Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Susan and Jessica.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
You're on with Quenn and kin.
Speaker 3 (00:02):
Terra in Almany.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to the show you too, It's an honor to
have you on. We're very excited to talk you about this.
The Billy Joel and So it goes two part documentary
that we're enjoying.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
So it's directed by Susan Lacey and Jessica Levin. That's
who's joining us. And I'm reading from Variety and I'll
ask you this question after Susan. But and so it goes.
It's not a once over, and so it goes. It's
not a once over, lightly papering over the dark side
portrait of a pop star. It includes a lot of
wartz Susan, that's obviously on purpose. Right.
Speaker 3 (00:31):
Well, when I first started this, I asked, Believe if
there were any sensitivities. So that doesn't mean I'm going
to stay away from them, but I wanted to know
if there were any, and he said, tell the truth.
That's my only request, Just tell the truth. And he
didn't see the film till it was finished, and we
told his whole story, and his story have warts in it.
(00:52):
It's a messy life, but a fascinating one about a
very kind of a musical, divant human being, and we
almost five hours, so we tell the whole story.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
Yeah, you do it if we've seen episode one and
we think it's both fantastic.
Speaker 1 (01:11):
Susan Quinn here, I know you're responsible for the creation
of the PBS series American Masters of the Story well known.
Did you have Billy Joel in there?
Speaker 3 (01:21):
No, we never did. I think I tried. You know,
I was responsible for getting over two hundred and fifty
films made while I was there in my thirty some years,
but Billy Thoul wasn't one of them. But it was
always something I wanted to do.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
Susan Lacy Jessica eleven Emmy Award winners creative forces behind
HBO's two part documentary Billy Joel and So It Goes,
which we find fantastic. Jessica, I worry that if Billy's
bizarre initial project Attila took off, we would never get
any more. We would never have had this music.
Speaker 4 (01:55):
That's a funny postulation. I actually in the film and Billy,
I think as we were the worst possible band, and
we drove people out of clubs, we were so.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
Loud, and that it didn't work.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
Let me ask you this, and how long did the
entire thing? I think you said five years approximately, Susan.
But how and how how much time was spent with
Billy specifically with the questions.
Speaker 3 (02:20):
I did about twenty some hours of interviews with Billy,
twenty two I think. And that was over a period
of you know, a year and a half, two years,
of many different interviews, many different places. I always, as
you've seen it, you'll see that he's always sitting at
a piano. And made that decision early on because I
(02:41):
noticed when a few other interviews I've seen that he
would get up and jump, jump out of his chair
and run over to the pan. I wouldn't do something
and then come back, and I said, well, let's don't
waste that time. Billy's most comfortable at a piano.
Speaker 1 (02:54):
He's so he's so nerve wracked, and you know, he
doesn't like to talk on camera, right.
Speaker 3 (02:58):
I think he was initially a little bit wary about
but when he saw that we were really making a
very serious film. I mean that we were serious filmmakers,
really interested in getting underneath the surface of both his process,
his artistry, and his life and how those connect because
they are connect inextricably. Billy's music is very autobiographical. There's
(03:22):
actually no way to explore his music without also exploring
his life. And he got behind it, and I really.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
Opened up talking to the Emmy Award winners and creative
forces behind Billy Joel and so it goes Susan Lacy
and Jessica Eleven. I think a big part of it
for me is I didn't know the early years of
Billy Joel, so it was a great score. Jessica, you
talked to Billy's first wife, who stole out from underneath
his best friend or partner a kind of in a way.
(03:52):
Was she hesitant to talk because I heard she hadn't
talked in forty years.
Speaker 3 (03:55):
I knew how essential she listed this story, and I
felt that she had been misrepresented in social media, uh,
and that her story for me was a really assassinating
feminist story. There'd never been a woman manager of a
rock bands at that point, and she just jumped in
(04:16):
fat first to look after the career of this incredible talent.
But she well, she left, She left and didn't speak
about it for forty years. So I had to really
convince her to do this she did not want to
do it at first, and convinced her, I think on
a very personal level, and had many dinners and phone
(04:37):
calls with her and then finally she said okay, and
then we did four interviews. She's essential to this film.
And actually at first she didn't really want to talk
about the music, the songs because they were written many
of them were written about But then she called. After
three interviews, she called and she said, I think I
held back too much, so we didn't. We did a
(04:58):
final interview and then the personal really came out.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
I mean, the scene where he's describing how he came
up with New York state of Mind is so great,
as especially being here in upstate New York to watch
that go down.
Speaker 2 (05:09):
Susan Lacy, Jessica Levin the creative force behind Billy Joe,
and so.
Speaker 1 (05:12):
It goes fabulous. Thank you, guys, Thank you
Susan and Jessica.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
You're on with Quenn and kin.
Speaker 3 (00:02):
Terra in Almany.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to the show you too, It's an honor to
have you on. We're very excited to talk you about this.
The Billy Joel and So it goes two part documentary
that we're enjoying.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
So it's directed by Susan Lacey and Jessica Levin. That's
who's joining us. And I'm reading from Variety and I'll
ask you this question after Susan. But and so it goes.
It's not a once over, and so it goes. It's
not a once over, lightly papering over the dark side
portrait of a pop star. It includes a lot of
wartz Susan, that's obviously on purpose. Right.
Speaker 3 (00:31):
Well, when I first started this, I asked, Believe if
there were any sensitivities. So that doesn't mean I'm going
to stay away from them, but I wanted to know
if there were any, and he said, tell the truth.
That's my only request, Just tell the truth. And he
didn't see the film till it was finished, and we
told his whole story, and his story have warts in it.
(00:52):
It's a messy life, but a fascinating one about a
very kind of a musical, divant human being, and we
almost five hours, so we tell the whole story.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
Yeah, you do it if we've seen episode one and
we think it's both fantastic.
Speaker 1 (01:11):
Susan Quinn here, I know you're responsible for the creation
of the PBS series American Masters of the Story well known.
Did you have Billy Joel in there?
Speaker 3 (01:21):
No, we never did. I think I tried. You know,
I was responsible for getting over two hundred and fifty
films made while I was there in my thirty some years,
but Billy Thoul wasn't one of them. But it was
always something I wanted to do.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
Susan Lacy Jessica eleven Emmy Award winners creative forces behind
HBO's two part documentary Billy Joel and So It Goes,
which we find fantastic. Jessica, I worry that if Billy's
bizarre initial project Attila took off, we would never get
any more. We would never have had this music.
Speaker 4 (01:55):
That's a funny postulation. I actually in the film and Billy,
I think as we were the worst possible band, and
we drove people out of clubs, we were so.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
Loud, and that it didn't work.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
Let me ask you this, and how long did the
entire thing? I think you said five years approximately, Susan.
But how and how how much time was spent with
Billy specifically with the questions.
Speaker 3 (02:20):
I did about twenty some hours of interviews with Billy,
twenty two I think. And that was over a period
of you know, a year and a half, two years,
of many different interviews, many different places. I always, as
you've seen it, you'll see that he's always sitting at
a piano. And made that decision early on because I
(02:41):
noticed when a few other interviews I've seen that he
would get up and jump, jump out of his chair
and run over to the pan. I wouldn't do something
and then come back, and I said, well, let's don't
waste that time. Billy's most comfortable at a piano.
Speaker 1 (02:54):
He's so he's so nerve wracked, and you know, he
doesn't like to talk on camera, right.
Speaker 3 (02:58):
I think he was initially a little bit wary about
but when he saw that we were really making a
very serious film. I mean that we were serious filmmakers,
really interested in getting underneath the surface of both his process,
his artistry, and his life and how those connect because
they are connect inextricably. Billy's music is very autobiographical. There's
(03:22):
actually no way to explore his music without also exploring
his life. And he got behind it, and I really.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
Opened up talking to the Emmy Award winners and creative
forces behind Billy Joel and so it goes Susan Lacy
and Jessica Eleven. I think a big part of it
for me is I didn't know the early years of
Billy Joel, so it was a great score. Jessica, you
talked to Billy's first wife, who stole out from underneath
his best friend or partner a kind of in a way.
(03:52):
Was she hesitant to talk because I heard she hadn't
talked in forty years.
Speaker 3 (03:55):
I knew how essential she listed this story, and I
felt that she had been misrepresented in social media, uh,
and that her story for me was a really assassinating
feminist story. There'd never been a woman manager of a
rock bands at that point, and she just jumped in
(04:16):
fat first to look after the career of this incredible talent.
But she well, she left, She left and didn't speak
about it for forty years. So I had to really
convince her to do this she did not want to
do it at first, and convinced her, I think on
a very personal level, and had many dinners and phone
(04:37):
calls with her and then finally she said okay, and
then we did four interviews. She's essential to this film.
And actually at first she didn't really want to talk
about the music, the songs because they were written many
of them were written about But then she called. After
three interviews, she called and she said, I think I
held back too much, so we didn't. We did a
(04:58):
final interview and then the personal really came out.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
I mean, the scene where he's describing how he came
up with New York state of Mind is so great,
as especially being here in upstate New York to watch
that go down.
Speaker 2 (05:09):
Susan Lacy, Jessica Levin the creative force behind Billy Joe,
and so.
Speaker 1 (05:12):
It goes fabulous. Thank you, guys, Thank you
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