Billy Joel - The Bridge - 1986 - CBS

The Bridge is Billy Joel's 10th studio album released by Columbia Records in 1986 (see 1986 in music) and it was produced by Phil Ramone. This album had several successful singles, including "A Matter of Trust" (peaking at #10), "Modern Woman" (from the Ruthless People soundtrack, peaking at #10), and "This Is the Time" (peaking at #18).
Joel began work on the album in 1985 and it would become The Bridge in early 1986. Ray Charles, one of Joel's heroes, sang a duet with Joel on the song "Baby Grand" and Steve Winwood played Hammond organ on the song "Getting Closer." The final song recorded for the album was "Code Of Silence." Cyndi Lauper appears on that song, contributing backing vocals. She is also credited as co-lyricist for the song.
Though it broke into the Top Ten, The Bridge was not a success in relation to some of Joel's other albums, but it yielded the hit "A Matter Of Trust." In a departure from his "piano man" persona, Joel is shown in its video as playing a Les Paul-autographed Gibson guitar. The ballad "This Is the Time" also charted, and has been a favorite on the prom circuit ever since.[citation needed] "Modern Woman" was also released as a single and was quite successful, but Joel has since said in interviews[citation needed] he does not care for the song, and subsequently it has been left off most of his compilation sets (the exception appears to be My Lives and The Ultimate Collection).
The Bridge was Billy's last album to carry the "Family Productions" logo.

Track list
All songs written by Billy Joel, except where noted.
1. "Running on Ice" – 3:15
2. "This Is the Time" – 4:59
3. "A Matter of Trust" – 4:09
4. "Modern Woman" – 3:48
5. "Baby Grand" – 4:02
6. "Big Man on Mulberry Street" – 5:26
7. "Temptation" – 4:12
8. "Code of Silence" (Billy Joel, Cyndi Lauper) – 5:15
9. "Getting Closer" – 5:00

Personnel
* Billy Joel - piano, synthesizers, vocals; Fender Rhodes on "Getting Closer"
* Liberty DeVitto - drums, percussion
* Doug Stegmeyer - bass
* David Brown - guitars
* Russell Javors - guitars
* Peter Hewlett - background vocals on "Running on Ice"
* Rob Mounsey - synthesizers on "Running on Ice"; orchestration on "This Is the Time", "Modern Woman" and "Big
Man on Mulberry Street"
* Jeff Bova - synthesizers on "A Matter of Trust" and "Code of Silence"; orchestration on "Temptation"
* Jimmy Bralower - percussion on "Modern Woman"
* Mark Rivera - tenor saxophone on "Modern Woman" and "Temptation"
* Ray Charles - vocals and piano on "Baby Grand"
* Vinny Colaiuta - drums on "Baby Grand"
* Dean Parks - guitar on "Baby Grand"
* Patrick Williams - arrangements on "Baby Grand"
* Ron Carter - acoustic bass on "Big Man on Mulberry Street"
* Eddie Daniels - alto saxophone on "Big Man on Mulberry Street"
* Michael Brecker - baritone saxophone on "Big Man on Mulberry Street"
* Ronnie Cuber - baritone saxophone on "Big Man on Mulberry Street"
* Mark Stamm - trumpet on "Big Man on Mulberry Street"
* Alan Rubin - trumpet on "Big Man on Mulberry Street"
* Dave Bargeron - trombone on "Big Man on Mulberry Street"
* Phillippe Saisse - orchestration on "Temptation"
* Cyndi Lauper - vocals on "Code of Silence"
* David Brown - acoustic twelve string guitar and electric guitar on "Code of Silence"
* Steve Winwood - Hammond B-3 on'"Getting Closer"
* Neil Jason - bass on "Getting Closer"
* David Brown - guitar on "Getting Closer"
* John McClurry - guitar on "Getting Closer"