Billy Joel On Howard Stern
He played "You Never Give Me Your Money"!
And "Dear Mr. Fantasy" and…
Howard’s on 24/7 on Sirius. And they replay the best segments on Friday. But if you miss it, you miss it forever. That’s radio. And sitting in traffic listening to Howard interview Billy was pure heaven, I didn’t want to get out.
You know how these interviews usually go. You’ve got a sycophantic celebrity or a good-looking talking head who wants to be a celebrity serving up softballs to a legend who doesn’t want to be there, who doesn’t reveal anything truly private, truly inside.
But this was like going over to Billy’s house and sitting in the living room, asking him the questions that had rolled around in your head for years, not for ratings, but because you truly wanted to know the answers.
Does he hang with other rock stars?
Of course! Billy told the story of Paul McCartney coming to his house. Pinching himself, since the Beatles were his inspiration, but also playing music for each other to gain tips and insight.
And he talked about Elton and the women he dated and motorcycles and record companies but the moments of pure joy, of sheer elation, were when he sat at the piano and whipped off those famous riffs.
"Summer, Highland Falls"… I swooned! Naked, without production, yet so perfect.
Billy talked about taking piano lessons, he even mentioned his teacher’s name, Miss Frances. And Howard asked, couldn’t everybody see he had talent?
This was after Billy played "The Rain Song" on the hundred year old piano in his living room. No, not the Zeppelin classic. Billy tickled the ivories at the top and bottom of the scale in demonstration, imitating raindrops and thunder. What little kid hasn’t done that?
And then he talked about improvising on Mozart.
And he always hears a song in his head.
And sometimes he loves the piano and sometimes he hates it. Talk to anybody famous for a skill. You love the tennis racket, but sometimes you hate it. Sometimes the notes come freely, but sometimes Billy sits at the piano and all he gets is frustrated.
Speaking of frustration… That’s the essence of "Summer, Highland Falls". The bipolarity of his personality. He wanted to capture it in a song. Billy gets in a good mood, but it never lasts. I know what he means! I’m driving up PCH with the sunroof open and the radio on and I’m feeling how great it is to be alive and then the very next day I’m depressed. Ah, life.
He literally wrote "New York State Of Mind" riding a Greyhound up the Hudson. He got home and told his wife he had to go straight to the piano, he had to capture what was in his head.
The music comes first. Then the lyrics. Except for "We Didn’t Start The Fire". Which he deplores since it has no melody.
He loves Hendrix. But Stevie Winwood is his hero.
You’re listening and then he starts playing the intro for "Vienna"… Hell, he said the inspiration for "Scenes From An Italian Restaurant" was the second side of "Abbey Road". One time he asked Paul…were those really just unfinished songs, strung together? OF COURSE! "Scenes From An Italian Restaurant" was originally three unfinished songs.
Howard requested "Miami 2017".  That’s when I got into Billy. When he released live versions of the songs everybody had previously ignored. Unlike "Big Shot", which was about Bianca through the eyes of Mick!
Howard said it was the best experience he’d ever had on the radio.
"Better than the strippers?" Billy asked.
"Well…"
We live in an era where few can sing, few can play and if you can do the former, you can’t write. But Billy could do all three. He worked hard to get it right, to make it, back when you couldn’t fake it. Listen to this. You’ll be enraptured. When he puts his fingers on the keys nothing feels as good, no movie, no video game, only the touch of another person’s skin. That’s the power of music, its humanity.
Listen before they’re gone:
