Billy Joel's Early Retirement From The Studio

I have been mystified for years by the choice Billy made to stop recording studio albums in 1993 and stick with just touring (except for that classical album...which he didn't even play on). I respect him if he truly felt creativity exhausted, but he was only one album removed from Storm Front at the time, which was a huge success, and his final album, River Of Dreams, was still a modest commercial success.

Do you think that Billy still had or has enough in the tank to produce good studio work? I realize that his voice might betray him at this point, but unlike his former touring partner Elton J., at least he hasn't released album after album of medeocrity in the past 25 years.

 

It takes guts to quit while you are ahead. I admire him for that. Most people have such rampant egos and are surrounded by so many yes men (and women) that they fail to realise that their best work is behind them and blindly carry on promoting their own mediocrity. This decision does not mean that he is no longer creative, who knows after he as gone we may discover that there is 30-40 years of material in the vaults. Clearly he felt that the time was right to slow down and why not? We only get one chance at life after all.

 

I wish he'd do one more album at least.
He could make a groovy 'Jaz'z record of new compositions!

 

Without being involved or having it documented we can only speculate and make educated guesses. Betrayal is the reason I would guess. After he found out about how much money his manager stole from him he decided he wasn't going to play the game anymore. He had made Storm Front. He fires all the guys in his band except Liberty and records River of Dreams. Contractual Album? He claims it was meant to be his farewell album. But the band were also his magic, they could turn his sketches into full songs. Billy betrays the band, no band no magic. It's also possible that he wouldn't own future songwriting royalties so why bother. Just speculation here but there was bad management. So just go out year after year and make money on tour.

 

Good points. I think Billy was screwed over by at least TWO different managers if I recall correctly. Was his ex brother-in-law the one who Billy sued in that time period?

 

I applaud Billy Joel for walking away from recording as he knew that his songwriting muse had left him and he had nothing left to prove.

Some often forget that Billy did give us one more song in 2007, which he wrote for the CD single only release called "All My Life" on Columbia and produced by the late Phil Ramone. It was a decent little song (especially if you are a fan of the likes of Sinatra), but it was far removed from the greatness of his past. I'm still not sure just why he cut this song and donned the Sinatra hat while doing it, especially if this was to be his final recording?

 

Mark Knopfler says pfff.

 

He has said multiple times that he was disillusioned by the poor reception that "River of Dreams" received and just didn't see the point of recording anything new anymore.

 

It was a #1 album (to be fair, not that charts mean much of anything), but sold 5 million copies (more than Storm Front, according to the RIAA, although that one was pre-Soundscan), and the title track was a huge hit. And 1993 was a very unfavorable cultural environment for someone like Billy: he did better than Elton's The One, Phil Collins' Both Sides, Macca's Off The Ground, etc. It got nominated for a bunch of Grammys (unfortunately the same year The Bodyguard happened) and the title track is one of his best-known songs.

I can't see any way that album's reception was deemed as "poor," aside from maybe critics, who never liked Billy Joel to begin with, so that wasn't new.

 

I wish that a lot of other artists had retired with him (Dylan, Neil Young, Springsteen, Elton John). Billy Joel is great, and he made the right decision. He has a solid, concise body of work.

 

Pulling his autobiography was something that nobody can figure out unless the publisher thought it was weak and they both said to do it later.

 

Which was disappointing to me because I found River of Dreams to be more interesting than anything he'd done since The Nylon Curtain. I thought working with other musicians allowed him some creative flexibility. On the other hand, you could see where he was repeating himself a bit on some of the lesser tracks.

If he felt he had nothing left to prove, more power to him.

 

Sorry but what he have to do with this subject?

 

Billy Joel's Retirement from Pop/Rock

 

Thank You!!

 

he has everything to do with the subject.

 

If someone could explain that to me...that would be great.

 

It was more that he thought it was one of his best albums and, although it sold okay, he expected it to be one of his BIGGEST SELLERS EVER!!

And when it wasn't he just said "screw you" to the prospect of recording anything more.

Thing is, I agree with him. From start to finish, that might be his most cohesive, strongest album overall.

 

I just got an autographed copy of this one, while we wait for Billy's

 

Thats what I thought. Lol

 

I found this to be a very well done interview...Billy seems very honest and sincere in outlining the reasons for his retirement:

Billy Joel on His Songwriting Silence, the Country Today, and His Ideal Farewell

 

Yep. Not a stinker in the bunch. In fact my LEAST fave album of his is the most popular, An Innocent Man (although I do love the title track). That's only because I don't want to hear doo wop, R&B, and Frankie Valli impressions from Billy Joel.

I did love his punk impression from a few years prior tho.

 

Knopfler won't retire from the studio until he stops breathing. More or less.

 

Yeah theres a lot of em like that.

 

I wasn't a huge fan of RoD, so I think he was wise to call it quits. He himself has said numerous times he was done, had nothing more to say. I do respect him for not continuing to crank out music if he wasn't into it. That he continues to draw huge crowds in stadiums is a testament to the strength of his catalog.