The song that made Billy Joel give up being a star
You can’t burn bright for your entire career. The Beatles, Eric Clapton and even Billy Joel, despite what previous success came, there needs to be a moment when things begin to plateau.
This isn’t a criticism. People are excited about superstars, but then if those superstars continue to be available to the public, their career stops being a sprint and starts to become a marathon. It means not looking for those big hits anymore and instead just releasing good quality music that the army of fans which has been amassed in the process can continue to enjoy.
Steve Van Zandt has previously spoken about the way Eric Clapton was able to adjust his career and change from trying to release constant hits and instead just release music to the high standard he knew he was capable of. His career became one of longevity rather than attempting to be considered the top of the tree all the time, and it worked out well for him.
“’Layla’ was, for me, the last time everything – the singing, songwriting and guitar playing – were all at the same high-intensity level,” said Van Zandt, “It’s Clapton’s most original interpretation of the blues because the hellhounds on his trail had a face: unrequited love.”
He went on to talk about how Clapton then opted to pull back slightly after years of being considered one of the very best. “He had seven years of the most extraordinary, historic guitar playing ever – and 40 years of doing good work,” he said. “Being the best has got to wear you out. So he pulled back, like Dylan and Lennon did. The sprint is cool – the marathon is better. Clapton has followed in the footsteps of his mentors: He’s become a journeyman.”
Billy Joel did something very similar following the release of his album River of Dreams. There is no denying that Billy Joel is still a sensational artist, he never stopped being, as he still sells out arenas around the world with ease. However, this album represented the last time that he tried to be a pop star, as he decided there was no point trying to get singles in the top 40 after that point in his career.
Joel wasn’t a stranger to a top 40 hit, and when he released the title track from River Of Dreams, it looked like it was going to be business as usual as the song went to number three almost immediately. That seemed to be where hype for the album stopped though, as the next single, ‘All About Soul’, only made it to number 29 in the charts, meanwhile, the other two singles following that couldn’t even make the top 40.
It was a tricky period for Joel, but as he still had a solid fanbase who appreciated the work he did, he decided it made sense to trust his gut and release music for those fans as opposed to try and be a pop star. ‘All About Soul’ remains the final top 40 single of Joel, but this isn’t a reflection of him dwindling, rather him accepting the idea to focus on the marathon instead of the sprint. He stopped focusing on singles and didn’t see the point in continuously trying to keep up with the charts, after all, why try to be a popstar when you’re already Billy Joel?
River of Dreams as an album and ‘All About Soul’ as a song were huge turning points for Joel, as they marked the end of him trying to be a pop sensation. The result? Joel is still selling out stadiums to this day, with audiences all over the world blurting out the lyrics to his songs regularly.
