Billy Joel Says Passing up the Chance To Work With This Music Legend Was One of the “Most Traumatic Things” To Happen in His Career

The first part of the new two-part Billy Joel documentary, Billy Joel: And So It Goes, premiered this past Friday, July 18, on HBO Max. The in-depth film features new interviews with Joel discussing in detail his life, career, and songs.

A segment of the doc revealed that Joel once had the opportunity to work with one of the most respected producers in the business, longtime Beatles collaborator George Martin. Perhaps surprisingly, the Piano Man chose not to work with Martin, whom he’d asked to produce what became Billy’s breakthrough album, The Stranger (1977).

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Joel discussed his decision during a new episode of Bill Maher’s online interview show Club Random. He told Maher, “That was one of the most traumatic things I went through, was deciding not to work with George Martin, who was one of my heroes. I thought he was an integral part of The Beatles, and I love The Beatles more than anybody. And he was the fifth Beatle.”

After watching Joel perform live, Martin told him he wanted to produce him. The issue was that he wanted to use his own musicians in the studio, rather than the band Billy had been touring and recording with since 1975.

Explaining his thought process to Maher about the difficult decision to turn Martin down, Joel noted, “Wait, you’re not gonna have George Martin produce you? Your big problem is production. You need a good producer.” He added, “‘I know, but he wants to not use my band, and that’s part of my sound,’ I thought.”

More About Joel’s Decision To Turn Down Martin and the Aftermath

In the documentary, Joel explains that when Martin told him he’d only produce him if they didn’t use Billy’s backing group, the Piano Man said, “Love me, love my band,” and told him no.

Joel’s band at the time included drummer Liberty DeVitto, saxophonist Richie Cannata, guitarist Howie Emerson, and bassist Doug Stegmeyer.

Billy inevitably hired Phil Ramone to produce The Stranger. At the time, Ramone was a staff producer at Joel’s label, Columbia Records.

The Stranger wound up spending six weeks at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 chart. It became Joel’s best-selling studio album, achieving 12-times platinum status for sales of more than 12 million copies in the U.S. In 1979, The Stranger won the Grammy for the Record of the Year, while “Just the Way You Are” took home the Song of the Year prize.

Ramone went on to produce all of Joel’s albums through 1986’s The Bridge.

More About ‘Billy Joel: And So It Goes’

Part one of Billy Joel: And So It Goes covers Joel’s life through the release of his 1980 album Glass Houses and the breakup of his marriage to his first wife and longtime manager, Elizabeth Weber.

Part two of the doc premieres Friday, July 25, at 8 p.m. ET on HBO Max.

(Photo by Jim Houghton/Sony Music Archives/HBO)

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