“And So It Goes”: Billy Joel’s Epic Journey

“When I was young, I worked on an oyster boat…”

So begins And So It Goes, the two-part, five-hour HBO documentary on the life and career of Billy Joel. Current-day Billy, ensconced in the Oyster Bay mansion he enviously spotted as a kid growing up on Long Island, faces the camera, a bit world-weary. He’s seated at the extension of his soul, his piano. This gives And So It Goes an intimacy from the first frame.

Produced and directed by Susan Lacy and Jessica Levin, it brings a slew of stunning footage. There are childhood home movies, clips of teen Billy, in bands called the Lost Souls, the Hassles, and the hair band Attila (when Led Zeppelin was his inspiration).

Joel guides us through his scrappy days in the New York suburb of Hicksville. He shares his early love of music, derived from his mom, who came from a background of musical theater, and his distant father, a fine pianist. He and his sister Judy were tight siblings. Theirs was the only divorced family on the block and the only Jewish one. Joel’s piano lessons made him the brunt of bullying; he took up boxing for protection.

The progress of Joel’s success is covered with great care, from the pop polish of Piano Man and The Stranger to the more genre-shifting LPs like Nylon Curtain, An Innocent Man, and the classical Fantasies and Delusions.

We get analyses of his work by Paul McCartney, Jackson Browne, Nas, Sting, Bruce Springsteen, and Itzhak Perlman. But the best intel comes from family members, friends, present and former bandmates, and all four of his wives. Joel encouraged the proverbial “warts and all” coverage of his life, and none of it is given short shrift.

But there’s love and admiration for the multi-faceted performer who crafted his own music from childhood, delving into all genres (pop, country, blues, rock, New Wave, and classical) with equal zeal. This later made him a (peevish) target of critics’ derision who wanted him to be, always and forever, the “Piano Man.”

The anchor pin in the first episode is his first wife, Elizabeth Weber, whom he met and fell for as a teen, despite her being married to bandmate Jon Small (who gamely appears in the episode). Their courtship, split and eventful marriage yielded his first true muse (“Just the Way You Are,” “She’s Got a Way,” “She’s Always a Woman” and the searing “Stiletto” were all Weber-inspired) and his finest musical manager. Weber has been a bit of a mystery woman for decades; these are her first public words about her ex in 40 years. She’s an appealing commentator, and their combined accounts in Part One take us through the triumphs and tribulations of Joel’s career.

The second episode digs into what may be the heart and soul of Joel’s anguish: the pained relationship with his father, who left the family when Billy was a child. Their reconnection decades later never resulted in the warm paternal relationship he craved. His father and grandfather were survivors of Hitler’s Germany, an ache that Joel feels to his marrow.

His well-intentioned mother suffered from mental illness and alcoholism, making the home front grim. All this likely contributed to Joel’s own issues with drugs, alcohol, and suicidal ideation that plagued him at various points. It put his marriages in jeopardy, caused endless difficulties, and made him vulnerable to the managerial swindling that upended his life.

Episode Two continues the narrative through the lens of Billy and his three subsequent wives – Christie Brinkley, Katie Lee Biegel, and Alexis Roderick. With integrity and kindness, they share their respective experiences. Brinkley is emotional about their marital dynamic, and daughter Alexa speaks with empathy and understanding. It makes for surprising revelations.

Billy has maintained his musical mojo. Since 2015, he’s happily married to former financier Alexis Roderick, and they’re raising two daughters. It’s a triumph for the man who’s made magnificent music for over half a century and recently wrapped his decade-long Madison Square Garden residency. Joel’s cheeky swagger and charisma render him a lovable figure.

And So It Goes wrapped before the sad announcement that Joel is currently dealing with a neurological disorder called NPH.  That’s okay; And So It Goes is wondrous viewing for fans and newbies alike. It’s a documentary that’s as profoundly entertaining as his music.

– Ellen Fagan

Photo: Getty Images