A veritable treasure trove of unreleased and unheard Billy Joel materials has arrived alongside the conclusion of the music legend’s And So It Goes documentary.
Celebrating the life and over 60-year profession of the Grammy Award-winning recording artist, Billy Joel: And So It Goes made its debut on HBO on July 18, with its second and remaining half premiering every week in a while Friday, July 25.
Simply hours after the conclusion of the movie, an intensive 155-track “musical companion” was uploaded to streaming providers, compiling six-and-a-half hours of unheard materials and dwell performances from Joel’s storied profession.
Alongside early tracks from his time as a member of teams resembling The Hassles and The Misplaced Souls, the 115 songs are additionally accompanied by audio clips of Joel and others offering introductions to the next alternatives.
A variety of dwell cuts from notable performances resembling Joel’s look on The Outdated Gray Whistle Take a look at and a few recorded the day he signed with Columbia Data, are additionally current, as is the debut rendition of “Scenes From an Italian Restaurant” – recorded on Might 6, 1977 at C.W. Put up Faculty in Lengthy Island.
“I at all times needed to jot down a cinematic sort of track concerning the lives of individuals I knew in highschool,” Joel explains of the track. “Individuals who peaked too early.”
Although by no means launched as a single, the near-eight-minute track was later launched on The Stranger that very same yr and would grow to be one in all Joel’s most revered songs, alongside along with his most-played.
Produced by Steve Cohen, Bradshaw Leigh and John Jackson, the brand new assortment is more likely to be accompanied additional releases of equally unheard materials sooner or later. “There’s a ton of stuff that’s in his private vault and there’s a ton of stuff that’s in Sony’s vault, with not a ton of overlap,” Jackson advised Ultimate Classic Rock. “We’re decided to undergo each issues within the coming years.
The premiere of the brand new documentary comes simply months after the Rock & Roll Corridor of Famer canceled all of his upcoming exhibits as a consequence of his analysis of regular strain hydrocephalus, writing in an announcement on the time, “I’m sincerely sorry to disappoint our viewers, and thanks for understanding.”
His staff additionally shared on the time that he could be present process “particular bodily remedy” to fight the dysfunction, which has affected his listening to, imaginative and prescient, steadiness and efficiency capabilities.
Joel offered an update as to his present well being standing throughout an look on Invoice Maher’s Membership Random Podcast simply final week on July 21. “I really feel good,” he defined. “They hold referring to what I’ve as a mind dysfunction, so it sounds quite a bit worse than what I’m feeling.”