Jon Small, of Billy Joel band The Hassles, dies at 79
Billy Joel, left, with The Hassles, who also including Richard McKenna, Jon Small, center, John Dizek and Howie Arthur Blauvelt. Credit: The Hassles/Jon Small
Jon Small, the Jericho-raised drummer who brought a young Billy Joel into his band The Hassles, died Friday of cancer at his home in West Palm Beach, Florida, according to his son, Sean Weber-Small. He was 79.
On Monday, Joel posted an early photo of the two young musicians staring at the camera with nearly matching shoulder-length haircuts, followed by a recent photo of them smiling together. "RIP Jon Small," Joel wrote.
Small’s impact on a young Joel was both musical and personal. The two were close friends who recorded their first three albums together. But Joel fell in love with Small’s wife, Elizabeth Weber, later to become Joel’s first wife and manager. Years later, after Joel and Weber split, Joel asked Small — by then a director of music videos — to helm the videos for his songs "Tell Her About It" and "Baby Grand." Small also directed the 1986 video for "Walk This Way," a collaboration between Aerosmith and Run-D.M.C. that helped break down the color barrier on MTV.
Weber-Small called his father "a heroic figure" who overcame devastating setbacks and made a place for himself in the competitive music and television industries. "When he lost his family, his wife, his son and his music partner, he didn't bail out," Weber-Small said. "He stayed in the business, he worked with my mother and then worked with Billy and he built his own career."
Small was a founding member of The Hassles, which formed in 1964 and held rehearsals in the basement of his mother’s Syosset wallpaper store. Small had been raised around music: His father, he said, was a professional trumpeter who played with Gene Krupa and Benny Goodman. The Hassles became good enough to land a steady gig at the Plainview nightclub My House, whose owner, Danny Mazur, began managing the group. When original keyboardist Harry Weber left, Small lured in Joel — then a member of The Lost Souls — with the promise of a free Hammond B3 organ.
The new version of The Hassles signed with United Artists and released two albums, the first featuring a cover of Sam and Dave's "You Got Me Hummin'," the second featuring tracks co-written by Joel and Small. After The Hassles fell apart sometime in 1969, the two teamed up as Attila, an unusual drums-and-organ combo that played thudding heavy metal on such tracks as "March of the Huns" and "Brain Invasion."
After the affair between Joel and Weber came to light, Joel attempted suicide twice and stayed briefly in a psychiatric ward, the singer recounted in the documentary "Billy Joel: And So It Goes." Small saw a therapist who encouraged him to curse his ex-wife aloud whenever he thought of her. Joel and Weber married in 1973 but split in 1982, around the same time that Small was transforming himself into a director.
"And then Billy calls me and goes, ‘You're doing music videos?’ " Small told Newsday in 2025. "He goes, ‘You want to do one for me?’ " That phone call led to Small's video for "Tell Her About It," one of Joel’s three No. 1 singles.
"I used to say we were like pigs in a blanket," according to Small. "We were always together and just doing stuff, you know. And we’re still good friends today."
Small's survivors also include his wife, Jeanine Small, and their daughter, his son said.
At last, The Hassles can be seen performing
Nobody has ever found performance footage of Billy Joel’s early band The Hassles, according to filmmaker Adam Ripp — until now.
On March 22, 1969, Irwin Mazur, the son of The Hassles' manager, married his wife, Jackie, at the Great Neck Synagogue, according to Ripp. The celebration's live band: The Hassles, whom Danny Mazur had discovered at his Plainview nightclub My House. A person or persons unknown, according to Ripp, filmed the performance on silent 8 mm stock, so there is no sound. After Irwin Mazur discovered the film reel in storage, Ripp transferred it to digital and, as a tribute to Hassles drummer Jon Small, who died late last week, uploaded the results to YouTube on Tuesday morning.
The clip shows the Hassles performing on a small stage with a glittery curtain behind them. Small can be seen laboring over his drum kit while Richard McKenna plays guitar. Howie Arthur Blauvelt mans an upright bass while Joel plays keyboard. Twice, the bride comes over to speak to Joel, once with the groom at her side.
Near the end of the clip, Joel can be seen singing briefly, although Ripp said he has not yet been able to deduce which song the band is playing.
Ripp is the son of Artie Ripp, who produced Joel’s debut album "Cold Spring Harbor." The younger Ripp, 58, recently directed a short documentary titled "1971: Billy Joel’s Lost Interview," which will hold its world premiere at the Long Island Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame later this month. Ripp had also been working with Small on a biopic to be titled "Billy & Me."
"I am deeply saddened by the passing of Jon Small," Ripp said in a statement, adding that he had come to know the onetime drummer over the past year. "I will always be grateful for his friendship, his trust and his extraordinary generosity."
— RAFER GUZMAN
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