Piano Man
Piano Man is a
pop album by
Billy Joel, released in
1973 (see
1973 in music). The title track is one of Joel's signature songs, and remains a concert standard.
Piano Man emerged out of legal difficulties with Joel's label and became his breakthrough album.
In 1974, the single "Piano Man", a fictionalized retelling of Joel's days as a lounge singer in New York City, 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.
Track listing
- Travelin' Prayer (Joel) - 4:10
- Piano Man (Joel) - 5:37
- Ain't No Crime (Joel) - 3:20
- You're My Home (Joel) - 3:14
- The Ballad of Billy the Kid (Joel) - 5:35
- Worse Comes to Worst (Joel) - 3:28
- Stop in Nevada (Joel) - 3:40
- If I Only Had the Words (To Tell You) (Joel) - 3:35
- Somewhere Along the Line (Joel) - 3:17
- Captain Jack (Joel) - 6:55
Personnel
- Billy Joel - Harmonica, Keyboards, Vocals, Producer
- Larry Carlton - Guitar
- Eric Weissberg - Banjo
- Billy Armstrong - Violin
- Richard Bennett - Guitar
- Rhys Clark - Drums
- Laura Creamer - Vocals
- Mark Creamer - Vocals
- Wilton Felder - Bass, Keyboards
- Emory Gordy - Bass
- Fred Heilbrun - Banjo
- Ted Jensen - Remastering
- Ron Malo - Engineer
- Michael Omartian - Accordion, Arranger
- Dean Parks - Guitar
- Susan Steward - Vocals
- Michael Stewart - Producer
- Ron Tutt - Drums
- Beverly Parker - Design
