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If you thought the dust had settled after watching all five hours of the documentary Billy Joel: And So It Goes (both halves are now streaming on HBO Max), you may be…wrong! Legacy Recordings has dropped an incredible digital trove of music as a companion piece to the film: a seven-hour, 155-track anthology that’s packed with more than 60 unreleased tracks and available to stream or download!

As we’d previously reported in our chat with John Jackson, Joel’s archive director, a soundtrack was in the works alongside the release of the film. “If we get our way with this,” he said, “you’ll have…examples in a way that, watching the film and hearing the story of why these songs are the way they are, you go, ‘Holy shit, this is great material.'” (He and Joel’s longtime lighting director Steve Cohen both produced the set for Legacy.) And what great material it is! In addition to a smattering of hits and deep cuts from his 12 albums of pop/rock music, there’s plenty of music fans have been clamoring for in some form for years.

Join us for a closer look at what’s on this mammoth set, plus an annotated track list of everything that’s been previously released (or not!).

Tell Us About It

Around 50 of the “intro” tracks are edited excerpts of interviews with Joel and others featured in the documentary. They’re just long enough to offer a sense of place if you’re listening in order, and a reminder of one of the film’s strengths: the candor of everyone interviewed, including Joel himself, reconciled classic band members like guitarist Russell Javors, saxophonist/keyboardist Richie Cannata and drummer Liberty DeVitto and collaborators like Cohen and booking agent Dennis Arfa – as well as all three of Joel’s ex-wives: former manager Elizabeth Weber, actress/model Christie Brinkley and chef/television personality Katie Lee Biegel.

I May Travel the End of the Earth

The first 14 or so tracks largely focus on Billy’s pre-history as a solo performer. The soundtrack offers a new mix of “My Journey’s End,” a rare track from Joel’s first band The Lost Souls (first released on the 2005 rarities box My Lives), and has also licensed four tracks from Joel’s first album with The Hassles. Most enticingly, the set also includes the digital debut of two tracks by Attila, Joel’s maligned power duo with Hassles drummer/future video director Jon Small. “Wonder Woman” and “Holy Moses” join an edit of “Amplifier Fire” (on My Lives) as the only tracks from the long-deleted album available beyond that original LP release. (We wouldn’t expect any more, but stranger things have happened!)

Got to Begin Again

As Jackson noted earlier, one of the real discoveries is fresh new mixes by engineeer Bradshaw Leigh of most of this material, but especially Joel’s 1971 debut Cold Spring Harbor. Infamously, producer Artie Ripp incorrectly mastered the original vinyl album at the wrong speed, turning Joel’s already-high register into unintentionally hilarious territory. The documentary reveals that Ripp’s unconventional deal earned him a quarter off every one of Joel’s Columbia albums for more than a decade; when that term came to an end around 1984, Ripp sold Columbia Cold Spring Harbor, mostly correcting the pitch issues but editing “You Can Make Me Free,” stripping the maudlin “Tomorrow is Today” of its string section and overdubbing “Turn Around” and “Everybody Loves You Now” with more contemporary instrumentation. It’s that amended version that remains in print today.

Now, Leigh has offered new, intimate mixes of “Tomorrow” and closer “Got to Begin Again,” emphasizing Joel’s vocal and piano, while stripping the overdubs from “Turn Around” and including more of its original instrumentation. “It’s amazing when you hear these songs actually in the right key for the first time,” Jackson told us, “because they suddenly seem human in a way that the neither the United Artists pressing nor the subsequent Columbia Records pressing do.” (Jackson also expressed hope to revisit the entire album for a future project.)

The soundtrack also includes a few notable unreleased songs and recordings from this period. Who knew, for example, that The Stranger closer “Everybody Has a Dream” was first recorded during the Harbor sessions? And two oft-bootlegged outtakes from a session with Joel’s original manager Irwin Mazur in the producer’s chair (“December Theme (December Song)” and “Bye Bye”) are also included, adding color to the earliest phase of Joel’s solo discography.

Sing Us a Song

For even the seasoned Billy Joel fan, one of the more notable ways of being exposed to his early material was the 1981 live album Songs in the Attic, featuring spirited concert versions of lesser-regarded singles and deep cuts (some of which would become hits on their own, like “She’s Got a Way”). Attic is probably the most represented album on the soundtrack, with four tracks included – but there’s plenty more live stuff making its way from the vault to this release. Beyond several previously released selections from other concerts (the Philadelphia radio session included with the Legacy Edition of Piano Man in 2010, highlights from archival releases like A Matter of Trust: The Bridge to Russia and Live At Yankee Stadium), there’s a few crucial concerts excerpted here. A two-night run at the University of Connecticut in 1976, which became the early video feature Billy Joel – Tonight, yields six performances (none of which are the ones featured on the promotional album Souvenir; those tracks are included on the streaming-only 50 Years of the Piano Man collection).

Other live highlights include a spirited rendition of “Scenes from An Italian Restaurant” at C.W. Post College in 1977 (believed to be one of the first – even before Billy’s summer 1977 appearance at Carnegie Hall); an early take on “Sometimes a Fantasy” from the old Houston, Texas arena The Summit (recorded less than a year before Glass Houses was released); portions of a 1984 gig at Wembley Arena (where Toots Thielmans reprised his harmonic part on “Leave a Tender Moment Alone”); a fun behind-the-scenes moment where Billy and his band perform “The Longest Time” a cappella in the tiled locker room of the Capital Theatre in Landover, MD; and even performances from the 100th blockbuster night of Billy’s Madison Square Garden residency in 2024.

The live content isn’t just limited to concerts, either: Legacy has licensed or utilized several TV performances here, including appearances on The Old Grey Whistle Test for the BBC and NBC’s Saturday Night Live. (Those performances are currently not available on streaming services, but can be downloaded as part of the entire collection.) Another crucial filmed performance is excerpted as audio: material from the day Joel inked his Columbia contract on June 26, 1973 and sat down in a studio to show off a solo rendition of not only “Piano Man” but “Travelin’ Prayer” as well.

A Minor Variation

The And So It Goes soundtrack makes even the familiar sound new, thanks to the presence of additional gems from studio sessions. The biggest revelation among them may be two cuts from the “Shelter Island sessions,” cut by Billy and his touring band in the summer of 1992. This session yielded songs from the River of Dreams album, although Joel, session legend Danny Kortchmar and a host of studio musicians would re-cut all of the tracks for the final album. (These versions are alternately relaxed and tentative, and it’s not hard to imagine why Kortchmar sought to enhance them.)

Another studio gem that Jackson discussed is a chunk of session time from The Stranger where an early take on “Just the Way You Are” was beset by technical difficulties. “[At] take one, [Billy’s] having a problem with the Fender Rhodes that Phil had in the studio. Billy goes, ‘Let me just play this on the piano,’ and Phil’s like, ‘We can if you want to, but I think the Rhodes is better,'” Jackson explained. “You can literally hear a guy fixing the piano, and the guitar players are practicing their parts, and Liberty is playing the drum part, Phil’s coaching him through that sort of reverse samba thing that we all know now. This goes on for 30 minutes! Billy moves back from the piano to the Rhodes, then they start playing the song–there it is. That’s it right there.”

Additionally, Leigh has created instrumental mixes of several deep cuts for the film and companion album: “James” (from Turnstiles), “Get It Right the First Time” (from The Stranger), “Half a Mile Away” (from 52nd Street), “Through the Long Night” (from Glass Houses) and “Careless Talk” (from An Innocent Man). Those serve as companions to the few pieces of original score heard in the film and included here: instrumental takes on things like “Vienna,” “And So It Goes” and even “Air (Dublinesque)” from Billy’s neoclassical Fantasies & Delusions. (Like that album, none of these are performed by Joel, with credit instead going to musicians Tony Bruno – who’s recorded with Joel’s daughter Alexa Ray – and longtime live guitarist Tommy Byrnes.)

There appear to be no plans at this time to convert the rare material from the And So It Goes soundtrack to a complementary physical set – but it is available in CD quality from download partners at the links below. Check out the full, annotated track list and share your favorite songs if you like! We’re all in the mood for a melody, and this soundtrack’s got us feelin’ alright.

Billy Joel: And So It Goes (The Musical Companion to the HBO Documentary Film) (Columbia/Legacy, 2025) (Apple / Amazon / 7Digital / Qobuz / HDTracks)

* previously unreleased song

Part 1

1. Introduction
2. The Stranger (Live on KZEW-FM, Dallas, TX – October 1977) *
3. Intro – My Journey’s End
4. My Journey’s End (2025 Mix) – The Lost Souls *
5. Intro – I Can Tell
6. I Can Tell – The Hassles
7. You Got Me Hummin’ – The Hassles
8. A Taste of Honey – The Hassles
9. Intro – Every Step I Take (Every Move I Make)
10. Every Step I Take (Every Move I Make) – The Hassles
11. Intro – Wonder Woman
12. Wonder Woman – Attila
13. Intro – Holy Moses
14. Holy Moses – Attila
15. Intro – Tomorrow is Today
16. Tomorrow is Today (2025 Mix) *
17. Got to Begin Again (2025 Mix) *
18. December Theme (December Song) *
19. Bye Bye *
20. Turn Around (2025 Mix) *
21. Intro – She’s Got a Way
22. She’s Got a Way (Live At Sigma Sound Studios, Philadelphia, PA for WMMR-FM – 4/15/1972)
23. Intro – Everybody Loves You Now
24. Everybody Loves You Now (Live At The Great American Music Hall, San Francisco, CA – 6/8/1975)
25. Intro – Long, Long Time
26. Long, Long Time (Live on The Session, WSIU-TV, Carbondale, IL – 2/10/1972) *
27. Nocturne (Live At Palmer Auditorium, University of Connecticut, New Haven, CT – 12/5 and 12/6/1976) *
28. Intro – Stop in Nevada
29. Stop in Nevada (Live Rehearsal At Palmer Auditorium, University of Connecticut, New Haven, CT – 12/5 and 12/6/1976) *
30. The Ballad of Billy the Kid (Live At Palmer Auditorium, University of Connecticut, New Haven, CT – 12/5 and 12/6/1976) *
31. Intro – You’re My Home
32. You’re My Home (Live At Sparks Saloon, Huntington, NY – 7/1/1981) *
33. Intro – Captain Jack
34. Captain Jack (Live At Sigma Sound Studios, Philadelphia, PA for WMMR-FM – 4/15/1972)
35. Travelin’ Prayer (Columbia Records Signing Day – 6/26/1973) *
36. Intro – Piano Man
37. Piano Man (Live on The Old Grey Whistle Test – 5/16/1978) *
38. Intro – Worse Comes to Worst
39. Worse Comes to Worst
40. If I Only Had the Words (to Tell You) (Live At Palmer Auditorium, University of Connecticut, New Haven, CT – 12/5 and 12/6/1976) *
41. Intro – The Great Suburban Showdown
42. The Great Suburban Showdown
43. Streetlife Serenader (Live At St. Paul Civic Center, St. Paul, MN – 7/20/1980)
44. Intro – The Entertainer
45. The Entertainer (Live on The Old Grey Whistle Test – 3/14/1978) *
46. Los Angelenos (Live At Toad’s Place, New Haven, CT – 7/10/1980)
47. Say Goodbye to Hollywood (Live At Milwaukee Arena, Milwaukee, WI – 7/14/1980)
48. Intro – New York State of Mind
49. New York State of Mind
50. Summer, Highland Falls (Live At The Bayou, Washington, D.C. – 7/23/1980)
51. James (Instrumental Mix) *
52. Intro – Miami 2017
53. Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway) (Live on Saturday Night Live – 11/14/1981) *
54. All You Wanna Do is Dance
55. Ain’t No Crime (Live At Palmer Auditorium, University of Connecticut, New Haven, CT – 12/5 and 12/6/1976) *
56. Everybody Has a Dream (Cold Spring Harbor Sessions) *
57. Intro – Angry Young Man
58. Prelude/Angry Young Man (Live At Palmer Auditorium, University of Connecticut, New Haven, CT – 12/5 and 12/6/1976) *
59. Intro – I’ve Loved These Days
60. I’ve Loved These Days (Live At Carnegie Hall, New York, NY – 6/3/1977)
61. The Stranger (Promotional Montage) *
62. Movie’ Out (Anthony’s Song)
63. Intro – Just the Way You Are
64. Just the Way You Are (Session Banter) *
65. Intro – Scenes from An Italian Restaurant
66. Scenes from An Italian Restaurant (Live At C.W. Post College, Greenvale, NY – 5/6/1977) *
67. Just the Way You Are (Live on KZEW-FM, Dallas, TX – October 1977) *
68. She’s Always a Woman (Live on The Old Grey Whistle Test – 3/14/1978) *
69. Only the Good Die Young (Live on Saturday Night Live – 2/18/1978) *
70. Get It Right the First Time (Instrumental Mix) *
71. Intro – 52nd Street
72. 52nd Street
73. Half a Mile Away (Instrumental Mix) *
74. Close to the Borderline
75. Intro – Big Shot
76. Big Shot
77. Intro – Stiletto
78. Stiletto (Live At The Summit, Houston, TX – 11/25/1979) *
79. Intro – Sometimes a Fantasy
80. Sometimes a Fantasy (Live At The Summit, Houston, TX – 11/25/1979) *
81. Intro – It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me
82. It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me
83. C’etait toi (You Were the One)
84. Air (Dublinesque) (Original Score) *
85. She’s Got a Way/And So It Goes (Original Score) *
86. Intro – Surprises
87. Surprises

Part 2

88. The End Title (from The Natural) – Randy Newman
89. Intro – My Life
90. My Life (Live At Madison Square Garden, New York, NY – 3/28/2024) *
91. Intro – Scandinavian Skies
92. Scandinavian Skies
93. Intro – Pressure
94. Pressure
95. Intro – Allentown
96. Allentown (Live At Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Uniondale, NY – 12/29/1982)
97. Intro – Goodnight Saigon
98. Goodnight Saigon (Live At Shea Stadium, Flushing, NY 7/16 and 7/18/2008)
99. Vienna (Original Score) *
100. Intro – Vienna
101. Vienna (Live Masterclass At Meistersingerhall, Nuremberg, Germany – 6/4 and 6/5/1995) *
102. Intro – Where’s the Orchestra
103. Where’s the Orchestra
104. Intro – Christie Lee
105. Christie Lee
106. Intro – Careless Talk
107. Careless Talk (Instrumental Mix) *
108. The Longest Time (Live in the Capital Centre Locker Room, Landover, MD – 1/28/1984) *
109. Intro – An Innocent Man
110. An Innocent Man (Live At Wembley Arena, London, England – 6/6, 6/8 and 6/9/1984) *
111. Intro – Tell Her About It
112. Tell Her About It
113. Leave a Tender Moment Alone (Live At Wembley Arena, London, England – 6/6, 6/8 and 6/9/1984) *
114. This Night (Live At Wembley Arena, London, England – 6/6, 6/8 and 6/9/1984) *
115. Through the Long Night (Instrumental Mix) *
116. Rosalinda’s Eyes
117. Roz’s Theme (Original Score) *
118. Laura
119. This is the Time
120. Intro – Baby Grand
121. Baby Grand
122. Intro – A Matter of Trust
123. A Matter of Trust (Live in the USSR – July/August 1987)
124. Cross to Bear (Demo – 1974)
125. Last of the Big Time Spenders
126. Intro – Storm Front
127. Storm Front (Live at Yankee Stadium, The Bronx, NY – 6/22 and 6/23/1990)
128. The Downeaster “Alexa” (Live at Yankee Stadium, The Bronx, NY – 6/22 and 6/23/1990)
129. Shameless (Live at Yankee Stadium, The Bronx, NY – 6/22 and 6/23/1990)
130. Intro – We Didn’t Start the Fire
131. We Didn’t Start the Fire
132. I Go to Extremes (Live at Yankee Stadium, The Bronx, NY – 6/22 and 6/23/1990)
133. Intro – The Great Wall of China
134. The Great Wall of China (Shelter Island Sessions) *
135. No Man’s Land (Shelter Island Sessions) *
136. Intro – Two Thousand Years
137. Two Thousand Years
138. Intro – The River of Dreams
139. The River of Dreams
140. Intro – Lullabye
141. Lullabye (Goodnight, My Angel) (Live At Columbia Convention) *
142. Intro – Soliloquy
143. Soliloquy (On a Separation)
144. Intro – Suite for Piano
145. Suite for Piano (Star-Crossed): II. Sorbetto
146. Reverie (Villa D’Este)
147. Suite for Piano (Star-Crossed): III. Delusion
148. Intro – All My Life
149. All My Life
150. Intro – And So It Goes
151. And So It Goes
152. Intro – New York State of Mind (2024)
153. New York State of Mind (Live At Madison Square Garden, New York, NY – 3/28/2024) *
154. Billy Reflects
155. Piano Man (Columbia Records Signing Day – 6/26/1973) *

Original mix of Track 4 and Track 124 released on My Lives – Columbia/Legacy C5K 93520, 2005
Tracks 6-8 and 10 released on The Hassles – United Artists UAS 6631, 1968
Tracks 12 and 14 released on Attila – Epic E 30030, 1970
Original mixes of Tracks 16-17 and 20 released on Cold Spring Harbor – Family Productions FPS 2700, 1971
Tracks 22 and 34 released on Piano Man (Legacy Edition) – Columbia/Legacy 88697 61901-2, 2010
Track 24 released on The Vinyl Collection Vol. 1 – Columbia/Legacy 19075 92552-1, 2021 and Live At The Great American Music Hall, 1975 – Columbia/Legacy 19439 88483-1, 2023
Video of Tracks 27, 29-30, 40, 55 and 58 recorded for the video feature Billy Joel Tonight
Track 39 released on Piano Man – Columbia KC 32544, 1973
Track 42, 116 and 125 released on Streetlife Serenade – Columbia PC 33146, 1974
Tracks 43, 46-47 and 50 released on Songs in the Attic – Columbia TC 37461, 1981
Video of Tracks 45 and 68 released on The Stranger (30th Anniversary Edition) – Columbia/Legacy 88697 30801-2, 2008
Tracks 49, original mix of 51 and 54 released on Turnstiles – Columbia PC 33848, 1976
Track 60 released on The Stranger (30th Anniversary Edition) – Columbia/Legacy 88697 30801-2, 2008 and Live At Carnegie Hall – Columbia/Legacy 88985 37401-1, 2019
Track 62 and original mix of 70 released on The Stranger – Columbia JC 34987, 1977
Tracks 72, original mix of 73 and 76 released on 52nd Street – Columbia FC 35609, 1978
Tracks 74, 82-83 and original mix of 115 released on Glass Houses – Columbia FC 36384, 1980
Tracks 87, 92, 94, 103 and 118 released on The Nylon Curtain – Columbia TC 38200, 1982
Track 88 released on The Natural – Warner Bros. 25116, 1984
Track 96 released on The Vinyl Collection Vol. 2 – Columbia/Legacy 19439 95718-1, 2023
Track 98 released on Live At Shea Stadium (The Concert) – Columbia/Legacy 88697 85424-2, 2011
Tracks 105, original mix of 107 and 112 released on An Innocent Man – Columbia QC 38837, 1983
Tracks 119 and 121 released on The Bridge – Columbia OC 40402, 1986
Track 123 released on Концерт – Columbia C2X 40996, 1988 and A Matter of Trust: The Bridge to Russia – Columbia/Legacy 88843 01657-2, 2014
Tracks 127-129 and 132 released on Live At Yankee Stadium – June 22 & 23, 1990 – Columbia/Legacy 19658 70156-2, 2022)

• Tracks 127 also released on “Shameless” cassette single – Columbia 38T 74188, 1992
• Track 128 also released on Columbia Australian CD single 656831 2, 1991
• Track 132 also released on Souvenir (The Ultimate Collection) – CBS 001013 2 (AUS), 1990

Tracks 131 and 151 released on Storm Front – Columbia OC 44366, 1989
Tracks 137 and 139 released on River of Dreams – Columbia CK 53303, 1993
Tracks 143 and 145-147 released on Fantasies & Delusions – Columbia/Sony Classical CK 85397, 2001
Track 149 released on Columbia CD single 88697 07255-2, 2007