand, three in Canada and on the US pop chart, and number two on the US adult contemporary chart.  
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3JFEfdK_Ls



'Honesty' was nominated for a Grammy for Song of the Year.  It made its way to number eighty in Australia, fifty-three in Japan, thirty-eight in New Zealand, thirty-four in the Netherlands, twenty-four on the US pop chart, sixteen in Canada, and number nine on the US adult contemporary chart.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SuFScoO4tb0



'Big Shot' was written about Bianca Jagger.  It shot to ninety-one in Australia, thirty-six in New Zealand, fourteen in the US, and thirteen in Canada.  
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEea624OBzM






'52nd Street'
full album:



"Big Shot" – 4:03
"Honesty" – 3:56
"My Life" – 4:44
"Zanzibar" – 5:13
"Stiletto" – 4:42
"Rosalinda's Eyes" – 4:41
"Half a Mile Away" – 4:08
"Until the Night" – 6:35
"52nd Street" – 2:27

an innocent man

Billy Joel went back to his roots and got lost in let's remember with the effervescent revivalism of this tribute to the doo-wop and soul music of his youth.  Joel reveals the genesis of the album:    "After I did 'The Nylon Curtain' and we went out on the road, I wanted to do something which was 180 degrees in the other direction.  I had gotten divorced and I started dating these different women; I was going out with models.  I was a rock star, a single guy who was a rock star and I was amazed at my good fortune at the time.  I started dating Christie Brinkley at the time too and started writing songs about these experiences.  I felt like a teenager all over again.  All of these songs that I remembered from the early 60's:  R&B songs, the Four Seasons, Motown music, soul music.  That's how I felt; you don't fight that, write what you feel. And I didn't fight it.  This material was coming so easily and so quickly and I was having so much fun doing it.  I was kind of reliving my youth.  I just had fun; I had a great time.  I wrote a song called 'Easy Money' which was sort of like a Wilson Pickett - James Brown R&B track and I sang it live with a full band and it was so much fun.  The rest of the songs  kept coming real fast-I wrote it in the studio; I think within six weeks I had written most of the material on the album.  And it wasn't to have hit records.  Who thought that songs that sounded like the late 50's early 60's  acapella 'For The Longest Time'... who would have figured they could ever be hits in the 80's.  And they were.  'For The Longest Time' was an acapella doo-wop song that became a big hit.  'Uptown Girl' was an homage to Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons and became a hit record.  Who would have thought there would be a hit record by the Four Seasons in the 80's? ... That's where I was at." 

'An Innocent Man'  was an international smash, going to number thirty-nine in Sweden, thirty-six in West Germany, fourteen in the Netherlands, twelve in Canada, eleven in France, nine in Norway, four in the US, three in Australia, two in the UK, and number one in New Zealand.  The album was nominated for Grammys for Album of the Year and Best Male Pop Vocal Performance ('Uptown Girl') and for American Music Awards for Favorite Pop/Rock Male Artist and Favorite Pop/Rock Video ('Tell Her About It').  







http://www.billyjoel.com/







"Tell Her About It" hit number fifty-eight in Japan, thirty-nine in the Netherlands, nine in Australia, eight in New Zealand, five in Canada, four in the UK, and number one on the US pop chart and on the US adult contemporary chart.  
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0pM5dm--yQ



"Uptown Girl" came in at sixty-four in Japan; eighteen in Australia and Germany; ten in the Netherlands; four in Canada; three in the US and Norway; number two on the US adult contemporary chart; and number one in Australia, New Zealand, the UK.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCuMWrfXG4E



"The Longest Time" went to thirty-six in Canada, twenty-five in the UK, fifteen in Australia, fourteen on the US pop chart, twelve in New Zealand, and number one on the US adult contemporary chart.  
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_XgQhMPeEQ



"Keeping the Faith" made it to eighty-one in Canada, thirty-eight in New Zealand, eighteen on the US pop chart, and number three on the US adult contemporary chart.  
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ph7oZnBH05s









'An Innocent Man' 
full album:



1. "Easy Money" 
2. "An Innocent Man"
3. "The Longest Time" 
4. "This Night" 
5. "Tell Her About It"
6. "Uptown Girl"
7. "Careless Talk" 
8. "Christie Lee" 
9. "Leave a Tender Moment Alone" 
10. "Keeping the Faith"

the stranger

It all came down to fate when Billy Joel whistled his way to the top with his quintessential artistic accomplishment.  'The Stranger' made Joel a household name; but it was the decision to work with producer Phil Ramone that set the stage for the record's success.  Joel remembers:  "The band had been under the gun with other producers, having to prove themselves, and also, there were always studio players, who were good but who weren't me. Phil liked my guys right off the bat. He heard them play the songs and said, 'Don't play any different than you play on the road - be the rock-'n'-roll animals that you are.' We did songs in five takes instead of fifteen or twenty. He was one of the guys. We'd throw around ideas, kick the songs around, try them different ways and get them right. Sometimes we'd throw pizza at each other. That's how it was with Phil.  He also has a great sense of what's right. I was originally going to do 'Only the Good Die Young' as a reggae song. Phil heard it and said, 'Try to play it as a shuffle.' It worked. He got us to try 'Just the Way You Are' as sort of a backward samba. That's the way the songs develop. It's a communal thing in the studio. It was inspiration! We created heat in the studio."

'The Stranger' went to thirty-six in the Netherlands; twenty-four in the UK; three in Japan; and two in Australia, New Zealand, and the US.  It has earned the RIAA Diamond Album certification for selling more than ten million copies. At the time it became the biggest selling album in Columbia Records history.  Joel admits:   "I don't recall particularly feeling 'this is going to be the  breakthrough.  We were just happy with the album we were making at the time.... But now, in hindsight, I can see it was a real important album...I didn't necessarily set out to be a big worldwide, international super rock star kind of guy. I set out to make a living as a musician, and this is the way it happened...I didn't know this at the time, but had it not been a successful album, the label probably would have dropped me. 'Cause you have to remember, this was my fifth album without having had a major hit...'The Stranger' didn't make number one. It came out at the time of 'Saturday Night Fever'. How's that for luck? But it did pretty well, and I was playing the 20,000-seaters...The audiences got louder; that's about it. We always put on a good show, so that didn't change. People knew the songs, which was nice. And we were ready for it. A lot of groups have a big record but have no road experience. They have only one album's worth of material. They're on, they're off. And nobody's going to come back to see them again. We had four albums' worth of material and seven years' road muscle. We went to the coliseums and people thought they were going to hear 'Just the Way You Are' but we had rock 'n' roll from 'Captain Jack' to 'Piano Man' and 'Say Goodbye to Hollywood', stuff people had vaguely heard of before: 'Oh, so that was his song.' Audiences got their money's worth. They felt they got a bargain."







http://www.billyjoel.com/

Billy Joel received Grammy awards for Record of the Year and Song of the Year in 1978 for his song 'Just the Way You Are'.   Joel says:  "I had no idea there was such a big record. 'Just the Way You Are' became this monster...which is just a pure out-and-out love song."  The song went to nineteen in the UK, six in Australia and New Zealand, three on the US pop chart, two in Canada, and number one on the US adult contemporary chart.  






'Only the Good Die Young' was based on Virginia Callaghan, a girl that Joel had a crush on when he started playing in a band.  It originally had a reggae sound until Ramone suggested they try a shuffle.  It went to twenty-four in the US and nineteen in Canada.  Joel recalls:  "That song was released as a single back in 1977, I think. It was not really doing very well, just languishing in the charts. Then it was banned by a radio station in New Jersey at a Catholic university. The minute the kids found out it was banned, they ran out in droves and it became a huge hit. If you tell kids they can't have something, that's what they want. I don't understand the problem with the song. It's about a guy trying to seduce a girl but, at the end of the song, she's still chaste and pure and he hasn't got anything. So I never understood what the furor was about. But I did write a letter to the archdiocese who'd banned it, asking them to ban my next record...Jewish guilt is visceral it's in the stomach. Catholic guilt is in the belfry of the cerebrum, it's gothic and its got incense, bells tolling, and it has all to do with sin. I wanted to write a song about it, about a guy trying to seduce a Catholic girl. I don't know what all the fuss was about, because she stayed chaste. I remember taking it over to the drummer, Liberty. 'Well, it's true,' he said, 'but I don't know how people are going to respond to it!"






'She's Always A Woman' was written about Joel's first wife:  "Some people said, 'Oh, he's a misogynist, look what he says about this woman. He wrote this song called She's Only a Woman.' Which always cracks me up every time I read that. To me, it's a very simple understandable lyric. 'She may be that to you, but she's this to me.'"  The single went to twenty-nine in the UK, nineteen on the US pop chart, fifteen in the Netherlands, twelve in Canada, and number two on the US adult contemporary chart.  






'Movin' Out (Anthony’s Song)' went to ninety-nine in Australia, forty on the US adult contemporary chart, thirty-five in the UK, thirty-one in New Zealand, seventeen on the US pop chart, and number eleven in Canada.  Joel reveals:  "In the song, there's the sound of a car peeling out. That was Doug Stegmeyer's car, who at the time had a '60s-era Corvette. He took his little tape machine in the car and hung the microphone out the rear end, and started burning rubber, screeching away from his house. At the end, we went on and on and on and they faded it out. We were just having too much fun playing, we couldn't stop! We'd look at Phil and he'd just go, 'Ah, just keep going, who knows how much of this we're going to use, just go with it.' The education of self-editing is a good process to learn."







'The Stranger'
full album:






All songs written and composed by Billy Joel.

Side one
1. "Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)"   3:30
2. "The Stranger"   5:10
3. "Just the Way You Are"   4:52
4. "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant"   7:37
Side two
1. "Vienna"   3:34
2. "Only the Good Die Young"   3:55
3. "She's Always a Woman"   3:21
4. "Get It Right the First Time"   3:57
5. "Everybody Has a Dream/The Stranger (Reprise)"   6:38