“They thought he was too short. He wore a beret, and it was just very kind of corny; he sang on one knee! But he had ‘it’ - I saw it’”: How Billy Joel ended up joining the little-known ‘60s band that gave him his break as a recording artist

Billy Joel and Jon Small.

You might not have heard of The Hassles, a US band that formed in 1964, but you’ll almost certainly know the name of their keyboard player. A certain Billy Joel joined the outfit in 1966, staying with them until they broke up, in 1969.

Formed in Long Island, The Hassles only released a couple of albums, but made a big enough impression to be inducted into the Long Island Music & Entertainment Hall of Fame a couple of weeks ago. There to accept the honour was drummer Jon Small, who went on to become a successful music video producer and director, and during his speech, Mix reports that he discussed how Joel ended up joining.