The banjo and bass driven bluegrass tune “Travelin’ Prayer” seems an odd choice for a pop pianist to open his album with, but it works fairly well even with the tempo making the lyrics difficult to understand. The autobiographical “Piano Man” sounds like a cliche today, but only because it has been played so much. The descending harmony and low-key accordion accompaniment are a nice hook, but it is the sad lyrics about people drinking away their sorrows and disappointments to the sound of Billy’s piano are what make this song a classic.

A second thinly-veiled autobiographical song on the same album, “The Ballad Of Billy The Kid”, seems to be an absurd display of hubris, but the song is so good that this can be forgiven. The closer, “Captain Jack”, is one of the finest descriptions of teenage ennui ever written.

The remaining six tracks also contain insightful lyrics and impressive songcraft, although several of them sound rather dated. A fine slice of the poppier side of pop-rock.