Billy Joel - Piano Man (1973) {2017, Deluxe Edition, Remastered}

30 Oct, 21:42
change text size:

Artist: Billy Joel
Title: Piano Man
Year Of Release: 1973 / 2017
Label: Sony Music / Columbia / Legacy #88985474632
Genre: Soft Rock, Folk Rock
Quality: EAC Rip -> FLAC (Img+Cue,Log) / MP3 CBR320
Total Time: 2CD (00:43:37 + 00:58:12)
Total Size: 722 / 331 Mb (Full Scans)
WebSite: Album Preview

Piano Man is the second studio album by American recording artist Billy Joel, released on November 9, 1973 by Columbia Records. The album emerged from legal difficulties with Joel's former label Family Productions, and ultimately became his first breakthrough album.

The title track, a fictionalized retelling of Joel's experiences with people he met as a lounge singer in Los Angeles, peaked at No. 25 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and No. 4 on the Adult Contemporary singles chart. "Travelin' Prayer" and "Worse Comes to Worst" peaked at Nos. 77 and 80 on the Hot 100, respectively, while the album itself peaked at No. 27 on the US Billboard 200. The album was certified gold by the RIAA in 1975, but Joel only received $8000 in royalties (US$37,249 in 2018 dollars).

Columbia Records released a two-disc legacy version of Piano Man in November 2011. This edition included a slightly truncated live 1972 Philadelphia 93.3 WMMR FM radio broadcast of early songs that Joel performed and recorded at the Philadelphia-based 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. The radio broadcast included three songs ("Long, Long Time", "Josephine" and "Rosalinda") that were never on any of Joel's studio albums.

Embittered by legal disputes with his label and an endless tour to support a debut that was dead in the water, Billy Joel hunkered down in his adopted hometown of Los Angeles, spending six months as a lounge singer at a club. He didn't abandon his dreams -- he continued to write songs, including "Piano Man," a fictionalized account of his weeks as a lounge singer. Through a combination of touring and constant hustling, he landed a contract with Columbia and recorded his second album in 1973. Clearly inspired by Elton John's Tumbleweed Connection, not only musically but lyrically, as well as James Taylor, Joel expands the vision and sound of Cold Spring Harbor, abandoning introspective numbers (apart from "You're My Home," a love letter to his wife) for character sketches and epics. Even the title track, a breakthrough hit based on his weeks as a saloon singer, focuses on the colorful patrons, not the singer. If his narratives are occasionally awkward or incomplete, he compensates with music that gives the songs a sweeping sense of purpose -- they feel complete, thanks to his indelible melodies and savvy stylistic repurposing. He may have borrowed his basic blueprint from Tumbleweed Connection, particularly with its Western imagery and bluesy gospel flourishes, but he makes it his own, largely due to his melodic flair, which is in greater evidence than on Cold Spring Harbor. Piano Man is where he suggests his potential as a musical craftsman. He may have weaknesses as a lyricist -- such mishaps as the "instant pleasuredome" line in "You're My Home" illustrate that he doesn't have an ear for words -- but Piano Man makes it clear that his skills as a melodicist can dazzle.

~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music

| |

***************

Track List CD1:

01. Travelin' Prayer [4:17]
02. Piano Man [5:39]
03. Ain't No Crime [3:19]
04. You're My Home [3:14]
05. The Ballad of Billy the Kid [5:44]
06. Worse Comes to Worst [3:16]
07. Stop in Nevada [3:56]
08. If I Only Had the Words (To Tell You) [3:35]
09. Somewhere Along the Line [3:20]
10. Captain Jack [7:18]

Track List CD2:

01. Introduction by Ed Sciaky [Live April 1972 At Sigma Sound Studios, WMMR Radio... [0:29]
02. Falling [Live April 1972 At Sigma Sound Studios, WMMR Radio, Philadelphia, PA] [2:33]
03. Intro to Travelin' Prayer [Live April 1972 At Sigma Sound Studios, WMMR Radio... [0:17]
04. Travelin' Prayer [Live April 1972 At Sigma Sound Studios, WMMR Radio, Philade... [3:11]
05. Intro to Billy the Kid [Live April 1972 At Sigma Sound Studios, WMMR Radio, P... [0:50]
06. The Ballad of Billy the Kid [Live April 1972 At Sigma Sound Studios, WMMR Rad... [5:36]
07. Intro to She's Got a Way [Live April 1972 At Sigma Sound Studios, WMMR Radio,... [1:03]
08. She's Got a Way [Live April 1972 At Sigma Sound Studios, WMMR Radio, Philadel... [3:08]
09. Intro to Everybody Love You Now [Live April 1972 At Sigma Sound Studios, WMMR... [1:19]
10. Everybody Loves You Now [Live April 1972 At Sigma Sound Studios, WMMR Radio, ... [2:56]
11. Intro to Nocturne [Live April 1972 At Sigma Sound Studios, WMMR Radio, Philad... [0:59]
12. Nocturne [Live April 1972 At Sigma Sound Studios, WMMR Radio, Philadelphia, PA] [2:46]
13. Station ID and Intro to Turnaround [Live April 1972 At Sigma Sound Studios, W... [1:31]
14. Turnaround [Live April 1972 At Sigma Sound Studios, WMMR Radio, Philadelphia,... [3:26]
15. Intro to Long, Long Time [Live April 1972 At Sigma Sound Studios, WMMR Radio,... [1:19]
16. Long, Long Time [Live April 1972 At Sigma Sound Studios, WMMR Radio, Philadel... [4:46]
17. Intro to Captain Jack [Live April 1972 At Sigma Sound Studios, WMMR Radio, Ph... [1:19]
18. Captain Jack [Live April 1972 At Sigma Sound Studios, WMMR Radio, Philadelphi... [6:56]
19. Intro to Josephine [Live April 1972 At Sigma Sound Studios, WMMR Radio, Phila... [1:40]
20. Josephine [Live April 1972 At Sigma Sound Studios, WMMR Radio, Philadelphia, PA] [3:23]
21. Intro to Rosalinda [Live April 1972 At Sigma Sound Studios, WMMR Radio, Phila... [0:33]
22. Rosalinda [Live April 1972 At Sigma Sound Studios, WMMR Radio, Philadelphia, PA] [3:03]
23. Tomorrow Is Today [Live April 1972 At Sigma Sound Studios, WMMR Radio, Philad... [5:11]

Billy Joel - Piano Man (1973) {2017, Deluxe Edition, Remastered}

DOWNLOAD:

LOSSLESS

MP3