The song 'Piano Man' was first released as a single, then included as track number two for his 'Piano Man' album. There’s John the bartender, then a real estate agent by the name of Paul, even his first wife becomes a character in the song. He used to be a lounge singer and piano player at that bar and there he met the people that would become characters in his song. The singer himself said that the characters from the song are inspired from real life people that he knew. The story of the song is that of Joel’s relived experience from 1972 at a bar in Los Angeles called Executive Room. In April 1974, the song reached its best position in the United States, rank 25 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts. 'Piano Man' is Billy Joel’s first great hit and also became a signature song for him. This folk rock single was produced by Michael Stewart and has the track 'You’re My Home' as the B-side. Joel was the sole writer of the song and it was released as a 45 rpm single on the second of November, 1973. The recording took place in September 1973, in Los Angeles. It is the lead single from the album 'Piano Man' from 1973 and has since been included on many of his other albums. 'Piano Man' is the title of a song by soft rock musician Billy Joel.