Piano Man (2023)＜完全生産限定盤＞

ビリー・ジョエル『ピアノ・マン』 発売50周年記念し、アナログ盤を最新リマスター音源で再発。

大都会にうごめく人間模様を美しい調べに乗せて歌い続ける"永遠のピアノ・マン"がコロンビア・レコード第1弾として1973年にリリースした通算2作目。デビュー作がうまくいかず、一時はピアノの弾き語りで生計を立てていた彼の出世作にして原点と言える名作。その弾き語り時代の体験をモチーフにした表題曲「ピアノ・マン」は時代を超えて愛され続ける言わずと知れた名曲。全米チャートの27位を記録し、彼の輝かしいキャリアの第一歩を飾ったアルバム。
発売50周年を記念して発売される今回の再発盤には、2021年11月に発売されたLP9枚組ボックスセット『The Vinyl Collection, Volume 1』に収納された『Piano Man』と同じ、テッド・ジェンセンによるナッシュビルのスターリング・サウンドでリマスターされた音源が使用されている。記念すべき50周年を飾るにふさわしい再発盤となる。

Embittered by legal disputes with his label and an endless tour to support a debut that was dead in the water, Billy Joel hunkered down in his adopted hometown of Los Angeles, spending six months as a lounge singer at a club. He didn't abandon his dreams -- he continued to write songs, including "Piano Man," a fictionalized account of his weeks as a lounge singer. Through a combination of touring and constant hustling, he landed a contract with Columbia and recorded his second album in 1973. Clearly inspired by Elton John's Tumbleweed Connection, not only musically but lyrically, as well as James Taylor, Joel expands the vision and sound of Cold Spring Harbor, abandoning introspective numbers (apart from "You're My Home," a love letter to his wife) for character sketches and epics. Even the title track, a breakthrough hit based on his weeks as a saloon singer, focuses on the colorful patrons, not the singer. If his narratives are occasionally awkward or incomplete, he compensates with music that gives the songs a sweeping sense of purpose -- they feel complete, thanks to his indelible melodies and savvy stylistic repurposing. He may have borrowed his basic blueprint from Tumbleweed Connection, particularly with its Western imagery and bluesy gospel flourishes, but he makes it his own, largely due to his melodic flair, which is in greater evidence than on Cold Spring Harbor. Piano Man is where he suggests his potential as a musical craftsman. He may have weaknesses as a lyricist -- such mishaps as the "instant pleasuredome" line in "You're My Home" illustrate that he doesn't have an ear for words -- but Piano Man makes it clear that his skills as a melodicist can dazzle. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine