Product Description
Angry Young Man is a look at the superstar's entire career, including his troubled youth as a gang member; the controversy surrounding his first hit, "Captain Jack"; his legal problems; his storied marriage with Christie Brinkley; and his continued artistic frustration. "The Beatles did 'Michelle' and 'Yesterday,'" he has said."They also did 'Revolution' and 'Helter Skelter' and they weren't pegged as balladeers. But because I had hit singles that were ballads, I became known as a balladeer. I've always resented it."Joel - one of the top ten touring takes of the decade - has continued his standing road date with Elton John on the never-ending Two Pianos tour. It was one of the world's top-grossing tours in 2009, just behind U2 and Bruce Springsteen. ... Read more

Product Description
Billy Joel interview, SCTV article ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Pretty good for such a short book
Mostly a history of Billy Joel's recordings - lots of nitty gritty talk.It was almost like reading a series of album covers.Still, there was a good bit of biographical information. I'd like to see a more complete biography with more human interraction.For example, I wanted to learn about Jerry Schilling's involvement, but there was no mention of him.Schilling was a member of Elvis's Memphis Mafia who went on to be Joel's road manager according to an Elvis biography.

Billy Joel:All About Soul
...When I first got the book Billy Joel: All About Soul byRichard Scott, I thought this would be an easy to read--after all itwas a small paperback with only 103 pages including the index.It would be effortless to write--I've been writing reviews for years.It didn't turn out that way, mostly because this reviewer is not a Billy Joel fan nor knows much about rock and roll music.

So, what can I say?I enjoyed the book enormously!I learned far more about Billy Joel than I ever thought I wanted to know.Scott lets Billy tell about the tribulations and triumphs of his life in his own words. What I especially found interesting was how Scott weaves the songs chronologically into the story and describes the music with a musician's point of view.

I found Scott to be a refreshing, interesting writer and I appreciated his wry sense of humor... ... Read more

Product Description
A biography of the popular rock musician who in 1979 was considered the premier solo performer in the American music world. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A layman's guide to Billy Joel
Reading this book enriches the reader's appreciation for Billy Joel's music. It paints a picture of an artist who loves to make music, and accepts fame and fortune as a mere externality. While it is a very informedrun-down of Billy's first few albums from a producer's standpoint (studiomusicians, track order, commentary on lyrics), it leaves virtuallyuntouched the analysis of Billy Joel's harmonic language and sense ofmelody. For someone who understands music theory and wants elaboration onthe COOLNESS of, for example, the brilliant chord progression in"Falling of the Rain" on "Cold Spring Harbor", it'sdifficult to find ultimate satisfaction. All in all, a good read, loadedwith interesting tidbits about the production of Billy Joel's albums, hisdreams and attitudes, and his perception by the public eye. It traces hispath from nowhere to somewhere, and it is interesting to read a bookpublished before Glass Houses, The Bridge, Stormfront, River of Dreams,etc. The book concludes at 20 years ago! -A good biography to begin anexploration of Billy's life. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Extremely thorough, witty, and enjoyable
The authors managed to make this fun and very readable biography a worthy contribution to the field of rock bios. Definitely worth it.

A very incisive, thorough, and informative read
This book is a very through biography containing all the information that anyone would need to know from birth until "An Innocent Man". It contains some very rare pictures, quotes, interviews, and articles, denoting the authors thorough research base. Very enjoyable ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Not bad overall for intended audience, but some glaring errors.
This book came out recently (2007 or 2008) and is part of series of books about rock stars that is designed for kids, about 8-12.The fact that the publisher picked Billy Joel for this series is commendable (especially since he has not recorded a new pop album in 15 years), and most of the book is readable and has interesting facts, and even a vocabulary list. There are, however, some glaring errors and omissions.For example, in refering to Billy Joel's former producer Phil Ramone, the book parenthetically notes that "sadly" Mr. Ramone is now known in 2007 for being a defendant in a highly publicized murder trial.Of course, they are confusing Phil Ramone and Phil Spector.There are some other errors too, but this was the most obvious.The book does not even mention The Nylon Curtain album by name in the narrative, and implies that the album was not a success since it did not sell as well as Billy Joel's other albums, but The Nylon Curtain was probably the most critically successful of his albums, and has been cited by Billy himself as his favorite.Overall, not bad to introduce a youngster to Billy Joel.When will someone not named Mark Bego, Hank Borodwitz or Bill Smith write the definitive biography of Billy Joel?It may have to be written by Billy himself one day. ... Read more

Product Description
Features solo piano arrangements of 19 huge hits from this pop superstar: All About Soul * Allentown * And So It Goes * Baby Grand * Honesty * An Innocent Man * It's Still Rock and Roll to Me * Just the Way You Are * Keeping the Faith * The Longest Time * My Life * Only the Good Die Young * Piano Man * The River of Dreams * She's Always a Woman * She's Got a Way * Tell Her About It * Uptown Girl * We Didn't Start the Fire. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

So disappointing
I purchased this book after buying the Elton John Piano Solos book.(I play from the Elton John book at least once a day, and it has given me so much enjoyment.)I was expecting the same type of arrangements with this one, but I was very disappointed to discover that none of these piano solos sound anything like the recorded versions of Billy Joel's songs.In the Elton John book, songs are written in the original keys and the arrangements are complex and rich-sounding.In this book, the arrangements are in different keys, simplified, and just plain flat.Not one song in this book justified my purchase to be honest. ... Read more

Product Description
Allentown, Baby Grand, Don't Ask Me Why, Entertainer, Honesty, It's Still Rock & Roll To Me, Just the Way You Are, Leae a Tender Moment Alone, The Longest Time, Movin' Out, My LIfe, New York State of Mind, Piano Man, Say Goodbye to Hollywood, She's Always a Woman, She's Got a Way The Stranger, Tell Her About it, This is the Time, Uptown Girl, You May be Right ... Read more

Product Description
A brief, illustrated biography of the popular musician and singer. ... Read more

Product Description
12x9 ppbd color photo cover 2b&wphotos 11 songs48pgs ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

I WOULD HAVE REVIEWED THIS BOOK
ORDERED 12/26/1999, I was advised 01/06/2000 IT WAS OUT OF PRINT. BILLY JOEL ROCKS! ... Read more

Product Description
Matching folio to the album, features 10 songs including the acclaimed singles 'We Didn't Start The Fire,' 'I Go To Extremes' and 'The Downeaster 'Alexa'.' ... Read more

Product Description
17 Smash hits from this pop superstarÕs latest albums which include INNOCENT MAN, RIVER OF DREAMS, THE BRIDGE and STORMFRONT.As a bonus, this book includes three new songs: ÕTo Make You Feel My LoveÕ (which was written by Bob Dylan), ÕHey, GirlÕ and ÕLight as a Breeze.Õ ... Read more

Product Description
Your favorite sheet music comes to life with the innovative Piano Play-Along series! With these book/CD collections, piano and keyboard players can practice and perform with professional-sounding accompaniments. Packed with cream-of-the-crop songs, the books feature new engravings, with a separate vocal staff, plus guitar frames, so players and their friends can sing or strum along. The CDs feature two tracks for each tune: a full performance for listening, and a separate backing track that lets players take the lead on keyboard. The high-quality, sound-alike accompaniments exactly match the printed music. 8 songs: The Entertainer * Honesty * Just the Way You Are * The Longest Time * Lullabye (Goodnight, My Angel) * My Life * New York State of Mind * She's Got a Way. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

This is a decent little set for those that like to play along with backing tracks.


I am a pianist and I like to play along with midi files, karaoke files and other backing tracks. This item was a dream for me because I am a Billy Joel Superfan and thought, "oh boy, I have found professionally done backing tracks to play along with that will be on a par with the cd's, minus piano and vocals of course."
Yes it is technically true but the backing tracks are woefully lacking in many ways and I would venture to say that professional midi files are a better bet when played through a decent synth. The most irritating thing of all is that there is a digital piano playing along throughout so you end up playing in unison with a digital piano in the piano only spots. Take Baby Grand for example, it has a wonderful piano only intro but instead of just a click track, you play along with a digital piano. Also, most irritating, at the end of baby grand, the digital piano starts noodling around on a blues scale like crazy. The point to these was supposed to be that the user became the piano player.. I do not like that concept. Same with Goodnight my Angel and the rest. The backing track does sound pretty nice in parts but it has that annoying digital piano track throughout that you basically end up shadowing... Not so sure I would have purchased knowing how they are now but I am not regretful either.


edit: The New York State of Mind backing track is just atrocious, the intro is not included in the book or backing track although I suppose you could press play when you finished the intro or re record with metronome etc. ... Read more