The musician Billy Joel claims “kicks [his] ass on piano” | CPT PPP Coverage

Compared to other keyboard sidemen, Joel was in another class of musicians altogether. Rather than looking at the instrument as a more refined extension of what could be done with a guitar, Joel got into the percussive value of the piano, spending time playing insane runs on songs like ‘Angry Young Man’ while also weaving in different elements of jazz on songs like ‘New York State of Mind’ and ‘Zanzibar’.

For all of the great music Joel could squeeze out of his upright, another artist from the other side of the world was making his trade the same way. After spending years shopping around his song demos to anyone who would hear, Elton John would become one of the biggest stars in the world, interpreting the beautiful poetry of Bernie Taupin while also finding time to squeeze into as many glam outfits as he could.

Even though Joel and John were among only a handful of primary pianists in rock and roll, Joel was awestruck seeing how much time his English counterpart put into his craft. Before becoming a pop superstar, John was known for going to school for music, including pouring over artists like Bach and Beethoven before crafting his own songs.

When putting his chops next to John’s, Joel thought that he never came close to what the glam rocker could do, telling Rolling Stone, “Elton kicks my ass on piano. He’s fantastic — a throwback to Jerry Lee Lewis and Fats Domino and Little Richard. His spontaneous, improvisational playing always challenges me. And that is his contribution to rock & roll and pop: his musicianship. Before him, rock was a bunch of James Taylors — guitar-based singer-songwriter stuff. Elton brought back fantastic piano-based rock”.

However, both men knew their craft could only come from the great musicians before them. Outside of the world of rock and roll, Joel and John have been able to repay some of their biggest influences for their success, with Joel performing alongside Ray Charles and John getting Stevie Wonder’s approval when he hit the big time.

Joel and John would even share their gifts on a joint tour in the 1990s, coming together for the Face to Face tour. While Joel may have his production down with machine-like accuracy, he knew he would get an education when performing next to John’s repertoire.

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