Billy Joel's impression of a country western song is gold. Even staunch fans of country have to admit the guy he was playing there exists in droves in the U.S. I don't think he gets nearly enough credit for not only being a great musician but for also wickedly funny and a great satirist when he so chooses.
Man, the comments sure are full of people who are super mad that Billy didn't like country once upon a time, even though he has nothing but praise for Garth. Did you people even watch to the end of the video?
Hes on point about it opening up a door to a different audience cause I only heard of Billy joel in passing until I tried to download shameless by garth Brooks on Itunes but it only had a billy joel version. I downloaded and the version doesn't even compare to Garth's version granted I'm alot more country then 80s by far I grew up in the 90s. Then today I decided to download amazon music just cause I really wanted that garth version so bad. The song moved me so much I decided to search RU-vid for the latest version of shameless live and I ran across the live version of them singing it together and I opened the comments come to find out billy wrote the song. So I start looking up songs hes wrote and I'm impressed and a bit of a fan now. So moral of the story he has a new fan in 2020 cause of the song he wrote that was turned into a country song. So thank you Billy for writing this song and being opened minded enough to let a country singer put his vocals on it!
Cool story, dude. I love it when musicians cross between genres with the same song like Shameless did, as it's cool to see different takes on the same piece, how they are really different pieces depending on how you sing them, and that it brings in new fans sometimes, like you said. I also wanna say that I agree that Garth's version is the better of the two. For me, it just has more energy and passion in his performance I think
Hilarious spoof on John Cash lol. He can sound like any singer, I've heard him do Lennon, McCartney, Springsteen, Paul Simon, Cocker, Sinatra, all sorts.
Garth Brooks and Travis Tritt should both be pretty impressed that Billy Joel mentioned them along with Ray Charles. I am because both Brooks and Tritt are my favorite singers in CW....
I've never heard Johnny Cash do that. The first few notes he played were Folsom Prison Blues, I believe, but that song he sang was not the same. I think he just made it up.
you ask for my opinion on garth brooks? he use to be my favorite country singer,. friends in low places was and is still the best. dont diss him please.
"Country & Western" is not a music style. Early on, there was Western Swing. It got a lot of airplay on radio stations leaning toward the Western music genre. When the likes of Hank Williams came along with "Country" music, it was Western stations that played it. Thus the term Country AND Western.
It wasn't the money, Billy already had a fortune. It was the fact that his words reached out to new listeners. Shameless is not even in his top 30 songs. Let Garth have this one, Billy has a shit load of others.
I'm a huge Billy Joel fan, and a huge country fan, so this is gold. The fact that he just riffed that fake country song, completely off the cuff, is beyond impressive. Beyond being a good singer, the man is a genius.
I'm 44 and live out west, and Country&Western was a familar term in the 70's and 80's to describe people like Charlie Daniels, Conway Twitty, and Jerry Reed. The term isn't used anymore, but I can attest to that. The days of Alabama, The Oak Ridge Boys, and The Statler Brothers are long gone. I don't listen to anything past 1996 in any genre. 60's-96.
he should have made a country album just for the hell of it !! kid rock , jessica simpson tried being country same way 🤢vomit swift moved into pop crap when she had been country ....billy seems he can sing any genre even if he is saying how he heard it or how it came off in his time .
Billy joel sold 60 million records before Garth sold his first. That shitpile of money you're referring to is a drop in the bucket compared to what he's made in his 45 year career.
@@fitzgivesfits1 obviously you forget how much he lost from his crooked manager/ex brother in-law. Joel was nearly broke in the late 80's. He sued him for something like over $90 million
Someone always knows better. I recently learned that there are even “elitists” in heavy metal who bicker about genre nuances. Haha. Truth is i know what you mean and I agree with you, just thought that was funny.
"Country Western" doesn't mean anything; it's not a term used to describe a music genre. I agree that Garth Brook's music is not "western" as he is from Tennessee but the genre he plays (country) is indeed a western genre of music. Though I'm assuming you just subjectively don't like Garth Brooks since he's more modern and wanted to make your opinion seem more "objective" when its not.
You know what Garth turned this piece into a legendary piece he does need too give you credit and teaching interpretation in the classic way gives you credit for sharing the talent😔
Not in NYC but the rest of NY is fairly rural, I’m from upstate NY (6hours from NYC) and if I blind folded you and dropped you off in any part north of NYC you would think you’re in the middle of Kansas lol
So what, Billy is culturally biased. His views of country music offends some people. The question was for HIM, not anybody else. It was his personal opinion. He spoke from his heart and mind, he's not a puppet that says what someone wants him to. At least he didn't sing about incest. JLL
Not a blue shirt? Well the 2 on either side have white in their clothes, and the woman's shirt is NOT white, and is certainly more blue than white. What other color could it possibly be?
Dee Tate Hey, you're right. Compared to those clearly white ones, her shirt does start to appear... _light blue._ Plus the fact that Billy had a clear, naked-eye view of it, (as opposed to low-res, twenty-year-old camera footage)... Hey, I think we might be able to officially switch this from a "Fail" to a big "Win" for the Joelster, right here and now. _Are you with me, people?!_
omnipop - I am with you! I'm pretty sure that the reason I even replied to the blue comment was because I was drinking, because otherwise why would I care? Pretty much I just think what a waste of time it's been for all of us in this little thread. But then again I decided to have another drink tonight and here I am once again responding to comments about the blue versus white! GO Jolster!
Garth has more record sales than billy Joel. Not bad for a country western boy. Played a free show in NYC at Central Park to over 900,000 fans. Some say a million. Took over Billy’s hometown.
How the worm turned!! Billy brought out Garth to sing Shameless at Shea stadium in 2008....After Garth later dwarfed (not just physically) in every aspect of the business!! And still does!!!! Garths version is and always will be better!!
i hate that garth crooks 'covered' his song.. he never writes his own..Garth i mean.. i love billy he is a true artist,and i like his explanation to them of c&W music it is what is left of folk music.. billy i playing a girl named sue btw..
You don't know what you're talking about! Garth has written, if not co-written his own songs. Sure there are some he did not write but he wrote the majority of the songs he has recorded. Get your facts straight before you speak.
