Billy Joel: The Biography

First of all, a little context: There have been only 2 thorough bios of Billy, both in just the last couple of years. This one, and Hank Bordowitz's "Life of an Angry Young Man." As often stated, the bios are rare because Billy and his friends wouldn't talk. Now, thanks to Billy's alienation of those friends, they're talking. Of the two, Bordowitz has the better book, but it's worth comparing the two to get the full picture. The story of Billy's grandparents is described in detail for the first real time in print (although Bego relies heavily on a PBS documentary of the Joels), and this was good to see. Unfortunately, Bego does a much less thorough job covering Billy's early years. Not only is it covered with less detail, but he seems to rely heavily on previously published interviews with Billy. And as Bego himself references, Billy's memory is not only bad but criminally selective. For example, Bego seems to take Billy at his word surrounding the events of Billy's attempted suicide circa 1969. Hank Bordowitz has a completely different description of the incident, but Bego doesn't even mention that there's a conflict between Billy's memory and the facts. Regrettably, there is also still very little about Billy's odd jobs between Attila and his first solo album. Granted, only Billy (who won't or can't recollect these events) could fully piece together that era, and maybe it's a small point, but it's a shame that time period of Billy's life still remains vague. The rest of the book is basically a pastiche job of Billy's interviews and other publicly known material. But Bego has two things going for him: First of all, it's a very good compendium of the info that's out there; so even if you knew all this stuff, you finally have it in one read. Secondly, the newer, most revealing things come from interviews from former band members who actually go on record and recall specifics, which gives Bego, I think, a leg up over the Bordowitz book. Some notable downsides: Bego makes some serious, hilarious goofs. One is to quote a National Enquirer story without any comment on how dubious the source material is (maybe he thought it wasn't necessary, I don't know). He also attributes a quote of Billy's to "The Nylon Curtain," even though the quote was clearly referencing "An Innocent Man"--with hilarious results. But the biggest weakness of the book are the song analyses: Not only are they weak and redundant--most fans don't need to be told what "Piano Man" is about--but he occasionally gets them wrong. In fact, at one point, he says "Temptation" is about Christie--and then 2 pages later quotes Billy as explaining that it's about Alexa! Now for the technical writing complaints (some will say "nitpicking," but I gotta get 'em off my chest). I don't know how Bego got this book past an editor (presumably he had one??). He often wanders into odd segues and non sequiturs. And he's CONSTANTLY misusing the word "ironically." For example, he talks about how Billy c

Just finished reading this book on Billy Joel. Very juicy read indeed. Former band members tell all to author Mark Bego, and yet, the author still shows multiple sides of this very talented man. This is the second book I've read on Billy Joel (the first was the one by Hank something), but this one was much better. I'm surprised some fans didn't like the book because Billy wasn't interviewed, or because he's not shown in a completely positive light. Who wants to hear just that? If anything, I think we see a very human, complex man from this book. Unless the Billy himself writes his autobiography, this is the closest we'll get to hearing all of his story. I've read other Mark Bego books, two written with his subjects: Martha Reeves "Confessions Of A Motown Diva," and Mickey Dolenz "I'm A Believer," which were both really good. True, this one wasn't written with Billy himself, but I doubt Billy would want to talk about the alcohol and divorces in the same detail if he had been involved. If you like Billy Joel's music and want to know more about his story, I recommend this book.

I always liked Billy Joel's music, so I picked up this book. I found it very informative, and entertaining. I can understand that some fans may be upset to read that the man isn't perfect (as evidenced from his many well-publicized "incidents,"), but you can't write a good book without giving the "worts and all" aspects of a persons life. It was a great read.

I often wonder if a biography would be better authorized or not. In this case, much better unauthorized as Bego has in depth interviews from the core of Joel's original band members. Liberty DeVitto, Richie Cannata & Russel Javors paint a picture not otherwise seen in the media of their lives on and off the road with Joel. The book is loaded with information from Joels grandparents right up to Madison Square Garden last year. Amazing photos never published before also included. A great read to know everything there is about the piano man.