Billy Joel was already on his way to stardom by the time he released Turnstiles, his fourth album. Turnstiles came out in May 1976 and included big songs like “New York State Of Mind” and “Say Goodbye To Hollywood.” The record pushed him along the way to making his real commercial breakthrough with The Stranger a year later. Now, there’s a pretty successful Joel cover band called Turnstiles; who recently played some shows with Vampire Weekend. (There’s also an even more successful band called Turnstile, but that’s different.) Today, Joel announces a new 50th-anniversary edition of Turnstiles, which will include a whopping 54 previously unreleased tracks.
Joel’s Turnstiles reissue will include four CDs and a Blu-Ray. It’ll have the Billy Joel Tonight concert film, shot at Connecticut College in 1976, as well as a live-album version of that show, another live set recorded at New York’s Bottom Line, and various demos, outtakes, and early versions. One song, “Oklahoma,” is getting its first release ever. David Fricke and Billy Joel Archive Director John Jackson wrote the liner notes. Today, Joel shares a full-band demo of his song “James” and a surprisingly long behind-the-scenes clip shot during his trip to record Billy Joel Tonight. Check out both below.
In other news, Billy Joel announced just yesterday that he’s selling his motorcycles. His Oyster Bay motorcycle shop 20th Century Cycles closed last fall, and Christie’s has his collection up for auction. Joel recently got brain surgery, and he appeared onstage for the first time afterward when he joined Turnstiles at a Florida show earlier this year. On his SiriusXM a few weeks ago, Joel talked about his health issues, and you’d have to imagine that he shouldn’t ride too many motorcycles post-surgery.
The 50th anniversary edition of Turnstiles is out 12/11 on Legacy. Pre-order it here.
