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My wife and I saw him back in '89/'90 (Stormfront Tour, "We Didn't Start the Fire") at the Philly Spectrum. We scalped tickets in the parking lot and its the one time I didn't look closely at them before buying. Running late, show was starting... Turns out 1 was for lower level, the other was for 2nd level. Figured no problem, everyone will be standing anyway so we go to the lower level seat, standing for a few minutes, Joel comes on and starts and eveyone sits. Couldn't believe it. So my wife spent the show sitting on my lap and no one bothered us.
Probably based on how you judge a songwriter if it is by the success they have 100 million albums sold is pretty good.
I like his stuff. I don't where he'd rate as that's a complex question I would have to put some thought into.
Can you read sheet music? That'd be the first question. If you can or you can learn quickly, you can learn a Joel song at a slower pace but if you just stick to that song, you should be able to perfect it. Practice it over and over and over.
Based on that standard we might have to rank Beyonce as one of the greatest songwriters ever. For me she's not. It's pretty subjective I suppose. Personally for modern songwriting I've got:
You're not blown away by the sophisticated musings of Uptown Girl or the poetry of We Didn't Start the Fire?
You can probably play a good 50% of his song with a chord chart and feel the rest if you have any musicial ability at all fairly quickly. There really are only a few of his songs that you need to be proficient at the piano to have to deal with. Like Angry Young Man for example. But, for a taste - check out the piano music to I go Extremes, My Life and Goodnight Siagon. Those three songs give you a sense of the basics of his piano playing in songs that you can either just play the chord chart and improvise throughout or actually play whats written - and either way they are fairly simple.
Never thought about it to be able to debate it now. My initial instinct though is to say that Paul Simon... you are probably right. Springsteen not a chance in hell. Don't get me wrong I'm from Jersey and so my DNA is hardwired to like Bruce and I do. But as a songwriter Bruce isn't close to Billy in my opinion. I know critics love Bruce a hell of a lot more than they ever will love Billy, which is a shame. In the end, both did a great deal with music for blue collar music lovers in their time. I don't think Bruce's stuff has aged well though. To me. Humble opinion. I still like it, but continuing a theme I started here regarding XM - I would never spend the day listening to an all Bruce station. I'd have to turn it off after awhile.
How about Burt Bacharach? I think you may be stunned how many songs he wrote you know by heart and likely sing along with when they come on. Obviously once we get into writers it gets real subjective. And some will always pull a couple of songs out of the context of the album they were on and point/laugh. But there are writers you have likely never heard of( I assume you heard of Burt) that have written a ton of great music. And not all of them were the performers of those songs. So that's why i said this is a much more complex question than some realize and it takes some real thought.
Bacharach is a great songwriter but he's never been a lyricist. He's collaborated with others (most notably Hal David) on the words.
I never get the hate for Uptown Girl. Throughout much of his albums he paid tribute to the music he listened to growing up. That song was a tribute to Frankie Vallie and that type of modern doowop sound. In that it was a very good song.
Huge fan of Burt. And of Carole King. And Neil Diamond. I love them all, but I also group them together as professional songwriters, closer to Irving Berlin than to Dylan or Springsteen. Which is no insult. But not quite in my fist tier.
I've been playing guitar for 30 years and cannot play a single chord on the piano. It just feels so awkward. I tried learning Werewolves of London. Three simple chords and I felt like a Parkinson's patient.
Tori Amos is younger generation? Hasn't she been around for over 20 years now?
Awesome! I saw him and Elton a few years back and it was great.
Great to hear his voice is in fine form again. Like I said. The last time I saw him in the early 2000's he looked and sounded done.
Saw him twice last year, both fantastic shows... Good enough that I'm going back for a third.
Who keeps their word these days? I need honesty from places like my lawyer, my doctor, my representative in Congress and my wife. Instead I get it from XM. The terrorists won.Not sure your point? It was billed a limited run channel from the beginning.
I saw him at the new Braves stadium in April, great show.
We saw him at Madison Square Garden in May. First time seeing him in concert and it was great. There were 4-5 songs where he named 2 and let the audience choose which one he would do. He talked a little bit between songs but nothing excessive.
