Billy Joel – Cold Spring Harbor

Billy Joel – Cold Spring Harbor is the 1971 debut that introduced Joel as a solo singer-songwriter after the collapse of Attila, the heavy organ-and-drums duo he had just left behind. Named after a favorite spot on Long Island Sound near his hometown, it catches him at the start of the decade in a much more intimate mode, already writing songs that would stay with him for decades, including “She’s Got a Way” and “Everybody Loves You Now.”

What makes this record especially interesting is that its history is almost as distinctive as the music. The original release was famously issued with a mastering error that sped up the tapes, and a corrected Columbia reissue did not arrive until the early 1980s. That later version also altered parts of the album, trimming “You Can Make Me Free” substantially and stripping back some instrumentation and backing vocals, changes that ended up emphasizing the record’s closeness and vulnerability.

Musically, Cold Spring Harbor shows Joel’s melodic instincts before the arena-sized hits: tender piano balladry, sharp singer-songwriter craft, a bitter edge on “Everybody Loves You Now,” mock-gospel touches in “Tomorrow Is Today,” and even the brief classical detour of “Nocturne.” It only reached modest chart positions on first release, but as a portrait of Joel in formative shape, it remains a revealing and unusually personal first chapter.

Genre: Pop & Rock