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Posted

Tried watching it but kept getting the buffering circle of Hell so I stopped about 20 minutes in. Looking forward to seeing never before seen photos/videos. And maybe it was my tv or my hard of hearing but audio sucked, really had to crank it up just to hear it decently. 

Posted

Watching it now. I'm kind of ambivalent to Billy Joel's music. I recognize he's written some damn fine melodies & pop songs, & has been an entertainer of fine standing, but I've never owned any of his records or seen him live. But he does come across as fairly open & reflective in this doc. I don't know enough about his story to know if he's whitewashing his past, but he doesn't seem to shy away from talking about many of his past mistakes in part one.

Posted

He’s pretty much always been an open book about his past, mistakes he’s made. I’m curious to hear what all the first wife Elizabeth has to say as she’s been pretty silent since their divorce early 80s. I’ve always have seen her portrayed as cold and calculating asking if she had publishing rights to a song he wrote for her. It might be a family thing as her brother ripped him off for millions of dollars that may have gone on longer had Christie not noticed things. But I’ve seen comments from her in this about his drinking and a little bit of wild behavior on his part causing their breakup. 

Posted
3 hours ago, Underdog said:

He’s pretty much always been an open book about his past, mistakes he’s made. I’m curious to hear what all the first wife Elizabeth has to say as she’s been pretty silent since their divorce early 80s. I’ve always have seen her portrayed as cold and calculating asking if she had publishing rights to a song he wrote for her. It might be a family thing as her brother ripped him off for millions of dollars that may have gone on longer had Christie not noticed things. But I’ve seen comments from her in this about his drinking and a little bit of wild behavior on his part causing their breakup. 

She's a big part of the doc.

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Posted

I misspoke, the guys that he grew up with and then later hired on when he started to hit it big.  The 52nd street guys.  The documentary "Hired Gun" had a solid section on it.

Posted

Have never watched HG maybe because I didn’t want to hear any negative shit. IIRC, Cannata left on his own, Javors was allegedly mailing it in in the studio and heard/read different things about Liberty. I’m sure Joel was no Angel but as Lib said once, it’s his name( Joel ) on the album. 

Posted

I don't think Liberty DeVitto has much to bitch about regarding getting fired.  He played on every album and original tour to my knowledge.  There was a songwriting dispute.

Oh, and his daughter is a mildly well known actress:

image.png.4975e18e0ea428c8ac07282e4f02f345.png

Posted

The Lords of 52nd St have Liberty, Cannata and Javors touring playing the BJ songs they were involved with. Saw them at a free show in Schenectady few years ago, shook both Lib and Javors hands afterwards I even bought a tour shirt off them. 

Posted
On 7/19/2025 at 3:19 PM, Gil Bang said:

She's a big part of the doc.

yep.  her insight makes it interesting if you already kind of know Joel's story.  probably a bit of the reason they split it into 2 parts.  mainly split I'm assuming, Before Christie and After Christie.

It is amazing that he never really had a true "down" period.  Turnstiles was a disappointment but he came right back with his biggest album ever.  Even without a down period he did kind of have 2 careers.

Posted
8 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

. . . and yet it includes what might be his best song ("New York State of Mind").

oh for sure. I was just saying from a sales perspective.  It's actually a pretty good album.  I'd still go with Scenes but that's just me..

Posted (edited)

I saw him three times if memory serves.  The last time, my musical tastes were evolving, but I went with a friend who had not seen him before.  Before the concert, I had a fair amount of apathy.  That absolutely melted away from about five seconds into the first song onward.  From then on, I always held him in pretty high esteem as far as easily-enjoyable live performers go.

 

Also, it's been said that for a song called Piano Man, that guy playing the harmonica doesn't seem to STFU. 

Edited by dcbc
Posted
7 minutes ago, dcbc said:

I saw him three times if memory serves.  The last time, my musical tastes were evolving, but went with a friend who had not seen him before.  Before the concert, I had a fair amount of apathy.  That absolutely melted away from about five seconds into the first song onward.  From then on, I always held him in pretty high esteem.

I first saw him in the fall of '82 at the Erwin Center.  A friend had 7th row floor tix and his girlfriend had to back out.  He knew I was a music geek so he asked if I wanted to go.  My experience was almost identical to what you said -- I was very apathetic and then the concert was just hit after hit after hit.  I didn't own any of his albums so while I knew the songs I just really hadn't added it all up.  I ended up seeing him several more times over the years.

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