Billy Joel movie Music Dursener talks to RS about ‘and so It Goes’ and artist’s health

At first sight, Billy Joel It doesn’t look like such an interesting character to yield a documentary. For years the American singer and pianist, one of the record holders in record sales of all time, seemed much more the portrait of Estabishment. Something like Rock and Roll’s antithesis, the portrait of music made to sell, the favorite target of the expertise biting critics. But there was immeasurable quality in his work – and diving in his turbulent and up high and downs trajectory makes his work even more fantastic.

Billy Joel: and so it goesdocumentary of HBO MAX Divided into two parts (the first already available and the second debut next Friday, 25), travels practically everything. Pudera: It’s five hours of movie, in a nonlinear narrative where you start at the first steps of your musical career, only after an hour you know its family origin. A delight for the aficionados.

Here are small spoilers, available in any biographical article about Joel:

• Jewish, son of a very closed father (who abandoned his children still in childhood after divorce) and a mother who overflowed love and support, William Martin Joel He was enchanted by classical music until he was seduced by Rock and Roll;
• He fell in love with the wife of his first great artistic partner, listed with her… and tried to take his life twice as he realized what he had done;
• He married this woman, who would also become her businesswoman. They broke at the beginning in the 1980s, when Billy had a serious motorcycle accident;
• The (ex-) brother-in-law became a businessman, but long later the breach left in the musician’s accounts;
• Joel would still gather the toothbrushes with three other women and, in all, had three daughters;
• In all, it has released 12 popular music albums and a scholarly album, with over 160 million copies sold and 33 singles (about 25% of all its compositions) on the top 40.

In an interview with Rolling Stone Brazil, Susan Lacyone of the film’s directors next to Jessica Levinsays that his vast experience with documentaries always indicates the same thing: the importance of childhood for a person. In this period, it is practically defined who will be that subject. It is not surprising, therefore, the option to portray the early years of Billy’s life and his tumultuous family relationship – especially with his father, whom he would find an adult – later in the documentary, with the public properly set and attentive.

“It was a very conscious decision. I wanted to bring his childhood to a time when the public would really care about finding out about it. Often, if [o documentário] It starts with this part, kind of covered. From the beginning, I thought the moment to approach his initial story would be when he returned to New York, created ‘New York State of Mind’ and was coming home. What did ‘house’ mean to him? ”

The interviews of and so it goes

The list of interviewees of Billy Joel: and so it goes It is also a fundamental part for the construction of the film. Lacy and Levin’s team heard virtually everyone. Family members still alive of Billy, old and current members of their band, the former wanders (one of them, the aforementioned former businessman, Elizabeth Weber, brings the best reports), the eldest daughter (the youngest are still children), journalists specializing in music and, of course, the most varied artists, always showing huge respect for the biographer. Paul McCartney, P! Nk, Bruce Springsteen, Jackson Browne, In the, Garth Brooks And so on. Beatle even says he would like to have composed “Just the Way You Are”.

And it is worth curiosity: the mentioned song of the album The Stranger (1977) yields one of two references to Brazil in the feature film, when Billy says that during the recordings, he asked the drummer Liberty Devitto Play a “samba on the contrary”. The colleague, of course, did not understand – but managed to meet the request. The other occurs when the supermodel Christie BrinkleyJoel’s second wife, tells the day when he met the then future ex-husband. He was at the piano in a Caribbean bar; She suggested that a song be played. Which? “Look what a beautiful thing, full of free”begins to sing his own, with enviable Portuguese.

Whether for this or other types of report, Susan Lacy recognizes the importance of respondents for the end result. Starting with Billy himself, who gave no less than ten interviews to compose the material.

“The first interview was basically about his ancestry, that story hidden and unknown to his family’s relationship with the Holocaust, as well as the story of when he finds his adult father. The second interview was almost entirely about the impact of classical music on his work. And then, we gradually traveled his life in chronological order. complicated to do. ”

As for the other people heard for the feature film, it reflects:

“The only person we couldn’t talk about was Elton John [junto de quem Billy realizou a longeva turnê Face to Face] “And I think that had to do with his schedule.” All the others were very happy to participate. It was not overnight; It takes a lot of time to enter Paul McCartney’s agenda, but we got it. Bruce Springsteen was very important as they were frequently compared, just as Billy was compared to Elton John. Billy was from Long Island and Bruce of New Jersey, both of the working class, but Bruce was more accepted by critics. Having Bruce commenting on this was important to contextualize. ”

Billy Joel’s health

In late May, shortly before the debut of And so it goesBilly Joel has announced the cancellation of a series of health problems shows. The artist was diagnosed with normal pressure hydrocephalus (HPN), which affects the brain and causes loss of balance, memory, hearing and vision. Apparently, his recovery has been positively walked, as he even gave an interview to the Bill Maher podcast and not only declared himself, but proved well.

Susan Lacy revealed not to be in touch with the biographer beyond “some text messages and emails.” The filmmaker took the opportunity to support him in the decision to cancel the shows and take care of his health. In addition, he confirmed that the artist underwent brain surgery, necessary to treat the health problem.

“I think he’s focusing on the right thing, which is to improve, so that he could come back. He has had surgery on his brain and it affected his balance. So I think it was not healthy to introduce himself live. I hope it a lot – and I think he expects a lot – his return to the stage. But he’s right to prioritize his health.” He wants to be present for them. “

*The first part of Billy Joel: and so It Goes is available on HBO Max. The second part will be released on Friday, 25.

+++ Read more: Billy Joel’s critical opinion about the hit “piano man”
+++ Read more: Billy Joel is diagnosed with brain disease and cancels shows
+++ Read more: Billy Joel reveals suicide attempts after a case with his best friend’s wife
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