Billy Joel: The Definitive Biography Paperback – November 17, 2015

This wonderfully written informative bio gives so much insight into Joel's life and how his real life experiences influenced his music. I couldn't put it down

Saw one of Billy's "franchise" appearances at MSG recently and it rejuvenated my interest in his career. Needless to say, the show was fantastic! It prompted me to purchase this book to learn more about his career.Mr. Schruers does a very good job filling in some gaps from previous "bios". I particularly appreciated Billy's roots and reminisces about his ancestors in Nazi Germany. Another positive was the inspiration for many of his hits. I felt the author dwelt too much on the financial problems of this rock icon in terms of rip-offs from managers, promoters, contractual entanglements, etc. Billy, in this respect, is no different than scores of other rock artists who were bilked and financially abused. I just finished reading about Ray Davies of the Kinks and histrials and tribulations in this respect. He devoted an album "Lola vs. Powerman" to his trials and tribulations with assorted unscrupulous promoters, managers, etc. Check out the songs "Moneygoround" and "Powerman". Even Billy would enjoy them.Things bog down occasionally and a very light touch is given to the sex, drugs and wrecks of touring. I guess it's a concession to Billy who pulled his own auto-bio just before publication.It was enlightening to hear of Billy's thoughts of performing at Medicare-age. God bless him. He wears a suit (a little too tight) and tie for his current shows and pulls no punches about who he is today on stage. No hair dye (no hair!), no fancy stage costumes, just straight out rock and roll from one of the world's most successful songwriters/performers. I hope he does a 100 concerts at MSG!

LA has James Taylor, the Midwest has Bob Seger, the south has John Fogerty. More locally, Brooklyn has Neil Diamond and Jersey has Bruce Springsteen, but on Long Island, our bard is unquestionably Billy Joel. His songs played from the cassette decks in our parents' cars and then they playedinto from our Sony Discmans. Our kids will stream them to whatever device they'll be using in the times to come.But the stories and the music they're set to will be the same - completely endemic to this place we live in. The music of Billy Joel is part of the soul of our existence here, as elemental as the beaches and the bagel stores, the east end and the south shore, the Five Towns and the Gold Coast.To learn the history of Billy's LI upbringing, his rise to fame and his frequent brushes with sorrow, this is the book you'll want to read. Schruers spent hundreds of hours in dozens of locales around the world with our subject, digging deep into the past and scouring archives worth of material to fill in any blanks from the musician's own recollection. Along the way, we get a Billy Joel's personal perspective on the big events of his life, along with his own true feelings about the people who made up his inner circle.This is a great read and lots of fun, despite Joel's apparent obsession with his own death and funeral arrangements - a subject he comes back to throughout the book. The highs and lows are all here, and in case that's not enough, there's also Christie Brinkley.Buy 'Billy Joel', you won't be disappointed.

This book is for fans. I grew up in Levittown as a baby boomer, too. Schruers did get one thing wrong. The local hangout wasn’t the Parkway Green. It was the Village Green as Joel mentions in one of his older songs, specifically the West Village Green (there was more than one). I haven’t read any other bios of Billy Joel and this one was pretty comprehensive going back to his grandparents. It went through the early days of struggle, his relationships, friendships with other musicians, the inspiration for many of his popular songs, and up to 2016. There were lots of insights from Billy himself and pictures. It’s obvious that he loves what he does and is a gifted songwriter and musician. Rock on, Bill!

The author is primarily a magazine writer and the book reads like one. Interesting tidbits that I never knew about various aspects in Billy's life but never in any depth or detail that left me satisfied. I would have liked to know more about the family history, his father and even his siblings, sort of just a passing chapter on them. It's a quick easy read but again it is like reading a magazine article, I expected more.

The author tries to make up for a shortage of personal details (Joel is fiercely private) by telling every possible detail about everyone who ever worked in a band with Joel. The book should be sold as the definitive history of Billy Joel's backup band. We also gets lots of pre-mentions of future events waaaay out of sequence - resulting in a good deal of needless repetition. Not terrible but not great.

Just about everything you could want to know about his life (up until 2014). You learn about his ancestors, and their fight to survive in Nazi Germany. His father wasn't the happiest or kindest man, which is understandable, given his life experiences. Told Billy at a young age "life is a cesspool". Imagine hearing that from your father!We learn why Billy has such affection for women, and why his marriages ended in divorce.Great details on his sour outlook on the music industry (especially the bad record deals & financial rip-offs) , and troubles with management (i.e. his ex brother-in-law from his first marriage).Great insights into his many struggles, and inspirations for many of his classic songs.If you really want to know what made Billy the legendary musician he is, and the very kind, warm-hearted and generous man he is, this book will tell you more than could have ever imagined.

bello la storia di un bravo musicista come billy joel che racconta la sua vita,.straordinario

Seems to have been a library book previously, benefits are it came with a good plastic cover, excellent condition with 'DISCARD' stamped in ink on the inside front page but not obtrusive. Haven't finished reading all of it yet but so far very well written , informative with many black and white photos.Overall a bargain offering a saving on the brand new item.

I love this book!! I'm a big Billy Joel fan and have never seen a biography of him....until now. I almost bought this book in a bookstore (won't say the name, but, you can sit down and read any book, as long as you want.) however, they only had three copies and, believe it or not, all three were "damaged" (bent covers). Now, I am one person who will never buy a book that has been manhandled, one way or another. I enjoy the experience of reading a book that has never been read by anyone, if the book is wrapped in plastic, even better!Anyway, this book is great, tells a lot about the man, especially his childhood. The stories on his music are very interesting as well.I highly recommend it. By the way, when I received the book from Amazon, the cover (and the rest of the book) was in excellent shape. Thanks, Amazon. Great work, as usual.

flüssig geschrieben, trotzdem gute Englischkenntnisse erforderlich. Gute Übung, um die Sprache zu verbessern.Papier könnte besser sein. Umweltpapier? wirkt etwas billig.

I'm a Billy Joel fan from way back and I loved this book. Although it jumped quite a bit which I felt was too much sometimes, it was still well written and it filled in a lot of gaps for me as a fan.