Give the Piano Man some Credit

So I've recently been thinking (I know, thinking can be a very dangerous thing to do,) and I've come to the conclusion that Billy Joel should rank in the top five of American born recording artists. Seriously, think of four other American musicians/groups that rank ahead of Joel. Okay there's Elvis. That's a given. There's the Beach Boys. Then,(well not then in terms of rank per say, but just then) there's Johnny Cash. And there's Ray Charles. After that, who is there, really? Buddy Holly was great and he revolutionized rock'n roll, but his career was cut short. Then who??? Chuck Berry??? Michael Jackson??? Bruce Springsteen??? Jimi Hendrix??? The Doors??? Nirvana??? I would rank Billy Joel above all of them.

Take some time and go through Joel's entire repertoire. Sure, we all know about Piano Man and various songs on his greatest hits (New York State of Mind, We Didn't Start the Fire, Uptown Girl,) but many of his deep cuts are absolutely brilliant. I've been listening to his live performances throughout the 70's on youtube and I've got to say that they're some of the more impressive live performances I've ever heard. His virtuosic piano playing combined with impressive vocal control and entertaining audience interaction

In addition to his energetic live performances, Joel had (and still has) he's been able to produce quality music ranging in many decades and genres. For example, a few months ago I sang some karaoke with some friends. I believe over the course of the evening that four different Joel songs were played. They were all great songs, and they all sounded entirely different. Think about it. He wrote a ballad that won a Grammy for song of the year (Just the way you are (yes I'm adding parenthesis within parenthesis, but I thought you should know that I don't think that "Just the way you are" is close to his best ballad. Listen to She's got a Way, And so it Goes, or Lullaby and I think you'll agree.)), Mainstream Rock, Doo-Wop (Basically the Entire An Innocent Man Album,) jazzy pop, (Zanzibar in addition to New York State of Mind), and even country (Listen to the Piano Man album, there's banjos, and steel guitars in several of the tracks.) And he did them all well.

So I invite you to take a close look at what Joel has done (I would place emphasis on his first seven or eight albums) and compare it with some of the other American greats. I truly think you'll be surprised by the quality of Joel's music. You might not rank him in the top five like I have, but you'll probably walk away with a greater appreciation for him.

As a side note, I mistakenly omitted Joel's 2001 Album, Fantasies and Delusions. I think that this album is a perfect example of Joel's versatility. I mean how many times has a rock star released an album containing classical music that would fit just nicely in the Romantic Period???

A second side note, i apologize if you dislike my frequent use of parenthesis and hyperlinks, but that's just how I write.