Root Beer Rag

Infobox Song
Name = Root Beer Rag


Artist = Billy Joel
Album = Streetlife Serenade
Released = October 11, 1974
track_no = 4
Recorded = Devonshire Sound, North Hollywood, CA
Genre = Ragtime
Length = 2:59
Writer = Billy Joel
Label = Columbia Records
Producer = Michael Stewart
Chart position =
Tracks =
prev = "The Great Suburban Showdown"
prev_no = 3
this = "Root Beer Rag"
next = "Roberta"
next_no = 5
Misc = "Root Beer Rag" is a song from Billy Joel's 1974 album "Streetlife Serenade". The track is an instrumental in ragtime style and is musically similar to parts of Scott Joplin's "The Entertainer", which was used as the theme music to the film "The Sting". The track was later released as the B-side of the "Honesty" single, and a live version was included with the DVD that was part of the 30th anniversary re-release of "The Stranger".

Numerous cover versions of the song exist, notably by Ten Grands VIII and by Wise Guys. The original Billy Joel version was also used as the theme music to a 1980s sports program in New Zealand broadcast by TV ONE. The song is in C major and makes up one of three studio instrumentals that he has released.

On the title, Joel notes simply "I love Root Beer". He goes on to say: Quote|I got my first Moog Synthesizer. This was in the mid 70s and I got my first Moog and I put it on every record. I said 'I have to write an instrumental where I can use this Moog Synthesizer. It kinda turned me off the synthesizers forever after. That's why I wrote that song. Just purely out of stupid self indulgence!|Billy Joel|"An Evening of Questions & Answers and Perhaps a Few Songs"