JUST THE WAY YOU ARE - COVER (SHORT CLIPS) The Clair Rozells Show (motown/standards/oldies) Backed by Marcus(keys), Peter(bass) and Aubrey(drums) Just the Way You Are is a song by Billy Joel from his 1977 album, The Stranger. Just the Way You Are, which won the 1979 Grammy Awards for Record of the Year and Song of the Year, turned Joels chart career, which had largely stalled out by early 1975, into long-lasting success. Joel revealed that the inspiration for writing this tune (more specifically the name of the song and how it sounds in the chorus) was directly taken from the last line in the Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons song Rag Doll; which incidentally was also a larger inspiration for Joels later song, Uptown Girl. The song, which Joel had written for his first wife (and also his business manager at the time) Elizabeth Weber, was not liked by either Joel or his band, and Joel had originally decided against making the track a part of the album. But at the request of both Linda Ronstadt and Phoebe Snow (both were recording in other studios in the same building at the time), Joel agreed to put the song on the final mix. When Just the Way You Are was released as a single, it was shortened by over a minute. The differences are the removal of the second verse and an earlier fade. The song is unique for its use of an alto sax solo at the end. The solo was played by Phil Woods, a well-known jazz performer and Grammy award winner. Woods was criticized by some purists in the jazz community for playing on a rock session, but the performance exposed him to a wider audience and introduced his music to rock fans.
Posted on: Thu, 11 Sep 2014 08:11:12 +0000