Scenes from an Italian Restaurant (aka The Ballad of Shirley, Brenda, and Eddie) - Full Cover!

Billy Joel said in an interview that he's spent much of his life trying to forgive himself for not being Beethoven. This masterpiece - which Joel says is the favorite of his compositions - leaves little to forgive. It's the centerpiece of his 1977 album The Stranger, and Joel and his band recorded it live in studio in seven takes (with some overdubbing of horns). It weaves together three separate songs (or fragments) he had been working on, a structure inspired in part, he's said, by the Beatles' Abbey Road medley - ironically, it turns out, since Joel had turned down an offer to work with famed Beatles' George Martin for this album, choosing instead to go with Phil Ramone, who, unlike Martin, was fine with keeping the band that had been playing with Joel. The close observer of our cover will note that we couldn't quite get it all live, either, and ended up having to do some overdubs. We tried out the clarinet part on soprano sax, but realized that wasn't going to work, so our talented saxophonist took up the clarinet just for this part, which we dubbed in. We were also fortunate to have a recording engineer who is a terrific horn player, so you'll hear a trumpet adding to the winds. The very cool cymbal swells during the sax interlude also came later. Special thanks to Tony Williamette of Minnehaha Recording Company in Minneapolis for his excellent engineering, support, and patience (but don't blame him for any problems in the mix, which is my own doing!). Special thanks, too, to the terrific band Dilly Dally Alley, three of whom - Sophia, Denny, and Adam - added their considerable musical talent to this recording. Check them out here: https://dillydallyalleyband.com/home And to the wonderful Linden String Quartet, whom you can learn more about here: https://lindenstringquartet.com/musicians/ Thank you for watching! Check out our other Billy Joel Covers:    / @jimmyjam60   The Real Estate Novelists on this cover: Jim Hanson - Keyboard and vocals Adam Tucker - Bass Sophia Spiegel - Acoustic Guitar Denny Carlson - Saxophone, Clarinet, and Choreography Erik Brandt - Accordion Kai Johnson - Drum kit Zach Gingerich - Trombone Becca Hanson Jackelen - Vocals and Violin The Linden String Quartet – Claire Belisle and Becca Hanson Jackelen, Violins; Sophia Butler, viola; Sarah Gingerich, ‘cello Tony Williamette - Recording Engineer Max Reichart - Assistant Recording Engineer, Trumpet Larry Jackelen - Videography Sources Fred Schruers, Billy Joel: The Definitive Biography (Crown Press, 2015) Lisa Torem, Billy Joel: Every Album, Every Song (Sonicbury, 2022)    • Billy Joel: "I have not forgiven myself fo...   Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scenes_from_...