The hit song Billy Joel didn’t want to include on The Stranger
- Billy Joel has revealed that he initially did not want to include his hit song “Just The Way You Are” on his 1977 album, The Stranger.
- Joel said in an interview with musician and video maker Rick Beato that he considered the ballad “too mushy” for the album, which he felt needed a “bigger” song.
- He then said that fellow musician Linda Ronstadt convinced Joel to include the track, insisting it was “a hit record”.
- Paul McCartney once said that “Just The Way You Are” was one of the few songs he wished he had written himself.
- “That blew me away,” Joel responded. ”He’s like the melodic king. He can do no wrong with melody, Paul… His melodic sense is incredible.”
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