“Billy Joel: And So It Goes” is a bit like the Piano Man and his songs: not particularly flashy or stylish when you first see it, but brimming with insight, entertainment value, and deep feeling. And ...

When it was announced that this year’s Tribeca Festival would open with the premiere of the HBO documentary “Billy Joel: And So It Goes,” I assumed, as a fan of both Billy Joel and pop documentaries ...

JOEL: (Singing) Uptown girl. She's been living in her uptown world. INSKEEP: That last song references Christie Brinkley, one of his wives. In the documentary, Billy Joel sits at his grand piano in ...

"Billy Joel: And So It Goes" is a bit like the Piano Man and his songs: not particularly flashy or stylish when you first see it, but brimming with insight, entertainment value, and deep feeling. And ...

JOEL: (Singing) Oh, but working too hard can give you a heart attack. (SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "ONLY THE GOOD DIE YOUNG") JOEL: (Singing) Well, only the good die young. (SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "UPTOWN GIRL") ...

Part 1 of HBO's two-part documentary traces Joel's life and career through 1980, testifying to the contradictions that fueled his incandescent pop. “Piano Man,” for instance, emerged from the ...