As the
single from the album,
Piano Man,
has a special place in my heart, I used something unique; instead of
the standard LP recording as my tribute, I'm using this 1986, 6
LP Box set,
Mawell House Coffee & J.C. Penny Presents "The Piano Man".
The
exterior of the boxed set is completely black and blank; totally devoid of information, print or
graphics. I don't know if there is any other album set
like this; albums, yes, box sets?
The set is an interview with
Billy Joel as well as him playing some of his
music. It includes the breaks for commercials from
Mawell House Coffee and
J. C. Penney, as well as program notes. These records setup to play 3 hours continuously with a total of 6
hours.
box set front cover
The program notes declare, "
Piano Man is a fictionalized retelling of Joel's experiences with people he met as a lounge singer in
Los Angeles."
In the sixties I had a friend, John, who sang and played piano in elegant
hotel lobby lounge bars in the
SF Bay Area and
San Diego.
I remember sitting at the bar in a lounge on the 20th floor at the top of a hotel and seeing the planes fly
BY the window, NOT over the hotel, as they landed at nearby
San Diego International. Scary!
John was handsome and had curly hair that hung over his forehead and eyes,
one of which looked the other way when he looked at you. It completely
intrigued me as possibly the hair had something to do with the wandering
eye. I hung out with him, eventually found out, no, and got a peak
behind the piano man mask; he was an interesting man.
I spent hours sipping
Jack Daniels and singing, along with everybody in the bar, the
standards and
musicals
of the day that he played and had a grand old time. As I
was in my early twenties and hadn't learned to pace myself yet, there were times
when the day after wasn't so grand, but that's another story. So, when
Piano Man
came along I had a personal connection to it and could relate to its
message. With a piano, a
harmonica and sincere lyrics (
link below) sung lustily by Joel, the song captured the feeling of that time of my life.
The
original version of the song with Joel at the piano and singing, as
well as a terrific version of him performing with Elton John are on
YouTube (
links below).
box set back cover
There are cue sheets of the 6 hour program
about the material and information on the recordings for radio
programming included with the set. On the first page there is a note directed to station
managers with this warning:
"Discretionary note to Managers
The
word “masterbate” is used in the song “Captain Jack” in hour one,
segment three, and although it is difficult to decipher, Billy sings
“fucking fool” in the song “Laura” in hour five, segment one.
If
you want to edit out these words, it can be done by dubbing the record
to tape and removing the words, editing the phrase, or inserting it
backwards to keep the flow.
Both songs have been
played over the years in their entirely, but only you know your audience
and the time of day the program will be aired. Sorry for any
inconvenience in this matter."
(I thought that was great!)
cue sheet, page 1
hour 1: cue sheet & record, side 1 & 2
hour 2: cue sheet & record, side 1 & 2
hour 3: cue sheet & record, side 1 & 2
hour 4: cue sheet & record, side 1 & 2
hour 5: cue sheet & record, side 1 & 2
hour 6: cue sheet & record, side 1 & 2