Jon Small, Drummer In Early Billy Joel Bands, Has Died

Jon Small, who played drums in Billy Joel's early bands the Hassles and Atilla and later became an accomplished director of music videos and concert films, has died. Joel announced his passing in a social media post today, and a death announcement circulating on social media notes he died Friday. His funeral will be held on Sept. 9 in Great Neck, New York. No cause of death has been listed.Getting their start as teenagers in New York City, Small and Joel were best friends who first teamed up in the 1960s as members of the psych rock and soul band the Hassles. The group released two albums for United Artists in the late '60s, with Joel, the primary songwriter, taking over lead vocals from original singer John Dizek on the second LP, 1969's Hour Of The Wolf. Joel and Small then left the Hassles to form the duo Attila, whose lone self-titled album came out on Epic in 1970. Attila dissolved the following year when Joel began dating Small's wife, Elizabeth Weber, a subject that all parties discussed at length in the HBO documentary Billy Joel: And So It Goes. Joel felt such guilt over betraying Small that he attempted suicide by drinking furniture polish, but Small rescued him by drivin...