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 Original front cover LP (1971) |
In the early 1970s, sensitive singer-songwriters were all the rage in the music industry. Particularly after the release of Carole King's iconic album Tapestry, the singer-songwriter era was launched. At the time, Billy was just trying to get his songs heard to become a songwriter. He was told that in order to become a songwriter, he needed to record an album to make his songs more available (see this 2013 interview). So when Billy signed with Artie Ripp's Family Productions, his management and producers sought to turn him into a singer-songwriter balladeer to capitalize on the industry trend. The result was Billy's debut album, Cold Spring Harbor, named after a small hamlet on Long Island near where Billy had grown up.
The album's emphasis on ballads was a distinct shift from the blue-eyed soul and rock of Billy's former group, The Hassles, and the psychedelic heavy metal of his short-lived duo, Attila. Billy was now the sensitive singer-songwriter though his influences were much more diverse. The songs on Cold Spring Harbor are mellow and introspective such as "She's Got A Way," "Tomorrow Is Today," Why Judy Why," and "Got To Begin Again." "She's Got A Way" and "Everybody Loves You Now" were the standouts and later re-recorded live for 1981's Songs In The Attic. There is a Beatles influence on "You Can Make Me Free" and "She's Got A Way," while "Everybody Loves You Now," with its bitter and ironic lyrics, is reminiscent of Bob Dylan. |
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Unfortunately, a major error occurred during the recording process. The master was speeded up, so Billy's voice sounded unusually high. This enraged Billy, of course, and he left Family Productions and Artie Ripp after a grueling promotional tour for the album. Years later, after Billy became a major star in the late 1970s, Cold Spring Harbor became a collector's item and Ripp re-released the album (in conjunction with Columbia Records) in slightly different form in 1983, altering several songs including trimming one song, "You Can Make Me Free" by two minutes. Nonetheless, the 1983 re-release of this "forgotten" album made these songs widely available to Billy Joel fans for the first time. The 1983 version of the album is still available, but the original 1971 vinyl record is rare. The 1983 album was re-mastered in 1998 along with the rest of the Billy Joel catalog. To hear the 1971 edition remastered at the correct speed, go to the Video & Audio tab above.
While Cold Spring Harbor was a commercial flop, due in large part to the botched recording, Billy's musicianship and the earnestness of his lyrics are undeniable. Just 22 years old at the time of the album's release, Billy showed the talent and potential that would be evident and fulfilled over the course of the next five decades. Well so here I am at the end of the road After the release of the original album in 1971, Billy went on the road to promote it. He recorded a live mini-concert on November 9, 1971 at Hempstead's Ultrasonic Studios just eight days after the release of the album. Click here to listen to the concert. Later, on April 2, 1972 Billy played at the Mar Y Sol Festival in Puerto Rico and brought the house down with a three-encore performance that included a cover of the Rolling Stones' "Jumpin' Jack Flash" and Joe Cocker's "The Letter." Billy's performance at the Mar Y Sol Festival is chronicled here. Click here to listen to his performance.
A few days later on April 5, 1972 (not April 15 as erroneously printed elsewhere), he did a mini-concert before a small audience at Sigma Sound Studios that was broadcast by WMMR (Philadelphia) and which included some new songs that would later appear on Piano Man, including a live version of "Captain Jack" that DJ Ed Sciaky played again and again. That version of the song became an FM hit in some areas in the Northeast and eventually led to a deal with Columbia Records. This Live on WMMR mini-concert was finally released on CD in 2011 as the second disc in the special Legacy Edition of Piano Man. Vertical Divider
Photo: Unknown
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Netherlands single cover. From www.45cat.com.
Photo from concert program
Billy at the Mar Y Sol Festival. Courtesy: MarYSolFestival.com.
Original back cover LP (1971)
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Songs
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1. She's Got A Way (2:51)
2. You Can Make Me Free (2:56) 3. Everybody Loves You Now (2:48) 4. Why Judy Why (2:56) 5. Falling of the Rain (2:38) 6. Turn Around (3:04) 7. You Look So Good To Me (2:27) 8. Tomorrow Is Today (4:40) 9. Nocturne (2:46) 10. Got To Begin Again (2:49) |
The first three covers and "Nocturne" are real covers, the rest are fictional. Painting on "Falling of the Rain" is Andrew Wyeth's well-known "Christina's World." Art for "Tomorrow Is Today" from "The Harbor Sessions" CD.
Spotify
Video Album
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1. She's Got A Way (2:51)
2. You Can Make Me Free (2:56) 3. Everybody Loves You Now (2:48) 4. Why Judy Why (2:56) 5. Falling of the Rain (2:38) |
6. Turn Around (3:04)
7. You Look So Good To Me (2:27) 8. Tomorrow Is Today (4:40) 9. Nocturne (2:46) 10. Got To Begin Again (2:49) |
Corrected Speed - Cold Spring Harbor
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Full Album (Corrected Speed). Here is the entire 1971 vinyl edition of "Cold Spring Harbor" remastered at the correct speed (audio only). It has complete versions of "You Can Make Me Free" and "Turn Around" (with pedal steel guitar) unlike the 1983 re-issue. Thanks to YouTube user TheZestanor for doing this.
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Stream
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Spotify
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Apple Music
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YouTube & Others
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Interviews & Features
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1. Billy briefly discusses Cold Spring Harbor from The Complete Albums collection (2011)
2. Billy on the recording problem in Cold Spring Harbor (1996) 3. Billy on "She's Got A Way" (1996) 4. Billy on Cold Spring Harbor from SiriusXM (2016) |
Click icon on upper right corner for playlist.
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Live Performances
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Live on The Session - Televised mini-concert on The Session from February 1972 on the Cold Spring Harbor tour. List also includes promotion video for "Everybody Loves You Now."
[Note: Deleted, the mini-concert from The Session has been deleted and is no longer on YouTube] |
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Live Mini-Concerts (audio) - Three radio concerts from the Cold Spring Harbor tour.
1. Live at Ultrasonic Studio (Nov. 9, 1971) (audio only), Hempstead, New York, plus some extra songs. |
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2. Live at The Boarding House (Jan. 2, 1972) (audio only), San Francisco, California
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3. May Y Sol Festival (April 2, 1972) (audio only). Read about Billy and the band's performance and see photos here, by bassist Larry Russell. Billy's setlist at Mar Y Sol:
1. Travelin' Prayer 2. Josephine 3. The Ballad of Billy The Kid 4. Captain Jack 5. Tomorrow Is Today 6. The Letter 7. Jumpin' Jack Flash Larry Russell made a great video for the "Jumpin' Jack Performance" (right), which has several still photos of the band and crew from the time. |
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Live on WMMR (audio) - This is the famous mini-concert on WMMR radio from April 15, 1972. Billy's performance of "Captain Jack" from this concert became an underground hit two years before it was officially released on "Piano Man." Read more here.
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Demos & Outtakes
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This playlist is comprised of songs from the early 1970s that did not end up on Cold Spring Harbor or Piano Man (though "Silver Seas" became "Nocturne" on Cold Spring Harbor). Some were eventually released on the My Lives collection in 2005. This playlist also includes demo versions of early songs that did end up on these or other albums.
Finally, the last clip is the "Lost LA Tapes," a studio session recorded in April 1972 at Paramount's LA studios shortly after the famous WMMR radio concert in 1972. It features Billy's early band: Larry Russell (bass), Rhys Clark (drums), and Al Hertzberg (guitar). Read about it here. |
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"Cold Spring Harbor provides valuable insight into the tortured mind and the budding songwriting talent of a young Billy Joel. The oddities surrounding its release and subsequent re-release make it even more interesting of a listen." |
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The record was uneven but very charming, boasting two of his finest songs -- the lovely "She's Got a Way" and the bitterly cynical "Everybody Loves You Now" -- and a score of flawed but nicely crafted songs that illustrated Joel's gift for melody, as well as his pretensions . . . In its own way, Cold Spring Harbor was a minor gem of the sensitive singer/songwriter era; Joel may have been in his formative stages as a craftsman, but his talents are apparent, and he never made an album as intimate and vulnerable ever again. AllMusic
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Tracklist
1. She's Got A Way (2:51) 2. You Can Make Me Free (2:56) 3. Everybody Loves You Now (2:48) 4. Why Judy Why (2:56) 5. Falling of the Rain (2:38) 6. Turn Around (3:04) 7. You Look So Good To Me (2:27) 8. Tomorrow Is Today (4:40) 9. Nocturne (2:46) 10. Got To Begin Again (2:49) Background Information Released: November 1, 1971 Recorded: July 1971, Record Plant Studios, Los Angeles, California Genre: Pop/Rock Length: 33:07 (orig)/29:35 (reissue) Label: Family Productions (Columbia for 1983 reissue) Producer: Artie Ripp All Songs written by Billy Joel |
Personnel
Billy Joel – Piano, Hammond organ, harpsichord, harmonica, vocals Richard Bennett – guitar Rhys Clark – Drums on "She's Got a Way", "Everybody Loves You Now," "Falling of the Rain", "Turn Around," and "Tomorrow Is Today" (1971) Sal De Troia – Guitar Don Evans – Guitar Jimmie Haskell – Arranger, Conductor Sneaky Pete Kleinow – Pedal steel guitar on "Turn Around" Larry Knechtel – Bass Joe Osborn – Bass Denny Seiwell – Drums on "You Can Make Me Free" and "You Look So Good to Me" Mike McGee – Drums on "Everybody Loves You Now" and "Turn Around" (1983 remixes) |
Al Campbell – Keyboards on "Turn Around" (1983 remix) L. D. Dixon – Fender Rhodes Piano on "Turn Around" (1983 remix) Artie Ripp – Producer, Engineer, Remixing, Editing, Director Irwin Mazur – Executive Producer, Art Direction Larry Elliott – Engineer, Remixing, Editing John Bradley – Engineer Michael Stone – Second Engineer Gordon Watanabe – Assistant Engineer Bob Huges – Mastering (LP) Doug Sax – Mastering (1998 CD) Joseph Palmaccio – Remastering (2008 CD) Ted Jensen – Remastering (2011 CD) Thanks to Chuck Arnold, Bob Romaine, and Josephine. |
The first three covers and "Nocturne" are real covers, the rest are fictional. Painting on "Falling of the Rain" is Andrew Wyeth's well-known "Christina's World." Art for "Tomorrow Is Today" from "The Harbor Sessions" CD.
