Usually, if you happen to see somebody’s 4 wives all talking about them on TV, it’s a secure wager you’re watching a “Dateline” homicide thriller.
So it’s astonishing to witness all three of Billy Joel’s exes seem in addition to his present spouse within the documentary “And So It Goes,” the second episode of which premieres Friday at 8 p.m. on HBO.
Heck, even his former bandmate Jon Small is a frequent voice within the movie. Small was married to Elizabeth Weber when the Piano Man and Weber fell in love.
The fallout from that triangle led Joel to aim suicide, and he says he felt like a “homewrecker.” However Small “finally got over it” — and even went on to direct the music video for “Uptown Girl.”
I can not account for his private interactions and the way he’s nonetheless on good phrases with all these individuals, nevertheless it says so much in regards to the man. Forgiveness is difficult.
And so is self-examination. However Joel, who has an inherent likability, appears to be well-practiced within the artwork.
Not that he didn’t give the ladies in his life agita. A lot of his marital strife was fueled by alcohol abuse, and far of that was effectively documented within the press through the years.
“Some of the stupid stuff I did, that’s painful to talk about,” the 76-year-old not too long ago informed Folks journal, including that administrators Susan Lacy and Jessica Levin “asked me for some thematic guidance. I said, ‘Just tell the truth.’”
What’s attention-grabbing isn’t just his story however the way in which he tells it, and the way in which he let the filmmakers have free rein. Lacy mentioned they got “complete and utter independence” by the singer-songwriter.
In contrast to with so many stars, there’s no myth-building at play. There’s no artifice.
As informed within the documentary, his outstanding life will be summed up by the opening anecdote. Joel, who grew up in Hicksville, Lengthy Island, recollects engaged on an oyster boat as a younger man. He’d search for a sprawling mansion and sneer on the “rich bastards” who lived there.
“Well, I own that house now,” he mentioned.
It doesn’t come off as an smug mic drop, however quite a “pinch me” second.
And whereas he famously has a tune known as “Angry Young Man,” it’s the truth that he remained a person of the folks that’s been the important thing to his success.
He’s not, as Bruce Springsteen notes within the movie, “an angry activist man. He never directly goes there. Which is part of why the material hasn’t dated.”
“Say Goodbye to Hollywood” was written when Joel and Weber had been dwelling in California — and he realized that the Empire State was a greater persona match.
Relieved to be again, he actually wrote “New York State of Mind” whereas on a Greyhound bus heading to Highland Falls, the place Weber had discovered them a house.
With “Goodnight Saigon,” he wove an attractive narrative by the tales of his pals who had returned from Vietnam.
“Lullaby” was written for his daughter Alex Ray Joel as he was splitting with second spouse Christie Brinkley.
“Piano Man” is rightfully praised within the documentary by rapper Nas as a “mirror facing the mirror.”
There’s themes of affection, loss and looking for his absentee father. Joel discovered him dwelling in “Vienna.”
However he has by no means really informed individuals learn how to suppose — a rarity nowadays.
As critic Steven Hyden remarks within the movie. “He writes about people. Not causes or concepts.”
Joel has mentioned he is aware of individuals don’t wish to hear him on his cleaning soap field.
Showing on “Club Random,” he not too long ago informed Invoice Maher he has no time for woke scolds.
“On the other hand, I’m always trying to find out the other point of view. What’s, you know, not my point of view — somebody else’s point of view,” Joel informed Maher. “OK, I’d like to understand why they think that way.”
It’s apparent why individuals join with the man. He’s one in all us, solely with six Grammies and a spot within the Rock ’n’ Roll Corridor of Fame.
The daddy-of-three was not too long ago recognized with regular stress hydrocephalus, a mind dysfunction that causes, amongst different issues, points with cognition and stability. This week, he informed Maher that he “feels good” save for his stability: “It’s like being on a boat.”
He additionally promised that he isn’t accomplished but.
Music to my ears.
