Piano Man (song)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"Piano Man" was Billy Joel's first major hit, and is considered Joel's signature song. It was also released on several greatest hits collections, including Essential Billy Joel. It is in the key of C Major.
| "Piano Man" | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
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| Single by Billy Joel | ||
| from the album Piano Man | ||
| Released | October 30, 1973 | |
| Format | Record | |
| Recorded | Sept. 17-20 & 26, 1973, Los Angeles | |
| Length | 3:05 | |
| Producer(s) | Michael Stewart | |
| Certification | Gold | |
| Chart positions | ||
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[edit] Overview
"Piano Man" is a fictionalized retelling of Joel's days as a lounge singer in Los Angeles, and a song about people who could have done things with their lives, but didn't. The tune is along the lines of a piano pop song, and begins with a jazzy piano pop melody, followed by a harmonica riff.
The song is based on real people from a bar that Billy Joel played piano in for free.
[edit] Popularity
The song has been one of Joel's greatest hits. It peaked at #27 on the Billboard Top 40. Today it remains popular, being displayed as Joel's #1 song on the iTunes Music Store as of December, 2006. It places #421 on the Rolling Stone's The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time
[edit] Trivia
- When originally issued as a single, the song was deemed too long by record executives (5 minutes and 38 seconds), so two verses were cut in half and spliced together for the release as a 45. Later, Billy Joel's song "The Entertainer", mentions this event by commenting, "It was a beautiful song, but it ran too long. If you're gonna have a hit, you gotta make it fit. So they cut it down to 3:05."
- The song about Spider Man was also parodied by "Weird Al" Yankovic on his 2003 album Poodle Hat ("Ode To A Superhero"). The parody chronicles the story of Spider Man's first movie.
- During the first Face to Face tour featuring Elton John and Joel, ads promoted the event as "Rocket Man meets Piano Man".
- Billy Joel has claimed that "Piano Man" is one of his least favorite songs. He says it came too naturally and wasn't what it could've been.[citation needed]
- Billy Joel started off in a group called The Hassles, but went solo in 1971 when Artie Ripp (former exec with Kama Sutra Records) signed him to his Family Record Company. Cold Spring Harbor was the title of his debut album. "Piano Man", his first for Columbia in 1973, reflects his own piano bar experiences in California when he used the name Bill Martin.
- Country singer Phil Vassar references singing "Piano Man" in a karaoke in his song "Ultimate Love".
