Billy Joel: Gatecrasher

From an interview with Billy Joel in the Chicago Tribune, May 7, 2016.

Q: You have the record for most performances at Madison Square Garden by one artist, and you have more to come. Out of curiosity, what was the first concert you ever attended at the Garden, and did you ever sneak in without a ticket?

A: Oh, yeah, I sneaked in places without a ticket. I went to see Jimi Hendrix back in the late 1960s. He was playing at what is now Flushing Meadows Tennis Stadium, where they have the U.S. Open. I went with a friend and made believe I was one of Hendrix’s roadies. I had on a baseball cap and wrapped some (electrical) cable around my shoulder. I started to try to talk with an English accent: ‘Jimi’s got these cables I need to take to him.’ I made my way closer and closer inside the venue, and I finally got close to backstage.

Then. Jimi’s famous roadie, Keith Robertson, motioned to me, and said: ‘You, come over here! You’re pretty good. Now, I’m going to put you to work.’ He had me lug Hendrix’s huge Marshall (speaker cabinets) onstage. ... I spent the entire concert on the edge of the rotating stage, watching Hendrix perform — and watching my friends in the audience. I couldn’t believe it, and neither could they! I did that (phony roadie) thing a number of times.

Q: What about your first concert at Madison Square Garden?

A: The first big show I ever saw was at the original Madison Square Garden; it’s moved since then. This was back in the early 1950s, when I was little kid. My parents took me to a Christmas show there featuring ... who was that singing cowboy?

Q: Roy Rogers?

A: No, not Roy — Gene Autry. He had a hit at the time with ‘Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer.’ We were up in nosebleed section and it was the biggest place I’d ever seen. It was kind of scary! Gene asked the audience to sing along. They did, but I guess not loud enough. So, he pulled out his two six-shooters, fired them, and said: ‘I said, everybody sing!’ It scared the crap out of me, and I started singing, really loud.

Q: So, at a young age, you had a vivid preview of how the music business works.

A: (laughs) Yeah, I guess I did!