{"id":359926,"date":"2026-09-29T17:22:15","date_gmt":"2026-09-29T17:22:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/359926\/"},"modified":"2026-09-29T17:22:15","modified_gmt":"2026-09-29T17:22:15","slug":"in-a-new-york-state-of-mind-billy-joel-archive-sets-turnstiles-box-for-50th-anniversary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/359926\/","title":{"rendered":"In a New York State of Mind: Billy Joel Archive Sets ‘Turnstiles’ Box for 50th Anniversary"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\"Turnstiles<\/a>Turnstiles box set<\/p>\n

For the first time, a box set will take a deep dive into the creation of a Billy Joel album \u2013 in this case, one of his most pivotal: 1976\u2019s\u00a0Turnstiles, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year.<\/p>\n

Coming from Legacy Recordings on December 11, this 4CD\/Blu-ray set will offer a thorough look at the album\u2019s pivotal production, from early demos to live shows. In total, the collection boasts more than 50 previously unreleased tracks, including unheard demos, rarely heard songs and selections from the album\u2019s mythic early sessions. The set also features an unreleased 1976 at The Bottom Line in New York City and an expanded audiovisual restoration of Billy Joel Tonight, the late 1976 concerts taped for television. The set\u2019s liner notes include a new essay by David Fricke as well as notes from the director of Joel\u2019s archive, box set producer John Jackson.<\/p>\n

Numbers would tell you that Joel\u2019s third album for Columbia (and fourth overall) was a trifle compared to what the Piano Man would imminently release in the years that followed. It peaked at a mere No. 122 on the\u00a0Billboard\u00a0LP survey and was never certified past platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. But, as fans can tell you, the album is sort of the nexus point for the music and qualities that made Billy one of the biggest musicians of the \u201970s and \u201980s.<\/p>\n

After attaining a Top 40 hit with that 1973 song of the same name, Joel struggled to follow it up with another hit. He\u2019d ultimately, finally retreat from Los Angeles \u2013 the city he\u2019d fled to after escaping a contract with Artie Ripp that resulted in 1971 debut\u00a0Cold Spring Harbor \u2013 heading back to New York to produce Turnstiles on his own. Crucially \u2013 for the first time, but not the last \u2013 he would employ his crystallizing touring band in the studio, including guitarists Russell Javors and Howie Emerson, the rhythm section of bassist Doug Stegmeyer and drummer Liberty DeVitto, and saxophonist Richie Cannata. (Emerson would be replaced by David Brown in the band\u2019s best-known line-up.) The eight songs they recorded included some of Joel\u2019s most enduring standards and live barn-burners, including the timeless \u201cNew York State of Mind,\u201d the sharp-edged \u201cPrelude\/Angry Young Man\u201d and \u201cMiami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway),\u201d and the Spector-esque \u201cSay Goodbye to Hollywood\u201d (later covered by Ronnie Spector herself, with Bruce Springsteen\u2019s E Street Band backing her).<\/p>\n

But, as the first disc of the set showcases, there was a lot of road to get to that point. Joel demoed many of the songs on piano with Michael Stewart, producer of Joel\u2019s first two Columbia LPs, and even cut some rough versions with his band before a 1975 concert stop at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco. (Five tracks from that multi-night run appear here, all different from the double live album prepared for a Joel vinyl box set<\/a> and later released for Record Store Day.)<\/p>\n

Joel would next commit to sessions in January 1976 with longtime Chicago producer James William Guercio. (Contrary to popular belief, these sessions were not held at Guercio\u2019s Caribou Studios ranch in Colorado, but at one of Columbia\u2019s New York City studios.) For reasons not fully known but rather detested by Billy \u2013 who states as much in last year\u2019s two-part HBO documentary on his career \u2013 Guercio paired him with the recently-departed rhythm section of Elton John\u2019s band, bassist Dee Murray and drummer Nigel Olsson. \u201cYou have no question of why this didn\u2019t move forward,\u201d Jackson told The Second Disc in an interview before the documentary premiered<\/a>. \u201cIt is not Liberty and Richie and Russell. This [band] works for one person; that doesn\u2019t mean it\u2019s gonna work for somebody else.\u201d (Jackson also suggested the sessions were something \u201cI can promise you will never come out\u201d; things change.) After five tracks from the Guercio sessions, the first disc closes with three more with the producer, this time featuring Stegmeyer (already Joel\u2019s live bassist) and DeVitto (who, like Stegmeyer, was a member of the band Topper) as Joel\u2019s rhythm section.<\/p>\n

The album\u2019s second disc features a remaster of the original\u00a0Turnstiles\u00a0album (committed to tape at Ultrasonic Studios in Hempstead, Long Island \u2013 incidentally the site of Joel\u2019s formative recording experiences as a youth in the band The Hassles) along with several alternate takes and mixes. From there, it\u2019s on to a trove of live material. The oft-bootlegged June 10, 1976 rave-up at The Bottom Line, recorded in the weeks after the album was issued, offers almost every song from\u00a0Turnstiles plus a healthy selection of Joel\u2019s other staples. By year\u2019s end, Joel has put together his own management team, operating under the moniker Home Run Productions. (Manager Dennis Arfa, live engineer Brian Ruggles and lighting tech Steve Cohen\u00a0still work for Joel to this day.) They took Joel\u2019s road-tested show to the University of Connecticut for a two-night run taped for the special\u00a0Billy Joel Tonight, a staple of music television fare released comprehensively for the first time. Mixed for the first time from the available original multitrack tapes, the accompanying Blu-ray features even more than what\u2019s heard on CD, separating both the first night\u2019s set and offering a selection of rehearsals and pick-ups \u2013 most of them unreleased, but intended for the special. An Atmos mix of the original album by engineer Bradshaw Leigh rounds out the last disc.<\/p>\n

This box \u2013 only the second time a Billy Joel album has been reissued as an expansive, multi-disc set, after\u00a0The Stranger\u00a0in 2008 \u2013 offers a really exciting path forward at celebrating even more of Joel\u2019s celebrated discography. But until then, the expanded\u00a0Turnstiles will be released in December and can be pre-ordered at the links below. (As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases.)<\/p>\n

Turnstiles (50th Anniversary Edition) (Columbia\/Legacy, 2026) (Amazon U.S.<\/a> \/ Amazon U.K.<\/a> \/ Amazon Canada<\/a>)<\/p>\n

CD 1: Demos and Early Versions\u00a0(previously unreleased except where noted)<\/p>\n

All You Wanna Do is Dance (Band Demo \u2013 2\/7\/1975)
\nJames (Band Demo \u2013 6\/9\/1975)
\nNew York State of Mind (Live at The Great American Music Hall, San Francisco, CA \u2013 6\/9\/1975 \u2013 Set 1)
\nAll You Wanna Do is Dance (Live at The Great American Music Hall, San Francisco, CA \u2013 6\/10\/1975 \u2013 Set 1)
\nOklahoma (Live at The Great American Music Hall, San Francisco, CA \u2013 6\/9\/1975 \u2013 Set 1)
\nRoberta (Live at The Great American Music Hall, San Francisco, CA \u2013 6\/9\/1975 \u2013 Set 2)
\nEverybody Has a Dream (Live at The Great American Music Hall, San Francisco, CA \u2013 6\/10\/1975 \u2013 Set 2)
\nAll You Wanna Do is Dance (Piano Demo \u2013 1975)
\nMiami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway) (Piano Demo \u2013 1975)
\nNew York State of Mind (Piano Demo \u2013 1975)
\nJames (Piano Demo \u2013 1975)
\nOklahoma (Piano Demo \u2013 1975)
\nNew Ideas: Say Goodbye to Hollywood\/Angry Young Man\/Brenda and Eddie) (Piano Demo \u2013 1975)
\nThese Rhinestone Days (Piano Demo \u2013 1975) (released on\u00a0My Lives \u2013 Columbia\/Legacy C5K 93520, 2005)
\nPrelude\/Angry Young Man (Take 9: Dee Murray, Nigel Olsson session \u2013 1\/19\/1976)
\nI\u2019ve Loved These Days (Take 1: Dee Murray, Nigel Olsson session \u2013 1\/20\/1976)
\nJames (Take 3: Dee Murray, Nigel Olsson session \u2013 1\/21\/1976)
\nEverybody Has a Dream (Take 1: Dee Murray, Nigel Olsson session \u2013 1\/21\/1976)
\nSadness or Euphoria (Summer, Highland Falls) (Take 2: Doug Stegmeyer, Liberty DeVitto session \u2013 1\/23\/1976)
\nAll You Wanna Do is Dance (Take 2: Doug Stegmeyer, Liberty DeVitto session \u2013 1\/23\/1976)
\nMiami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway) (Take 1: Doug Stegmeyer, Liberty DeVitto session \u2013 1\/23\/1976)<\/p>\n

CD 2: Album Sessions\u00a0(Tracks 1-8 released as Columbia PC 33848, 1976; all others previously unreleased)<\/p>\n

Say Goodbye to Hollywood
\nSummer, Highland Falls
\nAll You Wanna Do is Dance
\nNew York Sate of Mind
\nJames
\nPrelude\/Angry Young Man
\nI\u2019ve Loved These Days
\nMiami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway)
\nJames (Alternate Mix with Strings\/Reprise with Acoustic Guitar, Bongos and Saxophone)
\nSummer, Highland Falls (Alternate Acoustic Version)
\nSay Goodbye to Hollywood (Alternate)
\nI\u2019ve Loved These Days (Alternate Orchestral Mix)
\nConversation with Ed Sciacky, Philadelphia, PA \u2013 6\/18\/1976<\/p>\n

CD 3: Live At The Bottom Line, New York, NY \u2013 6\/10\/1976\u00a0(previously unreleased)<\/p>\n

Prelude\/Angry Young Man
\nSomewhere Along the Line
\nSummer, Highland Falls
\nPiano Man
\nRoot Beer Rag
\nJames
\nTravelin\u2019 Prayer
\nNew York State of Mind
\nThe Entertainer
\nThe Ballad of Billy the Kid
\nI\u2019ve Loved These Days
\nMiami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway)
\nCaptain Jack
\nAll You Wanna Do is Dance
\nAin\u2019t No Crime
\nWeekend Song
\nSouvenir<\/p>\n

CD 4:\u00a0Billy Joel Tonight\u00a0(previously unreleased except where noted)<\/p>\n

Prelude\/Angry Young Man
\nSomewhere Along the Line
\nSummer, Highland Falls
\nHandball
\nPiano Man
\nJames
\nTravelin\u2019 Prayer
\nNew York State of Mind
\nThe Entertainer
\nYou\u2019re My Home
\nRoot Beer Rag
\nRoberta
\nThe Ballad of Billy the Kid
\nI\u2019ve Loved These Days
\nMiami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway)
\nCaptain Jack
\nSouvenir<\/p>\n

All tracks recorded at Palmer Auditorium, University of Connecticut, New London, CT \u2013 12\/5 and 12\/6\/1976. Tracks 3, 8, 13 and 17 released on\u00a0Souvenir\u00a0promo LP \u2013 Columbia AS 326, 1977<\/p>\n

Blu-ray<\/p>\n

Billy Joel Tonight: The Concert (rec. at Palmer Auditorium, University of Connecticut, New London, CT \u2013 12\/5\/1976; * included in original TV special)<\/p>\n

Prelude\/Angry Young Man *
\nSomewhere Along the Line
\nSummer, Highland Falls
\nPiano Man *
\nHandball *
\nJames\/Still Crazy After All These Years
\nTravelin\u2019 Prayer\/Jungleland
\nNew York State of Mind *
\nThe Entertainer *
\nYou\u2019re My Home *
\nRoot Beer Rag
\nRoberta
\nThe Ballad of Billy the Kid
\nI\u2019ve Loved These Days
\nMiami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway) *
\nCaptain Jack *
\nWorse Comes to Worst
\nAin\u2019t No Crime
\nWeekend Song
\nIf I Only Had the Words (t0 Tell You)
\nSouvenir<\/p>\n

Billy Joel Tonight: Rehearsals and Production Inserts (rec. at Palmer Auditorium, University of Connecticut, New London, CT \u2013 12\/6\/1976; * included in original TV special)<\/p>\n

Stop in Nevada (incomplete rehearsal)
\nShe\u2019s Got a Way
\nSay Goodbye to Hollywood
\nStreetlife Serenader
\nThe Great Suburban Showdown
\nAll You Wanna Do is Dance
\nI\u2019ve Loved These Days
\nHonky Tonk Women
\nCovers Medley: You Are So Beautiful\/Born to Run\/Hey Mister, That\u2019s Me Up on the Jukebox\/Tell Me Why\/Goodbye Yellow Brick Road\/Bennie and The Jets
\nSouvenir
\nNocturne *<\/p>\n

Dolby Atmos mix of original album<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Turnstiles box set For the first time, a box set will take a deep dive into the creation…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":359927,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[9,11,10,49,51,50],"class_list":["post-359926","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news","tag-new-york-state","tag-new-york-state-headlines","tag-new-york-state-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/359926","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=359926"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/359926\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/359927"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=359926"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=359926"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=359926"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}