Billy Joel: America's Piano Man

Tempo: A Rowman & Littlefield Music Series on Rock, Pop, and Culture

by Joshua S. Duchan

Despite his tremendous success, Billy Joel s gifts as a composer and commentator on American life are long overdue for a thorough investigation. In Billy America s Piano Man, music historian Joshua S. Duchan looks at the career and music of this remarkable singer-songwriter, exploring the unique ways Joel channels and transforms the cultural life of a changing America over four decades into bestselling song after song and album after album.

Billy Joel has not always enjoyed the acclaim of music critics, who have characterized his music as inauthentic and lacking a uniqueness of style. Duchan corrects this misunderstanding by exploring the depth and degree to which Joel s songs engage with social, cultural, political, and economic issues. Organized by major themes and including original interviews with Joel himself, Duchan s book delves into Joel s endeavors as a musician, lyricist, and commentator on questions of geography and regionalism, politics, working- and middle-class culture, human relationships, and the history of music itself. Duchan draws on key songs from Joel s career to explore each themes, from his folk-like lament for Long Island s changing industry and lifestyle in The Downeaster Alexa to his emotional ode to Vietnam veterans in Goodnight Saigon.

Original interviews with Billy Joel blend with Duchan s engaging analysis to provide readers of all backgrounds and ages a new look at these unforgettable songs. Music lovers and historians of both the academic and armchair variety will find this exploration of Joel s work a rewarding adventure into America s social, cultural, political, economic, and above all musical history."

Genres: Music, Nonfiction, Biography

296 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 16, 2017

Reviews

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this discussion of Billy Joel's songs and how they have contributed to our culture. It was very interesting to find out which of his songs he likes and which he doesn't. You don't often get a peek at what the artist was thinking/experiencing when they create, so I liked that aspect a lot.

[Shaun · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book and enjoyed it, but not as much as I thought I would. It didn't share enough stories of Joel's life as I was expecting. The author is a music expert and he got too deeply into music theory as he analyzed Joel's music, which I didn't really enjoy. It is a good book, but not my favorite. I will need to read a different Joel biography to learn more about Billy Joel. I do really enjoy his music.

[Jason St. Clair · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I first added this book I thought it was a biography. In the end, I'm glad it turned out to be more of an analysis of Joel's work while providing some biographical information for context. That's much more my style than a regular biography anyway.

[Riley Womack · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent analysis. Do I need to read more monographs? Setting aside the typical biographical approach for eight slim essays analyzing the themes and musical methodology of Joel’s work, Duchan provides further insights into his songs (some deep-cut, some hits).

[Bobby Abbott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Billy Joel might be my favorite artist and this collection of essays was fascinating and enlightening!