Billy Joel Influence

Billy Joel truly lives up to his nickname “The Entertainer” even at 68. He was so much fun to watch. Occasionally he would throw out what he called “a fielder’s choice. Two options were put forth and the audience cheered for which one they wanted to

Billy started life as William Frederick Gibbons in Houston, TX, in 1949, son of Lorraine and Frederick Royal Gibbons. He was born into a musical family, as his father was an orchestra leader and concert pianist. Frederick worked, along with his cousin, legendary set decorator Cedric Gibbons, for Sam Goldwyn at MGM Studios in Hollywood. The first instrument to pique young Billy’s interest was the drum, and his father sent him off to New York City to study with Tito Puente, the “King of Latin Music.” Around his thirteenth birthday, Billy was gifted with his first electric guitar, and it was true love.

Miles Davis was one of the greatest and most important figures in jazz history. Miles Dewey Davis III was a musician, composer, arranger, producer and bandleader all in one. Davis was at the forefront of almost every major development in jazz after World War 2. He was one of the most influential and innovative musicians of the twentieth century along with Charlie Parker and Louis Armstrong. His versatility landed him at the forefront of bebop, cool jazz, modal, hard bop and fusion (Kirker, 2005:1). His sound went on to influence many other newer forms of music today such as pop, soul, R&B, funk and rap. As one of the last trumpet players, Davis employed a lyrical, melodic style that was known for its minimalism as well

In the following paper we will discover the musical influence the Dave Matthews Band has had on popular culture since its inception in 1991. We will discuss how the band came to be and were its path over the last 24 years has taken them. The members of the band both current and former will be reviewed and the musical styling that they have contributed to make the DMB one of the most popular bands in the world. Finally we will look at a list of accolades that this band has garnard throughout its career.

Neil Young became interested in music when he was a teenager. He started playing folk music and started playing in bands that were not very popular, once him and his mother moved to Winnipeg when, he was 15 (Morrison.C, 2006). Even though those bands were not successful, they led him into his music career. Some of Young’s first band groups where the Jades and the Classics, when he was in highschool

The presence of drugs had sucked him in, and he has experiences with the bad of what Harlem has to offer. He has also experienced another, less harmful, aspects of Harlem. He turned his sorrow into his music. The music was an emotional outlet for him. He was one of the fortunate ones.

Louis Armstrong was an important and major music figure during the Harlem Renaissance. Mr. Armstrong, also known as Satchmo to his friends for his “satchel-like mouth”, came into existence August 4, 1901 in New Orleans, Louisiana. Louis’ love for music had started in the Colored Waif’s Home for Boys. He had ended up in this environment because on New Year’s Eve, Louis had shot his stepfathers gun into the air to “celebrate the new year” and was arrested immediately. In the Colored Waif’s Home for Boys, Louis had newfound love for the cornet, an instrument similar to the trumpet. Even though he had a job as a newspaper seller, Louis still had the opportunity of studying under one of the greatest cornet players of the time, King Oliver.

The path to stardom in the music industry is a difficult one. It is not uncommon for an artist to fail time and time again before actually striking it big. For example, the Beatles were rejected on with their first attempt to get signed, Elvis Presley was told to stick to his day job because he had no future in music, and Jimi Hendrix was booed of stage constantly because the audiences would rather see the headliners. Billy Joel was no different. As a younger man, he bounced from band to band trying to find his fit.

This prompted Joel to write a song to prove that the world has always been crazy and it's not just his generation's fault. That’s what he means by “we didn’t start the fire”, the “fire” being all the extremes and crazy things that happen in the world. He is saying that his generation isn’t responsible for everything that is happening, and that they are trying to fix what is wrong with the world (“No we didn’t light it but we try to fight it”). Joel is trying to prove that the world has always been kind of messed up, and will always be kind of messed up.

In the ballad,Vienna, Billy Joel uses pensive lyrics as a foundation of storytelling to develop a message and pairs them with a somber melody and a textured sound conveying emotion and a reflective tone in order to let his audience uncover the symbol and meaning in finding their own “Vienna”. Joel uses lyrics as a basis in telling his story while developing a message at the same time. Before writing the song, Joel traveled to Vienna to see his divorced father. He wrote the ballad after an old lady he saw sweeping in

At the age of fourteen he was making his own beats and writing his own music. While his fascination for music was outstanding, he didn’t lack academically. He earned an academic scholarship and enrolled to St. Johns University in New York. This was his ideal school because he

In the film Twelve Angry Men, a young boy is charged for killing his father meanwhile he is on the line of life or death. His faith is dependant on the selected twelve men in jury, who have been placed all together in a room, to decide whether the boy will be proclaimed as guilty or not guilty. During this process, we encounter one out of twelve jurors, which comes to be juror number eight, opposes in favor of the defendant's guilt. Soon, complications between the men begin to arise as the boy’s future is foreshadowed throughout the film. While discussing the case, the evidence that was pronounced led to my decision as of why the defendant is guilty of the murder on his father.

Billy Joel is one of the best selling solo artists of all time in the United States. Amongst his most popular songs are “Piano Man,” “We Didn’t Start the Fire” and “She’s Always a Woman,” all with good reason. Having written a plethora of memorable songs that could easily be added to the soundtrack of our lives, Billy Joel’s undoubtedly one of the most talented musicians and songwriters of all time.

Ernest Hemingway was a hugely influential author of the twentieth century whose simplistic writing style and realistic stories have an impact on writers even today. Many of his books, including The Old Man and the Sea and A Farewell to Arms have found a permanent place in the lists of greats in American literature. Basing his books off of experiences from his remarkable life, Hemingway shares a view of the world that many would never otherwise see. He used his great life to show others the way to greatness as well.

A collage, in my opinion, is a great way to grasp the concept of Joel’s song. Collages allow the viewer to see the art from a different point of view, and “seeing” a song can help the person to actually see what Joel was trying to prove. In this project, I used pictures of almost every historical perspective he mentioned in his song, and circled all of those elements around a picture of a flame in the middle. I chose to do this because the flame is the ultimate theme of the song, and all of the events and people he is singing about contribute to the large fire that begins to grow due to all of these events combined. Along with placing the flame in the center, I matted it on an orange paper, unlike any of the other pictures, to help it stand out, since it is the main theme of the song. For those who have a difficult time learning without pictures, this is a great way for them to see all of the aspects of Joel’s song together on one page. As well as making a collage, I also made cupcakes to help