Piano Man - Definition and Overview

Piano Man is a pop album by Billy Joel, released in 1973 (see 1973 in music). The title track is one of Joel's signature songs, and remains a concert standard. Piano Man, Joel's second album and his first with Columbia Records, emerged out of legal difficulties with his former label and became his breakthrough album.

The single "Piano Man", a fictionalized retelling of Joel's days as a lounge singer in Los Angeles, peaked at #25 on Billboard's Pop Singles chart, and at #4 on the Adult Contemporary singles chart. "Travelin' Prayer" and "Worse Comes to Worst" peaked at #77 and #80, respectively, on the Pop Singles chart, while the album hit #27 on the Pop Albums chart.

Track listing

all songs by Billy Joel

1. "Travelin' Prayer" - 4:10
2. "Piano Man" - 5:37
3. "Ain't No Crime" - 3:20
4. "You're My Home" - 3:14
5. "The Ballad of Billy the Kid" - 5:35
6. "Worse Comes to Worst" - 3:28
7. "Stop in Nevada" - 3:40
8. "If I Only Had the Words (To Tell You)" - 3:35
9. "Somewhere Along the Line" - 3:17
10. "Captain Jack" - 6:55

Personnel

• Billy Joel - harmonica, keyboards, vocals
• Larry Carlton - guitar
• Eric Weissberg - banjo
• Billy Armstrong - violin
• Richard Bennett - guitar
• Rhys Clark - drums
• Laura Creamer - vocals
• Mark Creamer - vocals
• Wilton Felder - bass, keyboards
• Emory Gordy - bass
• Fred Heilbrun - banjo
• Michael Omartian - accordion
• Dean Parks - guitar
• Susan Steward - vocals
• Ron Tutt - drums

Production

• Producer: Michael Stewart
• Engineer: Ron Malo
• Remastering: Ted Jensen
• Arranger: Michael Omartian
• Design: Beverly Parker

Charts

Album

Singles