Customer Reviews

Cold Spring Harbor

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is still my favorite Billy Joel Album, and I have all of his albums. The main difference between this reissue, and the original LP, is that all of the orchestral tracks were removed on the reissue. Then there is the issue of the off-speed tape recorder used on the original LP. Billy Joel's voice was slightly higher pitched, but at the time nobody knew any better, as this was his first recording. The reissue pitches his voice lower, so that he sounds like the Billy Joel we know today.
In 1971, I owned a record store and was sent a copy of "Cold Spring Harbor." The original pressings were on the "Family Productions" label, and distributed by Paramount Records. Every time I played it in the store, someone would ask me where they could buy it. I tried to order it many times, but could only secure one more copy. Because Paramount wouldn't promote the album, Billy Joel broke his contract and hid out in Los Angeles for over a year. During this time, he worked in a piano bar under an assumed name. This later became the inspiration for "Piano Man."
This album was reissued in the 80's by Columbia records, and the powers that be evidently thought the original was overproduced, so the above mentioned changes were made. Maybe it is because I became a fan listening to the fuller sounding LP, that I still prefer it to the reissue which I also own. Regardless, the songs are wonderful, and the time I first heard it, I told everybody that he would become the next Elton John. I wasn't too far off.

Cold Spring Harbor is typically ignored as an album. Much more looked at is its follow-up, Piano Man, which of course spawned the title hit of the same name. Glossing over Cold Spring Harbor, however, is a grievous error. It may be different from other Billy Joel albums (heck, they're all different!), but it is by no means inferior. Every song is notable, but for length's sake, only the highest of the highlights shall be addressed.

She's Got A Way is the most well-known song on the album on account of its becoming a hit from the Songs In The Attic CD. It is a beautiful love song and a wonderful piece of music, truly deserving of its hit stature.

You Can Make Me Free is another excellent song, truly uplifting in melody. Nobody believes me, but I swear Billy sounds like Freddie Mercury towards the end of the song. . .

The original version of Everybody Loves You Now is, I think, superior to the Songs In The Attic version, especially where drumming is concerned. Fantastically sarcastic.

Tomorrow Is Today is a fabulous, insightful look at the repetitive mundane nature of life. Intelligently depressing and melodically beautiful with a little bit of gospel in the middle.

Nocturne is a nary-mentioned instrumental, an extremely early predecessor, if you will, of the classical music Billy is currently producing.

Got To Begin Again is a beautiful closing song, and excellent end to an excellent album.

Cold Spring Harbor is primarily a melodic piano-based album. If that is the sort of thing you are looking for, then it behooves you to purchase Cold Spring Harbor.

Cold Spring Harbor was originally released in the early '70s on a small label. The album was terrific classic Joel, although the vinyl pressing was not: Someone goofed when mastering the album, and sped the tape up by about 8%, making Joel sound something like a deep-throated chipmonk. The record sold zilch and went out of print long before Joel became a star. In the mid '80s, with Joel now a megastar, it was announced that the album would be remastered and re-released. That was great news to the fans who knew and loved the first effort.

But they didn't just remaster and re-release the album. Instead, Joel played with it. He remixed it. He added instruments. He changed the whole sound of the album. What finally emerged was a travesty: Lethargic, uninvolving, lacking most of the charm of the original.

I suppose this will do (and will have to do) for those without turntables and/or without an interest in record collecting. But be aware that it's nothing more than a hollow echo of the real beast that owns this name.

For shame.

dap

Excellent from start to finish. Where can one start. Each song seems to have a very distinguishing quality: the strings on Why Judy Why, the soulful vocals on Tommorow Is Today, and the good time rhythm of You Look So Good To Me. Its a shame these songs don't get more play on radio. They are true gems.

I've seen that Billy Joel doesn't like this CD, not wanting people to hear it. Oddly enough, I think it is easily his best CD. I'm a fan, have listened to all of his songs and albums a number of times, but I come back to that. This is his best.

My favorite Billy Joel song is on this CD and I'm sure it would be one of my handful of favorite songs of all-time. "Why Judy Why" is a haunting melody, a beautiful song I can't stop listening to. In addition to this, "Nocturne" is the most beautiful piece of instrumental music I've listened to ever. If I ever learn to play the piano, that is the first song I wish to learn how to play.

"Everybody Loves You Now" is another excellent song and for more casual fans, "She's Got a Way" is on this, though this version is slightly different than the version on the Greatest hits (that version is from Songs in the Attic). But the rest of the songs are all good. This is one of my 3 favorite CD's.

This was Billy Joel's debut album, released just a year after the Beatles' broke up. Not many people would have heard it, and it's a pity, because it's a brilliant album.

I have all of Billy's 12 albums, and I still think this is his best. Sure, "The stranger" has all his hits. "Turnstiles" is one of his early masterpieces and "The Bridge" is one of his superior later efforts.

"Cold Spring Harbor" is just Billy, his piano, and a set of raw, emotional songs. No fancy production. No hit singles. He hadn't even released "Piano man" and that is now his signature tune. This was a youthful Billy before he made it into the mainstream.

The final track, "Got to begin again", has some personal significance to me. I used to listen to it before all my exams, to get me in the right frame of mind for them. No matter how stressed I was, it always made me feel better.

Billy Joel has since disowned this album, saying it was recorded at the wrong speed and it makes his voice sound too high. Which is a pity, because a lot of fans, including me, consider it to be his most superior effort.

I'll give away my age here, but I can remember seeing Billy Joel at Lafayette's Music Room in Overton Square in Memphis in 1973 just as Piano Man went big. There was much controversy about Cold Spring Harbor because an upset producer had messed up the tapes so Billy's voice was at a higher speed on the original original release. Destiny had other ideas, and songs like She's Got a Way persevere no matter what someone might do. The pianistic ability evident in Everybody Loves You Now....the sheer songwriting ability evident in She's Got a Way...this is an album you will return to again and again no matter where or when you discovered the majestic artistry of Mr Billy Joel....

This is definetly one of rock and roll's greatest debut albums. Released on a small independant label in 1971, it is finally getting the recognition it so rightly deserves. The album, as a whole, is wonderful from beginning to end, even if it is a bit short.

1. She's Got A Way-5/5. The best song on the album which later became a live hit on the "Songs From the Attic" album. A beautiful ballad featuring only piano and vocals.
2. You Can Make Me Free-5/5. Another great song that has a great piano line. The lyrics are not normal Billy Joel, but the vocal delivery is great.
3. Everybody Loves You Now-4/5. One of the weaker songs on this album, but still pretty good. Very upbeat with a fast piano line. Takes time to grow on you.
4. Why Judy Why-4/5. Another ballad, which this album is full of. Good lyrics and good vocals, with a guitar part subbing for the piano, which fits it perfectly.
5. Falling of the Rain-4/5. Another very upbeat song similar to "Everybody Loves You Now." Probably one of the weaker songs on the album, although it has a good piano line.
6. Turn Around-4/5. This one is moderately tempoed with a country and western beat and sound to it. Very catchy. This one has to grow on you too.
7. You Look So Good To Me-3/5. The weakest song on the album. A little too bouncy and happy-go-lucky for my taste. Not bad, though. Just different.
8. Tomorrow Is Today-5/5. Classic Billy Joel. Lyrics in the vain of the cynical style that became his trademark in the late 1970's. Beautiful music, just vocals and piano.
9. Nocturne-5/5. Great piano only instrumental. Fits in with the mood of the album, slow and somber.
10. Got To Begin Again-5/5. Another great piano and vocals only ballad to finish out the album. Great lyrics.

If you are a newcomer to Billy Joel, this is a great place to start, but you won't find any of his signature hits here. However, this album is great from beginning to end, with a couple of weak spots that will quickly grow on you. If you are a fan, this is a must own. Highly recommended.

I am an unabashedly big Billy Joel fan and I think this is a beautiful album. One of the things I like best about Joel is his ability to change, evolve, metamorphose into something new. This first album shows him as a wonderful baladeer. The tunes are simple, the lyrics heartfelt and straightforward. His piano playing is excellent. This album does not have the jazz elements of 52nd Street or Turnstiles. It does not have the rock & roll of Glass Houses or the doo-wop/oldies sound of An Innocent Man.

What it does have is a collection of lovely tuneful ballads, sung in a voice far removed from the damaged, raspy, but still powerful voice he has today. It is an innocent album from a simpler time in his life. Buy it!

This first solo album of Billy Joel's is by all means 5-star material. Songs like "She's Got a Way" and "Everybody Loves You Now" stand out among the sharpest of Joel's recordings, even from this early on in his musical career. The only problem with the album is that due to the record company recording the album at the wrong speed, Joel sounds like he inhaled too much helium. I'd highly recommend the newly-released remastered version.