Huge Billy fan. The Stranger was one of his highlights for sure. I'm a big fan of it, The Nylon Curtain, 52nd Street and Turnstiles. I also have a soft spot for Stormfront.
As do I: Leningrad and The Downeaster Alexa are two of his best melodies (and the latter, vocal performance).
Agreed on those two songs. I guess if I had to rank those top-five records from Billy, I'd probably go here:
The Stranger
52nd Street
The Nylon Curtain
Turnstiles
Stormfront
Clearly, he had mega hits that are some of his best songs (Captain Jack, Piano Man, A Matter of Trust, etc.) on other records, but while they are all great, from a record perspective, those five probably get the most play, all-time for me.
This thread brings to mind a few of my Billy stories. I've seen Billy a bunch over the years. The last time was almost a decade ago, but overall, given I'm from Long Island, I've been able to see him (and run into him) several times. Probably six or seven shows, total. The most intimate was this environmental benefit gig on July 22, 2000, at Southampton High School on Long Island.
That's right, he played a high school auditorium. It was one of those "master classes" where he did an extended Q&A and played a bunch of tunes. Talk about a star-studded audience. I roll up with my then-girlfriend, wearing khakis and a polo, figuring this isn't your typical rock concert. My girlfriend had on a nice dress, nothing too fancy. We get out of the car, walk over, and who walks right next to us? Chevy Chase, in a tux.
MFer!!! LOL. And I look around, I'm not alone, there are some guys that are more biz casual, but a lot of guys in suits. Anyway, I digress, I just at the time didn't like being under-dresssed.
Fast-forward to after the show. Great gig, Billy did the standards, a couple of rarities, and then he had a guest performer do one of his classical pieces. The crowd is milling about, and I spot Christie Brinkley a row or two down from me. And then all the A-listers start popping up. This was 2000, so I didn't have a smartphone that took good pictures or anything. I mean, Chevy, Christie, David Letterman, one of the Baldwins, etc., it was just ridiculous. ha ha ha.
I went over my parents' for dinner the next day, and my mother tells me how before Billy broke big, he used to come to a lot of the parties they used to have in Northport, where my mother was from. (This had to have been the very early 70s, before Cold Spring Harbor came out.) It seemed strange to me, as Billy was mostly a Nassau County guy before he hit it big, but my Mom remembered stuff like it was yesterday. Said he was a real smooth talker (not surprised) and all the ladies loved his hair (of course, that's all gone now - ha ha ha).
The other story -- I have a friend who at the time owned a liquor store in Westhampton Beach (he still is in the business as an owner, but I believe his store is in Rocky Point, for those that know Long Island). Anyway, I would hang with him in the summers and do deliveries for him to make extra cash. Billy popped in one day, ordered a mountain of booze. That wasn't weird, of course, but he didn't live in Westhampton Beach. Apparently he rented a place for the weekend. So my friend and I hauled everything over (cases and cases), and he tipped extremely well. $200...each. Not a bad pay day for what was a half-hour delivery).
Finally, I also remember walking down the street in Greenport one weekend, and Billy was there with his daughter Alexa, who was young at the time. This had to have been in the 90s. They were having ice cream cones. I said hello and waved, and he did the same, and I asked Alexa if the ice cream was good and she smiled big and nodded her head. Billy smiled pretty big, and we all walked off.
A lot is said about superstar musicians, and how they are fake. Billy certainly isn't. He's got his demons, just like anyone, but I'll never forget the smile and genuine way he talked to people out around town.
Topic: The Stranger (Billy Joel) just turned 40!! (Read 2017 times)