02 A Biography of Billy Joel's Early Years
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This article is from the Billy Joel FAQ, by Mike Steele mike@cs.umd.edu with numerous contributions by others.
02 A Biography of Billy Joel's Early Years
Billy Joel
Before the Piano Man
A look into Billy Joel's early recordings
by Paul Maclauchlan (paul@moore.com)
Copyright 1991 by Paul Maclaughlan
William Joseph Martin (Billy) Joel, born May 9, 1949, in Levitown
Long Island, New York. He began piano lessons at age 4. As a young
teenager, Joel discovered the joys of reading books and decided to
become a history teacher. Billy divided his time between music,
street gangs and boxing. After 22 bouts he gave up the ring for
piano. "...when I came to a difficult passage I'd start knuckling
the keyboards." "I idolized The Beatles, especially Paul - nobody
could come up with the melodies he could".
His first band was a four piece beat band called "The Echoes". The
Echoes played cover versions of popular hits, including songs by The
Rolling Stones, The Kinks, The Zombies and, of course, The Beatles.
In late 1964, Billy was pressed into service by producer Shadow
Morton, who was recording The Shangri-Las in a Levitown basement
studio. Billy played on "Leader Of The Pack", but was never paid,
since he wasn't a union member.
The Echoes became "The Lost Souls" in 1965, "The Emerald Lords" in
1966 and "The Hassles" in 1967. The Hassles were signed to United
Artists (UA) Records in 1968. The Hassles featured: John Dizek
(vocals), Billy Joel (Keyboards), Jon Small (drums), Howie Blauvelt
(bass) and Richard McKenner (guitar). He occasionally billed himself
as: Billy Joe Joel!
The Hassles self-titled debut album contained original songs (by W.
Joel) and covers. Produced by Tony Michael and Vinnie Gorman.
United Artists 6631. [see discography below for track listings]
Two singles from the album flopped: Every Step I Take, Every Move I
Make b/w I Hear Voices and You've Got Me Hummin' b/w I'm Thinking.
Later the same year, 1968, The Hassles recorded and released their
second, and final, album: Hour Of The Wolf. Produced by Thomas Kay.
United Artists 6699. This album's songs were all originals by the
band. [see discography below for track listings] Singles from the
album were: 4 O'Clock In The Morning b/w Let Me Bring You To The
Sunshine and Night After Day b/w Country Boy.
The album was followed by a non-LP single, Great Balls Of Fire (Jack
Hammer-Otis Blackwell) [the Jerry Lee Lewis song] b/w Travellin' Band
(W.Joel) [not the CCR song]. Produced by The Hassles, that release
sunk without a trace, and The Hassles were disbanded.
Billy and Jon Small (The Hassles drummer) then formed Atilla, and
recorded an album Billy later described as "psychedelic bullshit".
The album was released on Epic (E 30030) and produced by Irwin Mazur,
William Joel and Jonathan Small. All music and lyrics by William
Joel and Jonathan Small. [see discography below for track listings]
Billy eventually married Jon Small's wife, Elizabeth.
Billy reportedly still loves Jimi Hendrix, but hates the album that
was influenced by him. After Atilla, Billy worked as a rock
journalist for Changes magazine and recorded a commercial for
Bachmann's Pretzels with Chubby Checker.
In 1971, he recorded his first "solo" album, "Cold Spring Harbor",
for Family Records. Billy was embarrassed by the record, which had
been mastered at the wrong speed. It was produced by Artie Ripp.
All songs were composed by Billy Joel. [see discography below for
track listings] Singles: Everybody Loves You Now b/w She's Got A
Way and Tomorrow Is Today b/w Everybody Loves You Now.
Discouraged by touring for six months to support the album, opening
for acts like J. Geils Band and Badfinger, Billy moved to California.
There he performed as Bill Martin at Corky's on Van Nuys Blvd and at
the Executive Lounge piano bar on Wilshire Blvd. The experience is
related in his first Columbia single: Piano Man.
Information from this article is from liner notes by Glenn A. Baker
and articles and books by Jeff Tamarkin and Peter Gabaccini. Also
from the records themselves.
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