Liberty devitto biography of michael jackson
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Liberty DeVitto - Liberty: Life, Billy and the Pursuit of Happiness
Liberty DeVitto’s compelling memoir of life before, during and after his time in Billy Joel’s band is neither a preachy ‘I told you so’ nor a finger-pointing testimonial. It is a standout read, yet what, specifically, is it about this award-winning drummer’s memoir that makes it so? The native New Yorker was inspired by all the right stuff: the book first came to life as a carefully-compiled, ancestral history, a treasured timeline to his daughters. “I started a long time ago. My father lived until he was 91. My mother, 89, so I actually interviewed them and a couple of my aunts on cassette tape. I asked, ‘What was your life like when you were growing up?’ So, I had all of these great stories and that was going to be my memoir for the kids." “I wanted to chronicle how my family came from Italy and two generations later this Italian kid becomes the drummer in this band that is world-renowned. And then, I also wanted to look at things, standing in Billy’s shoes. Why did he do the things he did? The guy has had a career for fifty years or more now and sometimes you have to move forward
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Longtime Billy Joel Drummer Liberty DeVitto Talks Mending Fences With the Piano Man
Billy Joel fans looking for a fix this summer will get it today (July 17) with the release of former drummer Liberty DeVitto’s new tell-all, “Liberty: Life, Billy and the Pursuit of Happiness.”
The book, over a decade in the making, delves into tasty tidbits about life on the road and in the studio as part of Joel’s band, in addition to DeVitto revealing how he and the Piano Man reunited after splitting in 2005 following 30 years of performing together.
“It took 15 years to write,” he tells Variety. “It started out as my notes and memories, which, when me and Billy had parted ways, I put away on the shelf. Then somebody would say, ‘Hey, you know, you should write a book.’ And I would take it out again, and think nobody wants to hear my story. And then my wife said, you should do it. Just write it down so your kids can have a memoir of your life.”
Just last year, DeVitto — who still plays the hits with alums from Joel’s band, Russell Javors on guitar and vocals and Richie Cannata on saxophone and keyboards in a group called the Lords of 52nd Street — finally got around to reading what he had put to