The Billy Joel Band is the band that backs singer-songwriter and pianist
Billy Joel
William Martin Joel (born May 9, 1949) is an American singer, pianist and songwriter. Commonly nicknamed the "Piano Man (song), Piano Man" after his album and signature song of the same name, he has led a commercially successful career as a solo ...
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
A turnstile (also called a turnpike, gateline, baffle gate, automated gate, turn gate in some regions) is a form of gate which allows one person to pass at a time. A turnstile can be configured to enforce one-way human traffic. In addition, a ...
'' in 1976. This line-up included
Richie Cannata
Richie Cannata (born March 3, 1949) is an American music producer, saxophonist, keyboardist and studio owner. He is most notable for playing saxophone in Billy Joel's band alongside Liberty DeVitto, Russell Javors, and Doug Stegmeyer. After leav ...
on saxophones and organ,
Liberty DeVitto
Liberatori "Liberty" DeVitto (born August 8, 1950) is an American rock drummer. He is best known for his work as a drummer for New York singer-songwriter Billy Joel's recording and touring band. He has also been a session drummer on recordings of ...
on drums,
Russell Javors
Russell Javors (born June 13, 1952) is an American rock guitarist. He is best known as a rhythm guitarist for Billy Joel from 1976 to 1989.
Career
At age 15, Javors was performing songs with his childhood friend Liberty DeVitto. He met Doug Stegm ...
and Howie Emerson on guitars, and
Doug Stegmeyer
Douglas Alan Stegmeyer (December 23, 1951 – August 25, 1995) was an American musician who was best known as the bassist and back-up vocalist for Billy Joel. Stegmeyer also performed as bassist for Debbie Gibson and Hall & Oates.
Biography
...
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
Cold Spring Harbor is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the Town of Huntington, in Suffolk County, on the North Shore of Long Island in New York. As of the 2010 United States census, the CDP population was 5,070.
History
Cold Spri ...
'' album, comprised
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
...
on drums, Al Hertzberg on guitar, and
Larry Russell
__NOTOC__
Larry Russell (October 14, 1913 – February 14, 1954) was an American composer working mostly in the motion picture industry. He is widely remembered as being one of three writers of the song " Vaya Con Dios", which has been recorded ov ...
on bass. The group toured throughout the United States, including Puerto Rico.
The touring lineup changed and it took a few years for the lineup to stabilize. In an online interview, DeVitto describes how Joel's classic late 1970s-early 1980s band first came together:
Billy and I used to play the same club in 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 ...
, called My House. He was 17 and in a band called 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 ...
and I was 16 and in a band called The New Rock Workshop. We would watch each other play and acknowledge each other in passing. In 1974, he was living in Los Angeles and had already released ''Piano Man Piano Man refers to a male pianist.
Piano Man may also refer to:
Music
* ''Piano Man'' (Billy Joel album), a 1973 rock album by Billy Joel
** "Piano Man" (song), a 1973 song from the album
* ''Piano Man'' (Hilton Ruiz album), 1975
* ''Piano Man'' ...
'' and ''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. ...
''. He used studio musicians for the recording and different guys out on the road. I was playing in a band called Topper with Doug Stegmeyer
Douglas Alan Stegmeyer (December 23, 1951 – August 25, 1995) was an American musician who was best known as the bassist and back-up vocalist for Billy Joel. Stegmeyer also performed as bassist for Debbie Gibson and Hall & Oates.
Biography
...
and he got the gig to play bass with Billy on the “Streetlife” tour. illy
Illycaffè S.p.A. (branded and stylised as illy) is an Italian coffee company specializing in espresso, headquartered in Trieste. Illy markets its coffee globally in silver and red pressurized, oxygen-free cans; operates a network of cafes on s ...
told Doug that he wanted to move back to New York and find a permanent band he could record and tour with on a regular basis. Doug recommended me because Billy was looking for a New York-type drummer, aggressive and hard hitting, and the rest is history. The three of us recorded the basic tracks for ''Turnstiles
A turnstile (also called a turnpike, gateline, baffle gate, automated gate, turn gate in some regions) is a form of gate which allows one person to pass at a time. A turnstile can be configured to enforce one-way human traffic. In addition, a ...
'' and we both recommended Russell Javors
Russell Javors (born June 13, 1952) is an American rock guitarist. He is best known as a rhythm guitarist for Billy Joel from 1976 to 1989.
Career
At age 15, Javors was performing songs with his childhood friend Liberty DeVitto. He met Doug Stegm ...
and Howie Emerson, who played guitars in Topper and with the addition of Richie Cannata
Richie Cannata (born March 3, 1949) is an American music producer, saxophonist, keyboardist and studio owner. He is most notable for playing saxophone in Billy Joel's band alongside Liberty DeVitto, Russell Javors, and Doug Stegmeyer. After leav ...
on saxophone, the “Billy Joel Band” was born.
By the late 1970s, the touring and studio lineup of Joel's band stabilized and consisted, mostly, of the following musicians:
*
Liberty DeVitto
Liberatori "Liberty" DeVitto (born August 8, 1950) is an American rock drummer. He is best known for his work as a drummer for New York singer-songwriter Billy Joel's recording and touring band. He has also been a session drummer on recordings of ...
– drums, percussion
*
Doug Stegmeyer
Douglas Alan Stegmeyer (December 23, 1951 – August 25, 1995) was an American musician who was best known as the bassist and back-up vocalist for Billy Joel. Stegmeyer also performed as bassist for Debbie Gibson and Hall & Oates.
Biography
...
– bass guitar, backing vocals
*
Russell Javors
Russell Javors (born June 13, 1952) is an American rock guitarist. He is best known as a rhythm guitarist for Billy Joel from 1976 to 1989.
Career
At age 15, Javors was performing songs with his childhood friend Liberty DeVitto. He met Doug Stegm ...
– rhythm and lead guitars, harmonica, occasional percussion, backing vocals
*
Richie Cannata
Richie Cannata (born March 3, 1949) is an American music producer, saxophonist, keyboardist and studio owner. He is most notable for playing saxophone in Billy Joel's band alongside Liberty DeVitto, Russell Javors, and Doug Stegmeyer. After leav ...
– saxophones, flute, clarinet, percussion, keyboards
* David Brown – lead guitar, occasional percussion, backing vocals
This was the basic lineup for some of Joel's classic albums of the 1970s and 1980s including ''
Turnstiles
A turnstile (also called a turnpike, gateline, baffle gate, automated gate, turn gate in some regions) is a form of gate which allows one person to pass at a time. A turnstile can be configured to enforce one-way human traffic. In addition, a ...
'', ''
The Stranger'', ''
52nd Street
52nd Street is a -long one-way street traveling west to east across Midtown Manhattan, New York City. A short section of it was known as the city's center of jazz performance from the 1930s to the 1950s.
Jazz center
Following the repeal of ...
'', ''
Glass Houses,'' and ''
Songs in the Attic
''Songs in the Attic'' is the first live album by Billy Joel, released in 1981.
At the time of its release, it was the first widely available appearance of music from his first album, ''Cold Spring Harbor'', released in 1971.
History
In the lin ...
''.
In 2014, Cannata, DeVitto, and Javors reunited and performed a short set of Joel's songs at the ceremony during which they were inducted into the
Long Island Music Hall of Fame
The Long Island Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame was incorporated in July 2005 under the New York State Board of Regents, as a nonprofit organization and holds a provisional charter to operate as a museum in the state of New York. It recognizes ...
, (with Stegmeyer, posthumously), primarily for their work with Joel.
They officially formed a band,
The Lords of 52nd Street
The Lords of 52nd Street is a rock band that primarily comprises members of the line-up which backed singer-songwriter Billy Joel from 1976 to 1981, the period during which Joel initiated a run of albums that reached the top ten on the ''Billboar ...
, which plays faithful renditions of the original Joel recordings. David Clark of the Joel tribute band Songs in the Attic plays piano and provides lead vocals, Malcolm Gold plays bass, Ken Cino plays guitar, and Doug Kistner plays keyboards in the group.
Line-up changes
![Mike DelGuidice 9](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/63/Mike_DelGuidice_9.jpg)
From ''The Stranger'' in 1977 through ''
The Bridge The Bridge may refer to:
Art, entertainment and media Art
* ''The Bridge'' (sculpture), a 1997 sculpture in Atlanta, Georgia, US
* Die Brücke (''The Bridge''), a group of German expressionist artists
* ''The Bridge'' (M. C. Escher), a lithograph ...
'' in 1986, Joel had been working with the same producer,
Phil Ramone
Philip Ramone (né Rabinowitz, January 5, 1934March 30, 2013) was a South African-born American recording engineer, record producer, violinist and composer, who in 1958 co-founded A & R Recording, Inc., a recording studio with business par ...
, as well as with the same basic incarnation of the Billy Joel Band (with minor line-up changes over the years). Joel also added lead guitarist David Brown in 1978 who stayed with the band throughout the 1980s, beginning with the recording of ''
Glass Houses'' (1980). One important addition to the band in 1982 was the replacement of his long-time saxophonist Richie Cannata with
Mark Rivera
Mark Rivera (born May 24, 1953) is an American saxophonist, multi-instrumentalist, singer, musical director and corporate entertainment provider who is mostly known for his work with Billy Joel. In addition to playing soprano, alto, tenor and b ...
. But for the 1989 album ''
Storm Front,'' Joel chose a new producer,
Mick Jones (of the band
Foreigner), and started to make more significant changes to the band. At this point, the only players that Joel kept, for both his touring band and for the recording of the album, were Brown, Rivera, and DeVitto. He also added the percussionist and multi-instrumentalist
Crystal Taliefero
Crystal Taliefero-Pratt (née Taliefero) is an American multi-instrumentalist and vocalist. Taliefero grew up with a musical family, performing rhythm and blues with her brother in the Chicago metropolitan area. During her college years she was ...
who would become a permanent fixture in his band while Stegmeyer was replaced by Schuyler Deale and Javors was replaced by Joey Hunting on the album and Tommy Byrnes for its accompanying tour.
For his last studio album, ''River of Dreams'', in 1993, Joel used a new producer again (this time
Danny Kortchmar
Daniel "Danny Kootch" Kortchmar (born April 6, 1946) is an American guitarist, session musician, producer and songwriter. Kortchmar's work with singer-songwriters such as Linda Ronstadt, James Taylor, David Crosby, Carole King, David Cassidy, ...
). Although Joel continued to use DeVitto as his main drummer, he allowed Kortchmar to use different drummers for some of the drum tracks. Cannata returned to record some of the sax parts on the record but did not join Joel for the ''River of Dreams'' tour that followed.
At this point, the only remaining long-standing member of Joel's touring band was DeVitto. Joel also had Tommy Byrnes move over to lead guitar. He remains at this position and served as both a musical consultant and band member in the ''
Movin' Out''
musical
Musical is the adjective of music.
Musical may also refer to:
* Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance
* Musical film and television, a genre of film and television that incorporates into the narr ...
.
Tom "T-Bone" Wolk
Tom "T-Bone" Wolk (December 24, 1951 – February 28, 2010) was an American musician and bassist for the music duo Daryl Hall & John Oates and a member of the ''Saturday Night Live'' house band.
Life and career
Wolk was born and raised in Y ...
joined the band, just for the ''River of Dreams'' tour, playing bass guitar, as well as other instruments, including accordion. And Joel continued to retain Taliefero and Rivera who both remain in his band. The 1993 ''River of Dreams'' tour saw the addition of
David Rosenthal, formerly of
Rainbow
A rainbow is a meteorological phenomenon that is caused by reflection, refraction and dispersion of light in water droplets resulting in a spectrum of light appearing in the sky. It takes the form of a multicoloured circular arc. Rainbows c ...
, on keyboards.
In August 1995, Joel's long-time
bassist
A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a Bass (instrument), bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), synthbass, keyboar ...
Doug Stegmeyer
Douglas Alan Stegmeyer (December 23, 1951 – August 25, 1995) was an American musician who was best known as the bassist and back-up vocalist for Billy Joel. Stegmeyer also performed as bassist for Debbie Gibson and Hall & Oates.
Biography
...
, who had been let go from the band prior to the recording of 1989's ''Storm Front'' album, committed suicide in his
Long Island
Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...
home.
Stegmeyer had played on every one of Joel's albums from ''
Turnstiles
A turnstile (also called a turnpike, gateline, baffle gate, automated gate, turn gate in some regions) is a form of gate which allows one person to pass at a time. A turnstile can be configured to enforce one-way human traffic. In addition, a ...
'' (1976) through to the live album, ''
KOHЦEPT'' (1987).
For the 2006 tour, Joel did not invite DeVitto back as drummer after the two became involved in a legal dispute, and the drummer
Chuck Burgi
Charles Arnold Burgi III (, born August 15, 1952, Montclair, New Jersey) is an American drummer. He has performed with many rock bands and musicians, ranging from local New Jersey/New York-area artists to international groups, throughout his pr ...
(who played in the Broadway production of ''Movin' Out'') replaced DeVitto. For this particular tour, Cannata temporarily returned on lead saxophones though he soon left the band again and Rivera returned to his position as lead saxophonist. In 2006, Carl Fischer joined Joel's band as his trumpeter and trombonist for select songs (most notably for the trumpet solos in the song "
Zanzibar
Zanzibar (; ; ) is an insular semi-autonomous province which united with Tanganyika in 1964 to form the United Republic of Tanzania. It is an archipelago in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of the mainland, and consists of many small islands ...
").
On February 27, 2010, Joel's bassist from his "River of Dreams" tour,
Tom Wolk
Tom "T-Bone" Wolk (December 24, 1951 – February 28, 2010) was an American musician and bassist for the music duo Daryl Hall & John Oates and a member of the ''Saturday Night Live'' house band.
Life and career
Wolk was born and raised in Yon ...
, died from a
heart attack
A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...
at the age of 58.
In 2013, the Billy Joel Band was joined by multi-instrumentalist
Mike DelGuidice on rhythm guitar and backing vocals, DelGuidice had previously fronted various Billy Joel tribute projects.
Members
Current members
Billy Joel's current lineup (with the exception of DelGuidice) was featured on his 2006 album, ''
12 Gardens Live
''12 Gardens Live'' is the fourth live album by American singer/songwriter Billy Joel, recorded during a former record run of 12 sold-out concerts at Madison Square Garden in New York City in early 2006. It was released on June 13, 2006.
Altho ...
'' and on the film and recording, ''Live at Shea Stadium'' (2011). It includes the following musicians:
* Billy Joel – lead vocals, piano, harmonica, occasional rhythm guitar
*
Mark Rivera
Mark Rivera (born May 24, 1953) is an American saxophonist, multi-instrumentalist, singer, musical director and corporate entertainment provider who is mostly known for his work with Billy Joel. In addition to playing soprano, alto, tenor and b ...
– saxophone, rhythm guitar, backing vocals, percussion
* Tommy Byrnes – lead guitar ; backing vocals ; rhythm guitar
*
Crystal Taliefero
Crystal Taliefero-Pratt (née Taliefero) is an American multi-instrumentalist and vocalist. Taliefero grew up with a musical family, performing rhythm and blues with her brother in the Chicago metropolitan area. During her college years she was ...
– percussion, backing vocals, saxophone, harmonica
*
Dave Rosenthal – keyboards, backing vocals, musical director
* Andy Cichon – bass guitar, backing vocals
*
Chuck Burgi
Charles Arnold Burgi III (, born August 15, 1952, Montclair, New Jersey) is an American drummer. He has performed with many rock bands and musicians, ranging from local New Jersey/New York-area artists to international groups, throughout his pr ...
– drums, percussion
*
Carl Fischer – trumpet, flugelhorn, trombone, saxophone
*
Mike DelGuidice – rhythm guitar, backing vocals
Past members
*
Larry Russell
__NOTOC__
Larry Russell (October 14, 1913 – February 14, 1954) was an American composer working mostly in the motion picture industry. He is widely remembered as being one of three writers of the song " Vaya Con Dios", which has been recorded ov ...
– bass guitar
* Al Hertzberg – lead guitar
*
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
...
– drums
* Don Evans – rhythm guitar
* Patrick McDonald – bass guitar
* Tom Whitehorse – banjo, pedal steel guitar
* Johnny Almond – saxophone, keyboards
*
Doug Stegmeyer
Douglas Alan Stegmeyer (December 23, 1951 – August 25, 1995) was an American musician who was best known as the bassist and back-up vocalist for Billy Joel. Stegmeyer also performed as bassist for Debbie Gibson and Hall & Oates.
Biography
...
– bass guitar, backing vocals
* Howard Emerson – lead guitar
*
Russell Javors
Russell Javors (born June 13, 1952) is an American rock guitarist. He is best known as a rhythm guitarist for Billy Joel from 1976 to 1989.
Career
At age 15, Javors was performing songs with his childhood friend Liberty DeVitto. He met Doug Stegm ...
– rhythm and lead guitars, harmonica, occasional percussion, backing vocals
*
Liberty DeVitto
Liberatori "Liberty" DeVitto (born August 8, 1950) is an American rock drummer. He is best known for his work as a drummer for New York singer-songwriter Billy Joel's recording and touring band. He has also been a session drummer on recordings of ...
– drums, percussion
*
Richie Cannata
Richie Cannata (born March 3, 1949) is an American music producer, saxophonist, keyboardist and studio owner. He is most notable for playing saxophone in Billy Joel's band alongside Liberty DeVitto, Russell Javors, and Doug Stegmeyer. After leav ...
– saxophones, flute, clarinet, percussion, keyboards, backing vocals
* David Brown – lead guitar, occasional percussion, backing vocals
* David Lebolt – keyboards
*
Kevin Dukes
Kevin Dukes is an American guitarist.
A native of Natchez, Mississippi, Dukes attended The University of Southern Mississippi as a Music Theory and Composition major prior to moving to Los Angeles, California in the late 1970s. He has toured an ...
– lead guitar
* Schuyler Deale – bass guitar
* Jeff Jacobs – keyboards
*
Mindy Jostyn – backing vocals, guitar, violin, keyboards
*
Tom Wolk
Tom "T-Bone" Wolk (December 24, 1951 – February 28, 2010) was an American musician and bassist for the music duo Daryl Hall & John Oates and a member of the ''Saturday Night Live'' house band.
Life and career
Wolk was born and raised in Yon ...
– bass guitar, accordion, mandolin, backing vocals
* David Santos – bass guitar
Timeline
References
{{Authority control
1971 establishments in New York (state)
Rock music groups from New York (state)
Billy Joel
Musical backing groups
Musical groups established in 1971