An Innocent Man is one of Billy Joel's more popular albums for a number of reasons. Released in 1983, it harks back to a "simpler" time in American culture. The homage to 1950s music-- even the song "Leave a Tender Moment Alone"-- is the theme which resonates on An Innocent from first track to final track. Given the age of MTV at that time, at least one music video for this album featured Christie Brinkley before she married Billy Joel. Eventually, several songs would be certified as Greatest Hits.
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An Innocent Man
by Billy Joel (1983 - CBS)
All lyrics by Billy Joel
All music by Billy Joel except the chorus from "This Night" by L.v. Beethoven

Bill Joel's instrumental contributions :
• Baldwin Acoustic Piano (SF-10)
• Fender Rhodes
• Hammond B-3

Backup Musicians :
• Liberty DeVitto (drums) -- all songs
• Doug Stegmeyere (bass) -- all songs
• David Brown (electric guitar) -- all songs
• David Brown (acoustic guitar, lead) -- all songs
• Russell Javors (electric guitar) -- all songs
• Russell Javors (acoustic guitar, rhythm) -- all songs
• Mark Rivera (alto saxophone) -- [04][08][10]
• Mark Rivera (tenor saxophone) -- all songs except [04][08][10]
• Mark Rivera (percussion) -- all songs except [04][08][10]
• Ralph MacDonald (percussion) -- [07][09]
• Leon Pendarvis (Hammond B-3) -- [01]
• Richard Tee (acoustic piano) -- [05]
• Eric Gale (electric guitar) -- [01]
• Ronnie Cuber (baritone saxophone) -- [01][05][07][10]
• Jon Faddis (trumpet) -- [01]
• David Sanborn (alto saxophone) -- [01]
• Joe Shepley (trumpet) -- [01][05][07][10]
• Micahel Brecker (tenor saxophone) -- [05][07][10]
• John Gatchell (trumpet) -- [05][07][10]
• "Toots" Thielemans (harmonica solo) -- [09]

Background Vocals :
• Tom Bahler
• Rory Dodd
• Frank Floyd
• Lani Groves
• Ullanda McCollough
• Mark Rivera
• Ron Taylor
• Terry Textor
• Eric Troyer
• Mike Alexander of Charm

Eric Gale appears courtesy of Elektra/Musician Records.
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There are ten songs which are found on An Innocent Man:
[01] 4:05 "Easy Money"
[02] 5:18 "An Innocent Man"
[03] 3:37 "The Longest Time"
[04] 4:18 "This Night"
[05] 3:51 "Tell Her about It"
[06] 3:16 "Uptown Girl"
[07] 3:47 "Careless Talk"
[08] 3:30 "Christie Lee"
[09] 3:56 "Leave A Tender Moment Alone"
[10] 4:38 "Keeping the Faith"
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Three songs from An Innocent Man would appear on Greatest Hits Volume II (1978-1985) ("The Longest Time," "Tell Her about It," and "Uptown Girl"). When Greatest Hits Volume III was released in 1997, two other songs from An Innocent Man were included ("Keeping the Faith" and the title track). When Billy Joel, Christie Brinkley, and the band toured the USSR in 1987, Billy Joel performed "An Innocent Man" and "Uptown Girl"; these songs would appear on the resulting live compilation album KOHWEPT.

"Easy Money"
"Easy Money" is the theme song from the 1983 Rodney Dangerfield movie with the same title. The song itself is the seductive siren call for gamblers or adventurous people to play games of chance to make the big score. The song also shows insight into the mentality of the games of chance gambler. The music itself is hard-hitting and quick-paced with lots of drums and saxophone. As a movie theme song "Easy Money" has to grab the attention of the audience immediately and hold hit for a while, and "Easy Money succeeds on this count. It makes great driving/riding music, too.

"An Innocent Man"
As energetic and reckless as "Easy Money" is, that his how subdued and somber "An Innocent Man" sounds. The theme of this song still escapes me because there are parts I still can't grasp, but that does not take away from the emotional power this song can have. While Billy Joel lets Peter Hewlett sing the high notes during his tour of the USSR so he could make his various performances on that vast landmass, Billy Joel sings the entire song himself for An Innocent Man. The song is up there with "Goodnight Saigon" in its mood musical quality.

"The Longest Time"
"The Longest Time" is a song which would seem at home on the Streetlife Serenade album as a companion to the song "Streetlife Serenader." "The Longest Time" is sung in the streetcorner symphony style where the music came from the voices and not the instruments. Could "The Longest Time" have helped raise the stock of Streetlife Serenade? That's hard to say since Billy Joel has different mindsets at the time each album is made. Still, "The Longest Time" is a great song with great musical qualities.

"This Night"
"This Night" is a slow but hopeful song about friends who promised to remain friends but instead became more than friends. According to the liner notes from An Innocent Man, the chorus music was provided by someone named "L. v. Beethoven." If that is supposed to be the same person as Ludwig von Beethoven, I still have trouble detecting where Billy Joel's music stops and L. v. Beethoven's music begins-- it is there because the liner notes say so, but I can't find the music! (Then again, I am more familiar with W. A. Mozart's music.) "This Night" is a romantic song, and the music reflects this.

"Tell Her about It"
My personal favorite is "Tell Her about It"-- the song has a big-band sound, the singer is teaching a young man how to keep a woman's interest in him, and it was one of the popular songs on radio when I was reaching my peak years.

"Uptown Girl"
Was Billy Joel also talking about how he attracted Christie Brinkley's attention when he sang "Tell Her about It" for An Innocent Man? This I don't know, but I can say that she was on his mind when he sings "Uptown Girl"-- Christie Brinkley has a prominent role in the music video, she seemed to be the uptown girl to Billy Joel's backstreet guy. The song makes use of serious nasal activity from everyone singing, especially when certain sounds are repeated. As fun as this song sounds on the video and the album, it was even more cranked when Billy Joel and band performed the song during their historic tour of the USSR. In America and in the USSR and Russia, "Uptown Girl" is a guaranteed hit.

"Careless Talk"
With the nasal sounds heard on "Uptown Girl," "Careless Talk" features deeper vocal tones. The singer and his companion hear talk from the gossips in the media and their lives because of their lines of work, so the singer tells his companion not to put stock into the careless talk people are saying in the press. Given the celebrity status both Billy Joel and Christie Brinkley had in 1983 (and still have today), truer words were never said. "Careless Talk" has a good beat and rhythm to it, and the music is easy on the ears (no high notes).

"Christie Lee"
"Christie Lee" is the story of some guy known only as Joe who starts as a saxophone player who is drawn to an unforgettable woman named Christie Lee. Joe thinks he is on top of the world, but it turns out Christie Lee only wants him for his musical prowess. Joe ends up as a wino somewhere, but Christie Lee still inspires him to sing to the best of his capabilities. When I hear "Christie Lee," the speed of the music reminds of of Jerry Lee Lewis-- "Christie Lee" has musical play faster than even "Easy Money." The music compliments the story Billy Joel tells about Christie Lee and the man to whom "he was always Joe to me."

"Leave a Tender Moment Alone"
"Leave a Tender Moment Alone" sounds like a 1950's television western song with its use of the harmonica throughout. Billy Joel sings of a man who wants to tell a woman he desires that he loves her, but he has trouble saying so. "Get It Right the First Time" from The Stranger has a similar theme, but both songs are as different as different can be. The song may seem out of place musically, but the lyrics belong on this album since pop music's emphasis on people in love didn't explode until the 1950's. What amazes me is the fact that this song receives good amounts of airplay on some radio stations-- I never heard this song when I was growing up, so I didn't know how popular it was.

"Keeping the Faith"
"Keeping the Faith" tells of a young man's night out and what he learned as a young boy. The song describes the fashion and social mores of the times, and the song shows what the young man learned about life when he was growing up. This song belongs on An Innocent Man, but it seems out of place to me. This is another song which amazes me because although it doesn't do much for me lyrically and musically, it found its way onto Greatest Hits Volume III. For me, the value of this song lies in the 1950's specific items the young man uses to get ready for his night out.
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An Innocent Man is one of Billy Joel's better selling albums, and it can be seen why with songs like "Tell Her about It," "Easy Money," "Christie Lee," and the title track. While I wonder about the lyrics to a couple of songs, I can also say that each song-- without exception-- belongs on this album. An Innocent Man is the most thematically cohesive of all of Billy Joel's studio albums, more so than even Piano Man which had at most one song out of place thematically speaking. Although Mark River replaces Richie Cannata on wind instruments and other things, no one loses a beat on An Innocent Man. An Innocent Man caps a career which by 1985 would feature two volumes of Greatest Hits albums. Billy Joel would have more songs left in him, but An Innocent Man holds a special place within the discography of Billy Joel.



Recommended: Yes

Great Music to Play While: Romancing