Billy Joel tagged:

Billy Joel

Singer/Songwriter
Piano Man, You May Be Right, Just the Way You Are, and more

“Charlie Morgan is an intensely creative musician and his rhythmically precise drumming keeps the entire band in synchronization thus enabling them to deliver consistently spectacular performances. He is among a handful of drummers who has risen to the top of his field and I cannot not overstate my confidence in his ability as a musician of the highest caliber.

Though I have seen Mr. Morgan give many extraordinary performances, there is one that stands out in my mind, and for which I remain grateful to this day. While Mr. John and I were on our first tour, we were scheduled to perform in Philadelphia at Veteran’s Memorial stadium. Moments before I was to take the stage in front of 55,000 people, my drummer of many years, Liberty DeVitto, suffered an extreme allergic reaction to something he ate which required him to be rushed by ambulance to the hospital. Faced with the possibility of having to cancel the show, we turned to Charlie Morgan for the impossible task of stepping in for Mr. DeVitto. Under extreme pressure and with no time for any preparation whatsoever, Mr. Morgan took the stage with me and my band and improvised through a nearly two hour set of music. I cannot impress upon you just how difficult a task it was and how well he pulled it off. I can think of no other drummer in the business who could do what Mr. Morgan did that night.”