What The Hell Happened To... 04.28.08: Billy Joel - Streetlife Serenade

Posted by Dan Marsicano on 04.28.2008

This week, Dan is taking a look at another selection from Billy Joel's extensive catalog with 1974's Streetlife Serenade. Joel's previous album, Piano Man, garnished Joel some much deserved attention. Yet, why did this album do poorly?

The Introduction

I'm getting one step closer to the end of the school semester and what better way to get the ball rolling than another edition of What The Hell Happened To.

Last week, I looked at Deep Purple's Bananas, which received a decent response; considering this is Deep Purple we're talking about. Since I'm in a groove, why not continue a look at classic artists by dwelling into the extensive catalog of Billy Joel's?

Longtime readers of the column know that one of my first columns was on Billy Joel's Cold Spring Harbor, which was Billy Joel's first album and probably the most underrated one in his catalog. The 1970's were a great time for Joel, with albums like Piano Man, Turnstiles, and The Stranger becoming successful over time. However, the 1970's wasn't all about success for Joel.

There was another album that, like Cold Spring Harbor, was overlooked and thrown to the side. 1974's Streetlife Serenade should have been a huge success. Joel was riding high on Piano Man, released just a year prior, but something happened. Joel was getting sick of the L.A music scene, longing to go back home to New York City, and was cynical towards music critics who bashed his work and the music industry, which screwed him out of money left and right.

All of these feeling and pent up emotions were on display in Streetlife Serenade and people didn't react as well to the angrier side of Joel. The album sold decently, but would only have one single, which barely reached the top 40, and Joel would express his disappointment with the album. The only songs played live these days from the album are "The Entertainer," and, just recently, instrumental "Root Beer Rag."

So today, its time to back in Billy Joel's catalog to take a further look at an album that would begin the start of a new period in Joel's life, with a bright and successful future on the horizon.





The Band

Billy Joel- Vocals, Piano, Keyboards, Moog Synthesizer, Harmonica
Gary Dalton, Richard Bennett, Mike Deasey, Raj Rathor, Al Hertzberg, Don Evans, Art Munson, Michael Stewart- Guitar
Tom Whitehorse- Pedal Steel Guitar, Banjo
William Smith- Organ
Emory Gordy, Larry Knechtel, Wilton Felder-Bass
Ron Tutt- Drums
Joe Clayton- Conductor, Congas


The Track Listing

1. Streetlife Serenader-5:17
2. Los Angelenos-3:42
3. The Great Suburban Showdown-3:46
4. Root Beer Rag-2:59
5. Roberta-4:35
6. The Entertainer-3:41
7. Last of the Big Time Spenders-4:31
8. Weekend Song-3:31
9. Souvenir-2:00
10. The Mexican Connection-3:37


The History

William Martin Joel was born in Bronx, New York, on May 9th, 1949. During his younger years, Joel would begin to play the piano. He wasn't a big fan of the long hours of practice or classical music, but he continued to practice. Joel would form the Echoes in 1964, a group that played covers of British songs, when he was only 14 years old.

The Echoes would change their name twice, first being the Emeralds then the Lost Souls. The Lost Souls performed for about two years and then Joel left the band in 1967. From there, Joel would join two more bands, The Hassles and Attila, both of which did not gain much commercial or critical success.

In 1971, Joel would sign a contract with Artie Ripp's Family Productions, which would release Joel's first solo album, Cold Spring Harbor. The album was famously mastered at the wrong speed, making Joel's vocals sound almost like a chipmunk's. Also, Joel signed away most of the publishing rights, copyrights, and royalties with Ripp's contract. This would become a major hassle later on in Joel's life.

The album didn't do so well, so Joel began to play wherever he could, including bars and clubs as a….well, as a piano man. Columbia Records executive Clive Davis heard "Captain Jack," which was a new song that Joel was playing live while promoting Cold Spring Harbor. Davis helped Joel buy out his contract from Family Productions and Joel would sign with Columbia Records.

1973's Piano Man would take a bit of time, but it slowly built up steam and provided Joel with his first hit record. The album would later sell over 4 million copies. However, due to the terms of his buyout with Family Productions, Joel saw little profit and this, along with the Los Angeles surroundings, began to take its toll on Joel. 1974's Streetlife Serenade would fail to match the success of its predecessor and Joel would become so disinterested in the L.A music scene that he would return home to New York, where the second phase of his career would begin.

I'm getting ahead of myself though….


The Analysis

Streetlife Serenade is a tough album to analyze both musically and lyrically. As I listened to the whole album, I found myself wondering what Billy Joel's mindset was during the recording of the album. Hardcore Joel fans know about what was going on around him during the early 70's: the tight contracts, the L.A scene, possibly a feeling of homesick, and critics bashing him left and right. This led Joel to adapt a harsher look at life around him. I think if any of us were in Joel's shoes, we would also be cynical of everything around us, especially as it relates to the music industry.

So you have Joel, who has become very distrustful and pessimistic. This would lead you to believe that Streetlife Serenade could be a darker album for Joel, one where Joel lashes out on everything that has made him frustrated and angry. In this sense, Streetlife Serenade accomplishes this.

However, no matter how harsh the lyrics are, the melodies that surround them are mostly low key or upbeat. It's strange that Joel would have a song so critical of the music industry ("The Entertainer") and yet make the song the catchiest one on Streetlife Serenade. It's a jarring comparison that stays with the album for the course of its 37 minute running length.

Don't think that this criticism totally ruins my enjoyment of the album. Streetlife Serenade is probably the 2nd most underrated album in Joel's catalog, other than Cold Spring Harbor of course. With Piano Man, almost every track had the potential to be a great single on the radio. Streetlife Serenade has almost no tracks that could be considered a single, with the exception of "The Entertainer" and maybe "Roberta."

(In a side note, I always found it ironic that a song criticizing the record industry and everybody involved in it would become the only single off the record.)

One track that definitely should be played more often in Joel's live shows is opening track "Streetlife Serenader." The song shows Joel's more confident vocals, especially in his range. For the first time in his career (at least to my knowledge), he hits high notes. The song has some of Joel's best piano work on the album, not because of the technical skill he displays, but the fact that he puts a lot of emotion into his playing. The guitar solo isn't too bad either, considering this is a Billy Joel album we are talking about, and the outro is tastefully done.

"The Ballad of Billy the Kid" is one of my personal favorites off of Piano Man. Joel decides to continue with a Western theme with "The Great Suburban Showdown" and "Last of the Big Time Spenders." The former has a heavy synthesizer presence throughout and has an Eagles Desperado-era feel to it. The latter has a nice use of slide guitar and features some of the best lyrical content on the album.

Joel also cranks the volume up with "Los Angelenos" and "Weekend Song," two songs that just scream "70's hard rock." The songs are bursting with upbeat melodies, catchy choruses, and lots of organ. Who doesn't love the organ? The former even has a funk edge to it, thanks to the bass guitar being up front in the mix, almost drowning out the guitars at times.

Billy Joel has never really been about the instrumentals, only releasing one prior to this album ("Nocturne" off of Cold Spring Harbor), but on Streetlife Serenade, Joel pulls out not one, but two, instrumentals. Was this because Joel was running low on time and couldn't write any lyrics? Did he run out of ideas at the last minute? My answer to those is who cares, since these two instruments are great. "Root Beer Rag" has just recently come back onto Joel's live setlist, which is about time, since "Root Beer Rag" is like a three minute piano solo with his band taking a backseat. "The Mexican Connection" isn't as good as "Root Beer Rag," but is a decent way to end the album. It's catchy and has a dance-like quality to it that stuck with me even after I finished the album.

Streetlife Serenade goes through many different genres and moods throughout its 37 minutes and Joel almost puts it all together into one coherent package. The album is just missing that spark, that one thing that could have turned it into a classic mentioned alongside The Stranger, Piano Man, and Turnstiles. Joel needed to get out of L.A and find himself again. Streetlife Serenade is the end of an era and the start of something special for Joel. After this album, the 1970's would be good to Joel, as he pounded out quality album after quality album. Joel would be unstoppable until the mid-1980's. will always be underappreciated by casual Joel fans, but the hardcore fans know that Joel created something special with Streetlife Serenade, even if Joel himself didn't like the final product.


The Conclusion

I hoped everybody enjoyed this week's edition. I look forward to hearing comments about it. Anybody agree, disagree with me, you can leave something below. I read every comment/e-mail/etc, so if you got anything on your mind, let me know.

Next week, I'm getting all metal on you guys and gals with a release from Chimaira, which has really turned around as a band to become one of the best modern metal bands out there. So I'll see you all next week for another edition of What The Hell Happened To!