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Cover of the CD released in 2008 with the 30th Anniversary Edition of The Stranger.
This is the cover to the 2019 vinyl edition released for Record Day and limited to 3,000 copies.
Inside art from The Stranger legacy edition. The Legacy edition featured many old photos such as this one.
The Legacy edition also included a full size poster of the Carnegie Hall concerts from 1977.
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In June 1977, about a month before he recorded The Stranger, Billy concluded the Turnstiles tour with a series of sold-out shows at New York's fabled Carnegie Hall. Billy and his band had built up a loyal following of fans over the past several years of touring. So while he did not have a hit song or album on the charts, his live shows were very popular. Billy was known as an energetic and entertaining live performer who interacted with his fans and would frequently do imitations of other singers or cover songs.
Little did Billy and his fans know that Billy's career would soon take a dramatic turn for the better with the release of The Stranger a few months later. Billy previewed some of the songs that would be on the new album at his Carnegie Hall concerts including "Just The Way You Are" and "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant." The audience responded enthusiastically to these new songs. The June 3, 1977 concert at Carnegie Hall was recorded and broadcast on FM radio, but was never officially released on CD until over thirty years later when eleven of the songs performed that night were made part of The Stranger 30th Anniversary Legacy Edition and Limited Edition Boxed Set (which also includes a DVD of his 1978 concert on the UK program The Old Grey Whistle Test, a "Making of The Stranger" documentary, and videos of live performances of "The Stranger" and "Just The Way You Are"). You cannot purchase Live at Carnegie Hall as a separate CD, it is only available in The Stranger Legacy Edition and Limited Edition Boxed Set (UPDATE: A vinyl LP version was released on Record Day in 2019). It is well worth the price. It is a shame that Live at Carnegie Hall was not released earlier. Although the CD is not a full concert, it offers a glimpse into Billy and his band just before he attained superstar status. Billy and his band are in peak form. They perform spirited renditions of "Miami 2017," "Say Goodbye to Hollywood," and other classics, and the audience treats the new songs from the yet-to-be released The Stranger as old favorites. Producer Phil Ramone attended the concert and soon thereafter, Ramone and Billy teamed up -- with Billy's band -- and were able to capture that spirit and energy on The Stranger and subsequent albums. Ramone also produced the Live at Carnegie Hall CD for release in 2008. Here is a YouTube playlist of Live at Carnegie. * * * * * * * * * Billy's concert at The Nassau Coliseum in late 1977 was also recorded. Five of the songs from that concert were put on a special bonus CD available from Best Buy with the special editions of The Stranger. The songs on the bonus CD are: "Just the Way You Are," "Vienna," "Billy the Kid," "Get It Right the First Time," and "Summer Highland Falls." You can listen the Nassau concert from 1977 here.
PBS also issued a special CD called The Stranger Live containing live versions of the songs from The Stranger when the 30th Anniversary Edition of The Stranger was released in 2008. The CD had live versions of each song except for "Everybody Has You Now," plus a live version of "Piano Man." |
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Album Cover
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Songlist
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1. Miami 2017 (live) (5:11)
2. Prelude/Angry Young Man (live) (6:05) 3. New York State of Mind (live) (8:20) 4. Just The Way You Are (live) (4:56) 5. She's Got A Way (live) (3:08) 6. The Entertainer (live) (6:09) 7. Scenes From An Italian Restaurant (live) (7:35) 8. Band Introductions (spoken) (2:02) 9. Captain Jack (live) (6:51) 10. I've Loved These Days (live) (4:29) 11. Say Goodbye To Hollywood (live) (6:45) 12. Souvenir (live) (2:09) |
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Live at Carnegie Hall (1977)
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This is a YouTube playlist of Live at Carnegie Hall (audio only) (1977). Click on the three-line icon to see list of songs.
1. Miami 2017 (live) (5:11)
2. Prelude/Angry Young Man (live) (6:05) 3. New York State of Mind (live) (8:20) 4. Just The Way You Are (live) (4:56) 5. She's Got A Way (live) (3:08) 6. The Entertainer (live) (6:09) 7. Scenes From An Italian Restaurant (live) (7:35) 8. Band Introductions (spoken) (2:02) 9. Captain Jack (live) (6:51) 10. I've Loved These Days (live) (4:29) 11. Say Goodbye To Hollywood (live) (6:45) 12. Souvenir (live) (2:09) |
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Billy opens the concert with a New York favorite, "Miami 2017 (Seen The Lights Go Out On Broadway)."
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Billy sings "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant" at Carnegie Hall before it was released on The Stranger. Audio only.
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This video from 1977 of Billy singing "Just The Way You Are" was released with the Legacy Edition of The Stranger in 2008, but it is not the Carnegie Hall version.
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This live video version of "The Stranger" was also released with the Legacy Edition of The Stranger in 2008, but it was not recorded at Carnegie Hall (it is mislabeled in the Vevo video). It was actually recorded as part of the rehearsals for The Stranger tour in the Fall of 1977 at Calderone Concert Hall, per Paul Fierro. It looks like that is Frank Vento on electric guitar.
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Behind the Scenes - Live at Carnegie Hall
Producer Phil Ramone and Frank Filipetti discuss the making of Live at Carnegie Hall. Billy had three concerts there over June 2-4, 1977); one night was broadcast over radio. The concert was not officially released on CD until 2008 with the 40th Anniversary Legacy Edition of The Stranger.
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Live at Carnegie Hall (1977) - substitute videos
This is a playlist of videos and a couple audio clips, mostly from the concert video Billy Joel Tonight (1976) that match the songs on Live at Carnegie Hall (1977).
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Billy Joel Tonight (1976)
This a playlist for the 1976 concert video, Billy Joel Tonight (also known as An Evening With Billy Joel) filmed at Connecticut College in December 1976 during the Turnstiles tour. This was released on VHS and was hard to find for many years until videos were released on the official Billy Joel YouTube channel in 2019.
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The underlying performances remain pretty knocked out. It is great hearing music from Billy's then current album Turnstiles getting the focus on this show while the band debuts material from the then-yet-to-be-released album The Stranger. Its funny hearing the relatively cordial response to "Just The Way You Are" -- a song which went on to become Billy's first really massive hit, and an instant pop standard, while songs like "Say Goodbye To Hollywood" receive the rousing crowd applause (justifiably, in my humble opinion).
-- Marc Smotroff, Audiophile Review
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Tracks
1. Miami 2017 (live) (5:11) 2. Prelude/Angry Young Man (live) (6:05) 3. New York State of Mind (live) (8:20) 4. Just The Way You Are (live) (4:56) 5. She's Got A Way (live) (3:08) 6. The Entertainer (live) (6:09) 7. Scenes From An Italian Restaurant (live) (7:35) 8. Band Introductions (spoken) (2:02) 9. Captain Jack (live) (6:51) 10. I've Loved These Days (live) (4:29) 11. Say Goodbye To Hollywood (live) (6:45) 12. Souvenir (live) (2:09) Words and Music by Billy Joel |
Credits (from 2019 vinyl version)
Piano, Vocals – Billy Joel Bass – Doug Stegmeyer Drums – Liberty DeVitto Guitar – Howie Emerson Saxophone, Keyboards – Richie Cannata Orchestra – The Joe Malin Orchestra Art Direction, Design – Edward O’Dowd Engineer – Andy Abrams, Jay Krugman Executive-Producer – Home Run (4) Mastered By – Mark Wilder Mixed By – Frank Filipetti Mixed By [Assistant] – Derik Lee Music Director [Orchestra] – Frank Owens Producer [Original Recordings] – Don DeVito Producer [Produced For Release] – Phil Ramone Sleeve Notes – David Fricke |
Live At Carnegie Hall - CD released with the Legacy 30th Anniversary Edition of The Stranger in 2008
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Best Buy Bonus CD with five extra songs from Live at Nassau Coliseum (1977)
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Live At Carnegie Hall - special vinyl edition released in 2019 for Record Day
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The Stranger LIVE - Special Edition available through PBS
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