The Tribeca Festival’s opening-night premiere of the upcoming HBO documentary “Billy Joel: And So It Goes” was marked, in part, by the absence of Billy Joel himself. Late last month, the musician announced that he was canceling all of his upcoming concerts because of a brain disorder called normal pressure hydrocephalus, which has led to problems with his hearing, vision and balance.
After Robert De Niro called Joel “the poet laureate of New York” and helped introduce the film with a dramatic reading of some of his lyrics (“He works at Mr. Cacciatore’s down on Sullivan Street,” he intoned), one of the film’s co-directors, Susan Lacy, told the Beacon Theater audience that Joel sent his greetings — with typical wry humor: “In fact, he said, ‘Getting old sucks, but it’s still preferable to getting cremated.’” The audience roared with laughter. On a note of encouragement, Lacy said Joel “will be back.”
The crowd broke out into applause throughout the screening, which included just the first part of the two-part film. It still ran nearly two and a half hours as it covered Joel’s childhood and rise to fame through his infamous 1982 motorcycle accident. (To put that in perspective: It doesn’t get to the writing of “Uptown Girl.” No Christie Brinkley yet.)
There are pictures and footage of early Joel performances and stories about the surprisingly robust Long Island rock scene of the 1960s. But “Part One” is largely an intimate portrait of Joel’s relationship with his first wife, Elizabeth Weber, who would eventually become his manager, and it elevates her to a starring role in his life. It also features a host of stories about the making of some of his best-known songs, and tidbits about his Long Island obstinance. Here’s some of what we learned.
As Joel’s relationship with Weber first foundered, he attempted suicide twice.
Joel and Weber’s relationship began in dramatic fashion: She was married to Jon Small, Joel’s early bandmate, and had a son with him. Joel and Small first played together in a group named the Hassles, then broke off to start a Led Zeppelin-inspired metal outfit called Attila. (An album cover shoot featuring a longhaired Joel standing amid sides of raw beef, wearing fur, is something to behold.) Eventually, Joel fell in love with Weber, but when a guilt-ridden Joel shared his feelings with Small, he got punched in the nose and Weber left.
Despondent, Joel overdosed on pills and was in a coma for days. His sister, Judy Molinari, who had provided the pills to help him sleep, recounts her guilt onscreen. “I felt that I killed him,” she says. Joel drank a bottle of furniture polish in another attempt on his life. After moving back into his mother’s house, he checked into an observation ward where his own struggles were put into perspective. From there he started to channel his feelings into music, and the songs that he wrote as a result of the experience would become his first solo album, “Cold Spring Harbor.” After about a year, Weber re-entered his life.
A bad contract led to a pseudonym and Joel’s signature song, ‘Piano Man.’
The early days of Joel’s solo career were defined by a predatory contract he entered with Artie Ripp of Family Productions, who botched the release of “Cold Spring Harbor” (it was pressed at an incorrect speed, turning Joel into a chipmunk). Joel and Weber moved to Los Angeles to find a way out of the deal, and Joel started entertaining the barflies at a spot called the Executive Room to make money. Because of Ripp’s claims to his music, Joel couldn’t use his real name, so he played under the pseudonym Bill Martin. (His full name is William Martin Joel.) His time there became the inspiration for “Piano Man.” (The waitress practicing politics? That was Weber.)
In a pyrrhic twist, despite the fact that Joel later jumped ship to Columbia Records, Ripp still received a hefty chunk of the royalties from the song. The success of “Piano Man” led to another of his beloved tracks — “The Entertainer,” where he griped about the music industry, which the music industry did not love. (“I’m doing well, let me screw this up somehow,” he recalled of the time.)
Joel turned down working with the Beatles’ producer George Martin.
“And So It Goes” consistently highlights Joel’s loyalty to his people. The producer James William Guercio wanted him to use Elton John’s backing band for his album “Turnstiles,” a suggestion that frustrated Joel because he was tired of being compared to the English pianist. (When you hear a sample of John’s band playing on a Joel track, you can understand why it didn’t work out.) Instead, Joel assembled his own musicians, a crew of authentic New Yorkers. After failing to find a manager who would truly look out for his interests, Weber took on the role and guided him through some of the most pivotal years of his career.
After the release of “Turnstiles,” the Beatles’ studio wizard George Martin came to see the band live. He said he would produce Joel’s next album, but wanted to use studio musicians. Joel turned him down. (“Love me, love my band,” he says.) The decision led to his first collaboration with the producer Phil Ramone. The record they made was “The Stranger,” Joel’s biggest studio LP to date.
Weber is the reason ‘Just the Way You Are’ is a hit.
Joel wasn’t sure about putting the love song “Just the Way You Are” on “The Stranger,” but some of the ballad’s early supporters were Phoebe Snow and Linda Ronstadt. Its biggest champion, however, was Weber, who was also its inspiration.
After a listening party for “The Stranger,” the room was silent: Label executives thought that there was no obvious single. Weber put her foot down. The label picked “Movin’ Out (Anthony’s Song)” as the first single; she was the one that chose “Just the Way You Are” as the second, propelling Joel to a new level of fame. That popularity also tested their relationship, however. In her role as manager, Weber had to act as an authority figure threatening the band’s good time. Still, in the documentary, she challenges the notion that a song like “Stiletto,” about a troubled marriage, is misogynistic — even though she seems exasperated discussing it. Tiring of Joel’s substance abuse, Weber left him both as manager and wife around the time of the motorcycle accident.
Joel’s peers have high praise for him.
The documentary, executive produced by Tom Hanks and others, is filled with Joel’s peers gushing about his talent. Paul McCartney says “Just the Way You Are” is the song he wishes he had written. Nas praises the mirrored structure of “Piano Man.” And Bruce Springsteen, who relates to Joel as a bridge-and-tunnel artist, discusses how Joel’s melodies are better than his own because of Joel’s Tin Pan Alley and Broadway influences. Other talking heads include John Mellencamp, Jackson Browne and Pink, who says that when “Piano Man” starts up, that’s simply what you’re doing for the next five minutes.
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