It was nice to see how grateful they were for my gesture and how the first autograph they got was from Ron Guidry. In 1950s his family moved to Garden City South where Cannata blossomed as a musician. Appears On See All Long Road to Freedom (feat. But it was tough. No one has been in Joel's band longer than Mark Rivera. It was just Paul and Roy Halee, producer. In July of 2010, it was Ringos 70th birthday. Your first Billy record was An Innocent Man. Youre up there with a Beatle and members of the Who and Cream and youre playing songs by Grand Funk Railroad. His specialties are the keyboards, the clarinet, the flute and the saxophone. Not just marginal hits, but massive hits like Sunshine of Your Love, White Room, A Whiter Shade of Pale., You played the organ on that one. His specialties are the keyboards, the clarinet, the flute and the saxophone. How did you wind up on Foreigner 4? Through the glasses, you could see Strawberry Fields. Ill tell any young person that is thinking about it, If youre ready to have your heart broken, lets go. Youre going to hear the words no and not quite all the time. His specialties are the keyboards, the clarinet, the flute and the saxophone. Why do you think that is? Anyway, I come along, play the part, I sang all the background parts. My mother used to say, Treat the people who are famous like theyre not. I bet you were surprised to see it become this massive hit. On that historic occasion "The Billy Joel Band" performed with "Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band", - IMDb Mini Biography By: But he ended up having to sit in the station wagon with us. When you first hear "New York State of Mind" by Billy Joel, a few things stick out in your mind; the fantastic songwriting and musicianship, and THAT solo. Cannata, a longtime resident of Glen Cove, connected with Joel when an engineer on one of his musical assignments suggested that Joel, who was looking for a sax player, would love his work. I call this our Covid paradise, obviously very sarcastically. I want to go back here and talk about some key moments in your life. After leaving the band in 1981, he opened Cove City Sound Studios in Glen Cove, New York. Theres not even a saxophone on it. My three favorite Billy songs are This Is the Time, So It Goes and All About Soul. They are just great songs. He would tour with Joel and work alongside him in the studio for the next five years, contributing to multiplatinum records The Stranger, 52nd Street, Glass Houses and Songs in the Attic. Richie Cannata (b. Dave was just very upset with how things were turning out. She Ended Up Finding Herself, Hear Ann-Margret and Pete Townshends New Take on the Everly Brothers Bye Bye Love, The National Stay Up Late to Perform 'Tropic Morning News' on Fallon, David Lindley, Multi-Instrumentalist Who Shaped the Sound of Soft Rock, Dead at 78, How Deem Spencer Learned to be Vulnerable on His New Album adultSW!M, Suki Waterhouse Won't Take Romance for Granted on New Single 'To Love', Travis Barker Says His Finger Ligament Surgery Was a 'Success' After Postponing Blink-182 Tour. Richie is married to Kimberly Cannata who he met in college at UC Santa Barbara. Here, these artists tell their complete stories, giving an up-close look at life on musics A list. In August 1995, Joel's long-time bassist Doug Stegmeyer, who had been let go from the band prior to the recording of 1989's Storm Front album, committed suicide in his Long Island home. If the Yankees of the 1970s were a rock band than they would definitely be the Beatles. On February 27, 2010, Joel's bassist from his "River of Dreams" tour, Tom Wolk, died from a heart attack at the age of 58. He is from United States. Having a musical veteran father, Richie Cannata (Billy Joel, NSYNC, The Beach Boys) provided him with some amazing opportunities to be on stage at a very early age. And Billy and [saxophonist] Richie [Cannata] had already parted ways. He used studio musicians for the recording and different guys out on the road. I feel like a lot of people dont know about this performance. At this point, the only remaining long-standing member of Joel's touring band was DeVitto. Three years later, you played with John Lennon at a tribute show to Sir Lew Grade, which wound up being his last public performance. Jimmy Iovine played in a rival band. Get along. Look, all his records are great. Nobody could understand a word he said. Toland What You Started (feat. Treat the people who arent like they are. I say, Nice to meet you. I just walked up into my sixth floor walk-up with my tenor and alto [saxes] and the phone rings and its Mutt. Doug said, Hey, are you looking for a gig? I said, Whats up? He said, Billy is looking to replace Richie. I was like, Yeah.. All are renowned in the business, but some are less well known to the general public. It was Peter Frampton, Jack Bruce, Gary Brooker, Simon Kirke, myself, and Ringo. This line-up included Richie Cannata on saxophones and organ, Liberty DeVitto on drums, Russell Javors and Howie Emerson on guitars, and Doug Stegmeyer on bass.[1]. Just bear with me. He plays [hums the bass part slightly off] and stops. He was presented with the key to Glen Cove and named the downtown intersection of Bridge, School and Glen Streets as "Richie Cannata Place" for the city's summer music season.[21]. I asked DAmbrosio who these guys were and he made a bold prediction and said, Billy Joel would someday be as big as Elvis.. You wouldnt know anything. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pWtlveR2Os. I remember the famous quote when Elton said, You dont write enough records, and Billy said, You write too many records. Frankly, I agree with Billy 100 percent. Once Billy shows up, we dont do a single Billy Joel song. This edition features saxophonist Mark Rivera. [12] Stegmeyer had played on every one of Joel's albums from Turnstiles (1976) through to the live album, (1987). Join Facebook to connect with Richie Cannata and others you may know. In 2006, Cannata briefly toured again with Joel, and was part of his record-setting 12-show run at Madison Square Garden. I had to call Bruce Grakal, Ringos manager and someone that has been with him forever. My wife goes, Thats our favorite song! Our son is bouncing along to it. He was angry. I knew all that stuff because Id already played it from the time I was 15. Richie Cannata (Billy Joel, The Beach Boys) enlisted Al Gomes and A. Michelle of Big Noise to oversee part of the publicity and promotion campaign for his acclaimed self-titled CD. As performers, we feed off the energy of the crowd and its not there. I was touring with Foreigner on the Agent Provocateur tour when I got the call, so my saxophones were in a road case way the hell back in a semi. Ill do it. I have sung vocal parts for every incarnation of this band. It was every night and it was a joy. Billy is the guy. In this horrible time, I am so over-the-moon grateful to Billy, as we all are. One time, after I joined Billys band, myself, Mick Jones, and Lou Gramm are walking down Broadway. Now, Im in the same boat as before, but flipped. I played it on tenor. Then we get to that song Im Your Captain by Grand Funk Railroad. The 100 Best Albums of 2022. I cant say enough about what Billy has done for this entire some people call it a community, but its a village we have that hes created. Again, I played that with cover bands. People say, What is your favorite Billy Joel song? I say, Its one Im not on. Richie Cannata (b. Thats pretty much it. For his last studio album, River of Dreams, in 1993, Joel used a new producer again (this time Danny Kortchmar). Tell me about playing on Peter Gabriels So, especially Sledgehammer. Thats probably the most iconic horn part you ever played. Good. Baby Grand is also on that and A Matter of Trust. But I know its hard for Billy to step away from himself as a writer. He knows everything. So, by default, I got the gig as musical director and its been the same ever since. By the late 1970s, the touring and studio lineup of Joel's band stabilized and consisted, mostly, of the following musicians: This was the basic lineup for some of Joel's classic albums of the 1970s and 1980s including Turnstiles, The Stranger, 52nd Street, Glass Houses, and Songs in the Attic. I cant even name a title. Learn How rich is He in this year and how He spends money? He was like, Hey, Mark. Richie has also been a member of The Beach Boys, playing on several of their recordings, as well as many of their world concert tours. One of the pleasantries of spring training is to see the Yankee legends like Goose Gossage, Reggie Jackson and Ron Guidry. I believe when we finally do our first show at Madison Square Garden, when that comes to be, itll make The Last Play at Shea look like a gig at CBGBs. What drew you to the saxophone? Some of Billy Joel's former backing band chat about their time with the "Piano Man" in director Fran Strine's new documentary on famous side-players, called Hired Gun, which opens in 320 movie houses nationwide on Friday June 29th. I cant imagine the thrill of being a Lennon fan one minute and then playing Imagine with him onstage. My record collection was Hendrix, Cream, R&B, Traffic. Who would have thought a kid from Brooklyn would be doing all that stuff? Onstage, you wouldnt know there was any animosity. Just call him and hell understand. Im like, Aw shit., My father used to say, Follow the bad road quickly. I did not wait. Carl Fischer (left), Andy Cichon, (19751981, 2006; one-off guest appearance in 2000), (19781991; one-off guest appearances in 2000 and 2022), (19881993, one-off guest appearance in 2022), Last edited on 27 February 2023, at 19:45, Learn how and when to remove this template message, "Billy Joel Band set to join Piano Man in Long Island Music Hall of Fame", "Interview with Guitarist Russell Javors", "Malcolm Gold - the Lords of 52nd Street", "Ex-band Leader For Billy Joel Found Dead", "How Billy Joel Tribute-Band Leader Landed Gig of a Lifetime - Rolling Stone", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Billy_Joel_Band&oldid=1141960235, David Brown lead guitar, occasional percussion, backing vocals, Billy Joel lead vocals, piano, harmonica, occasional rhythm guitar, Andy Cichon bass guitar, backing vocals, Tom Whitehorse banjo, pedal steel guitar, David Brown lead guitar, occasional percussion, backing vocals, This page was last edited on 27 February 2023, at 19:45. They will. | If we can do that, we deserve to go out and perform. You can also read Ray on Newsmax. He might not have been happy with how it turned out or what happened going forward. Is something like that hard on your ego? Now theres Crystal, and she tears everything up, and Michael DelGuidice is a spectacular singer. Theres my answer. [11] He played his first gig at the age of 13[12] and went on to play in school bands and with local musicians, perfecting his skills as a live performer and studio musician. How old were you when music entered your life in a serious way? As a member of "The Billy Joel Band" from 1975-81, he contributed immensely to such landmark albums as "The Stranger", "52nd Street" and "Glass Houses". He was born on March 5, 1948 and his birthplace is United States. at CD Baby, Buy The main thing I remember was how soft-spoken he was. You also played sax on Train in the Distance on Pauls album Hearts and Bones. With the help of these extremely talented musicians and this timeless song, Richie is extremely proud of his new version of 'New York State of Mind. From The Stranger in 1977 through The Bridge in 1986, Joel had been working with the same producer, Phil Ramone, as well as with the same basic incarnation of the Billy Joel Band (with minor line-up changes over the years).