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Piano Man
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Browse piano sheets by Billy Joel on Zen Virtual Piano. “Piano Man” is a fictionalized retelling of Joel’s own experience as a piano-lounge singer for six months in 1972–73 at the now defunct Executive Room bar in the Wilshire district of Los Angeles. It is a song written and performed by Billy Joel, sung from the point of view of a piano player at a bar, first released as a single in the US in 1974 and included on his 1973 album Piano Man. A song drawn from six months in a lounge turns an ordinary job into the subject of the career that followed. Joel was born in the Bronx in New York City and grew up in the Levittown portion of Hicksville on Long Island. At age four he began taking piano lessons reluctantly, at his mother’s insistence, after he started banging on the piano in the family home, and he continued with formal tuition until about the age of 16. Lessons begun reluctantly and kept up until about sixteen leave a long formal training behind the later rock pianist. After dropping out of high school to pursue a music career, Joel took part in two short-lived bands, the Hassles and Attila, before signing a record deal with Family Productions and starting a solo career with his debut album, Cold Spring Harbor (1971). A solo debut that came before the lounge months, with those months later becoming a song, gives “Piano Man” the character of a look back at a job rather than a first step. He toured in the fall of 1971 with a band of Rhys Clark on drums, Al Hertzberg on guitar and Larry Russell on bass, throughout the mainland United States and Puerto Rico. In 1972 he caught the attention of Columbia Records after a live radio performance of “Captain Jack” became popular in Philadelphia, and he signed a new record deal with the company. A radio performance that caught on in Philadelphia gave a record company a reason to listen, which shows how local a break can be. After Streetlife Serenade (1974) and Turnstiles (1976), Joel achieved his critical and commercial breakthrough with The Stranger (1977), which became Columbia’s best-selling release, selling over 10 million copies. After River of Dreams (1993) he largely retired from producing studio material, though he went on to release Fantasies & Delusions (2001), featuring classical compositions composed by him and performed by the British-Korean pianist Richard Hyung-ki Joo. A classical collection written by him but played by another pianist marks a turn from performing rock to composing for someone else’s hands. He also provided voiceover work in Disney’s 1988 film Oliver & Company, performing the song “Why Should I Worry?”
Browse piano sheets by Billy Joel on Zen Virtual Piano.
“Piano Man” is a fictionalized retelling of Joel’s own experience as a piano-lounge singer for six months in 1972–73 at the now defunct Executive Room bar in the Wilshire district of Los Angeles. It is a song written and performed by Billy Joel, sung from the point of view of a piano player at a bar, first released as a single in the US in 1974 and included on his 1973 album Piano Man. A song drawn from six months in a lounge turns an ordinary job into the subject of the career that followed.
Joel was born in the Bronx in New York City and grew up in the Levittown portion of Hicksville on Long Island. At age four he began taking piano lessons reluctantly, at his mother’s insistence, after he started banging on the piano in the family home, and he continued with formal tuition until about the age of 16. Lessons begun reluctantly and kept up until about sixteen leave a long formal training behind the later rock pianist.
After dropping out of high school to pursue a music career, Joel took part in two short-lived bands, the Hassles and Attila, before signing a record deal with Family Productions and starting a solo career with his debut album, Cold Spring Harbor (1971). A solo debut that came before the lounge months, with those months later becoming a song, gives “Piano Man” the character of a look back at a job rather than a first step. He toured in the fall of 1971 with a band of Rhys Clark on drums, Al Hertzberg on guitar and Larry Russell on bass, throughout the mainland United States and Puerto Rico. In 1972 he caught the attention of Columbia Records after a live radio performance of “Captain Jack” became popular in Philadelphia, and he signed a new record deal with the company. A radio performance that caught on in Philadelphia gave a record company a reason to listen, which shows how local a break can be.
After Streetlife Serenade (1974) and Turnstiles (1976), Joel achieved his critical and commercial breakthrough with The Stranger (1977), which became Columbia’s best-selling release, selling over 10 million copies. After River of Dreams (1993) he largely retired from producing studio material, though he went on to release Fantasies & Delusions (2001), featuring classical compositions composed by him and performed by the British-Korean pianist Richard Hyung-ki Joo. A classical collection written by him but played by another pianist marks a turn from performing rock to composing for someone else’s hands. He also provided voiceover work in Disney’s 1988 film Oliver & Company, performing the song “Why Should I Worry?”
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Common questions
It is a fictionalized retelling of Joel’s own experience as a piano-lounge singer for six months in 1972–73 at the Executive Room bar in Los Angeles, sung from the point of view of a piano player at a bar.
In 1972 Columbia Records took notice after a live radio performance of “Captain Jack” became popular in Philadelphia, and he signed a new record deal with the company.
The Stranger (1977), which became Columbia’s best-selling release, selling over 10 million copies.