Billy Joel is in 'great spirits,' 'making progress,' says longtime booking agent Dennis Arfa

Billy Joel is "in great spirits," according to his longtime booking agent Dennis Arfa, who spoke to Newsday recently ahead of his induction into the Long Island Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame.

"He’s making progress," Arfa said of Joel, noting that the two had lunch "a few weeks ago" in Florida, where Joel now lives. Joel, 77, canceled all upcoming concerts in May of last year to focus on treatment and recovery for normal pressure hydrocephalus, a brain disorder that can affect balance and hearing. "Fingers crossed," Arfa said, "and prayers that we'll see him again on the stage."

Arfa, who turns 77 on Monday, will be inducted into the Hall of Fame in Stony Brook on June 6 during a Billy Joel Symposium that will feature academics and others presenting various Joel-related subjects. Over a partnership that has stretched across six decades, Arfa has helped Joel become a groundbreaking and record-setting live act. Joel is one of the first American rockers to play in the Soviet Union during the thawing Cold War, in 1987; the first musician to hold a concert at the old Yankee Stadium, in 1990; and the only artist to play a monthly residency at Madison Square Garden that ran for 10 years and culminated in a lifetime total of 150 shows there.

Arfa "helped shape one of the most successful touring careers in music history," according to a statement from the Hall of Fame. "His vision and influence have had a lasting impact on the modern live music business, making him a truly deserving inductee."

As a Queens native who has lived in Old Westbury for more than 30 years, Arfa said, "Being honored from the Long Island Hall of Fame is paying homage to my roots." In his early years of managing and promoting, Arfa spent many an evening at Long Island nightclubs such as The Mousetrap and the Action House in Island Park. "Everything in my career started on Long Island," he said.

In Arfa’s estimation, the region’s three hot bands of that moment were Denny Belline & The Rich Kids, who released an eponymous album on RCA in 1966; The Illusion, a psych-rock outfit whose 1969 single "Did You See Her Eyes" reached the Top 40; and The Hassles, featuring Joel on keyboards. "He was known as the musical talent of the band," Arfa said.

Arfa was then managing a band called The Salvation Navy, which opened for The Hassles at a Hamptons nightclub called The Eye. The year could have been 1968 or 1969; Arfa said he and Joel were both just 19 years old when they met at the gig. Nevertheless, Arfa admitted, "it wasn't really until I heard the ‘Piano Man’ album a few years later" that he realized the depth of Joel’s talent. "He took it to another level."

And it wasn’t until 1976, when Joel was reestablishing himself as a New York-based rocker, that Arfa joined the business team. "It was right after the ‘Turnstiles’ album was released," he said. "One day I met Billy at his home in Highland Falls. And he said to me, ‘You should get together with my wife, Elizabeth [Weber].’ And that led eventually to me becoming his agent."

Arfa is not involved in an unauthorized Joel biopic being developed by Joel’s former Hassles bandmate Jon Small and screenwriter Adam Ripp, son of Joel’s former producer Artie Ripp. "Anybody can make a biopic," Arfa said, "but it should really be the people who Billy authorizes." (A representative for Joel said the planned movie was "legally and professionally misguided.")

The long partnership between the Piano Man and his booking agent has been based on trust, respect and pride in the work, Arfa said. "I always said I wanted to be as good in my job as Billy is in his job," he explained. "And I'd like to think that if Billy had my skill set, for the work I do, he would be doing it the way I am. So he was always my standard."

By Rafer Guzmán

rafer.guzman@newsday.com