Attila (rock band)
Short-lived duo featuring Billy Joel before his solo fame.
Last updated
Ruhatika · CC BY-SA 4.0
The duo originated in New York City and is primarily known because a young Billy Joel was part of it.[1]
Making and release
Billy Joel and Jon Small formed Attila in 1969 after leaving the Hassles.[2][3] Epic Records signed the duo despite their unconventional sound.[3] The album cover showed Joel and Small in barbarian garb posing in what appeared to be a slaughterhouse meat locker.[3] Joel and Small's partnership ended in 1970 after Joel ran off with Small's wife, Elizabeth.[2]
Joel played bass lines on a keyboard, similar to Ray Manzarek of the Doors, while the band's instrumentation was limited to organ and drums.[2] To compensate for the absence of an electric guitar, Joel connected his organ to a Marshall stack and used distortion.[3] The sole album by the duo, also called Attila, came out on July 27, 1970.[4] The album failed to chart and produced no singles.[4]
"My Lives," a box set released by Joel in 2005, includes the track "Amplifier Fire, Part 1 (Godzilla)."[5][6]
What the cited sources add
The same article describes the nearly eight-minute instrumental "Amplifier Fire" as a jazz-rock freak-out over two parts.[3] In an interview, Billy Joel explained that Attila became a duo because the bands kept getting smaller.[7] Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic wrote that Attila is "undoubtedly the worst album released in the history of rock & roll—hell, the history of recorded music itself."[4]
References
- Wikipedia, "Attila (rock band)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Billy Joel Turns 70: Looking Backat His Early Heavy Metal Career", People.com (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Attila (rock band)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Here's The Thing: Billy Joel", Wync.org; "Here's The Thing: Billy Joel", Wync.org; "50 Years Ago: Billy Joel Goes Heavy Metal With Attila", Ultimateclassicrock.com, 27 July 2015; Proefrock, "Attila - Music Biography, Credits and Discography", AllMusic (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- "50 Years Ago: Billy Joel Goes Heavy Metal With Attila", Ultimateclassicrock.com, 27 July 2015. facts only, no text reused. ultimateclassicrock.com
- Wikipedia, "Attila (rock band)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Proefrock, "Attila - Music Biography, Credits and Discography", AllMusic (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Attila (rock band)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "My Lives", Billy Joel Official Site; "My Lives - Billy Joel Album", AllMusic (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- "My Lives", Billy Joel Official Site. facts only, no text reused. billyjoel.com
- "Here's The Thing: Billy Joel", Wync.org. facts only, no text reused. wnyc.org
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Attila (rock band) (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
More in American rock music duos
Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Attila (rock band) (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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