Cut it down to 3:05

[YOhio]

Who doesn't love the Entertainer? The synth intro is tops and the banjo line that comes in halfway through gives it a down home vibe. It's like the Reading Rainbow meets Deliverance at the State Fair.

[YOUTUBE]H3z4T27goog[/YOUTUBE]

Any other Billy Joel favs?

[Donuthole]

I love that song. I knew exactly what this thread was going to be about based on the title. Billy Joel's Gretest Hits Vol. 1 & 2 was a part of my first order from BMG in high school. I still have it, and I still listen to it every so often.

"The Entertainer" is one of my faves. I also love "Piano Man," "She's Always a Woman," "You May Be Right," and "She's Got a Way".

Some great, great lyrics in some of those songs.

[TheBYUGuy]

The Piano Man is my favorite artist and much of my playing has been influence by him. In high school, I played (piano and harmonica) and sang in front of the full auditorium and left the crowd in awe. The crowd really got a kick out of "He knows that it's me they've been comin' to see".

Most of my favorite Billy Joel songs are the ones not on the Greatest Hits I & II albums.

Zanzibar (52nd Street is my favorite album because of the jazz stuff)
Root Beer Rag
Miami 2017
Two Thousand Years
Lullabye (my kids have loved hearing this one as I put them to bed)
Scenes from an Italian Restaurant

The Entertainer is also up there.

[Donuthole]

The Piano Man is my favorite artist and much of my playing has been influence by him. In high school, I played (piano and harmonica) and sang in front of the full auditorium and left the crowd in awe. The crowd really got a kick out of "He knows that it's me they've been comin' to see".

Most of my favorite Billy Joel songs are the ones not on the Greatest Hits I & II albums.

Zanzibar (52nd Street is my favorite album because of the jazz stuff)
Root Beer Rag
Miami 2017
Two Thousand Years
Lullabye (my kids have loved hearing this one as I put them to bed)
Scenes from an Italian Restaurant

The Entertainer is also up there.

FTR, this song is on the Greatest Hits I & II album.

[CJF]

Who doesn't love the Entertainer?

Any other Billy Joel favs?

I love Billy Joel. I wish I could make it to the Billy Joel Elton John concert. Like DH, I got the greatest hits early and still listen to it from time to time. I've got an old Billy Joel concert on DVR that I will turn on for my son. He's likes to dance to his music. I don't know why, but I'm also a sucker for Ballad of Billy the Kid.

[creekster]

I always thoght Billy Joel should have written for broadway musicals. WOuldnt you all like to know more about Brenda(er) and Eddie?

[CJF]

I always thoght Billy Joel should have written for broadway musicals. WOuldnt you all like to know more about Brenda(er) and Eddie?

I went to school in Maine and would drive across the country at least twice a year. I was always looking for things that would keep me from falling asleep and driving off the road. I found a Billy Joel disc set where he sat around with a group of students (NYU I believe) and discussed his music and then played the song they discussed. It's been several years since I listened to it but I seem to recall a long discussion around Italian Restaurant. I remember thinking at the time it would make a great play.

[TheBYUGuy]

FTR, this song is on the Greatest Hits I & II album.

Of course. FTR, I said "most".

[TheBYUGuy]

I love Billy Joel. I wish I could make it to the Billy Joel Elton John concert. Like DH, I got the greatest hits early and still listen to it from time to time. I've got an old Billy Joel concert on DVR that I will turn on for my son. He's likes to dance to his music. I don't know why, but I'm also a sucker for Ballad of Billy the Kid.

We went to the concert in March. I was expecting Billy to sound like an old man as he has in recent years, but his voice was surprisingly smooth and he put on a great show. Elton did a lot of cheating with his voice, i.e. playing songs in a lower key, having the crowd sing sections where he didn't have a chance to hit the notes, improvising the melody so it doesn't go as high, etc.

I also like The Ballad of Billy the Kid for some reason. I think it's the part where he robs his way from Utah to Oklahoma that catches me.

[TripletDaddy]

I remember as a young kid I snuck into my big sister's room and took some of her tapes to listen to. It was back in the day when all we had was one of the generic "tape recorders." One speaker, a small handle, and that red "record" button where you had to push down "play" and "record" at the same time.

Anyway, she had several tapes, but I distinctly remember 2 of them.....one was Blondie's "Eat to the Beat" and one was Billy Joel "Glass Houses." I think I listened to both of those tapes 20 times, at least.

My favorite tracks on "Glass Houses" were "Don't Ask Me Why" and of course, "It's Still Rock and Roll to Me." I had countless arguments with my older brother and sister over the lyrics: "You could really be a Beau Brummell baby If you just give it half a chance." None of us knew who Beau Brummell was and there was no internet at the time. Also, many albums still didnt come with lyrics in the liner notes. I think I argued for "you could really be a bold runner, baby, if you just give it half a chance..." lol. that makes no sense, of course.

For those that are familiar with that album, the opening track is "You May Be Right." The coolest thing about that track was the opening sample.....a rock smashing through this massive plate glass, much like the picture on the album cover. Up until the early 80s, we had one of those old school wooden console record player things in our living room....it looked like a massive piece of furniture and weighed about 200 pounds. Not sure if people remember those.

When we finally purchased a "component" stereo with big speakers for our living room, I felt like our home had been converted into a professional recording studio or something. My mom let me choose the first tape to be played on that stereo system. So I grabbed "Glass Houses" and cranked it up to 11......SMASH!!!!! Hearing that glass smash through the house in stereo, my mom covering her ears and yelling at me to turn it down.....man, that was rock and freaking roll right there. I still remember that day pretty clearly.

Glass Houses rules. Still love it to this day.

[Color Me Badd Fan]

What's really cool about Billy Joel is he took the discussions and was so impressed by the Tree of Life allegory that he wrote the River of Dreams. It's really quite amazing how much influence we Mormons have on popular culture, from U2's One to Yoda and also River of Dreams.

[CJF]

We went to the concert in March. I was expecting Billy to sound like an old man as he has in recent years, but his voice was surprisingly smooth and he put on a great show. Elton did a lot of cheating with his voice, i.e. playing songs in a lower key, having the crowd sing sections where he didn't have a chance to hit the notes, improvising the melody so it doesn't go as high, etc.

I also like The Ballad of Billy the Kid for some reason. I think it's the part where he robs his way from Utah to Oklahoma that catches me.

Thanks for the report. That makes me feel better about missing the show. I've seen Billy Joel in concert a few times and thought he was great, even in the Delta Center. Now I won't feel too bad.

[falafel]

Up until the early 80s, we had one of those old school wooden console record player things in our living room....it looked like a massive piece of furniture and weighed about 200 pounds. Not sure if people remember those.

We had one of those. It was about 3 feet high and about 6 feet long. At least that's how big it seemed when I was a kid. All for one record! My dad had a record of Axel F and we (kids) played it every time we could, pretending we knew how to break dance to it. I even kept some old cardboard box just to practice on.

[Color Me Badd Fan]

We had one of those. It was about 3 feet high and about 6 feet long. At least that's how big it seemed when I was a kid. All for one record! My dad had a record of Axel F and we (kids) played it every time we could, pretending we knew how to break dance to it. I even kept some old cardboard box just to practice on.

I would seriously buy a console if they still made them. My dad somehow got all the records that belonged to his younger sister in high school. We had a ton of Beatles and Beach Boy singles.

We also had a console TV (a Zenith!) that my parents bought around 1974. So it was older than me. That beauty lasted until around 1992.