River of Dreams
Encyclopedia
River of Dreams is the 12th studio album by Billy Joel
, released in 1993. This is the last pop album made by Joel, and presented a much more serious tone as a whole, dealing with issues such as trust and long-lasting love; it was rumored that the themes of trust and betrayal, particularly certain lyrics from the songs "A Minor Variation" and "The Great Wall of China", stem from Joel's legal disputes with his former manager and ex-brother-in-law, Frank Weber, who reportedly embezzled millions of dollars from Joel and used dubious accounting practices to cover it up.
The album cover was a painting by Joel's then-wife, Christie Brinkley
. In 1993, Rolling Stone
gave her the Top Picks award for "The Best Album Cover of the Year".
Disc one (River of Dreams – Studio Album) - as per original album
Disc two (Billy Joel Live)
All songs written and composed by Billy Joel, except where noted
Disc 3 (Questions & Answers Disc)
| width="35" align="center" rowspan="4"|1994 || River of Dreams || Album of the Year ||
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|rowspan=3|"The River of Dreams" || Song of the Year
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| Record of the Year
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| Best Pop Vocal Performance – Male
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Billy Joel
William Martin "Billy" Joel is an American musician and pianist, singer-songwriter, and classical composer. Since releasing his first hit song, "Piano Man", in 1973, Joel has become the sixth best-selling recording artist and the third best-selling solo artist in the United States, according to...
, released in 1993. This is the last pop album made by Joel, and presented a much more serious tone as a whole, dealing with issues such as trust and long-lasting love; it was rumored that the themes of trust and betrayal, particularly certain lyrics from the songs "A Minor Variation" and "The Great Wall of China", stem from Joel's legal disputes with his former manager and ex-brother-in-law, Frank Weber, who reportedly embezzled millions of dollars from Joel and used dubious accounting practices to cover it up.
The album cover was a painting by Joel's then-wife, Christie Brinkley
Christie Brinkley
Christie Brinkley is an American model and actress best known for her three consecutive appearances on the cover of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue in the late 1970s and early 1980s, for her long-running contract with CoverGirl, the longest ever of any model in history, and for her marriage...
. In 1993, Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
gave her the Top Picks award for "The Best Album Cover of the Year".
Track listing
All songs written and composed by Billy Joel.- "No Man's LandNo Man's Land (Billy Joel song)"No Man's Land" is a single by Billy Joel. It was the third single from his 1993 album River of Dreams. The song is about the growth of suburbia and its negative environmental and social aspects. It presumably refers somewhat specifically to Long Island...
" – 4:48 - "The Great Wall of China" – 5:45
- "Blonde Over Blue" – 4:55
- "A Minor Variation" – 5:36
- "Shades of Grey" – 4:10
- "All About SoulAll About Soul"All About Soul" is a single by singer/songwriter Billy Joel. It was the second single from his 1993 album River of Dreams. The song peaked at #29 in the US and #32 on the UK charts...
" – 5:59 - "Lullabye (Goodnight, My Angel)Lullabye (Goodnight, My Angel)"Lullabye " is the seventh track and third single from Billy Joel's 1993 album River of Dreams. It was inspired by Alexa Ray Joel, his daughter by Christie Brinkley. The song is in the key of G major....
" – 3:32 - "The River of DreamsThe River of Dreams"The River of Dreams" is a single by Billy Joel. It is the title track and first single from his 1993 album River of Dreams. The song was a hit, peaking at #3 on the US and UK charts, making it his highest charting of the 1990s. It also hit the top spot in Australia and on the Billboard Adult...
" – 4:05 - "Two Thousand Years" – 5:19
- "Famous Last Words" – 5:01
A Voyage on the River of Dreams
A Voyage on the River of Dreams is an Australian 3-CD box set released in 1994, which includes the studio album, River Of Dreams, along with a 6-track live CD from the '93–'94 River Of Dreams tour, plus a Questions & Answers CD recorded at Princeton University. This boxed set made the charts in Australia (#33) and New Zealand (#47), the only places besides Japan where the set was officially released.Disc one (River of Dreams – Studio Album) - as per original album
Disc two (Billy Joel Live)
All songs written and composed by Billy Joel, except where noted
- "Goodbye Yellow Brick RoadGoodbye Yellow Brick Road (song)"Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" is a ballad performed by musician Elton John. The song was written by Bernie Taupin and composed by John for his album Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. Its musical style and production is heavily influenced by 1970s soft rock...
" (Elton JohnElton JohnSir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor...
/Bernie TaupinBernie TaupinBernard John "Bernie" Taupin is an English lyricist, poet, and singer, best known for his long-term collaboration with Elton John, writing the lyrics for the majority of the star's songs, making his lyrics some of the best known in pop-rock's history.In 1967, Taupin answered an advertisement in...
) - "No Man's LandNo Man's Land (Billy Joel song)"No Man's Land" is a single by Billy Joel. It was the third single from his 1993 album River of Dreams. The song is about the growth of suburbia and its negative environmental and social aspects. It presumably refers somewhat specifically to Long Island...
" - "The Ballad of Billy the KidThe Ballad of Billy the Kid"The Ballad of Billy the Kid" is a Billy Joel song from the album Piano Man. It is a fictionalized story of Billy The Kid. In an interview from 1975, Joel admitted,"Basically [the song] was an experiment with an impressionist type of lyric...
" - "Lullabye (Goodnight, My Angel)Lullabye (Goodnight, My Angel)"Lullabye " is the seventh track and third single from Billy Joel's 1993 album River of Dreams. It was inspired by Alexa Ray Joel, his daughter by Christie Brinkley. The song is in the key of G major....
" - "The River of DreamsThe River of Dreams"The River of Dreams" is a single by Billy Joel. It is the title track and first single from his 1993 album River of Dreams. The song was a hit, peaking at #3 on the US and UK charts, making it his highest charting of the 1990s. It also hit the top spot in Australia and on the Billboard Adult...
" - "A Hard Day's NightA Hard Day's Night (song)"A Hard Day's Night" is a song by the English rock band The Beatles. Written by John Lennon, and credited to Lennon–McCartney, it was released on the movie soundtrack of the same name in 1964...
" (Lennon/McCartneyLennon/McCartneyThe Lennon–McCartney songwriting partnership is one of the best-known and most successful musical collaborations in history...
)
Disc 3 (Questions & Answers Disc)
- "Q & A recorded at Princeton University"
Grammy Awards
|-| width="35" align="center" rowspan="4"|1994 || River of Dreams || Album of the Year ||
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|rowspan=3|"The River of Dreams" || Song of the Year
Grammy Award for Song of the Year
The Song of the Year is one of the four most prestigious awards in the Grammy Awards ceremony, if not in all of the American music industry. It has been awarded since 1959 and unlike the Record of the Year award, which goes to the performer and production team of a single song, Song of the Year...
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| Record of the Year
Grammy Award for Record of the Year
The Record of the Year is one of the four most prestigious Grammy Awards presented annually. It has been awarded since 1959.-History:The honorees through its history have been:*1959-1965: Artist only.*1966-1998: Artist and producer....
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| Best Pop Vocal Performance – Male
Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance
The Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance was awarded between 1966 and 2011...
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Peak positions
| Chart (1993) | Position |
|---|---|
| Australian ARIA Albums Chart ARIA Charts The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June... |
1 |
| Austrian Albums Chart Ö3 Austria Top 40 Ö3 Austria Top 40 is the name of the official Austrian singles chart, as well as the radio show which presents it, aired Fridays on Hitradio Ö3. The show presents the Austrian singles, ringtones and downloads chart. It premiered on 26 November 1968 as Disc Parade and was presented by Ernst Grissemann... |
2 |
| Canadian RPM Albums Chart RPM (magazine) RPM was a Canadian music industry publication that featured song and album charts for Canada. The publication was founded by Walt Grealis in February 1964, supported through its existence by record label owner Stan Klees. RPM ceased publication in November 2000.RPM stood for "Records, Promotion,... |
6 |
| Dutch Mega Albums Chart MegaCharts MegaCharts is responsible for the composition and exploitation of a broad collection of official charts in the Netherlands, of which the Mega Top 50 and the Mega Album Top 100 are the most known ones. Mega Charts also provides information to the Stichting Nederlandse Top 40, of which the Dutch Top... |
23 |
| German Media Control Albums Chart | 2 |
| Hungarian Albums Chart | 33 |
| Italian Albums Chart | 17 |
| Japanese Oricon Albums Chart Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan. It started as , which was founded by Sōkō Koike in November 1967 and became known for its music charts. Oricon Inc... |
3 |
| New Zealand Albums Chart | 1 |
| Norwegian VG-lista Albums Chart VG-lista VG-listen is a Norwegian record chart. It is weekly presented in the newspaper VG and the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation program Topp 20. It is considered the primary Norwegian record chart, charting albums and singles from countries and continent around the world. The data is collected by... |
9 |
| Swedish Albums Chart Sverigetopplistan Sverigetopplistan, earlier known as Topplistan and Hitlistan and other names, is since October 2007 the Swedish national record chart, based on sales data from Swedish Recording Industry Association .... |
30 |
| Swiss Albums Chart Swiss Music Charts The Swiss Music Charts are Switzerland's main music sales charts. The charts are a record of the highest-selling singles and albums in various genres in Switzerland.The Swiss Charts include:* Singles Top 75... |
2 |
| UK Albums Chart UK Albums Chart The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart... |
3 |
| United States United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... Billboard 200 Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
1 |
Certifications and sales
- A^ Combined sales of standard edition and its expanded reissue.
Year-end charts
| Chart (1993) | Position |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums Chart | 7 |
| Austrian Albums Chart | 14 |
| Canadian Albums Chart RPM (magazine) RPM was a Canadian music industry publication that featured song and album charts for Canada. The publication was founded by Walt Grealis in February 1964, supported through its existence by record label owner Stan Klees. RPM ceased publication in November 2000.RPM stood for "Records, Promotion,... |
27 |
| Italian Albums Chart | 78 |
| Japanese Albums Chart | 79 |
| Swiss Albums Chart | 17 |
| UK Albums Chart | 43 |
| US Albums Chart Billboard Year-End Billboard Year-End charts are a cumulative measure of a single or album's performance in the United States, based upon the Billboard magazine charts during any given chart year. Billboard's "chart year" runs from the first week of December to the final week in November... |
23 |
Musicians
- Zachary Alford: Drums
- Phillip Ballou: Choir, Chorus
- Katreese Barnes: Choir, Chorus
- Tommy Byrnes: GuitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
- Richie CannataRichie CannataRichie Cannata is an American music producer, multi-instrumentalist and studio owner. He is most notable for playing saxophone in the Billy Joel band alongside Doug Stegmeyer and Liberty DeVitto. After leaving the band in 1981, he opened Cove City Sound Studios in Glen Cove, New York...
: Tenor Sax - Dennis Collins: Choir, Chorus
- Schuyler Deale: Bass
- Lew Del Gatto: Orchestra Manager
- Liberty DeVittoLiberty DeVittoLiberty DeVitto is an American rock drummer. He is best known as the drummer for Billy Joel, but has also played with the NYC Hit Squad and has been a session drummer on recordings of other artists.-Career:...
: Drums - Will Downing: Choir, Chorus
- Laurence Etkin: Trumpet
- Wrecia Ford: Vocals
- Diane Garisto: Choir, Chorus
- Arno Hecht: Baritone Sax
- Lonnie Hillyer: Bass
- Jeff JacobsJeff JacobsJeff Jacobs is a former member of the Ohio House of Representatives. He is currently the mayor of St. Louis Park, Minnesota, a suburb of Minneapolis.-References:...
: Synthesizer - Stephanie James: Choir, Chorus
- Billy JoelBilly JoelWilliam Martin "Billy" Joel is an American musician and pianist, singer-songwriter, and classical composer. Since releasing his first hit song, "Piano Man", in 1973, Joel has become the sixth best-selling recording artist and the third best-selling solo artist in the United States, according to...
: Vocal, PianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
, ClavinetClavinetA Clavinet is an electrically amplified keyboard instrument manufactured by the Hohner company. It is essentially an electronically amplified clavichord, analogous to an electric guitar. Its distinctive bright staccato sound has appeared particularly in funk, disco, rock, and reggae songs.Various...
, Organ, Hammond OrganHammond organThe Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond in 1934 and manufactured by the Hammond Organ Company. While the Hammond organ was originally sold to churches as a lower-cost alternative to the wind-driven pipe organ, in the 1960s and 1970s it became a standard keyboard...
, Organs, Keyboards, Synthesizer, Background Vocals - Devora Johnson: Choir, Chorus
- Jef Lee Johnson: Bass
- Steve Jordan Drums
- Curtis Rance King, Jr.: Choir Conductor, Choir Contractor
- Doug Kleeger Technical Support
- Dan Kortchmar: Guitar
- Andy Kravitz: Percussion
- Osvaldo Melindez: Trombone
- Ira NewbornIra NewbornIra Newborn is an American musician and composer, best known for his work composing motion picture soundtracks....
: Orchestration - Jim Saporito: Percussion
- Marlon Saunders: Choir, Chorus, Vocals
- Frank Simms: Background Vocals
- George Simms: Background Vocals
- T.M. Stevens: Bass
- Crystal Taliefero: Vocal Arrangement, Vocals
- Chuck Treece: Bass
- Mike Tyler: Guitar
- Leslie WestLeslie WestLeslie West is an American rock guitarist, singer and songwriter.-Biography:Originally named Leslie Weinstein, West was born in New York City, grew up in Hackensack, New Jersey, and in East Meadow, Forest Hills and Lawrence. After his parents divorced, he changed his surname to West...
: Guitar - Brenda White-King: Choir, Chorus
- B. David Witworth: Vocals