Piano Man

Piano Man is a pop album by Billy Joel, released in 1973 (see 1973 in music). The title track is one of Joel's signature songs, and remains a concert standard. Piano Man emerged out of legal difficulties with Joel's label and became his breakthrough album.

In 1974, the single "Piano Man", a fictionalized retelling of Joel's days as a lounge singer in New York City, peaked at #25 on Billboard's Pop Singles chart, and at #4 on the Adult Contemporary singles chart. "Travelin' Prayer" and "Worse Comes to Worst" peaked at #77 and #80, respectively, on the Pop Singles chart, while the album hit #27 on the Pop Albums chart.

Track listing

1. Travelin' Prayer (Joel) - 4:10
2. Piano Man (Joel) - 5:37
3. Ain't No Crime (Joel) - 3:20
4. You're My Home (Joel) - 3:14
5. The Ballad of Billy the Kid (Joel) - 5:35
6. Worse Comes to Worst (Joel) - 3:28
7. Stop in Nevada (Joel) - 3:40
8. If I Only Had the Words (To Tell You) (Joel) - 3:35
9. Somewhere Along the Line (Joel) - 3:17
10. Captain Jack (Joel) - 6:55

Personnel

• Billy Joel - Harmonica, Keyboards, Vocals, Producer
• Larry Carlton - Guitar
• Eric Weissberg - Banjo
• Billy Armstrong - Violin
• Richard Bennett - Guitar
• Rhys Clark - Drums
• Laura Creamer - Vocals
• Mark Creamer - Vocals
• Wilton Felder - Bass, Keyboards
• Emory Gordy - Bass
• Fred Heilbrun - Banjo
• Ted Jensen - Remastering
• Ron Malo - Engineer
• Michael Omartian - Accordion, Arranger
• Dean Parks - Guitar
• Susan Steward - Vocals
• Michael Stewart - Producer
• Ron Tutt - Drums
• Beverly Parker - Design