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Billy Joel Full Discography Torrent4/22/2021
Ramone told Joel that the whistling he did was perfect, and thus it was kept in the final recording. 6 According to Joel in an interview with The Today Show, the percussive rhythm used in the song came about while he was toying around with an Ace Tone Rhythm Ace drum machine, which contained a drum beat that he heard while scrolling through the machines library of rhythm tracks.It was the first of Joels albums to be produced by Phil Ramone, with whom he would go on to work for all of his albums up until his 1986 album The Bridge.
Joel wanted the album to feature his newly-formed touring band that had formed during the production of Turnstiles, which consisted of drummer Liberty DeVitto, bassist Doug Stegmeyer, and multi-instrumentalist saxophonistorganist Richie Cannata. Seeking out a new producer, he first turned to veteran Beatles producer George Martin before coming across and settling on Ramone, whose name he had seen on albums by other artists such as Paul Simon. Recording took place across the span of three weeks, with DeVitto, Stegmeyer and Cannata being featured in addition to other studio musicians filling in as guitarists on various songs. Other songs, such as Scenes from an Italian Restaurant and Vienna, have become staples of his career and are frequently performed in his live shows. The album won two awards at the 1978 Grammy Awards, winning Record of the Year as well as Song of the Year for Just the Way You Are. It remains his best-selling non-compilation album to date, and surpassed Simon Garfunkel s Bridge over Troubled Water to become Columbias best-selling album release, with more than 10 million units sold worldwide. Rolling Stone later named it one of the 500 greatest albums of all time. Despite the unexpected success of Joels second album Piano Man, his subsequent albums had failed to attain particularly impressive sales numbers. Turnstiles, Joels most recent studio release at the time, had only peaked at number 122 on the Billboard 200 chart, leaving Joel in danger of being dropped by Columbia if his next release did not perform well. Joel grew to heavily appreciate this group of musicians, finding that they had a high-energy, rough-around-the-edges feel that he hoped to capture in his studio recordings. Joel had mostly worked with session players for his first three studio albums, which contained only scattered contributions from his own backup musicians, and strongly disliked the polished sound of these albums. During the production of Turnstiles, his fourth album, Joel initially worked with veteran producer Jim Guercio, who had him work with members of Elton John s band; dissatisfied with the results, Joel instead opted to self-produce the album and record with his own touring band. Joel was likewise set on recording his fifth studio album with this band. Having written some new material for the record, 3 Joel proceeded to seek out a producer who would be able to cultivate the style that he was looking for. A long-time fan of the Beatles, Joel initially looked to famed Beatles producer George Martin to produce his album. After meeting with Joel, Martin expressed interest in producing the album, but did not want to use Joels band, wishing instead to bring in session players. Joel, however, was adamant in his desire to record with his own band and declined Martins offer. Ultimately, Joel turned to Phil Ramone, a veteran New York City sound engineer and record producer who had recently worked with Paul Simon, another singer-songwriter, on Simons album Still Crazy After All These Years. According to Joel, he and Ramone met with each other at Fontana di Trevi, an Italian restaurant located near Carnegie Hall where Joel had been playing at the time. The restaurant would eventually go on to inspire the setting of Scenes from an Italian Restaurant, a song on The Stranger. According to Joel, Ramone expressed an appreciation for Joels band and their energy, and understood the reasoning behind Joels attitude towards recording, which ultimately led Joel to choose Ramone as the producer for his next album. The song contains lyrics inspired by Elizabeth Weber, Joels wife at the time. The songs were all recorded with Joel alongside his band which he had formed while touring, in addition to various other musicians who were brought into the studio for specific songs. Despite the formation of Joels band, the songs on The Stranger didnt feature any consistent guitarists, with different players instead featuring in each song, and according to Joel, the reason for the initial lack of a constant guitarist was because it was hard to find the right one. The photograph on the back cover of the album, featuring Joel, Ramone (donning a Yankees shirt at the time of the picture) and each of the band members, was taken at the Supreme Macaroni Company, one of several restaurants where the group would go to have these crazy lunches and dinners. Not wanting to waste all of the words he had come up with, Joel rewrote the song, coming up with a new melody that fit with the lyrics. The albums title track, according to Joel, was written by him without any core themes in mind and could be open up to interpretation, though he stated that it could be seen as a song about a man with schizophrenia. While composing the song, Joel whistled the tracks signature theme for Ramone, claiming that he (Joel) needed to find an instrument to play it. Ramone told Joel that the whistling he did was perfect, and thus it was kept in the final recording. According to Joel in an interview with The Today Show, the percussive rhythm used in the song came about while he was toying around with an Ace Tone Rhythm Ace drum machine, which contained a drum beat that he heard while scrolling through the machines library of rhythm tracks.
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