Billy Joel - All My Life (2014) **UPDATE**

It was mentioned in a comment from Michael P. that there was another track that I could have included here, which was the extended single version of 'Sometimes A Fantasy' from 1980, which not only included a 'Helter Skelter' reference for those in the know, but also has different panning on the guitars, so I've decided to update the post. Thanks to Unknown.

For a man who has only released twelve studio albums spanning 1971-1993, Billy Joel has a large number of rare and alternate tracks out there, from edited promo singles to extended 12"s, duets to rare cover versions. This set gathers together fourteen of the best of them, starting with the edited promo 7" of his 'Piano Man' single from 1973, which might sound odd to fans of the longer version, but the label obviously didn't feel that radio stations wouldn't play a four and a half minute song back then. We then jump forward to 1982 for a rare non-album b-side, followed by extended versions of a couple of his singles, and an alternate take of a collaboration with Steve Winwood. 1993 sees another rare b-side and the original extended version of the title track from his 'River Of Dreams' album, and from the mid 2000's he was duetting with a number of other artists, such as Tony Bennett, Barbara Streisand, Jimmy Webb, Rosie O'Donnell, and Johnny Mathis. In 2007 he released the 'All My Life' single only in Australia, and we end with a couple of covers of Paul McCartney songs, recorded for the 'Art Of McCartney' tribute album in 2014. Hopefully even the most ardent Joel fan should find something of interest here that they might not have heard before. 

Track listing

01 Piano Man (edited promo single 1973) 

02 Sometimes A Fantasy (single edit 1980)
03 Elvis Presley Blvd. (b-side of 'Allentown' 1982)
04 Tell Her About It (extended version 1983) 
05 Keeping The Faith (special extended mix 1983) 
06 Getting Closer (alternate version with Steve Winwood 1986)
07 You Picked A Real Bad Time (b-side of 'All About Soul' 1993) 
08 The River Of Dreams (original extended version 1993) 
09 The Good Life (duet with Tony Bennett 2006)
10 All My Life (single 2007)
11 Wichita Lineman (duet with Jimmy Webb 2010)
12 New York State Of Mind (duet with Barbara Streisand 2014)
13 Maybe I'm Amazed (from 'The Art Of McCartney' tribute album 2014) 
14 Live And Let Die (from 'The Art Of McCartney' tribute album 2014)

Various Artists - The Hitmakers Sing Billy Joel (2023)

In 1976 Billy Joel released his fifth studio album, and fourth for Columbia Records, 'Turnstiles', which sold modestly and peaked low on the US charts, prompting Columbia to consider dropping him if his next release sold as poorly. He wanted the new album to feature his touring band, formed during the production of 'Turnstiles', consisting of drummer Liberty DeVitto, bassist Doug Stegmeyer, and multi-instrumentalist saxophonist/organist Richie Cannata, and so seeking out a new producer he first turned to veteran Beatles producer George Martin, before coming across and settling on Phil Ramone, whose name he had seen on albums by other artists such as Paul Simon. Recording took place over three weeks in July and August 1977, and featured DeVitto, Stegmeyer and Cannata, with other studio musicians filling in on guitar when needed. Four of the songs were released as singles in North America, with the opening song, 'Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)', centered around Anthony, a grocery-store employee from Long Island who "dreams of making it big", receiving pressure from his family to move out and go his own way, while 'Just The Way You Are' was inspired by Joel's love for his wife at the time, Elizabeth Weber, and she also inspired the song 'More Than A Woman'. The seven and a half minute epic 'Scenes From An Italian Restaurant', was stitched together from three shorter songs, 'The Italian Restaurant Song', 'Things Are OK In Oyster Bay' and 'The Ballad Of Brenda And Eddie', into one of his best know pieces. When 'The Stranger' was released in September 1977 it spent six weeks at No. 2 on the US Billboard 200, and it is considered Joel's critical and commercial breakthrough record. All four singles that were released in the US became Top 40 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 charts, with 'Just The Way You Are' making it to number 3. It remains his best-selling non-compilation album to date, and with so many memorable songs on it, it's no surprise that many of them have been covered over the years, by artists as diverse as Barry White and Umphrey's McGee. 

Track listing

01 Movin' Out (Anthony's Song) (Alex Goot 2014)    
02 The Stranger (I_Like_It_Here 2020) 
03 Just The Way You Are (Barry White 1978)
04 Scenes From An Italian Restaurant (Umphrey's McGee 2019)
05 Vienna (Couch 2023)
06 Only The Good Die Young (Taryn Southern 2015)       
07 She's Always A Woman (Lynda Carter 1978)
08 Get It Right The First Time (The Billy Joel Experience 2019)
08 Everybody Has A Dream (The Manhattans 1978)

Leslie West - ...and on guitar (1993) R.I.P.

Leslie Weinstein was born on 22 October 1945 in New York City to Jewish parents, and after his parents divorced, he changed his surname to West. His musical career began in 1966 with The Vagrants, an R&B/blue-eyed soul-rock band influenced by the likes of the Rascals, who had two minor hits in the Eastern United States with 'I Can't Make A Friend' in 1966 and a cover of Otis Redding's 'Respect' the following year. Some of The Vagrants' recordings were co-written and produced by Felix Pappalardi, who was also working with Cream on their album 'Disraeli Gears'. In 1969, West and Pappalardi formed the pioneering hard rock act Mountain, which was also the title of West's debut solo album of that year, and which Rolling Stone described as a band who were a "louder version of Cream". With Steve Knight on keyboards and original drummer N. D. Smart, the band's original incarnation saw West and Pappalardi sharing vocal duties and playing guitar and bass, respectively. New drummer Corky Laing joined the band shortly after their appearance on the second day of the Woodstock festival, and they had success with their single 'Mississippi Queen' in 1970, which reached No. 21 on the Billboard charts and No. 4 in Canada, and later with 'Theme For An Imaginary Western' in 1973, which was written by Cream bassist Jack Bruce. After Pappalardi left Mountain to concentrate on various production projects, West and Laing produced two studio albums and a live release with Jack Bruce under the name West, Bruce and Laing. West and keyboard player Al Kooper of Blood, Sweat & Tears recorded with The Who during the March 1971 'Who's Next' sessions laying down a cover of Marvin Gaye's 'Baby Don't You Do It', as well as early versions of 'Love Ain't For Keepin'' and 'Won't Get Fooled Again', as well as adding guitar to albums by Mylon, Bobby Keys and Felix Cavaliere during the early 70's. Mountain reformed in 1973 only to break up again in late 1974, after which West played guitar on 'Bo Diddley Jam' on Bo Diddley's 1976 '20th Anniversary Of Rock 'n' Roll' all-star album. Since 1981, Mountain has continued to reform, tour and record on a regular basis, while in 1991 West teamed up with Deep Purple's Ian Gillan to co-write and play guitar on 'Hang Me Out To Dry' on Gillan's 'ToolBox' album, and in 1993 he played guitar on three tracks from Billy Joel's last studio album 'River Of Dreams'. West suffered a heart attack in his home near Daytona, Florida, on December 20, 2020 and was rushed to hospital in nearby Palm Coast where he never regained consciousness, and died shortly afterwards. He was 75. 

Track listing

01 A Sunny Summer Rain (single by The Vagrants 1967)
02 Hellhound On My Trail (from 'Maverick Child' by David Rea 1969)
03 Gray Afternoon (from 'Home' by Jolliver Arkansaw 1969)
04 Blue Suede Shoes (from 'Over The Influence' by Mylon 1972)
05 Key West (from 'Bobby Keys' by Bobby Keys 1972)
06 Love Ain't For Keeping (recorded 1971, from 'Odds And Sods' reissue by The Who 1999)
07 Hit And Run (from 'Destiny' by Felix Cavaliere 1975)
08 Masquerade (from 'Our Pleasure To Serve You' by Stanky Brown Group 1976)
09 Hey Bo Diddley (from 'The 20th Anniversary Of Rock & Roll' by Bo Diddley 1976)
10 Let Me Out'a Here (from 'Guitar Speak' 1988)
11 Hang Me Out To Dry (from 'ToolBox' by Ian Gillan 1991)
12 No Man's Land (from 'River Of Dreams' by Billy Joel 1993)

Thanks to Fredrick for the suggestion.

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Attila - Attila (1970)

Hard rock and metal were hot in 1970, and spurred by the groundbreaking success of Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and a rejuvenated Deep Purple, there were a bunch of heavy new bands that were trying to follow in their success. This included a struggling singer-songwriter from Long Island named Billy Joel, who swapped his classical piano for a Hammond B-3 organ and formed the short-lived proto-metal duo Attila with drummer John Small. The two young musicians had been playing together since 1967 in local psychedelic group the Hassles, but after a pair of unsuccessful albums, Joel and Small reinvented themselves in 1969, overcoming their lack of a metal staple, the electric guitar, by plugging Joel’s organ into a Marshall stack and loading it with distortion. Joel also handled bass and vocals, and they managed to get a record deal with Epic Records to record an album. They picked some of their most forceful songs, such as 'Wonder Woman', 'Revenge is Sweet', and 'Brain Invasion', all boasting frantic keyboard work and histrionic vocals by Joel. They also had less metal songs like 'Rollin' Home', and even an eight-minute jazz-rock-tinged instrumental 'Amplifier Fire', spread over two parts subtitled 'Godzilla' and 'March of the Huns'. The album cover was the final touch, with Joel and Small transformed into barbarian invaders, and this all proved to be too much for some AllMusic critics, who selected 'Attila' as one of the worst rock albums of all time. Joel himself has gone on record as describing the album as 'psychedelic bullshit', but it's very much a record of it's time, and there is some good music to be heard on here, as well as being an interesting diversion for Joel before settling down to the singer/songwriter career that we know him for. Although this album does exist, it's extremely hard to track down, so I'm sharing it here for people who might not have known about this early aberration from one of their favourite artists. 

Track listing

01 Wonder Woman
02 California Flash
03 Revenge Is Sweet
04 Amplifier Fire (Part I: Godzilla/Part II: March Of The Huns)
05 Rollin' Home
06 Tear This Castle Down
07 Holy Moses
08 Brain Invasion