Cold Spring Harbour was Billy Joel's first solo album, released in 1971. Prior to that, Billy Joel had released material with several bands, most notably Hassle and Attila.
The album wasn't a critical success. It's two best know tracks are "She's Got a Way" Everybody Love's You Now" which are available on many compilations. In particular, they were released on the 1981 live Album, Songs in the Attic. My personal Cold Spring Harbour favourite though is Falling of the Rain and that's much harder to find other than on Cold Sping Harbour itself.
Cold Spring Harbour also introduced Nocturne, which is an almost classical paino solo.
The mastering of the orginal was poor, being recorded half a tone too fast making Billy Joel's voice seem to high. It was re-released in 1984 with the speed corrected.
Copy Spring Harbour was re-released again Joel's old managment team in 1993 on the Columbia label without the involvement of Joel. The 1993 version changed the backing replacing orchestration with synthesisers in an attempt to give it a more modern feel. Serious Joel fans wouldn't consider the 1993 album to be a genuine Billy Joel release and generally avoid the 1993 version.
The album wasn't a critical success. It's two best know tracks are "She's Got a Way" Everybody Love's You Now" which are available on many compilations. In particular, they were released on the 1981 live Album, Songs in the Attic. My personal Cold Spring Harbour favourite though is Falling of the Rain and that's much harder to find other than on Cold Sping Harbour itself.
Cold Spring Harbour also introduced Nocturne, which is an almost classical paino solo.
The mastering of the orginal was poor, being recorded half a tone too fast making Billy Joel's voice seem to high. It was re-released in 1984 with the speed corrected.
Copy Spring Harbour was re-released again Joel's old managment team in 1993 on the Columbia label without the involvement of Joel. The 1993 version changed the backing replacing orchestration with synthesisers in an attempt to give it a more modern feel. Serious Joel fans wouldn't consider the 1993 album to be a genuine Billy Joel release and generally avoid the 1993 version.
Track Listing
(Links to videos below)
1. "She's Got a Way" - 2:49 (2:40)
2. "You Can Make Me Free" - 2:56 (5:40)
3. "Everybody Loves You Now" - 2:48 (2:40)
4. "Why Judy Why" - 2:56 (2:46)
5. "Falling of the Rain" - 2:38 (2:24)
6. "Turn Around" - 3:04 (3:20)
7. "You Look So Good to Me" - 2:27 (2:26)
8. "Tomorrow Is Today" - 4:40 (4:47)
9. "Nocturne" - 2:46 (2:37)
10. "Got to Begin Again" - 2:49 (2:47)
(The times are the "correct" times from the 1984 release, those in brackets are the original "incorrect" times from the 1971 original vinyl LP.)
I've tried to pick out a version of each song which has something special to offer, rather than just the studio album version, and I've not included videos of some of the lesser tracks at all as I want this page to be something which makes you fall in live with Cold Spring Harbour.
She's Got a Way
(Live, 1977)
In this live version of She's Got a Way, Billy Joel reveals that he likes the song but is open about the speed problem with orginal LP which he said made his "voice sound like a chipmunk".
Although at first glance this may sound like a love song, it's actually a song about the Virgin Mary. Billy Joel is a Catholic.
The song was released as a single in 1981, taken from Billy Joel's Songs in the Attic, and reached 23 in the main Billboard Hot 100 chart.
Although at first glance this may sound like a love song, it's actually a song about the Virgin Mary. Billy Joel is a Catholic.
The song was released as a single in 1981, taken from Billy Joel's Songs in the Attic, and reached 23 in the main Billboard Hot 100 chart.
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She's Got A Way has been covered at least 3 times - please see my lens about these covers.
Everybody Loves You Now
(Live, 1981, Songs in the Attic)
For this classic, we turn to Songs in the Attic for an authentic early version. It's one of the first tracks (first released in 1971) which demonstrates Billy Joel's ability as a pianist - and his ability to play at rip-roaring speed.
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Cold Spring Harbour Highlights from iTunes
These are my personal faourite tracks...
| Track | Artist | Album | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nocturne | Billy Joel | Cold Spring Harbor | |
| She's Got a Way | Billy Joel | Cold Spring Harbor | |
| Why Judy Why | Billy Joel | Cold Spring Harbor | |
| Everybody Loves You Now | Billy Joel | Cold Spring Harbor | |
| Falling of the Rain | Billy Joel | Cold Spring Harbor |
Why Judy Why?
(1984, re-release of Cold Sping Harbour)
Billy Joel is usually thought of as a pianist, but Why Judy Why is a very simple track with Billy Joel accompanied principally by accoustic guitar with some strings and organ in the background. It's a track which somehow always makes me melancholy, close to tears.
This version is taken from the 1984 re-master (ie with the speed corrected) of Cold Spring Harbour. It must take a look but I believe it's the vinyl I own myself.
This version is taken from the 1984 re-master (ie with the speed corrected) of Cold Spring Harbour. It must take a look but I believe it's the vinyl I own myself.
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Falling of the Rain
(Live, 1972, WMMR Radio)
This is an authentic 1972 live version of Billy playing for the radio station WMMR. Although it sounds fast, this is not an artificially sped up version. Billy Joel did play it at that speed. Anybody who has heard him play live (especially in the early years) knows that he often played songs faster live than the studio versions.
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Nocturne
Billy Joel's brother, Alexander Joel, is an acclaimed classical conductor. In Nocturne, Billy Joel shows off his own classical credentials with a piano solo he wrote himself. Here it is in a 1976 film by Home Run and produced by Billy Joel's wife (at the time), Elizabeth Joel.
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The Life, Career & Music of Billy Joel
For more about Billy Joel and his other albums, please visit these other lenses
About Kate Phizackerley
(Introducing your lensmistress)
If you have any extra information or questions about this lens you can contact Kate Phizackerley, the lensmistress, using the contact form I have provided.
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Version 2.1
Guestbook
I hope you like my lens but, whatever your opinions, I would like to hear your thoughts so please leave a message below. There's no need to be a member of Squidoo but no HTML is allowed.
I'd also really appreciate it if you would please go back to the top of my page and rate this lens. Just click home on the right. Thank you,
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Sami4u
Dec 10, 2010 @ 7:39 pm | delete
- Hi,
Everybody Loves You Now and Blessed :)
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The_Health_Lady
Nov 3, 2009 @ 5:16 pm | delete
- Nice to see this tribute to his Cold Spring Harbor days. Went to school with Bill and hung out at the same places years later and these were wonderful times on Long Island..
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Sep 29, 2009 @ 1:33 pm | delete
- I love Billy Joel :)
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Ramkitten
Sep 25, 2009 @ 12:37 pm | delete
- Oh, okay, it IS Billy Joel. When I saw the title, "Bill Joel," I wasn't sure. I've never heard of him referred to as "Bill." Wonder if his friends and family call him that. ANYhow, I'm a BIG Billy (or Bill) fan, having seen him in concert at least a half-dozen times, but not for a long time. Does he even tour anymore? I still have a bunch of his albums on cassette tape and some CD's. In fact, I think I'll go put one on, since you've inspired me.
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Finally, thank you to the developers whose icons I feature on my Squidoo lenses: Please refer to "Icons I Love" for full details and links to the developers' own sites. I also appreciate the section dividers collected by Stargazer00.
by Kate-Phizackerley
Kate-Phizackerley
Off Squidoo I am a middle-aged woman with a wide range of interests from Ancient Egypt, backgammon, cookery ... to ... Zimbabwe which I visited 20 years... more »
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