Billy Joel on “the greatest band that ever was” | CPT PPP Coverage

Sure, half of their first albums were about them playing the traditional rock and roll that they were raised on, along with their first originals, but their experimentation from Rubber Soul onward is still some of the most celebrated classic rock of all time. Many artists were changing rock and roll overnight, but where else were you going to find a band that managed to combine orchestral balladry, raga rock, and psychedelic freakouts all within the span of one album?

More than anything, Joel saw The Beatles in a long line of musicians that carried on the same kind of music that classical composers started with. Despite not knowing the first thing about music theory, their musical instincts directed them towards the most sophisticated music imaginable, including the massive way of layering songs together on the back half of Abbey Road.

When talking about their influence, Joel thought that kind of talent only seems to come once every century, saying, “They were and are the greatest band that ever was. They were not the greatest musicians. They were just a great cohesive band. It was a great combination of talents, and that hardly ever happens. I don’t know if we’ll ever see their like again.”

Granted, it’s not like Joel was talking as the disgruntled old man, either. Take a look at almost any Top 40 artist that came afterwards, and they have more than a few similarities to The Beatles. From ELO making Beatles pastiches to Oasis copying their entire look and aesthetic in the 1990s to Billie Eilish voicing her love for the band now, all of that praise wouldn’t be warranted if the songs didn’t hold up.

Joel also wasn’t safe from a handful of comparisons with The Beatles. While he was more than happy to draw inspiration from artists like Bach and Beethoven, The Nylon Curtain is the clearest example of him trying to figure out how to sing like John Lennon on one of his records.

Beyond just their amazing songs and lovable characters, The Beatles helped teach every artist who came after them about the freedom to work outside the norm. They were still mostly married to the pop song format, but it took an album like Abbey Road for Joel to one day capture the magic of ‘Scenes from an Italian Restaurant’.

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