Billy Joel Band
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Billy Joel Band
The Billy Joel Band is the band that backs singer-songwriter and pianist Billy Joel on both studio and live recordings. The band began with the recording of his first album as a solo artist in 1971; it stabilized around 1975 and underwent several lineup changes in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Joel's touring band as a whole did not begin playing on his records until he recorded the album ''Turnstiles'' in 1976. This line-up included Richie Cannata on saxophones and organ, Liberty DeVitto on drums, Russell Javors and Howie Emerson on guitars, and Doug Stegmeyer on bass. The band, which now no longer includes any of its original members, is often not recognized as a formal entity, and is instead referred to simply as Billy Joel's band. The Lords of 52nd Street is a band formed by the original band members that previously played with Joel. Early days Joel's original touring band, formed in 1971 to support the ''Cold Spring Harbor'' album, comprised Rhys Clark on drums, Al Hertz ...
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David Rosenthal (musician)
David Rosenthal (born January 1, 1961) is an American keyboardist, musical director, music producer, synthesizer programmer, orchestrator, and songwriter, mostly known for working with the hard rock band Rainbow and Billy Joel. Rosenthal has been nominated for three Grammy Awards, and in addition to Rainbow and Joel, has worked with Bruce Springsteen, Enrique Iglesias, Robert Palmer, Steve Vai, Cyndi Lauper, Whitesnake, Little Steven, and Happy the Man. Additionally, Rosenthal has "perfect pitch". Biography Early life (1961–1980) Rosenthal grew up in Edison, New Jersey, and is the only musician in his family. He began taking piano lessons at the age of seven and playing in cover bands when he was twelve. His high school band Crystal Visions won Best Instrumental Group in a 1978 statewide Talent Expo by performing Emerson, Lake & Palmer's "Hoedown" at the Garden State Arts Center in Holmdel, New Jersey (now called the PNC Bank Arts Center). Rosenthal's early influences included ...
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Rhys Clark
Rhys Edward Clark (born 17 September 1946 in Auckland, New Zealand) is a New Zealand drummer who, since moving to the United States in 1970, has played with such artists as Hoyt Axton, Freddy Fender and, most notably, Billy Joel. Biography Clark's career as a drummer began when he was a teenager in New Zealand. In 1963, he became the drummer for the Zodiacs, followed by a 1964 stint with The Chequers. In 1965, he joined the Auckland-based pop band, The Silhouettes, who had a number of local hits, as well as a national hit with "Theme From The Endless Summer". He was also a founding member of the very successful Australian pop band, The Executives. Between 1966 and 1969, the Executives had a number of hit records, performed throughout Australia, and appeared on many television shows, including their own nationwide television specials, as well as in a number of commercials for such companies as Coca-Cola, Qantas, P&O and Revlon. In 1969, the Executives recorded an album in the ...
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Glass Houses (album)
''Glass Houses'' is the seventh studio album by American singer-songwriter Billy Joel, released on March 12, 1980. It features Joel's first song to peak at on ''Billboard'''s Pop Singles chart, "It's Still Rock and Roll to Me". The album itself topped the Pop Albums chart for six weeks and was ranked on ''Billboards 1980 year-end album chart. The album is the 41st best selling album of the 1980s, with sales of 7.1 million copies in the U.S. alone. In 1981, Joel won a Grammy Award for "Best Male Rock Vocal Performance" for his work on ''Glass Houses''. According to music critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine, the album featured "a harder-edged sound" compared to Joel's other work, in response to the punk and new wave movements. This was also the final studio album to feature the original incarnation (Joel, Richie Cannata, Doug Stegmeyer, Russell Javors and Liberty DeVitto) of the Billy Joel Band, augmented by new lead guitarist David Brown. Multi-instrumentalist Cannata left th ...
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52nd Street (album)
''52nd Street'' is the sixth studio album by American singer-songwriter Billy Joel, released on October 11, 1978, as the follow-up to his breakthrough album, '' The Stranger.'' Joel tried to give the new album a fresh sound, hiring various jazz musicians to differentiate it from his previous albums. It was the first of four Joel albums to top the ''Billboard'' charts, and it earned him two Grammys. Three songs reached the Top 40 in the United States, contributing to the album's success: "My Life" (number 3), "Big Shot" (number 14), and "Honesty" (number 24). It was similarly well received by critics, earning the 1980 Grammy for Album of the Year. This Grammy was presented to its producer, Phil Ramone. Upon Ramone's death, ''52nd Street''s Album of the Year Grammy was passed on to Joel. The album was among the first commercially released on the compact disc format, reaching store shelves on October 1, 1982, in Japan (it was one of 50 CDs released that day, including ''The Stran ...
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The Stranger (album)
''The Stranger'' is the fifth studio album by American singer Billy Joel, released in September 1977 by Columbia Records. It was the first of Joel's albums to be produced by Phil Ramone, with whom he would work for five subsequent albums. Joel's previous studio effort, ''Turnstiles'', had sold modestly and peaked low on the US charts, prompting Columbia to consider dropping him if his next release sold poorly. Joel wanted the new album to feature his touring band, formed during the production of ''Turnstiles''. The band consisted of drummer Liberty DeVitto, bassist Doug Stegmeyer, and multi-instrumentalist saxophonist/organist Richie Cannata. Seeking out a new producer, he first turned to veteran Beatles producer George Martin before coming across and settling on Ramone, whose name he had seen on albums by other artists such as Paul Simon. Recording took place over three weeks, featuring DeVitto, Stegmeyer and Cannata. Other studio musicians filled in as guitarists on various songs ...
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Streetlife Serenade
''Streetlife Serenade'' is the third studio album by American recording artist Billy Joel, released on October 11, 1974 by Columbia Records. The album peaked at No. 35 on the US album charts, eventually selling more than one million copies. Joel's live shows in the 1970s frequently featured the instrumental " Root Beer Rag" and the short song "Souvenir", which was often used as the final encore. Live versions of "Streetlife Serenader" and "Los Angelenos" appeared on Joel's first live album, ''Songs in the Attic'' (1981). A live version of " The Entertainer" appeared on Joel's 2006 album ''12 Gardens Live''. Background It was recorded mostly with session musicians—the last such release until 1993's ''River of Dreams.'' Joel sang and played piano and other keyboards, including his first work with the Moog synthesizer. Backing musicians included guitarists Don Evans and Al Hertzberg and banjo/pedal steel guitarist Tom Whitehorse. Joel said that he had been touring in clubs ...
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Piano Man (Billy Joel Album)
''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 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and on the Adult Contemporary singles chart. " Travelin' Prayer" and " Worse Comes to Worst" peaked at No. 77 and 80 on the Hot 100, respectively, while the album itself peaked at on the US ''Billboard'' 200. The album was certified gold by the RIAA in 1975, but Joel received only $8000 in royalties (US$ in dollars). Legacy edition 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 perform ...
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The Hassles
The Hassles were a rock group in the 1960s, most notable for recording the first releases to feature Billy Joel. The group released two full-length albums (United Artists Records) and a number of singles. History The original line-up of the group consisted of vocalist John Dizek (September 25, 1948 – June 27, 2017), guitarist Richard McKenna, drummer Jon Small, and organist Harry Weber. In 1966 Weber was fired from the band due to excessive drug use (found dead a few years later on a railroad track) and was replaced by Howie Arthur Blauvelt and Billy Joel on bass and keyboards respectively. It is with this lineup that the band recorded their self-titled debut album in 1967. Blauvelt departed the band early in 1968 but returned later on in the year. Dizek departed the band in late 1968, at which point Joel took over on vocals. The band released their second album, ''Hour of the Wolf'', in 1969, before disbanding. Following the demise of The Hassles, Joel and Small formed the duo At ...
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Plainview, Long Island
Plainview is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) located near the North Shore of Long Island in the town of Oyster Bay in Nassau County, New York, United States. The population of the CDP was 27,100. The Plainview post office has the ZIP code 11803. Plainview and its neighboring hamlet, Old Bethpage, share a school system, library, fire department, and water district. Law enforcement for the communities is provided by the Nassau County Police Department's Second Precinct. History Plainview's origins date to 1648, when Robert Williams, a settler from Wales, bought land in the area. The land was considered desirable for farming because of a small pond named the Moscopas by local Native Americans, meaning "hole of dirt and water". The remainder of the land in the area was purchased by Thomas Powell in 1695 as part of the Bethpage Purchase. The name "Mannatto Hill" had already appeared on the 1695 deed of the Bethpage Purchase, and the settlement came to be called "M ...
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Cold Spring Harbor (album)
''Cold Spring Harbor'' is the debut studio album by American recording artist Billy Joel, released on November 1, 1971, by Family Productions. Composition and recording ''Cold Spring Harbor'' was named after a hamlet of the same name in the Town of Huntington, New York. It is located on Long Island Sound near Joel's hometown. The front cover was photographed at Harbor Road in Cold Spring Harbor. His song "Tomorrow Is Today" drew from his period of depression and hospitalization the year before. Joel later released live versions of "She's Got a Way" and "Everybody Loves You Now", first included on this album, in his ''Songs in the Attic'' (1981), recorded in live performances. "She's Got a Way" was also released as a single in early 1982, and peaked at No. 23 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart. Production Mastering Through an error in the album's mastering, the songs played slightly too fast, causing Joel's voice to sound unnaturally high (one-half of a semitone higher—Joel ...
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Google News
Google News is a news aggregator service developed by Google. It presents a continuous flow of links to articles organized from thousands of publishers and magazines. Google News is available as an app on Android, iOS, and the Web. Google released a beta version in September 2002 and the official app in January 2006. The initial idea was developed by Krishna Bharat. The service has been described as the world's largest news aggregator. In 2020, Google announced they would be spending billion to work with publishers to create Showcases. History As of 2014, Google News was watching more than 50,000 news sources worldwide. Versions for more than 60 regions in 28 languages were available in March 2012. , service is offered in the following 35 languages: Arabic, Bengali, Bulgarian, Cantonese, Chinese, Czech, Dutch, English, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Italian, Indonesian, Japanese, Kannada, Korean, Latvian, Lithuanian, Malayalam, Norwegian, Polish, Portug ...
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Turnstiles (album)
''Turnstiles'' is the fourth studio album by American singer-songwriter Billy Joel, released on May 19, 1976. Production Joel recorded ''Turnstiles'' in part as a celebration of his return to his native New York City. Three of the album's tracks reference New York: "Summer, Highland Falls", "New York State of Mind" and "Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway)". It begins with "Say Goodbye to Hollywood" (inspired by The Ronettes song "Be My Baby") and also includes "I've Loved These Days", a tongue-in-cheek expression of regret at leaving behind Hollywood decadence. In an interview, Joel stated that the lyrics to the song "James" referred to various different people he knew in real life, with the title character being a "composite" of those people. In the song "Prelude/Angry Young Man", Joel opens and closes the song rapidly hammering the piano, which was meant to simulate the drum part in the song " Wipe Out" by The Surfaris. The songs were first recorded at Caribou Ranch ...
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