Billy Joel -- The Bridge

 

Looking at the above public domain-friendly photo from Wikimedia Commons, he's got considerably less hair and he's got more of a paunch but he'll always be Billy Joel to me (ha, ha). Yup, the Piano Man turned 77 a few months ago but I will always see him in that work-a-day suit tickling the ivories. 

A few weeks ago, I did a Reminiscings of Youth posting on Level 42' s "Running in the Family" album, one of those EPs that I put onto audiotape as one of the go-to listenings during those times overnight when I just had to get a thesis done or cram for an exam during university. Well, I forgot that Joel's July 25th 1986 album "The Bridge" was another one of those musical energy drinks that I had also transferred to tape. Incidentally, it is a holiday here in Toronto so I'm doing the usual special ROY post.

"The Bridge" isn't up there with Joel's absolute best such as "The Stranger" or "Turnstiles" or "An Innocent Man", and even Billy himself agreed with his critics that "The Bridge" wasn't the greatest work he's created. But I have to state that even a self-professed not-so-great album by Billy Joel is still not a bad thing at all. Having said that, I'm not giving "The Bridge" the same treatment as my two-parter on "The Stranger" in which every track was deserving of some comment.

One reason that I ended up buying Joel's 10th studio album was because of "Big Man on Mulberry Street", a Big Band jazz blast that was the Piano Man's contribution to a "Moonlighting" episode in which Maddie Hayes, played by Cybill Shepherd, dreams an epic old Hollywood song-and-dance sequence starring his love-and-hate detective partner David Addison, played by Bruce Willis. 

Yep, you (who are younger than 40) read that correctly...Bruce Willis. As with Joel, he now has less hair and more of a paunch, but back then, who knew that he could trip the light fantastic with a bunch of choreographers? But seeing that sequence and hearing "Big Man on Mulberry Street", the story of a nebbish in New York City who punched way too high above his station in life, I was just so impressed that this 70s pop-and-rock guy could swing jazz as well that I knew I had to get "The Bridge" just for this track.

Tracks from the album did make it out as singles. And I did hear "Modern Woman" and "A Matter of Trust" on the radio all the time, but to be honest, they never really stuck with me. However, if "Big Man on Mulberry Street" was the reason that I purchased "The Bridge", then the first track "Running on Ice" was the reason that I've kept "The Bridge" all these years. 

"Running on Ice" is the equivalent of Charlie Brown skating and failing horribly as he takes out every single Peanuts character on the frozen pond and with everyone from Lucy to Snoopy out to get him, he just causes more mayhem. I heard it has been used in a spoof drama on the US version of "The Office" and perhaps it can be used for some sort of comedic ice hockey montage. The drums by Liberty DeVitto are incredible and absolutely vital for the song to work.

I've known that Joel is a singing chameleon of sorts. He's done Ray Charles on "New York State of Mind", Mick Jagger on "It's Still Rock n' Roll to Me" and even Frankie Valli for "Uptown Girl". But I had no idea that Joel was channeling The Police for "Running on Ice". I had been wondering why he clipped his vocals so high on that one and it turned out he was trying to emulate Sting. 

The last song I'm featuring here is another jazzy one and speaking of Ray Charles, he finally and successfully got associated with Joel on "Baby Grand". Billy may not have been able to get the legendary Charles to do "New York State of Mind" initially but a decade later, the two of them were having fun with their ballad in tribute to the baby grand piano.

In Canada, "The Bridge" made it up to No. 10 on RPM while it reached No. 7 on America's Billboard. Its highest rankings came in Australia and Japan where it peaked at No. 2 in both nations. So, as usual, let's find out what singles were coming out onto record store shelves in Japan in June 1986.

KUWATA BAND -- Merry X'mas in Summer

Kyoko Koizumi -- Yoake no MEW （夜明けのMEW）

Onyanko Club -- O-saki ni Shitsurei（お先に失礼）

Georgia On My Mind - George Yanagi & Ray Charles

Some songs are so perfect they feel timeless, “Georgia on My Mind” is one of those songs.

Originally composed by Hoagy Carmichael, the song became truly definitive through Ray Charles’ legendary rendition. There’s absolutely no way to improve on it. That hasn’t stopped countless artists from trying their hand at their own renditions, although one that stood out to me was the cover by George Yanagi (柳ジョージ).

George Yanagi was a Yokohama-born rock artist whose music clearly drew inspiration from old-school rhythm and blues, so it makes sense that he would eventually take on a classic like “Georgia on My Mind.” His version appeared on his 1989 album Good Times 3. It’s a decent cover, but its also very clearly modeled after Michael Bolton’s version from that same year.

What really caught me off guard, though, was discovering that seven years earlier, George had already performed the song live at his 1982 concert at Nippon Budokan in Tokyo—alongside Ray Charles himself.

Now that's much better.

And I’m not just saying that because Ray is there. I genuinely enjoy George’s raspy vocals, and I think he gives a stronger performance in this live duet than he does on the later studio recording. Plus I prefer the more orchestral arrangement here over the more pop sounding one. What’s funny is that, in the comments of the video, people who had the privilege to actually attended the concert mentioned that George seemed visibly nervous onstage.

I mean… yeah. He was standing next to Ray Charles, singing one of the greatest songs of all time. I’d be nervous too.

But honestly, I think he pulled it off. And from the sound of it, Ray seemed to enjoy singing with him as well. 

Let me know which version you prefer, and in the mean time check out George Yanagi's original music as well. If you're a fan of Blues Rock and Heartland music, his 1991 album, Raw,  is pretty good for that. And if you need something from his 70s output, You cant go wrong with his Rainy Wood classic, Weeping in the Rain