Billy Joel Catalog To Be Reissued, New "Hits" Compilation

Should be interesting to see what the rest of the series looks like:

 

I know some of what I have here, or most, or all is not going to happen, but "Sometimes A Fantasy"...

Turnstiles - Original Caribou Ranch studio recordings
Original version of "New York State of Mind" featuring Richie Cannata
Seperate DVD with remastered quadraphonic mix

52nd Street - New mix of "Honesty" hilighting the strings

The Bridge - Extended version of "Big Man On Mulberry Street" (Used on Moonlighting episode by same title)
New mix of "Baby Grand" hilighting acoustic guitar
DVD - "Building The Bridge" (HBO making-of documentary)
Any existing footage from the recording sessions

River Of Dreams - Original Shelter Island recordings
Alternate version of "Lullabye" that appeared on Shades Of Grey (Minus voiceover)

DVD (Complete Concerts In 5.1)

"Live From Long Island"
"Live From Leningrad USSR"

Videos

Original B&W "Piano Man"
"Don't Worry Baby" from An All-Star Tribute to Brian Wilson

 

For God's sake, let's hope these reissues will finally include the single versions of "Keepin' the Faith" (what's on the box set is not the correct 45 mix), "Movin Out" (no motorcycle sound effect), and "Sometimes a Fantasy" (longer). "You May Be Right" was also an early fade for the single.

 

It seems that the major labels never dig the versions out of the vaults that we want, so don't bet on it.

 

My copy of "The Stranger" - not the most recent remaster, the previous one (a single CD) - has a strange click on Movin' Out. Is it a manifacturing issue or are all the copies with this glitch?

Will they ever correct it? I heard that "An Innocent Man" has some issues too.

 

No offense, because I'm included in this, but...

If the guys involved in these projects actually read our posts, they must think we're all a bunch of nut-jobs.

 

And She's Always a Woman?

There's enough space on your disc 2

 

They would be CRAZY to replace that album. It's Billy's highest-selling album, and, I believe, one of the top-selling albums of all time.

 

Here's what should be done:

Well, in some cases this would work. In others it wouldn't. Don't get me started because I have strong ideas about what Billy Joel Legacy Edition releases should be like...ahh, too late:

1. Turnstiles

Disc 1: Original album, outtakes, alternates, sessions @ Caribou w/Elton's backing band. *I've a cd of Turnstiles outtakes and alternate mixes...in particular there are mixes/takes of Say Goodbye To Hollywood and New York State Of Mind without strings.
Discs 2 and 3: Palmer Auditorium, University of Connecticut, New London, CT
Dec. 5 & 6, 1976 recorded by Fedco Audio Mobile Unit. The performances of these two nights were video taped and recorded for a video release called Billy Joel Tonight. It was released in 1977, and Columbia issued a promotional LP called Souvenir which features live tracks from these two nights as well
Disc 4; DVD of the 1976 program "Billy Joel Tonight"

2. The Stranger * They blew it 2 years ago. It should've been done like this:

Disc 1: Original album, outtakes, alternates, demos, etc.
Discs 2 and 3: Complete 1977 Carngie Hall show
Disc 4: 1978 Old Grey Whistle Test and Musikladen TV performances; Saturday Night Live 1978.

3. 52nd Street

Disc 1: Original album, outtakes, alternates, demos, etc. I've a disc of demos done with the core band of Billy, Liberty, Doug & Richie and they're drastically different to the finished songs. There's plenty in the vaults, I'm sure.
Discs 2 and 3: a full show from late 1978/early 1979.
* Outside of promo videos, I'm not sure if there's much footage available from this period

4. Glass Houses
Discs 1 and 2: Original album, outtakes, demos, rough mixes and 45 mix of "Fantasy". I've a cd of Glass Houses demos and rough mixes that are a real eye opener...stuff like this should be included.
Discs 3 and 4: A complete concert from June/July 1980 (15 shows were recorded...used later for Songs In The Attic...I'd prefer an arena show)
Disc 5: Houston, TX November 1979...DVD of the pro-shot footage. They were previewing Glass Houses material, as well as the 1980 ABC 20/20 special from Spring 1980:

Houston 1979:

Opening (The Mexican Connection)
setlist:
Only the Good Die Young
Movin' Out
Honesty
My Life
Piano Man
All for Leyna (with guitar solo not synth solo during the middle section)
Prelude/Angry Young Man
New York State of Mind
The Stranger
Until the Night
Sometimes A Fantasy
Root Beer Rag
She's Always a Woman
Stiletto
Zanzibar
You May Be Right
Vienna
Just the Way You Are
Big Shot
---encore 1
Scenes from an Italian Restaurant
---encore 2
Band Intro
Get it Right the First Time
Souvenir

Songs In The Attic:

Disc 1: Original album, rough mixes...many of them were done!
Disc 2 and 3: One of his club shows from 1980 that was recorded...or even the multitrack audio for the 1981 Sparks gig.
Disc 4: DVD of the 1981 Sparks gig...there were promo videos made for Say Goodbye To Hollywood, Everybody Loves You Now, Los Angelenos and You're My Home; Saturday Night Live 1981 (Miami 2017, She's Got A Way)...broadcast live via feed from A&R studios.

The Nylon Curtain:

Disc 1: original album, outtakes, demos, rough mixes, Elvis Presley Blvd b-side
Disc 2 and 3: Complete December 29, 1982 Long Island show...or maybe the December 31, 1982 Madison Square Garden show, this one was recorded (and filmed too)
Disc 4: DVD of Live From Long Island...expanded. If the raw footage still exists, they should go back and put all of the missing stuff back in. The video, as great as it is, omits:
(And throw in Billy's appearance of the MTV program "Night School" in 1982.):

The intro/vamp to My Life
Don't Ask Me Why
She's Always A Woman
Stiletto
Until The Night
Goodnight Saigon
*Where's The Orchestra...if you look closely in the video during "Movin' Out", you can see the setlist taped to his piano. "Orchestra" is the last song on the list. The video ends with "Souvenir". Billy came back out and played Souvenir as the very last thing...perhaps unplanned, I'm guessing.
* The in-store promo with video plugging "Live From Long Island".

After The Nylon Curtain...I get off the bus. But I can make a list for those too

And let Vic Anesini master this stuff.

 

No "She's Got A Way" on the hits comp???

That was the bigger hit off of Songs From The Attic, not "Say Goodbye".

 

I made my own one disc Joel comp, I just boiled down the Essential. I couldn't go without She's Got A Way.

 

It's now incomplete, and you have a newer (younger) generation. Unless it's competitively priced, you now have an economic climate where people can't afford a double disc set.

 

I think the goal was to stay away from a bunch of ballads, and maybe give some other songs some exposure.

 

As a proud Husky, this jumped out at me. Joel must have performed at Connecticut College in New London, not UConn, where the central campus is at Storrs.

Otherwise, it's a dream list all the way! Wish Billy was listening.

 

I don't think realistically there would be a huge amount of sales if each set was 3-5 discs. It's not like it costs nothing to get these things to the shops.

 

Has anyone confirmed how much, if any, input BJ has in this? I still swear that (someone debated me on this) there was an interview with NBC when the My Lives box was released (the transcript has since been deleted) where he talked about how he could try to block Columbia from releasing more of his material, but he was tired of lawyers and legal wrangling. (For the record, I remember now that his specific objection was to the fact that some of the demos were half completed songs with humming in places and obviously not intended for release).

Coupled with the obligation-release of the last two live albums and his apparent indifference to his pro-recorded archival live material (except for the scraps we received from My Lives), I'm wondering if he just leaves Columbia to their own devices and focuses on his live gigs and the occasional new song anymore.

 

I'd side with him on this. I have maybe 2-3 discs of material that include this kind of stuff, and it's painfully obvious on many tracks that finishing the lyrics was the last step in his creative process. It makes you appreciate how well he could carve a pretty interesting lyric into a piece of music that was conceived with very little of that specific lyric in mind, really, but I wouldn't call it a great draw in terms of deluxe-edition appeal.

<soapbox> His best stuff from The Stranger through Nylon Curtain is seriously underlooked in terms of official CD live versions *from their era*. Hopefully these two circumstances will combine to fix the latter. </soapbox>

 

Me too...never released on DVD to the best of my knowledge. I still have the VHS but nothing to play it on, lol.

 

Perhaps. But the hardcore fans that such a release would appeal to...they might sell a healthy amount, assuming they keep the price at a normal level.

Oh how I wish I were in charge of such a project. Billy needs a true "fan" to show him exactly what is in the vault, as well as remind him how great of a band he had back then. Perhaps the peak years (artistically) of 1976-1982 are painful for him. Who knows?!

 

http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/article683813.ece

"Since then, Joel’s profile has been kept high by a procession of compilations. “It’s ridiculous,” he says, “If it’s not The Ultimate Billy Joel, it’s The Essential Billy Joel or Really and Truly the Very Best of Billy Joel." The lion’s share of his disdain though, is reserved for My Lives, the 2005 box set that gathered together four CDs of outtakes spanning his entire career. “The idea as it was presented to me was: ‘OK, we’re going to take everything you left on the cutting room floor, we’re going to put it in a box and charge people 50 bucks.’

“It’s not like I had a choice — they own it all. I read in the liner notes that I personally ‘curated’ all this stuff, which is a crock of s***. I didn’t curate a single thing.”

 

Billy's successful enough and has enough clout to stop something if he doesn't want it released. I just can't believe what he said.

Time to roll out some archival live stuff. Complete and unedited shows.

 

He may have the clout to some extent but when you go against your own label that owns your recordings, They can keep you in court for a long time until they get their way. Maybe that's why Billy didn't want to get boggled down with that. I do believe Billy could have issued a statement to the press & media that he doesn't endorse the upcoming box set & explain why & what's on it. That's where his clout could have worked (my opinion).

 

In the other interview that's now gone, he emphasizes the fact that he could have blocked it, but it wasn't worth the court battle. Even the interviews that he did at the time were more geared towards promoting his tour than any positive acknowledgment of the box.

 

I don't care about compilations or live albums anymore, I just want a new R&R album, but I guess it will never happen....