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17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Important, But Not Definitive, June 19, 2007
This review is from: Billy Joel: The Biography (Hardcover)
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 couldn't graduate high school because of a missing English credit. Bego follows this up with, "Ironically, the principal who gave Billy his diploma was his former gym teacher." WHA--? On what planet is that "ironic"?! And, someone tell Bego to stop using a comma after "and" (like I just did). Sorry, but this had to be said.
And yes, Billy comes out looking bad after this. But maybe he should. The band members' stories seem to dovetail, and Bego is gentle in his soapboxing. It's not a hatchet job; it's not investigative journalism; but it is an interesting and revealing read.
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13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
The most annoying book you'll ever read, June 11, 2007
This review is from: Billy Joel: The Biography (Hardcover)
This book isn't necessarily annoying because of an anti-Billy slant, but rather because of the absolute inept job done by the author and (perhaps) an editor. I find myself being a literary critic and proofreader with every turn of a page.
What can be said for a book that, on page 28, informs us that JFK was assassinated on November 21, 1963? Beyond that, in numerous situations, Bego follows one quote with another that essentially says the same thing, such as consecutive paragraphs that refer to when the Beatles wrote "Yesterday", or when he repeats himself from album to album: he quotes Billy following "An Innocent Man" about how much Billy hates videos because he doesn't have Cary Grant looks. Then Bego says exactly the same thing (again referring to Cary Grant) following the release of "The Bridge". Twice in the same paragraph (!) Bego tells us that Billy used jazz legends on albums up to and including "The Bridge". The typos are incredibly annoying (too numerous to mention just a few, but one unforgiveable example is that Flo Ballard's name is misspelled "Ballad" twice) and, as another reviewer has mentioned, sometimes the sentences just aren't sentences at all.
When Bego's not quoting someone, his own comments are insipid - they're really weak, stating the obvious very awkwardly, or trying to be dramatic: "Unbeknownst to everyone at the time, this was to be the last studio album that Billy would record with Phil Ramone", or "What no one realized at the time was that "The Bridge" was to become one of the last three pop-rock albums Billy Joel was to record." (So what? Is this where the plot thickens?) And his musical knowledge: from somewhere Bego gets the expertise to tell us that "Laura" lies somewhere between "Dear Prudence" and "Maxwell's Silver Hammer"; to my ears, however, it sounds like neither song at all, but rather is very much like "Strawberry Fields Forever", with the critical diminished chord.
The photos included in the book are nothing special, either, with really dumb captions. There are no family-based photos included here; you can find them in the liner notes of "Songs in the Attic", by the way.
The introduction isn't really an introduction, either. It pretty much tells the entire BJ story, along with the present whereabouts (or ultimate fates) of the band members. Isn't that what I'm reading the book for??? Bego has apparently written fifty books in a very short period of time. He should have read what he's written and published here.
Finally, and most importantly, I hope Liberty and Billy can become friends again. As Doug Stegmayer showed us, life is too short.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Sour Grapes and Bad Editing, July 5, 2007
This review is from: Billy Joel: The Biography (Hardcover)
Don't waste your money. If you really want to read this go to the library or wait to see if it ever becomes a paperback. If you don't know the importance of a good editor then read this book. It is a terribly written book, almost to the point that it was hard to read. I will leave it to other smarter people to give specific details. But the entire time I was reading I felt the author was told. "Hey the book needs to be 330 to 350 pages". If you tell the reader that he grew up with out a TV you don't have to mention that 10 more times over the course of the chapter. Or give 8 to 10 examples of musical contemporaries when 2 or 3 will do.
As for the content, well now I will be eagerly waiting for an autobiography, then the truth will be between the two books. If Billy's ex band mates were to form a band it should be called the "Sour Notes". It is telling that no one associated with Mr. Joel currently was interviewed directly by the author, or if they were their interviews contradicted those of Mr. DeVitto and were omitted. I also thought is was curious that the author omitted whether or not it was a normal business practice not to have session musicians or touring musicians under contract? Billy Joel is a solo act with a backing band. He has never been like Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street Band or Jimmy Buffett and the Coral Reefer Band. Perhaps that is a fact lost on the author and Mr. DeVitto. The disgruntled band members Mr. DeVitto et al. seem to take a lot of credit for influencing the music. But none have ever equaled the success they had when with Mr. Joel. Mr. DeVitto and his cohorts found a sympathetic ear in Mr. Bego, who managed to compile a book made from jaded memories of disgruntled former employees, gossip column snippets, and music reviews.
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