Billy Joel "Cold Spring Harbor" - original 1971 album mix
Before Billy Joel was signed to Columbia Records and recorded his well-known 1973 Piano Man album, he issued his debut solo recording titled Cold Spring Harbor on the Family Productions label in late 1971. This album did not sell well, falling just short of making it to the Billboard Top 200 album chart. The album's failure was blamed on the Family label owner Artie Ripp, who produced the album and mixed it at the wrong speed, giving Joel's now-famous voice an unnaturally high-pitched effect. Joel disowned the album, and tried (for a long time unsuccessfully) to get out of his recording contract with Ripp. Ten years later, Joel recorded live versions of two of the album's songs for his 1981 live release Songs In The Attic, namely "She's Got A Way" and "Everybody Loves You Now", and the former became a Top 40 hit. The Cold Spring Harbor album was then remixed by Ripp and Larry Elliot, and the remixed version of the album was issued by Columbia in 1983. Joel did not participate in the remix, and also did not endorse this version of the album.
The original 1971 mix of Cold Spring Harbor now makes for unintentionally funny listening. The incorrect speed of the record is laughable; it doesn't quite sound like a 33 rpm record being played at 45 speed, but if it were possible to play such a record at 39 or 40 rounds per minute, then that is a good approximation of how this mix comes across. Joel's sped-up singing does not quite sound chipmunk-like, but it does make him sound high-pitched and effeminate, almost exactly opposite from his brash New Yorker image. At times when his singing becomes more intense, he sounds as though he is briefly throwing a dramatic hissy fit. The obviously sped-up instrumentation also sounds quite silly at times, as if the piano and occasional strings were being rushed. The funniest thing about the album is that, by the time you begin listening to the second side, you begin to get used to the ridiculous sound, and it begins to make sense. Not that it sounds good or anything, but the album does begin to sound like a legitimate recording from a sensitive soft-rock musician from the early-'70's -- which was probably the sound that Ripp aimed for. It is intermittently possible to recognize who is singing the songs. During "Tomorrow Is Today", we can briefly hear the real voice of Billy Joel coming through during the bridge, as if the real Billy is trying to break out. Despite the distorted vocals, "Everybody Loves You Now" sounds like a familiar Joel song with hostility in the lyrics, and the tempo isn't too much different from that of the live version from Songs In The Attic. Also, the classical piano instrumental "Nocturne" might have fit in well on another of Joel's albums. My favorite track of the bunch is "You Can Make Me Free", which resembles a rowdy power pop number by Badfinger or the Raspberries, especially during the three minutes of raucous jamming which was removed from the later mix.
That later mix of Cold Spring Harbor from 1983 is the version which has been commercially available in recent decades. (The 1971 version has never been officially released on CD or digitally). For this remix, Ripp "corrected" the speed of the recordings -- or did he? Although this mix makes Cold Spring Harbor more recognizable as a Billy Joel album, and the instrumentation now moves at a more realistic speed, Joel's voice still sounds just a bit higher-pitched than normal -- not to the same degree as before, but the vocals here are strangely reminiscent of early Bee Gees. So, perhaps the speed is not as "corrected" as some would have us believe. Many songs give off early echoes of Joel's later hits, but the better songs -- especially during the second side/half -- come across more as decent examples of early-'70's singer-songwriter-ism. The length of "You Can Make Me Free" is reduced by nearly three minutes, and the song seems much more controlled in this form, but it still bears some stylistic resemblance to the Raspberries. The remix of "Turn Around" has extra instrumentation overdubbed, enriching the song's country flavor. "Tomorrow Is Today" is now a straightforward piano ballad, without the strings and climactic drums found in the 1971 version, and it sounds less dated. "Everybody Loves You Now" is the song that sounds the most authentically Billy Joel-like in this mix. As for "She's Got A Way", both studio mixes are inferior to the popular live version from '81.
If the original Cold Spring Harbor had sounded like the remixed version in 1971, it would have been an impressive debut in some ways, with "Why Judy Why" and "You Look So Good To Me" being particular standout tracks. Would it have stood out among the then-crowded field of singer-songwriter efforts? We'll never know. But a better and presumably more "corrected" mix of this album still deserves to happen.
Billy Joel "Cold Spring Harbor" (Family Productions FPS-2700) 1971
Track Listing:
1. She's Got a Way (2:40)
2. You Can Make Me Free (5:40)
3. Everybody Loves You Now (2:40)
4. Why Judy Why (3:46)
5. Falling of the Rain (2:24)
6. Turn Around (3:20)
7. You Look So Good to Me (2:26)
8. Tomorrow Is Today (4:47)
9. Nocturne (2:37)
10. Got to Begin Again (2:47)
Billy Joel "Cold Spring Harbor" (Columbia PC 38984) 1983
Track Listing:
1. She's Got a Way (2:50)
2. You Can Make Me Free (2:57)
3. Everybody Loves You Now (2:48)
4. Why Judy Why (2:55)
5. Falling of the Rain (2:41)
6. Turn Around (3:07)
7. You Look So Good to Me (2:27)
8. Tomorrow Is Today (4:39)
9. Nocturne (2:50)
10. Got to Begin Again (2:51)
See also Attila (1970)
The original 1971 mix of Cold Spring Harbor now makes for unintentionally funny listening. The incorrect speed of the record is laughable; it doesn't quite sound like a 33 rpm record being played at 45 speed, but if it were possible to play such a record at 39 or 40 rounds per minute, then that is a good approximation of how this mix comes across. Joel's sped-up singing does not quite sound chipmunk-like, but it does make him sound high-pitched and effeminate, almost exactly opposite from his brash New Yorker image. At times when his singing becomes more intense, he sounds as though he is briefly throwing a dramatic hissy fit. The obviously sped-up instrumentation also sounds quite silly at times, as if the piano and occasional strings were being rushed. The funniest thing about the album is that, by the time you begin listening to the second side, you begin to get used to the ridiculous sound, and it begins to make sense. Not that it sounds good or anything, but the album does begin to sound like a legitimate recording from a sensitive soft-rock musician from the early-'70's -- which was probably the sound that Ripp aimed for. It is intermittently possible to recognize who is singing the songs. During "Tomorrow Is Today", we can briefly hear the real voice of Billy Joel coming through during the bridge, as if the real Billy is trying to break out. Despite the distorted vocals, "Everybody Loves You Now" sounds like a familiar Joel song with hostility in the lyrics, and the tempo isn't too much different from that of the live version from Songs In The Attic. Also, the classical piano instrumental "Nocturne" might have fit in well on another of Joel's albums. My favorite track of the bunch is "You Can Make Me Free", which resembles a rowdy power pop number by Badfinger or the Raspberries, especially during the three minutes of raucous jamming which was removed from the later mix.
That later mix of Cold Spring Harbor from 1983 is the version which has been commercially available in recent decades. (The 1971 version has never been officially released on CD or digitally). For this remix, Ripp "corrected" the speed of the recordings -- or did he? Although this mix makes Cold Spring Harbor more recognizable as a Billy Joel album, and the instrumentation now moves at a more realistic speed, Joel's voice still sounds just a bit higher-pitched than normal -- not to the same degree as before, but the vocals here are strangely reminiscent of early Bee Gees. So, perhaps the speed is not as "corrected" as some would have us believe. Many songs give off early echoes of Joel's later hits, but the better songs -- especially during the second side/half -- come across more as decent examples of early-'70's singer-songwriter-ism. The length of "You Can Make Me Free" is reduced by nearly three minutes, and the song seems much more controlled in this form, but it still bears some stylistic resemblance to the Raspberries. The remix of "Turn Around" has extra instrumentation overdubbed, enriching the song's country flavor. "Tomorrow Is Today" is now a straightforward piano ballad, without the strings and climactic drums found in the 1971 version, and it sounds less dated. "Everybody Loves You Now" is the song that sounds the most authentically Billy Joel-like in this mix. As for "She's Got A Way", both studio mixes are inferior to the popular live version from '81.
If the original Cold Spring Harbor had sounded like the remixed version in 1971, it would have been an impressive debut in some ways, with "Why Judy Why" and "You Look So Good To Me" being particular standout tracks. Would it have stood out among the then-crowded field of singer-songwriter efforts? We'll never know. But a better and presumably more "corrected" mix of this album still deserves to happen.
Billy Joel "Cold Spring Harbor" (Family Productions FPS-2700) 1971
Track Listing:
1. She's Got a Way (2:40)
2. You Can Make Me Free (5:40)
3. Everybody Loves You Now (2:40)
4. Why Judy Why (3:46)
5. Falling of the Rain (2:24)
6. Turn Around (3:20)
7. You Look So Good to Me (2:26)
8. Tomorrow Is Today (4:47)
9. Nocturne (2:37)
10. Got to Begin Again (2:47)
Billy Joel "Cold Spring Harbor" (Columbia PC 38984) 1983
Track Listing:
1. She's Got a Way (2:50)
2. You Can Make Me Free (2:57)
3. Everybody Loves You Now (2:48)
4. Why Judy Why (2:55)
5. Falling of the Rain (2:41)
6. Turn Around (3:07)
7. You Look So Good to Me (2:27)
8. Tomorrow Is Today (4:39)
9. Nocturne (2:50)
10. Got to Begin Again (2:51)
See also Attila (1970)
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