Billy Joel-Liberty Devito

[styxfanNH]

Drummer says Joel moved him out

Drummer Liberty DeVitto has been on every Billy Joel tour since 1974. So why wasn't he hammering the skins at the Piano Man's recent run at Madison Square Garden?

"Artistic differences," says Joel's rep.

"I guess that's what they call it when you try to tell a friend the truth," DeVitto tells us.

DeVitto, who has known Joel since they were teenagers, says their trouble started at the end of their last tour.

"I told him I was getting divorced, my ex-wife was getting everything, could he help me out? I helped him create hits, but I wasn't getting any royalties. The next day, he had the tour manager tell me, 'No way.'"

When Joel didn't invite him to his 2004 wedding to third wife, Kate Lee, DeVitto says, "I wrote him a letter, confronting him about his drinking and certain management issues. People said I discredited him. But then he went into rehab and proved me right."

Lately, DeVitto says, "Billy has said no one is allowed to talk to me." Seeking conversation, DeVitto has been talking to Mark Bego, whose Joel bio, "River of Dreams," is due out next December. (It's Bego's 50th book.)

Meanwhile, DeVitto has put together a smoking band, the NYC Hit Squad, featuring vets from Deep Purple, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, and the Asbury Dukes.

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Guess Liberty was just another hired hand....

[jrnyman28]

I remember that Liberty was the only guy he kept after the 80's. Joel and Liberty were obviously tight. By the sounds of it, Liberty was probably right...the drinkning must be a real problem!

[BlackWall]

I don't know what to make of this. Other than Billy and maybe a couple of band members, no one really knows if Liberty helped in writing any of the hits or not. On one hand, you would think the decent thing to do would be to help a buddy out, but we don't know the whole story.. Billy might also be a little tight with money, considering what happened with his former manager in the early '90s.

I do think it's kind of funny that Liberty sent him the letter about his drinking "after" he refused him the money.. where was the concerned friend before? I also think it shows somewhat of a lack of class to make the whole thing public the way that he has.

I'm not going to point fingers, though, it's not impossible that Liberty did help in creating some of the hits, and maybe Billy didn't want to admit to that fact by paying him royalties, who knows..

[styxfanNH]

We can go rounds and rounds on this, but all members help to make a song whether they wrote it or not. Each member adds a little here and a little there and contributes in some way.

[Liz22562]

Dirty Laundry....everyone has dirty laundry. Wonder why he opted to 'air' it out? PR for the new band?

[Ash]

Probably for the same reason JY kept talking about how much better Gowan was than Dennis for about 5 years. Because he likes to hear himself talk and at the same time put other people down.

When you can't talk in a way that builds yourself up, all you have left is talking to tear other people down..

Ya know.... I'm starting to feel like Froy... perhaps I should stop now

[jimmy19029]

In a recent Billy Joel biog I read that Liberty and some of the other band members of the mid 70s to late 80s era were given some record royalty points that Billy is rumored to have wanted to take back after he hit all the financial troubles he had later. But of course no one knows all the facts but them which is probably as it should be.

[jimmy19029]

In a recent Billy Joel biog I read that Liberty and some of the other band members of the mid 70s to late 80s era were given some record royalty points that Billy is rumored to have wanted to take back after he hit all the financial troubles he had later. But of course no one knows all the facts but them which is probably as it should be.