An Innocent Man

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An Innocent Man is the ninth studio album by American singer-songwriter Billy Joel released on August 8, 1983. The album was influenced by the American popular music of Joel's adolescent years in the late 1950s and early 1960s, including doo-wop and soul music.[1] The album cover artwork was taken on the front steps of 142 Mercer Street,[2] in the SoHo neighborhood of New York City.[3]

Seven songs were released as singles from the album, including three Billboard Top 10 hit singles: "Tell Her About It" (No. 1), "Uptown Girl" (No. 3) and "An Innocent Man" (No. 10).

Recording

At the time that he was recording An Innocent Man, Joel was newly divorced from his first wife, Elizabeth Weber, and was single for the first time since achieving rock star status. He had the opportunity to date supermodels such as Elle Macpherson and Christie Brinkley, and because of these experiences, he said, "I kind of felt like a teenager all over again."[1] Joel started writing songs in the same styles as pop songs that he remembered from his teenage years, citing pop music from the late 1950s and early 1960s, including "early R&B songs and The Four Seasons, and the Motown music, soul music." According to Joel, the various songs were not meant to be autobiographical, and instead center around various made-up characters.[4] "Easy Money" was influenced by James Brown and Wilson Pickett,[1] while "Uptown Girl" was a "homage" to Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons.[5]

Joel explained, "When you're gonna write [songs for a new album], you write what you're feeling. And I didn't fight it. The material was coming so easily and so quickly, and I was having so much fun doing it. I was kind of reliving my youth. ... I think within 6 weeks I had written most of the material on the album." Joel also said that he was pleasantly surprised to have hit records in the 1980s with retro songs like the mostly a cappella doo wop song "The Longest Time".[1] The song "Easy Money", which was made as a tribute to early R&B, was initially written for the 1983 film of the same name starring Rodney Dangerfield and was the song that "kicked off" the creation of An Innocent Man, according to Joel.[4] Dangerfield later made a cameo appearance at the end of the music video for the song "Tell Her About It", as an exchange for Joel's song in support of Dangerfield's movie. The song "Christie Lee" describes a narrative about a saxophone player who has his heart broken by a woman he falls in love with, whom he later realizes is only interested in him for his saxophone skills.[4]

Chart performance

The album featured three Billboard Top 10 hit singles: "Tell Her About It" (No. 1), "Uptown Girl" (No. 3) and "An Innocent Man" (No. 10). Four other singles were released from the album: "The Longest Time" (No. 14), "Leave a Tender Moment Alone" (No. 27), "Keeping the Faith" (No. 18) and "This Night" (US B-side of "Leave a Tender Moment Alone"). "Tell Her About It" and "Uptown Girl" garnered international success—"Uptown Girl" reached No. 1 in the UK, Australia and New Zealand. An Innocent Man remained on the US Pop album chart for 111 weeks, becoming Joel's longest charting studio album behind The Stranger. For over a year, the album remained on the charts in the UK, Japan and Australia.

Critical reception

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Like his three previous efforts, Joel's An Innocent Man received a nomination for the 26th Grammy Award for Album of the Year, although the award went to Michael Jackson's Thriller. The album was also nominated for a Grammy for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for "Uptown Girl", but again was beaten by Thriller.

Track listing

All songs by Billy Joel, except for the chorus for "This Night", which is credited on the sleeve to Joel and L. v. Beethoven.

The track listing on the LP is slightly different from that on the cassette and original CD pressings, with the latter swapping the places of "The Longest Time" and "Uptown Girl". However, on the actual cassette shell and disc label, the songs are listed (and play) in the correct order as printed on the LP.

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Personnel

Additional personnel

  • Tom Bahler – backing vocals
  • Rory Dodd – backing vocals
  • Frank Floyd – backing vocals
  • Lani Groves – backing vocals
  • Ullanda McCullough – backing vocals
  • Ron Taylor – backing vocals
  • Terry Textor – backing vocals
  • Eric Troyer – backing vocals
  • Mike Alexander – backing vocals
  • Eric Gale – electric guitar on "Easy Money"
  • Richard Tee – acoustic piano on "Tell Her About It"
  • Leon Pendarvis – Hammond B-3 organ on "Easy Money"
  • Ralph MacDonald – percussion on "Leave a Tender Moment Alone" and "Careless Talk"
  • Toots Thielemans – harmonica on "Leave a Tender Moment Alone"
  • "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"

Production

  • Producer – Phil Ramone
  • Engineers – Jim Boyer and Bradshaw Leigh
  • Assistant Engineers – Mike Allaire and Scott James
  • Production Coordinator – Laura Loncteaux
  • Mastered by Ted Jensen
  • Horn and String arrangements – David Matthews
  • Background vocal arrangements – Tom Bahler
  • Musical Advisor – Billy Zampino
  • Photography – Gilles Larrain
  • Cover Design – Christopher Austopchuk and Mark Larson
Studios
  • 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.

Accolades

Grammy Awards

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Year Nominee / work Award Result
1984 An Innocent Man Album of the Year[6] Nominated
"Uptown Girl" Best Pop Vocal Performance – Male[6] Nominated

American Music Awards

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Year Nominee / work Award Result
1983 Billy Joel (performer) Favorite Pop/Rock Male Artist[7] Nominated
"Tell Her About It" Favorite Pop/Rock Video[7] Nominated

Charts

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Certifications

Certifications for An Innocent Man
Region Certification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[21] Gold 20,000 
Canada (Music Canada)[22] 3× Platinum 300,000 
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[23] Gold 0 
Hong Kong (IFPI Hong Kong)[24] Gold 10,000 
Japan — 510,000[9][25]
New Zealand (RMNZ)[26] Platinum 15,000 
United Kingdom (BPI)[27] 3× Platinum 900,000 
United States (RIAA)[28] 8× Platinum 8,000,000 

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Billy Joel Website Interview". Archived from the original on March 19, 2016. Retrieved January 9, 2012.
  2. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Billy Joel – "An Innocent Man" Album Cover Location". ROCK AND ROLL GPS. September 3, 2014. Retrieved September 22, 2017.
  3. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Billy Joel – An Innocent Man – Album Cover Location", PopSpots
  4. ^ a b c Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Billy Joel MTV On the Road Liner Notes interview 1984". YouTube. May 20, 2016.
  5. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Billy Joel website interview". Archived from the original on March 19, 2016. Retrieved January 9, 2012.
  6. ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Rock On The Net: 26th Annual Grammy Awards – 1984". Archived from the original on July 15, 2011. Retrieved August 29, 2011.
  7. ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."11th American Music Awards". Retrieved November 1, 2011.
  8. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Ísland (LP-plötur)". DV (in íslenska). September 9, 1983. p. 37. ISSN 1021-8254 – via Timarit.is.
  9. ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Yamachan Land (Japanese Chart Archives) – Albums Chart Daijiten – Billy Joel" (in 日本語). Original Confidence. December 30, 2007. Retrieved August 29, 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  10. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."The Top Albums of 1983". RPM. Vol. 39, no. 17. December 24, 1983. p. 15. ISSN 0033-7064 – via Library and Archives Canada.
  11. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Jaaroverzichten – Album 1983" (in Nederlands). Dutch Charts. Retrieved August 29, 2011.
  12. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.年間アルバムヒットチャート 1983年（昭和58年） [1983 Japanese Year-End Albums Chart] (in 日本語). Oricon. Archived from the original on October 23, 2013. Retrieved August 29, 2011.
  13. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Top Selling Albums of 1983". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved February 2, 2022.
  14. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Scaping, Peter, ed. (1984). "Top 100 LPs: 1983". BPI Year Book 1984. British Phonographic Industry. pp. 44–45. ISBN 0-906154-04-9.
  15. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Top 100 Albums of 1984". RPM. Vol. 41, no. 17. January 5, 1985. p. 8. ISSN 0033-7064 – via Library and Archives Canada.
  16. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.日本で売れた洋楽アルバムTOP30(84年) [Top 30 best-selling international albums in Japan (1984)]. Archived from the original on October 21, 2007. Retrieved October 21, 2007.
  17. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Top Selling Albums of 1984". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved February 4, 2015.
  18. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Top 100 Albums (January 3–December 29, 1984)" (PDF). Music Week. January 26, 1985. p. 42. ISSN 0265-1548 – via World Radio History.
  19. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Top Pop Albums of 1984". Billboard. December 31, 1984. Retrieved May 28, 2022.{{cite magazine}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  20. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 1985". Billboard. Archived from the original on July 30, 2018. Retrieved May 28, 2022.
  21. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."CBS International Reaps Metal" (PDF). Cash Box. December 10, 1983. p. 18. Retrieved December 7, 2021 – via World Radio History.
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  25. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970–2005. Roppongi, Tokyo: Oricon Entertainment. 2006. ISBN 4-87131-077-9.
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  27. ^ Script error: No such module "cite". Select albums in the Formats field. Type An Innocent Man Billy Joel in the "Search:" field.
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Bibliography

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