Long Island Man
Long Island Man
The mid-1960s was an exceptional time for rock music. Many different kinds of rock, from a more bebop sound to psychedelic, from folksy to hard rock, were beginning to develop and Long Island was in the forefront. The first band to make it to the national charts was the Young Rascals1 and soon others were trying to make their mark. “Long Island became a hotbed of blue-eyed soul bands of all stripes. Long Island was the soul counter to the West Coast psychedelic counterculture.”2 One of the great popular singer-songwriter-composers who came out of this rock revolution is Billy Joel, a native Long Islander, who holds the record as the “…sixth best-selling recording artist and the third best-selling solo artist in the United States…”3 The number of platinum albums and singles are so numerous that it is difficult to keep track, but the great majority of his albums and singles went platinum, and often several times over. Only the Beatles have more platinum sales for albums.4 Billy Joel is a proud son of Long Island; he could live anywhere in the world, but he chooses to live in, work, and perform right here. “I have a Long Island point of view…the more I traveled, the more I felt ‘This is where I’m from. I’m from this island that sticks out to the east of New York City…it’s an island and we’re isolated from everything else; we’re with each other. We all rub off on each other, for better or worse.’”5 In fact, the first album Billy Joel released in 1971 is called Cold Spring Harbor, and he continues to be apart of Long Island and especially its environment ever since.6 Billy Joel was born in the Bronx on May 9, 1949. The family moved to Levittown when he was just a little boy. Joel notes that he began to study the piano when he was only four years old.7 Billy Joel grew up in the 1950s, a time when music was changing drastically. In 1951, a man by the name of Alan Freed coined a new term for the rhythm and blues music that was beginning
The mid-1960s was an exceptional time for rock music. Many different kinds of rock, from a more bebop sound to psychedelic, from folksy to hard rock, were beginning to develop and Long Island was in the forefront. The first band to make it to the national charts was the Young Rascals1 and soon others were trying to make their mark. “Long Island became a hotbed of blue-eyed soul bands of all stripes. Long Island was the soul counter to the West Coast psychedelic counterculture.”2 One of the great popular singer-songwriter-composers who came out of this rock revolution is Billy Joel, a native Long Islander, who holds the record as the “…sixth best-selling recording artist and the third best-selling solo artist in the United States…”3 The number of platinum albums and singles are so numerous that it is difficult to keep track, but the great majority of his albums and singles went platinum, and often several times over. Only the Beatles have more platinum sales for albums.4 Billy Joel is a proud son of Long Island; he could live anywhere in the world, but he chooses to live in, work, and perform right here. “I have a Long Island point of view…the more I traveled, the more I felt ‘This is where I’m from. I’m from this island that sticks out to the east of New York City…it’s an island and we’re isolated from everything else; we’re with each other. We all rub off on each other, for better or worse.’”5 In fact, the first album Billy Joel released in 1971 is called Cold Spring Harbor, and he continues to be apart of Long Island and especially its environment ever since.6 Billy Joel was born in the Bronx on May 9, 1949. The family moved to Levittown when he was just a little boy. Joel notes that he began to study the piano when he was only four years old.7 Billy Joel grew up in the 1950s, a time when music was changing drastically. In 1951, a man by the name of Alan Freed coined a new term for the rhythm and blues music that was beginning
Bibliography: Bordowitz, Hank. Billy Joel. New York: Billboard Books, 2005.