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Billy Joel is an American singer-songwriter and pianist who has used various musicians both in studio and for live performances. The band began with the recording of his first album as a solo artist in 1971; it stabilized around 1975 and underwent several lineup changes in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Joel's touring band as a whole did not begin playing on his records until he recorded the album Turnstiles in 1976. This line-up included Richie Cannata on saxophones and organ, Liberty DeVitto on drums, Russell Javors and Howie Emerson on guitars, and Doug Stegmeyer on bass. [1]
The band, which now no longer includes any of its original members, is often not recognized as a formal entity, and is instead referred to simply as Billy Joel's band. [2] The Lords of 52nd Street is a band formed by the original band members that previously played with Joel.
Joel's original touring band, formed in 1971 to support the Cold Spring Harbor album, comprised Rhys Clark on drums, Al Hertzberg on guitar, and Larry Russell on bass. The group toured throughout the United States, including Puerto Rico. [3]
The touring lineup changed and it took a few years for the lineup to stabilize. In an online interview, DeVitto describes how Joel's classic late 1970s-early 1980s band first came together:
Billy and I used to play the same club in Plainview, Long Island, called My House. He was 17 and in a band called The Hassles and I was 16 and in a band called The New Rock Workshop. We would watch each other play and acknowledge each other in passing. In 1974, he was living in Los Angeles and had already released Piano Man and Streetlife Serenade . He used studio musicians for the recording and different guys out on the road. I was playing in a band called Topper with Doug Stegmeyer and he got the gig to play bass with Billy on the “Streetlife” tour. [Billy] told Doug that he wanted to move back to New York and find a permanent band he could record and tour with on a regular basis. Doug recommended me because Billy was looking for a New York-type drummer, aggressive and hard hitting, and the rest is history. The three of us recorded the basic tracks for Turnstiles and we both recommended Russell Javors and Howie Emerson, who played guitars in Topper and with the addition of Richie Cannata on saxophone, the “Billy Joel Band” was born. [4]
By the late 1970s, the touring and studio lineup of Joel's band stabilized and consisted, mostly, of the following musicians:
This was the basic lineup for some of Joel's classic albums of the 1970s and 1980s including Turnstiles , The Stranger , 52nd Street , Glass Houses, and Songs in the Attic .
In 2014, Cannata, DeVitto, and Javors reunited and performed a short set of Joel's songs at the ceremony during which they were inducted into the Long Island Music Hall of Fame (with Stegmeyer, posthumously), primarily for their work with Joel. [5] They officially formed a band, The Lords of 52nd Street, which plays faithful renditions of the original Joel recordings. [6] David Clark of the Joel tribute band Songs in the Attic [7] plays piano and provides lead vocals, Malcolm Gold plays bass, Ken Cino plays guitar, and Doug Kistner plays keyboards in the group. [8] [9]
From The Stranger in 1977 through The Bridge in 1986, Joel had been working with the same producer, Phil Ramone, as well as with the same basic incarnation of the Billy Joel Band (with minor line-up changes over the years). Joel also added lead guitarist David Brown in 1978 who stayed with the band throughout the 1980s, beginning with the recording of Glass Houses (1980). One important addition to the band in 1982 was the replacement of his long-time saxophonist Richie Cannata with Mark Rivera. [10] But for the 1989 album Storm Front, Joel chose a new producer, Mick Jones (of the band Foreigner), and started to make more significant changes to the band. [11] At this point, the only players that Joel kept, for both his touring band and for the recording of the album, were Brown, Rivera, and DeVitto. He also added the percussionist and multi-instrumentalist Crystal Taliefero who would become a permanent fixture in his band while Stegmeyer was replaced by Schuyler Deale and Javors was replaced by Joey Hunting on the album and Tommy Byrnes for its accompanying tour.
For his last studio album, River of Dreams, in 1993, Joel used a new producer again (this time Danny Kortchmar). Although Joel continued to use DeVitto as his main drummer, he allowed Kortchmar to use different drummers for some of the drum tracks. Cannata returned to record some of the sax parts on the record but did not join Joel for the River of Dreams tour that followed.
At this point, the only remaining long-standing member of Joel's touring band was DeVitto. Joel also had Tommy Byrnes move over to lead guitar. He remains at this position and served as both a musical consultant and band member in the Movin' Out musical. Tom "T-Bone" Wolk joined the band, just for the River of Dreams tour, playing bass guitar, as well as other instruments, including accordion. Joel continued to retain Taliefero and Rivera who both remain in his band. The 1993 River of Dreams tour saw the addition of David Rosenthal, formerly of Rainbow, on keyboards.
In August 1995, Joel's long-time bassist Doug Stegmeyer, who had been let go from the band prior to the recording of 1989's Storm Front album, committed suicide in his Long Island home. [12] Stegmeyer had played on every one of Joel's albums from Turnstiles (1976) through to the live album, КОНЦЕРТ (1987).
For the 2006 tour, Joel did not invite DeVitto back as his drummer after the two became involved in a legal dispute, and the drummer Chuck Burgi (who played in the Broadway production of Movin' Out) replaced DeVitto. For this particular tour, Cannata temporarily returned on lead saxophones though he soon left the band again and Rivera returned to his position as lead saxophonist. In 2006, Carl Fischer joined Joel's band as his trumpeter and trombonist for select songs (most notably for the trumpet solos in the song "Zanzibar").
On February 27, 2010, Joel's bassist from his River of Dreams tour, Tom Wolk, died from a heart attack at the age of 58. [13]
In 2013, the Billy Joel Band was joined by multi-instrumentalist Mike DelGuidice on rhythm guitar and backing vocals. DelGuidice had previously fronted various Billy Joel tribute projects. [14] In August of 2024, Liberty DeVitto announced on his Facebook that guitarist David Brown had passed away. [15]
Image | Name | Years active | Instruments | Release contributions |
---|---|---|---|---|
Billy Joel | 1971−present |
| all releases | |
Mark Rivera | 1982−present |
|
| |
Tommy Byrnes | 1989−present |
|
| |
Crystal Taliefero |
|
| ||
Dave Rosenthal | 1993−present |
|
| |
Andy Cichon | 2001−present |
|
| |
Chuck Burgi | 2006−present |
| ||
Carl Fischer |
| |||
Mike DelGuidice | 2013−present |
| none to date |
Image | Name | Years active | Instruments | Release contributions |
---|---|---|---|---|
Rhys Clark | 1971−1975 | drums |
| |
Larry Russell | 1971−1973 | bass guitar |
| |
Al Hertzberg | 1971−1973 (died 2020) | guitar | ||
Don Evans | 1973−1975 |
| ||
Patrick McDonald | 1973−1974 | bass guitar | none | |
Johnny Almond [16] [17] | 1974-1975 (died 2009) |
| Live at the Great American Music Hall 1975 (2023) | |
Tom Whitehorse | 1974 |
| Streetlife Serenade (1974) | |
Doug Stegmeyer | 1974−1987 (died 1995) |
|
| |
Howard Emerson | 1975−1978 | lead guitar |
| |
Russell Javors | 1975−1987 |
|
| |
Liberty DeVitto | 1975−2005 |
|
| |
Richie Cannata |
|
|
| |
David Brown | 1978−1991 (one-off guest appearances in 2000 and 2022)(died 2024) |
| all releases from 52nd Street (1978) to storm front 1989 | |
David Lebolt | 1982−1987 | keyboards | Kontsert (1987) | |
Kevin Dukes | 1987 (sub for Brown) | lead guitar | ||
Schuyler Deale | 1988−1993 (one-off guest appearance in 2022) | bass guitar |
| |
Jeff Jacobs | 1988−1993 |
| ||
Mindy Jostyn | 1988−1990 (died 2005) |
| none | |
Tom Wolk | 1993−1994 (died 2010) |
| ||
David Santos | 1997−2000 | bass guitar | 2000 Years: The Millennium Concert (2000) |
Period | Members | Releases |
---|---|---|
1971 – 1973 |
|
|
1973 – 1974 |
|
|
1974 |
|
|
1974 |
|
|
1975 |
|
|
1975 – 1978 |
|
|
1978 – 1982 |
|
|
1982 – 1987 |
|
|
1987 |
|
|
1988 |
|
|
1989 – 1990 |
| none |
1990 – 1991 |
|
|
1993 – 1994 |
| none |
1997 – 2000 |
| |
2001 – 2005 |
| none |
2006 |
|
|
2006 – 2013 |
| |
2013 – present |
| none to date |
The Nylon Curtain is the eighth studio album by American singer-songwriter Billy Joel, released on September 23, 1982, and produced by Phil Ramone.
Turnstiles is the fourth studio album by American singer-songwriter Billy Joel, released May 19, 1976, by Family Productions and Columbia Records.
Glass Houses is the seventh studio album by American singer-songwriter Billy Joel, released on March 12, 1980. The record was a commercial success, topping the Billboard 200 chart for six consecutive weeks. It features Joel's first single to peak at No. 1 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart, "It's Still Rock and Roll to Me". It was ranked No. 4 on Billboard's 1980 year-end chart. The album is the 41st best-selling album of the 1980s, with sales of 7.1 million copies in the US alone. In 1981, Joel won a Grammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance for his work on Glass Houses. According to music critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine, the album featured "a harder-edged sound" compared to Joel's other work, in response to the punk and new wave movements. This was also the final studio album to feature the original incarnation of the Billy Joel Band, augmented by new lead guitarist David Brown. Multi-instrumentalist Cannata left the band just before the sessions began for Joel's next studio album, 1982's The Nylon Curtain.
The Stranger is the fifth studio album by American singer-songwriter Billy Joel, released on September 29, 1977, by Columbia Records. It was the first of Joel's albums to be produced by Phil Ramone, with whom he would work for five subsequent albums.
Songs in the Attic is the first live album by Billy Joel, released in 1981.
"Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)" is a song written and recorded by Billy Joel, featured on his 1977 album The Stranger as the opening track.
"New York State of Mind" is a song written by Billy Joel that is featured on his fourth studio album, Turnstiles (1976). Although it was never released as a single, it has become a fan favorite and a song that Joel plays regularly in concert. Joel famously played the song at The Concert for New York City, the October 2001 benefit concert for the New York City Fire and Police Departments, as well as the loved ones and families of first responders lost during 9/11. He reprised the song and theme, playing it during his set at 12-12-12: The Concert for Sandy Relief at Madison Square Garden in New York City on December 12, 2012, where he changed lyrics to include the likes of "Breezy Point".
Liberatori "Liberty" DeVitto is an American rock drummer. He is best known for his work as a drummer for singer-songwriter Billy Joel's recording and touring band. He has been a session drummer on recordings of other artists. He is credited as a drummer on records which have sold a combined total of 150 million units worldwide.
"My Life" is a song by Billy Joel that first appeared on his 1978 album 52nd Street. A single version was released in the fall of 1978 and reached No. 2 on the U.S. adult contemporary chart. Early the next year, it peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Richie Cannata is an American music producer, saxophonist, keyboardist and studio owner. He is most notable for playing saxophone in Billy Joel's band alongside Liberty DeVitto, Russell Javors, and Doug Stegmeyer. After leaving the band in 1981, he opened Cove City Sound Studios in Glen Cove, New York. Artists including Celine Dion, Billy Joel, Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony have recorded in Cannata's studio. Cannata also worked with The Beach Boys for most of the 1990s, touring and occasionally recording with them during this period.
"Big Man on Mulberry Street" is a song by Billy Joel from the 1986 album The Bridge. The jazz-influenced song's title refers to Mulberry Street in the Little Italy section of New York City.
"You May Be Right" is a song written and performed by rock singer Billy Joel, released as a single and the opening track from his 1980 album Glass Houses. The single reached No. 7 on the US charts and No. 6 in Canada. It failed to chart, however, in the UK, unlike his preceding and succeeding singles "All for Leyna" and "It's Still Rock and Roll to Me". The Japanese single features "Close to the Borderline" as a B-side.
"Until the Night" is a song written by Billy Joel for his 1978 album, 52nd Street. Although passed over for single release in the US, "Until the Night" was issued as the second single from 52nd Street in the UK - following "My Life" - in March 1979 and reached #50 on the UK Singles Chart.
"Sometimes a Fantasy" is a song by Billy Joel, released in 1980 as the last single from his seventh studio album Glass Houses. The single peaked at No. 36 on the US Billboard Hot 100. The song is a "melodic, fast paced rocker" and starts with Joel dialing a number on a telephone.
Russell Javors is an American rock guitarist. He is best known as a rhythm guitarist for Billy Joel from 1976 to 1989.
"Modern Woman" is a song performed by Billy Joel from his album The Bridge. It was the album's lead-off single and was featured on the soundtrack to the film Ruthless People. In the film, the song removes an instrumental break present in the original. It was a Top 10 hit on Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1986.
Douglas Alan Stegmeyer was an American musician who was best known as a bassist and back-up vocalist for Billy Joel. Stegmeyer also performed as bassist for Debbie Gibson and Hall & Oates.
The An Innocent Man Tour was a 1984 concert tour by singer-songwriter Billy Joel. The tour began on January 18 in Providence, Rhode Island and ended on July 5 with the last of seven shows at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
The Lords of 52nd Street is an American rock band that primarily comprises members of the line-up which backed singer-songwriter Billy Joel from 1976 to 1981, the period during which Joel initiated a run of albums that reached the top ten on the Billboard charts.
The Nylon Curtain Tour was a 1982 concert tour by singer-songwriter Billy Joel. This tour was Joel's first tour following a divorce from his first wife and manager Elizabeth Weber and after a motorcycle accident that occurred earlier in the year.
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