It's true: that upcoming Billy Joel compilation is indeed the tip of the iceberg.
Legacy issued a press release late last night promising to burst open the floodgates of Billy Joel catalogue material in 2011. The Hits, the first single-disc compilation of the Piano Man's music, kicks things off, followed by a dozen songs being made available for download on the upcoming Rock Band 3 video game.
But next year? The press release promises a live release of the Shea Stadium concerts documented in this week's new film The Last Play at Shea, a Legacy Edition of Piano Man (1973) and a complete albums box set featuring a clutch of non-LP tracks. That's just to name a few planned releases; the press release mentions more, after the jump.
LEGACY RECORDINGS SETS STAGE FOR MONUMENTAL 2011 BILLY JOEL REISSUE PROJECT WITH RELEASE OF BILLY JOEL'S THE HITS ON TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 16
2011 marks the 40th anniversary of the release of Billy Joel's first solo album, Cold Spring Harbor, and Columbia/Legacy Recordings will celebrate the occasion with a definitive reissue project of newly restored and expanded Legacy editions of the complete Billy Joel catalog, newly curated collections of rarities from the vaults, previously unavailable studio tracks and live performances, home video releases and more.
As an overture to the 40th Anniversary Billy Joel catalog reissue project, Columbia/Legacy will release Billy Joel's The Hits -- a newly compiled collection of 19 essential tracks-- on Tuesday, November 16.
The first-ever career-spanning single disc distillation of Billy's Top 40 chartbusters & signature smashes, The Hits provides a critical index to some of the most beloved and abiding pop songs of our era.
Between the opening cut, "Everybody Loves You Know" (a deep track from 1971's Cold Spring Harbor) and "The River of Dreams," the Grammy-nominated classic that closes the collection, The Hits charts a course through 30+ years of American pop music and culture through the eyes and ears of an artist who defined the times.
Billy Joel - The Hits
- 1. Everybody Loves You Now (1971, Cold Spring Harbor)
- 2. Piano Man (1973, Piano Man, #25 Billboard Hot 100)
- 3. The Entertainer (1974, Streetlife Serenade, #34 Billboard Hot 100)
- 4. New York State Of Mind (1976, Turnstiles)
- 5. Movin' Out (Anthony's Song) (1977, The Stranger, #17 Billboard Hot 100)
- 6. Only The Good Die Young (1977, The Stranger, #24 Billboard Hot 100)
- 7. My Life (1978, 52nd Street, #3 Billboard Hot 100)
- 8. Big Shot (1978, 52nd Street, #14 Billboard Hot 100)
- 9. You May Be Right (1980, Glass Houses, #7 Billboard Hot 100)
- 10. It's Still Rock And Roll To Me (1980, Glass Houses, #1 Billboard Hot 100)
- 11. Say Goodbye To Hollywood (live) (1980, Songs in the Attic, #17 Billboard Hot 100)
- 12. Allentown (1982, The Nylon Curtain, #17 Billboard Hot 100)
- 13. Pressure (1982, The Nylon Curtain, #20 Billboard Hot 100)
- 14. The Longest Time (1983, An Innocent Man, #14 Billboard Hot 100)
- 15. Tell Her About It (1983, An Innocent Man, #1 Billboard Hot 100)
- 16. A Matter Of Trust (1986, The Bridge, #10 Billboard Hot 100)
- 17. We Didn't Start The Fire (1989, Storm Front, #1 Billboard Hot 100)
- 18. I Go To Extremes (1989, Storm Front, #6 Billboard Hot 100)
- 19. The River Of Dreams (1993, River of Dreams, #3 Billboard Hot 100)
* * * * *
Among the upcoming releases in the Columbia/Legacy Billy Joel 40th anniversary commemoration will be Billy Joel - Live At Shea Stadium, a 2CD/DVD and stand-alone Blu-ray edition of Billy's historic 2008 Shea Stadium concerts, a Legacy Edition of the 1973 Piano Man album, a Complete Albums Collection featuring 14 of Billy's original albums with a bonus disc collecting 16 non-album tracks and more.
* * * * *
"The Last Play At Shea," a documentary feature film tracing the intersecting histories of a landmark urban stadium, a beloved underdog baseball team and an American musical icon will play on 120 movie theater screens across the country on Thursday, October 21. For tickets and more information, please visit www.TheLastPlayatShea.com
* * * * *
The Fox Network's hit series Glee featured Billy Joel's "Piano Man" in its first season, performed by Matthew Morrison ("Will Schuester") and Neil Patrick Harris, and "Only the Good Die Young" in its second, sung by Mark Salling ("Puck") with more of Billy's music in forthcoming episodes.
* * * * *
Rock Band is excited to offer a new Billy Joel edition of the popular video game, providing a masterful keyboard experience of his music to fans around the world through two downloadable game packs: a "Hits" pack of 12 songs arriving in December 2010 followed by a 6-song "Piano Challenge" pack in the spring.
* * * * *
The ultimate fan destination for all things Billy Joel continues to be BillyJoel.com
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Again. Triple dipping me again! Well at least this time will be worth it. Is it know if the Legacy ed. is going to be with the box set?
"Just The Way You Are" was his first real pop hit, and a HUGE one. He may hate it, but how the f**k do you leave that off a Hits collection?! And one named "Hits" for pete's sake!
The bonus tracks and Legacy Editions might be good, if Billy doesn't overcontrol what's released. And I wonder what's gonna be on that bonus disc in the album collection.
Oy vey...guess I'm in to buy this stuff again.
I thibk that song is about his first wife and like "Uptown Girl" with Cristie Brinkley, he would like to forget them. Pitty, both are great songs.
Just the Way You Are is indeed about Billy's first wife (Elizabeth), but he did bring the song back in recent years, so it's exclusion from "The Hits" is puzzling. Then again, just about any hits release leaves something off... It's meant, in part, to get to people to want more and then go buy the original albums.
Anyhow, the Legacy edition of "Piano Man" might be worthwhile. There were a number of unreleased songs/alternate takes from the Cold Spring Harbor/Piano Man sessions that never got an official release.
I also have to wonder about the bonus material for the complete album collection. If it's really good stuff (long version of "Sometimes a Fantasy" "You Can Make Me Free," anyone?) I will be pissed if the only way for a lifelong fan like to get it is to buy the collection.
I had all the albums on cassette (and several of them on LP and I still have those), replaced them all with CDs, and then replaced all of THOSE CDs when the catalog was remastered in the late 90s. I don't think I will go for being quadruple-dipped.
The live Shea release... I'm curious to know how this one's gonna shake out. With several live albums (of varying quality) out there already, and no new songs since 1993, the real appeal of those shows is all the guests who showed up. I'm guessing few, if any, of those performances will be included, due to all the different labels involved.
A DVD/Blu-Ray of both, complete shows would be awesome but I'm sure that's not going to happen. We couldn't even get the complete Carnegie Hall show on CD for the 30th anniversary boxed set for The Stranger.
I think the show I'd most like to see released, in its entirety, is the London '84 show that was televised by the BBC(it's also where the video for "Leave a Tender Moment Alone" came from). Put that out as a CD/DVD and I'll pay whatever Sony wants for it.
Billy Joel's "Last Play At Shea" was initially announced as a single concert - July 16, 2008. I'm sure many people bought tickets not so much because of Billy Joel but because it would be the last concert at Shea - and the show sold out. Then a second date was announced - July 18, two days after the originally announced "last play." So everyone who had already bought tickets for July 16 under the impression they were going to be attending the very last concert ever performed at Shea Stadium were suddenly s*it out of luck... pretty ironic considering Billy Joel ends his concerts telling his fans "don't take no s*hit from nobody."
Here's a publicity photo showing Billy Joel at Shea with the scoreboard in the background, at the time the concerts were announced back in February of '08... it may be tough to see in this image, but the scoreboard clearly shows just one date, July 16...
http://blog.nj.com/ledgerupdates_impact/2008/02/large_SHEAJOEL.jpg
...and newspaper articles publicizing the "Last Play" reported that there would be one show.
I did not attempt to get tickets for either show, so I'm not saying this with a "sour grapes" point of view. I just think it's dirty pool to advertise a concert as the last performance ever at a particular venue, and when that show sells out, to add a second show after the so-called "last play."
Fake Last Play Fail.
Fake Billy Joel Fail.
Billy Joel FEH.
Yeah... Because Billy Joel doesn't have a following in New York at all, RIGHT?? I guess those 12 sold out nights at MSG just a few years ago don't mean a thing. Whatever, dude.
I'm so sure people just wanted to spend a bunch of money to be able to say they saw the last concert at Shea. So, if it had been, I dunno, maybe a reunited New Kids show it still would've sold out? I'm guessing not. Let's not forget there was still baseball to played, so it's not like it was the final event there.
Look, here's the thing. Billy was a natural to be playing the final shows at Shea, given his being a native son and probably NY's biggest rock star too. Maybe they planned just one show and when the first sold out in a hurry they added another. It happens all the time. Who cares whether it was the "final" one or not? I'd guess a lot of fans bought tickets for both shows anyhow. Obviously, the demand was there.
Maybe they should've scheduled the added show to happen a day or two BEFORE the first announced show. But, again, baseball was still happening so maybe that wasn't possible. Honestly, if anyone really thought there wasn't the possibility of an additional show, given Joel's drawing power (esp. in NY), they have no one to blame but themselves.
As for "feh," I'm sure Billy's losing sleep over his upsetting you. More than two years after the fact. He shouldn't have to "take any sh*t from anybody" either.
Shaun wrote: "Maybe they should’ve scheduled the added show to happen a day or two BEFORE the first announced show. But, again, baseball was still happening so maybe that wasn’t possible."
If the July 16 and July 18 dates were the only ones available, they should have sold tickets for July 18 date FIRST and then, if (when) that show sold out, THEN they should have announced the July 16 date.
Shaun wrote: "I’m sure Billy’s losing sleep over his upsetting you. More than two years after the fact. He shouldn’t have to “take any sh*t from anybody” either."
One thing we both agree on is that Billy Joel doesn't give a rat's a$$ about me. But on the other hand, I'm not the one telling people “don’t take no s*hit from nobody.” Practice what you preach.
"Columbia/Legacy Recordings will celebrate the occasion with a definitive reissue project of newly restored and expanded Legacy editions of the complete Billy Joel catalog"
So... Does this mean there might be additional Legacy editions of Billy's catalog, and not just the Piano Man album? I can't imagine they'd do it for every one of his albums, but there's plenty of stuff that could be released that hasn't been already:
The original Cold Spring Harbor with the original mix and full length tracks (but mastered to the correct speed. Alternate takes from Turnstiles, with Billy backed by Elton John's band, that were scrapped. The original "Shleter Island" sessions for the River of Dreams album, which were more "raw" but were scrapped when producer Danny Kortchmar came on. Unreleased tracks like "The Country Song" and "Handball" too.
Lots of great live stuff too... The WMMR concert from '72, the Bottom Line show from '76, the Havana Jam in '79, a great show from Houston 1980 that was filmed but not released, more from the Songs in the Attic recordings (the full Sparks or Toad's Place shows?), London '84, more from Yankee Stadium (1990), yadda yadda yadda.
There's going to be a post about this on Monday, but my speculation is if they do Legacy Editions of the entire BJ discography, it's mostly going to be relevant live stuff. I'm almost 100 percent sure Piano Man will be paired with the WMMR show, The Nylon Curtain would probably be paired with Long Island '82 and so on.
That said, once Billy solidified his band with the classic lineup (from Turnstiles to The Bridge), I don't know how much more live stuff I'd want to hear. Certainly an expanded Songs in the Attic would be welcome (it's one of my favorites), and any of the really historic shows would be welcome. But how many shows can even a hardcore fan truly want or need? I'm personally looking forward to the presence of studio outtakes or alternates (and, of course, that confounded "Sometimes a Fantasy" single version!)
I guess Springsteen fans should of been pissed over there being more than the original three shows to close Giants Stadium last year. It's a good thing there were more or I would not have been able to go due to the sell-outs. I am not mad I didn't get the last show, but I still got to go. Am sure Joel's fans feel the same way.
As for bonus concert stuff, I would like the 1999/2000 tour that I saw at the Medowlands or that first Face to Face tour with Elton John in 1995.
We here at "Piano Man" are very much looking forward to all
of this. And, we love reading all of your thoughts and insights.
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