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The band is back: Members of Billy Joel’s
old backing band — known as the Lords
of 52nd Street — will play some of their
original rock hits at a May 4 show at On
Stage at Kingsborough. Kevin Mocker
Brooklyn state of mind
Billy Joel’s original band to perform at On Stage at Kingsborough
COURIER LIFE, A 24-7 PRIL 26-MAY 2, 2019 39
By Julianne McShane The band is back!
Members of Billy Joel’s original
backing band will play some of the
Piano Man’s greatest hits at On Stage at
Kingsborough on May 4. The Lords of
52nd Street take pride in playing the iconic
tunes that they helped make famous,
according to the band’s drummer.
“We said, there are a lot of tribute
bands out there doing our stuff, so why
don’t we do it, the original guys?” said
Liberty DeVitto, who calls Clinton Hill
home.
At the Manhattan Beach show, the sextet
will play songs including “My Life,”
“Scenes From An Italian Restaurant,”
“New York State of Mind,” and “Movin’
Out,” among others, according to
DeVitto.
The group — whose main members
include saxophonist and keyboarder
Richie Cannata and guitarist Russell
Javors — first reunited in 2014, when they
played to an adoring crowd after being
inducted into the Long Island Music Hall
of Fame, DeVitto said.
“They wanted us to play one or two
songs at the event, and when we played
the first, the crowd went so wild that we
played five songs,” the drummer said.
The three other musicians who will
play with the Lords at their upcoming
show include bassist Malcolm Gold and
guitarist Dennis DelGaudio, who worked
on “Movin’ Out” — the 2002 Broadway
musical set to Joel’s songs — and singer
and pianist David Clark, who has spent
years performing Joel’s tunes.
DeVitto, Cannata, and Javors joined
Joel’s band in 1976, and shot to stardom
the following year, when the music man
released his fifth album, “The Stranger,”
which sold more than 10 million copies
and featured hit singles including “Only
the Good Die Young” and “She’s Always
a Woman.”
“I remember we came out of a gig
and I saw this crowd of girls crowding
around him, and I thought to myself, ‘I
think we did it,’ ” DeVitto said. “We went
from touring in two rental cars to private
planes and the best hotels in the world.”
DeVitto went on to play on 11 of Joel’s
albums over the next 30 years, but he and
Joel no longer speak — DeVitto launched
a lawsuit in 2009 claiming Joel owed
him hundreds of thousands of dollars in
unpaid royalties, which was settled out of
court a year later.
Javors stayed with the band for a
quarter century, and Cannata left in the
early 1980s.
DeVitto went on to play with other
musical icons — including Stevie Nicks,
the Beach Boys, Elton John, and Carly
Simon — and started his own original
rock band, The Slim Kings, with Cobble
Hill resident Michael Sackler-Berner and
Dyker Heights dweller Andy Attanasio.
The pair of younger Brooklynites ensures
that the group’s sounds stay fresh, according
to DeVitto.
“I’m the old school guy, and they have
the new ideas,” he said.
The Lords of 52nd Street at On Stage
at Kingsborough (2001 Oriental Blvd. at
Oxford Street in Manhattan Beach, (718)
368–5596, www.onstageatkingsborough.
org). May 4 at 8 p.m. $32–$34.
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