Which Billy Joel album was an homage to 1950s R&B and doo-wop?

The Billy Joel album that paid homage to 1950s R&B and doo-wop was An Innocent Man. Released on August 8, 1983, it revisited the popular music Joel heard during his adolescence in the late 1950s and early 1960s.

Joel drew on doo-wop, soul, Motown, early R&B, and vocal-group pop throughout the album. “The Longest Time” uses a largely a cappella doo-wop approach, while “An Innocent Man” reflects the sound of Ben E. King and the Drifters. “Uptown Girl” was shaped as a tribute to Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons.

The album emerged quickly after Joel’s divorce from Elizabeth Weber, when he described feeling like a teenager again. He wrote most of its songs in roughly six weeks. A common mix-up is confusing the album with “An Innocent Man,” its title track; the question asks for the full album, not just the single.

An Innocent Man became one of Joel’s most successful albums, producing three US Top 10 singles: “Tell Her About It,” “Uptown Girl,” and “An Innocent Man.”