Billy Joel's Early Retirement From The Studio

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Autotune Sucks, Aug 11, 2020.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. graveyardboots

    graveyardboots Resident Patient

    Location:
    Atlanta, GA, USA
    I'm paraphrasing because I don't have the exact quote at my fingertips but Keith Richards once said something along the lines of, "who are you to tell me to stop playing with my band?" Aside from possibly Some Girls and maybe even Tattoo You, the Stones' best material was put in vinyl by the early 70s. But for fans of the band, even if they concede that they never made another Sticky Fingers or Exile on Main Street, there's still material beyond those landmark albums that speaks to them.

    Neil Young is an interesting case study. He was virtually unstoppable throughout his first decade or so of recording with most everything up through Rust Never Sleeps being a bona fide classic. Very few people would put up much of an argument for the 80s. But had he retired following his original '60s - '70s run, fans would have been robbed of a brilliant resurgence in the late '80s through mid '90s (Freedom, Ragged Glory, Harvest Moon, and, to a slightly lesser degree, Sleeps with Angels and Broken Arrow are all light years ahead of what he was doing in the '80s).

    Similarly, Dylan's '80s material is typically not regarded with the same reverence as his classic '60s material or Blood on the Tracks but, had he packed it in as a young man, fans would not have had a chance to marvel in his surprising late career comeback with terrific albums like Time Out of Mind and Love and Theft.

    Springsteen's post-Tunnel of Love albums have typically been uneven affairs but there are a few worthy contenders like The Ghost of Tom Joad, Magic and last year's Western Stars and, while some of his other albums may be less sturdy, there's typically a handful of high caliber tracks scattered throughout each one.

    I'm afraid I can't speak to Elton John's output, as I'm really only a fan of his early to mid '70s material. Still, there aren't many examples of him putting out genuinely embarrassing albums that will in any way harm his legacy.

    If you're talking about professional athletes, that's a bit different and I'd be much more apt to agree. But artists? I don't know. Maybe I'm making your point for you but, if you're a fan of the artist, you tend to get excited about each new release even if it ultimately won't necessarily have the same resonance as the earlier, classic material. And if artists continue to release material because that's their passion and that's what they do, then who are we to tell Keith Richards to stop playing with his band?
     
  2. Chemically altered

    Chemically altered Forum Resident

    Location:
    Ukraine in Spirit
    But few of Knopfler's quality.
     
    Bill Mac likes this.
  3. Instant Dharma

    Instant Dharma Dude/man

    Location:
    CoCoCo, Ca
    The last ones I heard were Ragpickers Dream and the Emmylou Harris album and those were very good to great.
     
  4. Chemically altered

    Chemically altered Forum Resident

    Location:
    Ukraine in Spirit
    Yes, that's the point. He keeps putting out high quality albums.
     
    Bill Mac likes this.
  5. JamesRR

    JamesRR Trashcan Dream

    Location:
    NYC
    Adding some humor to this - Stephen Colbert asked Billy (on an appearance a few years ago) why he doesn't make more albums, saying that Elton said he should. And Billy replied, "I told Elton he should make less albums."
     
    poe_man, Hep Alien, ARK and 3 others like this.
  6. Billy Joel "retired" 25+ years ago but he said it best 45+ years ago:

    I am the entertainer and I know just where I stand
    Another serenader with another long haired band
    Today I am the champion, I may have won your hearts
    But I know the game
    You'll forget my name
    I won't be here
    In another year
    If I don't stay on the charts


    Funny thing, in the same song he mentions getting put out back in the discount rack like another can of beans. I first bought that album as a budget CD at a service station. At the time it cost the same as a CD single.
     
  7. kwadguy

    kwadguy Senior Member

    Location:
    Cambridge, MA
    Thanks for posting that video. I didn't know there was a video. It's a slow song, pretty much exactly in the Sinatra mold, and I think it goes on a bit longer than it should, but over time it has grown on me a bit. Certainly not anywhere near Joel's best work, though.
     
    Hep Alien likes this.
  8. kwadguy

    kwadguy Senior Member

    Location:
    Cambridge, MA

    And some, like Jimi Hendrix, won't retire even after they stop breathing.
     
  9. kwadguy

    kwadguy Senior Member

    Location:
    Cambridge, MA
    Cass Dillon sang the only studio version of Joel's last released song, Christmas in Fallujah. Joel picked Cass Dillion to perform it. There's a Joel live take on the song, done after Dillon's version was released. Here's Dillon's version. It's pretty decent, though uncharacteristically political for Joel. If Joel has/had songs of this caliber left in him, it's a shame he quit.

     
    Last edited: Aug 12, 2020
    Hep Alien and mrjinks like this.
  10. mbrownp1

    mbrownp1 Forum Resident

    An effing great post.

    I have to point them out when I read them, as there are so precious few of them around here.
     
    KatCassidy and Vic_1957 like this.
  11. pseudopod

    pseudopod Dig Yourself

    Location:
    Winnipeg, Manitoba
    mrjinks and mbrownp1 like this.
  12. mbrownp1

    mbrownp1 Forum Resident

    Enjoy!

    For more insight, look up the full interview Billy did w Howard Stern in 2014. Fascinating.
     
    JamesRR and pseudopod like this.
  13. Instant Dharma

    Instant Dharma Dude/man

    Location:
    CoCoCo, Ca
    Zappa has several new releases each year, not just the same old albums getting reissued, brand new stuff no ones ever heard.
     
  14. pseudopod

    pseudopod Dig Yourself

    Location:
    Winnipeg, Manitoba
    Yes, I heard that one, and you're right. Another good one.
     
    mbrownp1 likes this.
  15. Chris C

    Chris C Music was my first love and it will be my last!

    Location:
    Ohio
    You are welcome!
     
  16. Autotune Sucks

    Autotune Sucks Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Little Rock, AR
    Billy hit on a home truth more than he probably intended to. Elton's reputation, legendary as it is, would be even brighter if he had stopped throwing product out in the marketplace starting in the late '70's and released albums stuffed with good songs when they were ready. I mean...ay least Billy' s catalog isn't full of bland dogs like Victim Of Love, Ice On Fire, Leather Jackets, The Big Picture, etc, etc.
     
  17. kwadguy

    kwadguy Senior Member

    Location:
    Cambridge, MA
    But what artist sits on his work until he has "enough"? If they record 12,15,20 songs, they're gonna put them out as an album and move on.

    The idea that Elton might have turned down his release pace by half and still recorded (or written) as much material, so that he'd have had 2x the material to choose from, is a pipe dream. If he'd reduced his release schedule, he probably would have just recorded half as much, with the same hit/miss ratio as before.

    It's true that someone probably should have said no to Elton when it came to Victim of Love or Leather Jackets. But, beyond those, he has very few "oh, if he had never recorded this album, no one would have missed it at all" releases.
     
    Hep Alien and mrjinks like this.
  18. DirkM

    DirkM Forum Resident

    Location:
    MA, USA
    I've always found it curious when people wish that an artist had released less music. I guess there's an argument to be made that new fans could be overwhelmed by a massive discography, but for someone who already loves an artist, you can never get too much. Even if you have to wade through nine duds to get at one gem, it's well worth the time.
     
    Trader Joe and walrus like this.
  19. walrus

    walrus Staring into nothing

    Location:
    Nashville
    I wish they had more guitar playing on them though (and were more reasonable lengths). Objectively they're all "high quality" but I struggle to get through the most recent ones.

    I mean, I grew up with 90's Stones, so I'm more biased here, but I wouldn't want to live in a world without latter-day Stones albums. You kinda have to sort through the filler and pick and choose the tunes you really click with, but I'm so glad those tunes are there.
     
  20. Bill Mac

    Bill Mac Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    I totally agree. I'm a huge Mark Knopfler fan whether it be his solo work or that with Dire Straits. I saw Dire Straits once and Mark solo three times. Each show was unique in it's own right and all were totally enjoyable. I'm glad that many other artists from the 70's and 80's that are still putting out music and touring.
     
  21. Rick Bartlett

    Rick Bartlett Forum Resident

    As the years go by, it will be less likely Billy will ever deliver a new album.
    He has pretty strong opinions like Don Henley on the music industry, record sales, streaming services,
    the toughness for artists to make money from their craft.
    Still, for a fan, it would be neat to see a project periodically from him in some form.
    Such a great talent, and maybe he is wise to have left on a high,
    and perhaps we will never know...
     
    Shvartze Shabbos likes this.
  22. Alert

    Alert Forum Resident

    Location:
    Great River, NY
    I look at Billy's retirement from recording as being a bit like Wladimir Klitschko's departure from boxing; never has a heavyweight champion retired from the sport with so much money and so little damage to his cranium. Hardcore fans were frustrated that he didn't subject himself to more life-or-death struggles but -- in the long run -- anyone who gets out of that business with his brains unscrambled and millions in his bank account has WON!
     
    TheLoveDrags and Rick Bartlett like this.
  23. Musical Chairs

    Musical Chairs Forum Resident

    Respect him for doing it. Suspect he had at least one more album in him.
     
    Hep Alien and ARK like this.
  24. AFOS

    AFOS Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brisbane,Australia
    Yes some artists would benefit from releasing less albums - quality > quantity. George Harrison released Cloud Nine which came five years after his previous album.
     
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.

Share This Page

molar-endocrine