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KOHUEPT (1987)
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Front cover of CD.
Original LP back cover.
CD back cover. Photo: Neal Preston.
Billy in Russia. Photo still from video. Director: Jim Brown/ SHOWTIME
The 2014 release of "A Matter of Trust: The Bridge to Russia" including an expanded album, expanded concert video, and a new documentary of Billy's Russian tour.
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In the summer of 1987, Billy Joel and his band held six historic concerts in Leningrad and Moscow in the former Soviet Union. These groundbreaking concerts were broadcast on Russian television and American radio stations, and were captured on the live album KOHUEPT (Russian for "concert" and pronounced "consyert") released later that year. The concerts were historic as Billy was the first western rock star to play in the Communist Soviet Union.
For decades, the Soviet Union had been seen as the United States' primary enemy in the Cold War. But Billy's tour and the media coverage surrounding it helped de-mystify the "enemy." “I just thought it was very important for Americans to see what happened,” Billy said years later in a documentary. “People forget how tense things were. We were all in terror that we were gonna get blown up by ‘the Evil Empire.’ The minute I got there I recognized [that] people like us — they’re not my enemy — and the Cold War kind of ended for me.” Several years later, the Cold War did end under the Glasnost and Perestroika policies of Mikhail Gorbachev. As depicted in the excellent documentary film A Matter of Trust (1991) (discsused below) Billy, his family (Christie Brinkley and Alexa Ray Joel), and his band and crew, bonded with the Russian people and made lasting impressions and friendships. The tour and Billy's friendship with a fan, Victor Razinov, also led to his song "Leningrad" on the Storm Front album in 1989. As a recording of a historic event, KOHUEPT works well, but it's not Billy's best live album nor does it work as a greatest hits from the time. The selection of certain songs, such as "Allentown" and the covers of The Beatles' "Back In The USSR" and Bob Dylan's "The Times They Are A-Changin," was well chosen. Still, KOHUBEPT is more geared to the Billy Joel fan, rather than the general public. Billy gave energetic performances, but apparently had been battling a severe sore throat and must have been tired from the travel. (UPDATE: According to the Fred Schruer's 2014 biography on Billy Joel, Billy and the band had just come off the European leg of their world tour and were tired, and in Russia they had the added chore of giving many media interviews while preparing for the concert). Surprisingly, the album did not have much in the way of liner notes, which is a shame given the historic nature of the concerts (at the time no major U.S. rock or pop star had toured in Russia). Fortunately, the concerts and Billy's tour were each made into videos released in 1991, the concert video "Live in Leningrad" and the documentary "A Matter of Trust." See the Videos & DVDs page. The latter is a very well-done documentary about the tour, but the 1991 concert video is limited to just ten songs (the television broadcast was much longer) while the 1987 album (LP and CD) had sixteen songs. * * * * * * * * * For a more complete review of the Russian tour, see the special edition of Root Beer Rag, Billy's then-newsletter for his fan club. It contains a in-depth interview of Billy by Merry Aronson and many excellent photos from renowned photographer Mary Ellen Mark.
* * * * * * * * * UPDATE: In 2014, Sony's Legacy Records released a new remastered version of Billy's Russian concerts on CD and MP3, a new DVD/Blu-Ray, and new documentary (DVD). These were entitled "A Matter of Trust: The Bridge To Russia." This is the package for the Russian tour that fans had been waiting for for 25 years. They contain more songs (27 total) and an 80-page booklet in the Deluxe Edition.
As described in IMDB: "In July-August 1987, after 100 shows around the world on The Bridge Tour, Billy Joel accepted the Kremlin's invitation to the U.S.S.R. for six fully-staged rock shows in Moscow and Leningrad, fulfilling a long-time desire to perform in Russia. During their stay, Billy and his family, along with musicians, staff, and a huge press entourage spent their days interacting with the Russian people, forging true bonds of friendship wherever they went. For the first time, A Matter Of Trust - The Bridge To Russia: The Concert presents an expanded version of what fans saw and heard over a quarter-century ago. The newly remastered concert film, originally directed by Wayne Isham, adds seven previously unreleased songs to the original 1987 VHS release Live From Leningrad, including a bonus performance of "Pressure." The performances have been completely remasterd from the original 35 millimeter negatives for the best audiovisual quality. Billy has always believed that going to Russia was the most important thing he'd ever done as a performer. The freedom and excitement of his presence permanently affected the country and played a role in the ultimate dissolution of the U.S.S.R. in 1991." |
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Songlist
(Links are to the individual song pages for 2014's A Matter of Trust except as noted) |
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Buy Album
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1. Odoya (Traditional) (1:17) [YouTube audio]
2. Prelude/Angry Young Man (5:23) 3. Honesty (3:58) 4. Goodnight Saigon (7:20) 5. Stiletto (5:09) 6. Big Man on Mulberry Street (7:17) 7. Baby Grand (6:09) 8. An Innocent Man (6:09) 9. Allentown (4:22) 10 A Matter of Trust (5:09) 11. Only the Good Die Young (3:31) 12. Sometimes a Fantasy (3:38) 13. Uptown Girl (3:08) 14. Big Shot (4:44) 15. Back in the U.S.S.R. (2:43) 16. The Times They Are A-Changin' (2:55) |
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Lyrics
(under construction)
(under construction)
Full Video Album (and more) - KOHUEPT
This is a YouTube playlist of videos for the sixteen songs on Kohuept (1987). It also includes some promotional videos, complete audio of the first concert, television footage, and alternate videos. Click on the three-line icon to see playlist. For a more complete playlist, go to the page for A Matter of Trust: The Bridge to Russia.
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The song "A Matter of Trust" from the Russian concerts.
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Billy performs Bob Dylan's "The Times They Are A Changin'" on Russian television in 1987. The song is on Kohuept.
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Interviews & Features - KOHUEPT
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This is 1987 interview with Billy Joel while he was in Russia which aired on the television program Crook & Chase.
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This video contains a series of reports in 1987 from MTV about the Russian concerts.
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This is a great radio call-in program hosted live by DJ Ed Sciacky while Billy was in Russia in 1987, in between the Moscow and Leningrad concerts.
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This is a YouTube playlist of some scenes from the 2014 documentary "A Matter of Trust: The Bridge to Russia" and other related videos.
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Under Construction
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Track List
1. Odoya (Traditional) (1:17) 2. Prelude/Angry Young Man (5:23) 3. Honesty (3:58) 4. Goodnight Saigon (7:20) 5. Stiletto (5:09) 6. Big Man on Mulberry Street (7:17) 7. Baby Grand (6:09) 8. An Innocent Man (6:09) 9. Allentown (4:22) 10 A Matter of Trust (5:09) 11. Only the Good Die Young (3:31) 12. Sometimes a Fantasy (3:38) 13. Uptown Girl (3:08) 14. Big Shot (4:44) 15. Back in the U.S.S.R. (2:43) 16. The Times They Are A-Changin' (2:55) Words and Music by Billy Joel except "Odoya" (traditional Russian song), "Back In The U.S.S.R" by John Lennon/Paul McCartney and "The Times They Are A-Changin'" by Bob Dylan. |
Production
Producer – Brian Ruggles, Jim Boyer Art Direction – Stacy Drummond Composed By – Billy Joel (except Tracks 1, 15, and 16) Coordinator [Album Coordinator] – Laura Boyer Engineer [Associate] – Tim Leitner Engineer [Live Sound] – Brian Ruggles Executive-Producer – Frank Weber, Rick London Mastered By – Ted Jensen Mixed By – Bradshaw Leigh, Brian Ruggles, Jim Boyer Photography By – Neil Preston* Recorded By – Jim Boyer Recorded By [Additional] – Bradshaw Leigh Technician [Guitar] – Rich "Chainsaw" LaPointe Technician [Keyboard] – Ted Leonard Technician [Piano] – Wayne Williams (Track 15) |
Musicians
Billy Joel – vocals, piano, harmonica, keyboards, electric guitar Liberty DeVitto – drums, maracas, Simmons drums Doug Stegmeyer – bass, electric upright bass Dave Lebolt – keyboards Russell Javors – acoustic and Electric guitars, harmonica, backing vocals Mark Rivera – baritone saxophone, alto saxophone, backing vocals, keyboards, tambourine, lyricon Kevin Dukes – electric and acoustic guitars Peter Hewlett – background vocals, percussion George Simms – background vocals, percussion The Georgian Rustavi Ensemble of USSR – vocals on "Odoya" Oleg Smirnoff – on-stage translation |
Single sleeve for "Back In The U.S.S.R."
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Slideshow of VHS tapes.
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Promotional poster from release of Kohuept in 1987.
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