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- For the 1989 movie starring Tom Selleck, see An Innocent Man (film).
An Innocent Man is the 9th album by American singer/songwriter Billy Joel, released in 1983 (see 1983 in music). It became one of his-best charted albums since "Glass Houses", going directly to #2 in the UK. It featured three Billboard Top 10 hit singles: "Tell Her About It", which reached #1, "Uptown Girl", which peaked at #3 and "An Innocent Man", which peaked at #10. Three other singles were released from the album: "The Longest Time" (number 14), "Leave A Tender Moment Alone" (number 27), and "Keeping the Faith" (number 18).
This album is Joel's tribute to the music of his childhood. He considers this a "singer's album," and pays homage to a number of different musical styles, most notably doo-wop, a style made popular in the mid-1950s and emulated in the songs "The Longest Time," "This Night," and "Careless Talk."
[edit] Track listing and Notes
All songs by Billy Joel, except for the chorus for "This Night," credited on the sleeve to L. V. Beethoven.
- "Easy Money" – 4:04 -- an homage to James Brown
- "An Innocent Man" – 5:17 -- an homage to Ben E. King and The Drifters
- "The Longest Time" – 3:42 -- an homage to doo-wop. This song required 14 background vocal tracks, each of which were done by Joel and pieced together in production.
- "This Night" – 4:19 -- Uses Beethoven's Pathetique Sonata as the basis for the chorus
- "Tell Her About It" – 3:52 -- an homage to Motown
- "Uptown Girl" – 3:17 -- an homage to Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons
- "Careless Talk" – 3:48
- "Christie Lee" – 3:31 -- an homage to Jerry Lee Lewis
- "Leave a Tender Moment Alone" – 3:56
- "Keeping the Faith" – 4:41
[edit] Personnel
- Billy Joel - Baldwin acoustic piano (SF-10), Fender Rhodes, Hammond B-3, vocals, background vocals
- Liberty DeVitto - drums
- Doug Stegmeyer - bass
- David Brown - electric guitar, acoustic guitar, lead guitar
- Russell Javors - electric guitar, acoustic guitar, rhythm guitar
- Mark Rivera - alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, percussion
- Ralph MacDonald - percussion on "Leave a Tender Moment Alone" and "Careless Talk"
- Leon Pendarvis - Hammond B-3 on "Easy Money"
- Richard Tee - acoustic piano on "Tell Her About It"
- Eric Gale - electric guitar on "Easy Money"
- "String Fever" - strings
- Ronnie Cuber - baritone saxophone on "Easy Money", "Careless Talk", "Tell Her About It" and "Keeping the Faith"
- Jon Faddis - trumpet on "Easy Money"
- David Sanborn - alto saxophone on "Easy Money"
- Joe Shepley - trumpet on "Easy Money", "Careless Talk", "Tell Her About It" and "Keeping the Faith"
- Michael Brecker - tenor saxophone on "Careless Talk", "Tell Her About It" and "Keeping the Faith"
- John Gatchell - trumpet on "Careless Talk", "Tell Her About It" and "Keeping the Faith"
- Tom Bahler - background vocals
- Rory Dodd - background vocals
- Frank Floyd - background vocals
- Lani Groves - background vocals
- Ullanda McCullough - background vocals
- Ron Taylor - background vocals
- Terry Textor - background vocals
- Eric Troyer - background vocals
- Mike Alexander - background vocals
Solos
- "Toots" Thielemans - harmonica on "Leave a Tender Moment Alone"
- Mark Rivera - alto saxophone on "Keeping the Faith", "This Night" and "Christie Lee"
[edit] Production
- Producer: Phil Ramone
- Engineers: Jim Boyer, Bradshaw Leigh
- Assistant engineers: Mike Allaire, Scott James
- Production coordinator: Laura Loncteaux
- Mastering: Ted Jensen
- Horn and string arrangements: David Matthews
- Background vocal arrangements: Tom Bahler
- Musical advisor: Billy Zampino
- Photography: Gilles Larrain
- Cover design: Christopher Austopchuk, Mark Larson
- Recorded at Chelsea Sound and A & R Recording, Inc., New York, NY
- Mixed at A & R Recording, Inc., New York, NY
- Mastered at Sterling Sound, New York, NY
[edit] Charts
[edit] Singles
| Year |
Country |
Single |
Chart |
Position |
| 1983 |
United States |
"Uptown Girl" |
The Billboard Hot 100 |
3 |
| 1983 |
United States |
"Uptown Girl" |
Billboard AC |
2 |
| 1983 |
United Kingdom |
"Uptown Girl" |
UK Singles Chart |
1 |
| 1983 |
Australia |
"Uptown Girl" |
Kent Music Report |
1 |
| 1983 |
Norway |
"Uptown Girl" |
|
3 |
| 1983 |
Austria |
"Uptown Girl" |
|
18 |
| 1983 |
Japan |
"Uptown Girl" |
Oricon Weekly |
64 |
| 1983 |
Unites States |
"Tell Her About It" |
The Billboard Hot 100 |
1 |
| 1983 |
United States |
"Tell Her About It" |
Billboard AC |
1 |
| 1983 |
United States |
"Tell Her About It" |
Billboard Mainstream Rock |
17 |
| 1983 |
United States |
"Tell Her About It" |
Billboard Club Play |
38 |
| 1983 |
United Kingdom |
"Tell Her About It" |
UK Singles Chart |
4 |
| 1983 |
Japan |
"Tell Her About It" |
Oricon Weekly |
58 |
| 1983 |
United States |
"An Innocent Man" |
The Billboard Hot 100 |
10 |
| 1984 |
United Kingdom |
"An Innocent Man" |
UK Singles Chart |
8 |
| 1984 |
United States |
"The Longest Time" |
The Billboard Hot 100 |
14 |
| 1984 |
United States |
"The Longest Time" |
Billboard AC |
1 |
| 1984 |
United Kingdom |
"The Longest Time" |
UK Singles Chart |
25 |
| 1984 |
United States |
"Leave a Tender Moment Alone" |
The Billboard Hot 100 |
27 |
| 1984 |
United States |
"Leave a Tender Moment Alone" |
Billboard AC |
1 |
| 1984 |
United Kingdom |
"Leave a Tender Moment Alone" |
UK Singles Chart |
29 |
| 1984 |
United States |
"Keeping the Faith" |
The Billboard Hot 100 |
18 |
| 1984 |
United States |
"Keeping the Faith" |
Billboard AC |
3 |
| 1984 |
United Kingdom |
"This Night" |
UK Singles Chart |
78 |
| 1984 |
Japan |
"This Night" |
Oricon Weekly |
88 |
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Billy Joel |
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