Billy Joel Is 68 Today — And His Music Is Still Terrible

[EasyAce]

I am pretty much the same. I will add classic country.

If you mean Johnny Cash, Patsy Cline, and Willie Nelson before he woke up one day and realised he was
Willie Nelson, yes.

[berdie]

Like Phil Collins... 

Hey now...don't be beating up on the Gerber Baby.

[berdie]

If you mean Johnny Cash, Patsy Cline, and Willie Nelson before he woke up one day and realised he was
Willie Nelson, yes.

Yes to all the artists mentioned. I'll even go back a little further and add Hank Williams and forward a little bit and add artists from the '70s and early '80s. Before it became Pop Country. And really not all of that is bad...it just ain't country.

[jmyrlefuller]

Yes to all the artists mentioned. I'll even go back a little further and add Hank Williams and forward a little bit and add artists from the '70s and early '80s. Before it became Pop Country. And really not all of that is bad...it just ain't country.

Indeed. A lot of good music got the "country" label slapped on it in the 80s, even though it wasn't really.

[rodamala]

The only country station we had was WSAN an AM station. I can't remember the frequency but the station is still there next to the Sears. I think it is Spanish now.

@Frank Cannon

That surely must have been the station that was on constant play in the dairy barn at the neighboring farm.  Back when I was a kid, I was told that the cows were calmer and milked easier with that station on compared to others.

Friggen 40 years ago...

[Wingnut]

Indeed. A lot of good music got the "country" label slapped on it in the 80s, even though it wasn't really.

Spot on. 70's and 80's.  Take Olivia Newton-John - "If You Love Me , Linda Ronstadt ( everyone of em),  Eddie Rabbitt - "I Love a Rainy Night", Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers - "Islands In the Stream", Dan Seals Bop, craptastic  everyone!

[the_doc]

@musiclady
@Jazzhead

Good music has always been a huge part of my life.  In fact, I like almost nothing better in this world than good classical music and good jazz.  However, I am so particular as to what I regard as really good classical music and really good jazz that I actually find a huge percentage of classical music and a huge percentage of jazz downright boring.  Much of what turns up on classical FM stations and jazz stations strikes me as either rather foppish classical stuff or musically trite jazz, neither of which warrant much broadcast time in my estimation.

For example, I think it is pretty sad that so many obscure classical composers get a lot of air time on college-based classic radio stations.  I sometimes want to confront the radio show host by saying "Hey, fellow, haven't you noticed there is a reason why these guys you are showcasing on your program are so obscure?"   

I don't hate their music;  I generally subscribe to Bill Evans's view that all real music has some merit even if we don't care for it.  On the other hand, I am truly saddened to realize that most people in our day have never even heard really good classical music or really good jazz.

Having said all of that, I would never call Billy Joel's music terrible.  Some folks like it;  I get that.  (Some folks also like Thomas Kinkade's paintings;  even that is okay, I guess.)  But I wish we all had the soul-stirring, exciting experiences of arguably (?) better music.  I recently introduced a Heavy Metal friend mine to top-flight jazz, and it blew him away.  He had never heard anything like it.  I also played for him some good classical music and it literally brought tears of joy to his eyes.

[EasyAce]

Good music has always been a huge part of my life.  In fact, I like almost nothing better in this world than good classical music and good jazz.  However, I am so particular as to what I regard as really good classical music and really good jazz that I actually find a huge percentage of classical music and a huge percentage of jazz downright boring.  Much of what turns up on classical FM stations and jazz stations strikes me as either rather foppish classical stuff or musically trite jazz, neither of which warrant much broadcast time in my estimation.

You could have said that in a short phrase. ;) Elevator music or Music for anesthesia come to mind at once.

For example, I think it is pretty sad that so many obscure classical composers get a lot of air time on college-based classic radio stations.  I sometimes want to confront the radio show host by saying "Hey, fellow, haven't you noticed there is a reason why these guys you are showcasing on your program are so obscure?" 

There can be and often are jewels in obscurity. Sometimes even filmmakers unearth them or revive them. Had it not
been for a film I'd never have discovered this composer:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CYO9vkAQbc


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcC6B-i28YE


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SyO7c6U5dEw

I don't hate their music;  I generally subscribe to Bill Evans's view that all real music has some merit even if we don't care for it.  On the other hand, I am truly saddened to realize that most people in our day have never even heard really good classical music or really good jazz.

Having said all of that, I would never call Billy Joel's music terrible.  Some folks like it;  I get that.  (Some folks also like Thomas Kinkade's paintings;  even that is okay, I guess.)  But I wish we all had the soul-stirring, exciting experiences of arguably (?) better music.  I recently introduced a Heavy Metal friend mine to top-flight jazz, and it blew him away.  He had never heard anything like it.  I also played for him some good classical music and it literally brought tears of joy to his eyes.

I had a similar experience with a fellow blues player to whom I introduced some of the jazzmen who didn't forget the blues. He
was staggered that you could play the blues without gobs of overdriven, distorted hornets-on-amphetamines noise:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJDUBzi_K0A


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3X5J_wGHrw


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WuJKFQ-OqPo

(Fair disclosure: I'm a semi-professional blues guitarist leaning on the jazzier side of the blues who's also teaching himself
to play the vibraphone this summer.)

[the_doc]

There can be and often are jewels in obscurity. Sometimes even filmmakers unearth them or revive them.

I fully agree.  But in all of my years of surfing through classical radio stations, I can count on one hand my discoveries of badly underrated classical composers.  Jazz stations do a bit better, in my opinion, in discovering talent that no one has ever heard of.  There are perhaps several musicological reasons for that.

Thanks for the youtube links.  I will check them out when I get a chance.

[Idaho_Cowboy]

@CatherineofAragon

I have no opinion of Billy Joel. I'm a classical music fan.

Have you heard his classical album?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fantasies_%26_Delusions

It's not bad if you like piano music.

[EC]

Came across this this morning. Thought it were apropos.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwWE2gTUmcw&feature=youtu.be

Edit - wrong bloody link.

[Wingnut]

little better quality here:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCMc8kJmdjc&ab_channel=KeifferGNR

[musiclady]

His singing "New York State of Mind" after 9-11 was heart wrenching.

"We didn't Start the Fire" was significant.

LOVE "Movin' Out," "Just the Way You Are," "Piano Man" and "The Longest Time."

And I love that Billy Joel is just 3 months older than I am.  ^-^

Seriously, Billy Joel is loaded with talent.

I love a lot of genres.... Classical and Jazz in particular, and pop less so, but the idea that Billy Joel's music is "terrible" is infantile.

Saying you don't like it is one thing, but saying it's terrible is uneducated.

[the_doc]

I love a lot of genres.... Classical and Jazz in particular, and pop less so, but the idea that Billy Joel's music is "terrible" is infantile.

Saying you don't like it is one thing, but saying it's terrible is uneducated.

I completely agree with you.  I actually do like "Just the Way You Are" and "Piano Man."  That's about my limit for Billy Joel, as it turns, perhaps because I don't spend much time listening to pop.  (I do like about three [?] Beatles tunes quite a lot, though--especially when performed by other vocalists [like Karen Carpenter singing "Ticket to Ride" or Judy Collins singing "In My Life."]   The rest are just okay for my tastes.  I'd rather listen to other stuff.)

[Millee]

His singing "New York State of Mind" after 9-11 was heart wrenching.

"We didn't Start the Fire" was significant.

LOVE "Movin' Out," "Just the Way You Are," "Piano Man" and "The Longest Time."

And I love that Billy Joel is just 3 months older than I am.  ^-^

Seriously, Billy Joel is loaded with talent.

I love a lot of genres.... Classical and Jazz in particular, and pop less so, but the idea that Billy Joel's music is "terrible" is infantile.

Saying you don't like it is one thing, but saying it's terrible is uneducated.

Billy Joel was one of the best concerts I ever went to.  Such talent. 

The writer of this piece can suck rocks.   

[LateForLunch]

This is a very entertaining thread. Agree or disagree with the originator's opinion, it was a worthwhile thread. People got to vent and express themselves, which has value.

I once had a housemate named Tom Aldaerelli who was a roadie for Fleetwood Mac from New Jersey who just hated Billy Joel because he got into some run-ins with Joel while on tour. Tom said Joel made New Jersey look bad 'cause he was "not a real man". That guy eventually died, he was a stone Mafia-kid (Aldarelli Family is mobbed up in New Jersey like the Sopranos), heroin addict who weighed about 400 lbs when he died of a heart attack while Joel is still alive and well if a little lighter in his pocketbook from divorcing Christy Brinkley - OUCH!  But I guess being alive, Joel came out on top of that dispute with Tommy.

The side show of pop music is often as entertaining as the music. For instance, I noticed with extreme amusement recently that Paul Simon (whose music I tend to like a lot, if not his politics) got into a knock-out drag-out fight with his wife (that got them both arrested), then reconciled with her later calling their dispute a "spirited verbal disagreement". heh better put a steak on the disagreement, pal-o-mine! heh

Likewise, Simon also got my attention years ago when one of the band members of his South African-derived award winning band (Graceland) was arrested for murder and criminal fraud - killed someone, stole a bunch of money from some charity fund and got caught every which way.

Pop-stars are just people. Nothing more and nothing less. But of course, most leftist pop-stars are two-legged rats in their personal lives.

[musiclady]

I completely agree with you.  I actually do like "Just the Way You Are" and "Piano Man."  That's about my limit for Billy Joel, as it turns, perhaps because I don't spend much time listening to pop.  (I do like about three [?] Beatles tunes quite a lot, though--especially when performed by other vocalists [like Karen Carpenter singing "Ticket to Ride" or Judy Collins singing "In My Life."]   The rest are just okay for my tastes.  I'd rather listen to other stuff.)

I have an extremely wide taste when it comes to music, but when it comes to pop/rock, because of my adoration for/addiction to harmony, I tend to like harmonic groups like the Beach Boys, Temptations (not really in the same genre!), Peter, Paul and Mary, Bee Gees, and of course, the Carpenters.  Richard's ear for harmonic sound and his talent, along with Karen's cool and creamy rich voice, made them a favorite for me.

I also love great piano playing, which is why I'm drawn to Billy Joel and Carole King, as well as newer artists such as Regina Spektor.

As to your earlier comment about listening to Classical radio, keep in mind that the people who run those stations (NPR, Universities) are liberals.  I think that's why they tend to emphasize obscurity....... to show how educated they are, and how cool they are.  I notice that our Classical station likes to play South American music (probably in solidarity with immigration and Hispanics).

I completely agree that they should spend more time on the more significant composers, who have stood the test of time for a reason.  I also don't like that they almost completely ignore choral music and vocal music, probably because most of it historically is sacred.  I mean, you can't really play "Carmina Burana" incessantly, can you?  You gotta play a Mass now and again.  ^-^

Now that I no longer listen to Rush, I spend much more quality time with WOSU, and I like that!

@the_doc

[musiclady]

Billy Joel was one of the best concerts I ever went to.  Such talent. 

The writer of this piece can suck rocks.   

I'm sorry I never got to one........... especially when Billy and I were both young whippersnappers.  ^-^

[musiclady]

If you mean Johnny Cash, Patsy Cline, and Willie Nelson before he woke up one day and realised he was
Willie Nelson, yes.

With all the traveling we do, I have no idea what I'd do without Willie Nelson's "On the Road again" to sing...  ^-^

[EasyAce]

Likewise, [Paul] Simon also got my attention years ago when one of the band members of his South African-derived award winning band (Graceland) was arrested for murder and criminal fraud - killed someone, stole a bunch of money from some charity fund and got caught every which way.

One of the most haunting stories in the history of the blues is that of guitarist Pat Hare. Once a sideman for
Muddy Waters and James Cotton, Hare is credited with one of the earliest examples of distorted "power chords"
playing on Cotton's "Cotton Crop Blues" in 1954. The same year, Hare cut a single on his own, a cover of
Doctor Clayton's jealousy song "I'm Gonna Murder My Baby." Fast forward to 1963, when Hare---by then
mired in alcoholism---shot his girlfriend to death and shot the cop who came to investigate, this at a time
when Hare was one of Muddy's sidemen. Hare was sentenced to life in prison (during his prison years he
was said to have formed a band called Sounds Incarcerated) and died of cancer in prison in 1980.

Then there was Jim Gordon, remembered best as the drummer for Derek & the Dominos. (The unforgettable
coda to "Layla" was Gordon's composition, married to Eric Clapton's main song, though both fellow Domino
Bobby Whitlock and Graham Nash have argued that Gordon may have pinched the melody from his former
girl friend Rita Coolidge.) Gordon developed mental issues as the 1970s went on and they culminated in his
murdering his mother in a psychotic rage in 1983---only after his arrest (he would be sentenced to 16 years to life)
was he diagnosed as a full-out schizophrenic. His trial judge accepted the diagnosis but rejected any insanity
defense due to a change in California's law on the matter at that time.

[Idaho_Cowboy]

I have an extremely wide taste when it comes to music, but when it comes to pop/rock, because of my adoration for/addiction to harmony, I tend to like harmonic groups like the Beach Boys, Temptations (not really in the same genre!), Peter, Paul and Mary, Bee Gees, and of course, the Carpenters.  Richard's ear for harmonic sound and his talent, along with Karen's cool and creamy rich voice, made them a favorite for me.

I also love great piano playing, which is why I'm drawn to Billy Joel and Carole King, as well as newer artists such as Regina Spektor.

As to your earlier comment about listening to Classical radio, keep in mind that the people who run those stations (NPR, Universities) are liberals.  I think that's why they tend to emphasize obscurity....... to show how educated they are, and how cool they are.  I notice that our Classical station likes to play South American music (probably in solidarity with immigration and Hispanics).

I completely agree that they should spend more time on the more significant composers, who have stood the test of time for a reason.  I also don't like that they almost completely ignore choral music and vocal music, probably because most of it historically is sacred.  I mean, you can't really play "Carmina Burana" incessantly, can you?  You gotta play a Mass now and again.  ^-^

Now that I no longer listen to Rush, I spend much more quality time with WOSU, and I like that!

@the_doc

What's wrong with Rush?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Tq-UsaRchI

[EasyAce]

With all the traveling we do, I have no idea what I'd do without Willie Nelson's "On the Road again" to sing...  ^-^

When I drive to southern California from Las Vegas to visit my son, I'm thankful for the kind of technology
that lets me just pop a 32GB flash drive into my car stereo, loaded up with assorted blues, jazz, and soul
albums. One of my absolute favourite albums for that four-hour drive is . . .

[musiclady]

What's wrong with Rush?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Tq-UsaRchI

LOL!

That beginning bass riff would have been much more fun if it had been in 7, and not 8.


But maybe that's just me.  :dx1:

[musiclady]

When I drive to southern California from Las Vegas to visit my son, I'm thankful for the kind of technology
that lets me just pop a 32GB flash drive into my car stereo, loaded up with assorted blues, jazz, and soul
albums. One of my absolute favourite albums for that four-hour drive is . . .

Well, actually, I'm the one that does the singing, not Willie himself.....

But thanks for the link. 

[EasyAce]

Well, actually, I'm the one that does the singing, not Willie himself.....

But thanks for the link. 

That was just the box cover image.

For the link, start here:

Muddy Waters, The Complete Aristocrat & Chess Singles, 1947-62, Vol. 1

[LateForLunch]

Well, actually, I'm the one that does the singing, not Willie himself.....

But thanks for the link. 

I hear ya! My next door neighbor used to roadie and one day he was hanging out with an A&R DJ from a local station that was going out of business. They engaged in some casual smoking and conversation during which time the DJ revealed to him a pile of recordings. He had "borrowed" the entire on-air playlist of every single  top40 song the station had played in 50 years. My friend made digital copies of all of them. He won't give me a copy because he promised the guy that he would only make one copy for himself and he has kept his word (he is from New Zealand and they are scrupulously sincere when they give their word). All told there are about 3 thousand songs in the library.
Whenever he has a party, he puts the drive in his sound system and it is an amazing journey for anyone who lived through those years and listened to the radio. It's a strange experience to hear dozens of songs you haven't heard in forty years. 

[musiclady]

That was just the box cover image.

For the link, start here:

Muddy Waters, The Complete Aristocrat & Chess Singles, 1947-62, Vol. 1

OK, thanks!  Seriously, I'll check it out when I get a moment.

We just got back from being "on the road again," so I've been kinda busy today.

This summer, we're doing the Lewis and Clark trail from St. Louis (St. Charles actually) west to Ft. Clatsop.  We just went to four sites east of the Mississippi on the way to our daughter's half marathon in St. Louis.

So I'll be singing Willie Nelson for about a month this summer!

[EasyAce]

So I'll be singing Willie Nelson for about a month this summer!

You're a better woman than I, Gunga Din.

As a singer, I'm a good guitar player. ;)

[the_doc]

As to your earlier comment about listening to Classical radio, keep in mind that the people who run those stations (NPR, Universities) are liberals.  I think that's why they tend to emphasize obscurity....... to show how educated they are, and how cool they are.  I notice that our Classical station likes to play South American music (probably in solidarity with immigration and Hispanics).

I completely agree that they should spend more time on the more significant composers, who have stood the test of time for a reason.  I also don't like that they almost completely ignore choral music and vocal music, probably because most of it historically is sacred.  I mean, you can't really play "Carmina Burana" incessantly, can you?  You gotta play a Mass now and again.  ^-^

I agree with all of the above.  A lot of folks in our day have never heard much if any good choral music (beyond Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, perhaps).  Some of the best are the operatic chorales.  My favorites are the Pilgrim's Chorus from "Tannhauser" and the final chorales from "The Marriage of Figaro" and "The Pirates of Penzance."  I also love the rather weird modern choral piece that was used in the soundtrack of Hannibal.

I have also noticed that "Carmina Burana" gets a lot of air time.  I don't care for it very much, but I am always stunned by its irreverent Latin solo "In Trutina."  Even Barbra Streisand did a great job with that song on her Classical Barbra album--which is a very good album, by the way.

My overall interests are just as wide as yours, I think, but evidently not as deep in pop/rock.  I do like "Barbara Ann" (partly because it is comically slick in its rhythm and harmony) and "If I Had a Hammer" (even if it was inspired by Socialism).  I like all of the old (pre-crossover) Dylan stuff, but almost none of the later stuff except "Forever Young."  I also like almost everything Karen Carpenter ever sang because she was an uncanny vocalist.  Amazingly, a lot of teenagers I have talked to have never even heard of her because the rock stations never feature her.  That goes to show us that popular tastes can make people musically ignorant by simply shutting off exposure to better stuff.  That dumbs down a lot of folks. 

The Heavy Metal buddy that I mentioned in an earlier piece had never heard Chopin's First Ballade before I had him sit down and listen to a CD recorded by (then) 18-year-old pianist Helene Grimaud.   It knocked his socks off.  (As I intimated earlier, I am trying to improve his rather unsophisticated tastes--since even the classical and jazz stations are not proving to be much help.)

[Gefn]

For your enjoyment

[attachment deleted by admin]

[thackney]

With all the traveling we do, I have no idea what I'd do without Willie Nelson's "On the Road again" to sing...  ^-^

On The Road Again’ was the theme song to the movie ‘Honeysuckle Rose‘ and it came about during a flight to Hollywood when the producer asked Willie Nelson if he would write a song for the movie.

About 45 minutes later, Nelson had written the entire song on an airline’s barf bag.

http://1280ksli.com/willie-nelson-writes-a-major-hit-song-on-a-barf-bag/

[Suppressed]

For your enjoyment

LOL! Where did you find that?!

I really like that song, but I can't figure out whether I like the music or just memory associations from it coming out st a good time in my life.

[Gefn]

They had an alternate version

I can haz cheezeburger

[attachment deleted by admin]

[Idaho_Cowboy]

@Freya

[attachment deleted by admin]

[Gefn]

Sigh.

Stupid attachments

[Wingnut]

[musiclady]

You're a better woman than I, Gunga Din.

As a singer, I'm a good guitar player. ;)

And the reverse is true for me.

As a guitar player, I am an AMAZING singer! 

[Gefn]

@Freya

Love it! Thanks @Idaho_Cowboy

[EasyAce]

And the reverse is true for me.

As a guitar player, I am an AMAZING singer! 

@musiclady

[musiclady]

Some time maybe I can show you all 6 chords (maybe 7?) that I can play.

Actually, the most complex song I can play on guitar is "Scotch and Soda."  ^-^

Piano's my instrument.  Not quite as good as Billy Joel is (back on topic!), but I do a fair job.

[Suppressed]

I once had a housemate named Tom Aldaerelli who was a roadie for Fleetwood Mac from New Jersey who just hated Billy Joel because he got into some run-ins with Joel while on tour. Tom said Joel made New Jersey look bad 'cause he was "not a real man". That guy eventually died, he was a stone Mafia-kid (Aldarelli Family is mobbed up in New Jersey like the Sopranos), heroin addict who weighed about 400 lbs when he died of a heart attack while Joel is still alive and well if a little lighter in his pocketbook from divorcing Christy Brinkley - OUCH!  But I guess being alive, Joel came out on top of that dispute with Tommy.

@LateForLunch  Funny you should say that.  It's in line with what I heard...

I knew someone who went to high school with BJ (confirmed with a yearbook*) and didn't like him much.  He said he was a "weasel". 

His favorite memory was when Billy Joel was going around shooting people with a stapler and got thrown down a stairwell as a result.

*My recollection is that it was Long Island, though, not New Jersey.

[Suppressed]

As to your earlier comment about listening to Classical radio, keep in mind that the people who run those stations (NPR, Universities) are liberals.  I think that's why they tend to emphasize obscurity....... to show how educated they are, and how cool they are.  I notice that our Classical station likes to play South American music (probably in solidarity with immigration and Hispanics).

I completely agree that they should spend more time on the more significant composers, who have stood the test of time for a reason.  I also don't like that they almost completely ignore choral music and vocal music, probably because most of it historically is sacred.  I mean, you can't really play "Carmina Burana" incessantly, can you?  You gotta play a Mass now and again.  ^-^

Now that I no longer listen to Rush, I spend much more quality time with WOSU, and I like that!

@the_doc @musiclady @EasyAce

I enjoy listening to WBJC out of Baltimore, via the Internet.  I've found their "less significant composers" to be good, though they play a lot of "significant" stuff.  In fact, I've bought several CDs recently (yes, I still like physical media) after hearing "obscure" plays on WBJC..and I have rarely bought in recent years.  Their archived playlists are at http://www.wbjc.com/category/playlists/

I use an Amazon Echo Dot device (tied to speakers) to access WBJC via TuneIn (free, automatic).  The Google Home device works, too.  It's nice to just come home and say, "Alexa, play WBJC" and have it come on.


Note, however, that I have very poor musical intelligence...perhaps a snob would say my taste is poor.