Piano Man (album)

Piano Man
Studio album by Billy Joel
Released	November 9, 1973
Recorded	September 1973 at the Record Plant Studios and Devonshire Sound, Los Angeles, California
Genre	Rock
Length	42:51
Label	Family Productions/Columbia
Producer	Michael Stewart
Billy Joel chronology
Cold Spring Harbor (1971) Piano Man (1973) Streetlife Serenade (1974)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic
Robert Christgau	(C)
Rolling Stone	(Not Rated)

Piano Man is a rock album by Billy Joel, released in 1973. Piano Man, Joel's second album and his first with Columbia Records, emerged out of legal difficulties with his former label, Family Productions, and became his breakthrough album. However, the Family Productions print logo was still used until 1986.

The album was strongly influenced by Elton John's Tumbleweed Connection and has a western theme in much of the music and lyrics.^{[citation needed]} This is most noticeable in songs like "The Ballad of Billy the Kid", "Worse Comes To Worst", "Stop in Nevada", and "Travelin' Prayer."

The single "Piano Man", a fictionalized retelling of Joel's days as a lounge singer in Los Angeles, peaked at #25 on Billboard's Pop Singles chart, and at #4 on the Adult Contemporary singles chart. "Travelin' Prayer" and "Worse Comes to Worst" peaked at #77 and #80, respectively, on the Pop Singles chart, while the album hit #27 on the Pop Albums chart. ("Travelin' Prayer" would later earn Dolly Parton a Grammy, when she covered it in 1999.)

Legacy edition

Columbia Records released a 2-disc legacy version of Piano Man in November 2011. This edition includes a live 1972 radio broadcast of early songs that Joel recorded out of Philadelphia's 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 Philly station and quickly became "the most requested song in the station's history." After word got out about the popularity of this live "Captain Jack" recording in Philadelphia, people working for Columbia Records heard the recording and signed Joel to the label. The radio broadcast includes three songs, "Long, Long Time," "Josephine," and "Rosalinda" that never made the cut onto any of Joel's studio albums.

Track listing

All songs by Billy Joel.

Side one -

1. "Travelin' Prayer" – 4:16
2. "Piano Man" – 5:37
3. "Ain't No Crime" – 3:20
4. "You're My Home" – 3:14
5. "The Ballad of Billy the Kid" – 5:35

Side two -

1. "Worse Comes to Worst" – 3:28
2. "Stop in Nevada" – 3:40
3. "If I Only Had the Words (To Tell You)" – 3:35
4. "Somewhere Along the Line" – 3:17
5. "Captain Jack" – 7:15

2011 Legacy Edition track listing

Disc 1: Original Album

1. "Travelin' Prayer" – 4:16
2. "Piano Man" – 5:37
3. "Ain't No Crime" – 3:20
4. "You're My Home" – 3:14
5. "The Ballad of Billy the Kid" – 5:35
6. "Worse Comes to Worst" – 3:28
7. "Stop in Nevada" – 3:40
8. "If I Only Had the Words (To Tell You)" – 3:35
9. "Somewhere Along the Line" – 3:17
10. "Captain Jack" – 7:15

Disc 2: Live at Sigma Sound Studios, April 15, 1972

1. "Introduction By Ed Sciaky" - 0:29
2. "Falling Of The Rain" - 2:33
3. "Intro To Travelin' Prayer" - 0:17
4. "Travelin' Prayer" - 3:11
5. "Intro To Billy The Kid" - 0:50
6. "The Ballad of Billy The Kid" - 5:36
7. "Intro To She's Got A Way" - 1:03
8. "She's Got A Way" - 3:08
9. "Intro To Everybody Loves You Now" - 1:19
10. "Everybody Loves You Now" - 2:56
11. "Intro To Nocturne" - 0:59
12. "Nocturne" - 2:46
13. "Station ID and Intro To Turn Around" - 1:31
14. "Turn Around" - 3:26
15. "Intro To Long, Long Time" - 1:19
16. "Long, Long Time" - 4:46
17. "Intro To Captain Jack" - 1:19
18. "Captain Jack" - 6:56
19. "Intro To Josephine" - 1:40
20. "Josephine" - 3:23
21. "Intro To Rosalinda" - 0:33
22. "Rosalinda" - 3:03
23. "Tomorrow Is Today" - 5:11

Personnel

• Billy Joel – harmonica, keyboards, piano, Vocals
• Larry Carlton – guitar
• Eric Weissberg – banjo
• Billy Armstrong – violin
• Richard Bennett – guitar
• Rhys Clark – drums (track 10)
• Laura Creamer – vocals
• Mark Creamer – vocals
• Wilton Felder – bass, keyboards
• Emory Gordy, Jr. – bass
• Fred Heilbrun – banjo
• Michael Omartian – accordion
• Dean Parks – guitar
• Susan Steward – vocals
• Ronnie Tutt – drums (tracks 1-9)

Live at Sigma Sound Studios, April 15, 1972

• Billy Joel – piano, harmonica, vocals
• Rhys Clark – drums
• Al Hertzberg - acoustic and electric guitars
• Larry Russell - bass
• Dennis Wilen - producer

Production

• Producer: Michael Stewart
• Engineer: Ron Malo
• Remastering: Ted Jensen
• Arranger: Michael Omartian
• Design: Beverly Parker
• Illustration: Bill Imhoff

Charts

Album

Chart (1974)	Peak position
UK Albums Chart (The Official Charts Company)	98
US Billboard 200 (Billboard)	27