STUCK IN THE VINYL AGAIN - BILLY JOEL - STREETLIFE SERENADE

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Good Tuesday morning to you all and welcome back to Stuck In The Vinyl Again. Today we wish Bronx born  singer, pianist, and songwriter, Billy Joel (William Martin Joel), a Happy 74th Birthday. Happy Birthday Billy ! He was born in 1949 to parents Howard, a classical pianist and businessman and his Mother, Rosalind. During his 6 decade career, he has released 13 studio albums, but it is his third one, Streetlife Serenade, that is our subject of sound today. The LP was released October 11, 1974 on the Family Productions/Columbia labels and produced by Michael Stewart. It peaked at #85 in Australia, #35 on the Billboard 200, and #16 in Canada. It's sole single, "The Entertainer", reached #89 in Australia, #34 on the Hot 100, and #30 on both the Canadian Singles Chart and Billboard's Easy Listening survey. 

One side (Side one)

"Streetlife Serenader" – 5:17
"Los Angelenos" – 3:41
"The Great Suburban Showdown" – 3:44
"Root Beer Rag" (Instrumental) – 2:59
"Roberta" – 4:32

Another side (Side two)

"The Entertainer" – 3:48
"Last of the Big Time Spenders" – 4:34
"Weekend Song" – 3:29
"Souvenir" – 2:00
"The Mexican Connection" (Instrumental) – 3:37

Billy Joel – vocals, acoustic piano, keyboards, Moog synthesizer, arrangements

William "Smitty" Smith – organ

Richard Bennett – guitars
Gary Dalton – guitars
Mike Deasy – guitars
Don Evans – guitars
Al Hertzberg – guitars
Art Munson – guitars
Raj Rathor – guitars

Michael Stewart – guitars, arrangements

Tom Whitehorse – banjo, pedal steel guitar

Wilton Felder – bass
Emory Gordy Jr. – bass
Larry Knechtel – bass

Ron Tutt – drums
Joe Clayton – congas, percussion

Production

Michael Stewart – producer

Ron Malo – engineer

John Naatjes – tape research

Ron Coro – art direction, design
Brian Hagiwara –cover painting

Peter Cunningham – photography
Jim Marshall – photography