{"id":1470,"date":"2025-10-14T05:25:05","date_gmt":"2025-10-14T05:25:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/1470\/"},"modified":"2025-10-14T05:25:05","modified_gmt":"2025-10-14T05:25:05","slug":"billy-joels-original-band-is-still-rockin-on-52nd-street","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/1470\/","title":{"rendered":"Billy Joel\u2019s original band is still rockin\u2019 on 52nd Street"},"content":{"rendered":"

The millions of Billy Joel fans around the world would agree that a major factor in his success \u2013 along with his talent and charisma, of course \u2013 was his hard-hitting band. They backed him on The Stranger, 52nd Street, Glass Houses, The Nylon Curtain, An Innocent Man and other multi-platinum albums.<\/p>\n

The Billy Joel band laid down dozens of well-known songs with precision, finesse and unmatched dynamics. They all created the arrangements in the studio, with Joel and producer Phil Ramone.<\/p>\n

The guys went with him on the road, too, playing every show, everywhere. They were a gang, a bunch of New York kids out to take on the world.<\/p>\n

Drummer Liberty DeVitto went the longest distance of all. He and Joel had a private falling out \u2013 money, ego and hot flashes of pent-up emotion were certainly involved \u2013 in 2006. After 30 years, DeVitto was dismissed.<\/p>\n

(A lawsuit over unpaid royalties was settled out of court in 2010.)<\/p>\n

Along with guitarist Russell Javors and sax\/organ player Richie Cannata, both of whom had left Joel\u2019s employ years earlier, DeVitto is a founding member of the Lords of 52nd Street, which plays only the songs they recorded as foundational members of Joel\u2019s band.<\/p>\n

So not a tribute band.<\/p>\n

The Lords of 52nd Street appear Friday at the Capitol Theater in Clearwater. Although illness has kept Cannata home in New York for this tour, the full band includes Dan Orlando, a former resident of St. Petersburg, on piano and vocals (\u201cDan\u2019s great,\u201d DeVitto says. \u201cWe love Dan\u201d).<\/p>\n

According to his website, Liberty DeVitto is credited as a drummer on records that have sold a combined total of 150 million units worldwide.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

St. Pete Catalyst: Glad you see you were featured prominently in the HBO Max Billy Joel documentary. Still, I was kind of surprised, because I know it didn\u2019t all end happily. Have you guys worked all that stuff out?<\/p>\n

Liberty DeVitto: We did. As a matter of fact, right before Covid hit, we were playing in Florida \u2013 Fort Lauderdale or something like that \u2013 and I texted him before I came down. I said \u2018You know, I was a little disappointed in how we ended.\u2019 He wrote me back right away, and he goes \u2018I was disappointed, too.\u2019 We agreed to get a meal together. When I went down there, we had a little time off and we had breakfast together.<\/p>\n

We didn\u2019t talk about what happened, or anything like that. We were just like two guys standing on a bridge, with troubled waters going underneath it. Not knowing anything, you know what I mean?<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

So you didn\u2019t feel uncomfortable being interviewed for the documentary?<\/p>\n

Oh no, I was all in. Steve Cohen, who directed it, was our lightning designer all the years I was there. And he still works for Billy. He called me up and said hey, I\u2019m doing a documentary \u2013 would you want to be a part of it? And I said, you had me at \u2018I\u2019m doing\u2026\u2019<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

In a nutshell, tell me why you three guys decided to do this project? You made huge contributions to those records, but some people would just say \u2018let sleeping dogs lie.\u2019 You didn\u2019t do that.<\/p>\n

No we didn\u2019t. Because first of all there are so many Billy Joel tribute bands out there. And we got inducted into the Long Island Hall of Fame, and we played two songs. Somebody said to us, \u2018You guys are the real guys \u2013 why don\u2019t you guys get yourself a Billy, and go out and do it?\u2019<\/p>\n

So we put it together, and we\u2019ve been having a blast. All the time.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Did you have to get used to playing all these songs without Billy there? The guy that wrote them and sang them?<\/p>\n

No. Here\u2019s the thing. On one of the tours, we just did the Nylon Curtain album. And when you hear us play it, you hear the parts that we contributed to Billy\u2019s music. And when we played it, people would come up to us and say \u2018That\u2019s not just Billy\u2019s album, that\u2019s YOUR album, too.\u2019 Because you really get to hear what we did for Billy.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

You three really can stake a claim to this music. But for you, after 30 years, to get shown the door must have sucked.<\/p>\n

When it fell apart, I was so pissed off \u2026 what should\u2019ve happened was, I should\u2019ve gone to Billy\u2019s house, stopped him in his driveway when he was pulling out, and said \u2018What happened?\u2019<\/p>\n

Or he could\u2019ve called me and said \u2018Is it true what I\u2019m hearing?\u2019 And I would\u2019ve said no, that\u2019s not true.<\/p>\n

But with two stupid, stubborn people, we just had to part ways. And I was very angry. And he was angry, because when I would do an interview with someone, I would diss him. And he would diss me in interviews. It got ugly.<\/p>\n

But the thing that happened to me was \u2026 you know when you had a girlfriend at one time, and you broke up, and the breakup was really bad? You\u2019re talking bad about her now, but you still have feelings for her? And you\u2019re thinking, why am I saying this about this person?<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the way I felt about Billy. I was so angry that I would say things about him, but inside I was hurting because I really still loved him.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

After the River of Dreams album in 1993, he stopped writing and recording pop music \u2026 did you see that coming?<\/p>\n

He was very discouraged with the business of music. He was tired of exposing his life \u2013 he always wrote about what he felt in life, what life was really like or what he imagined life should\u2019ve been like. So he was tired of doing that.<\/p>\n

I remember walking into the dressing room at the David Letterman show \u2013 after we played \u2018No Man\u2019s Land\u2019 \u2013 and I looked at him and said, you\u2019re gonna stop writing? And he said well, if I need the money I\u2019ll just write the \u2018I love you\u2019 song!<\/p>\n

Tickets for Friday\u2019s Lords of 52nd Street show (8 p.m.) are at this link<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

1978: Richie Cannata, left, Russell Javors, Doug Stegmeyer, Liberty DeVitto, Billy Joel and David Brown.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

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