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Turnstiles (album)

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Turnstiles
Studio album by
Billy Joel
ReleasedMay 19, 1976
RecordedMid-1975 to January 1976
StudioUltrasonic Recording Studios, Hempstead, New York; Columbia Recording Studios, New York City, New York; Caribou Ranch, Nederland, Colorado
Genre
Length36:22
LabelFamily Productions/Columbia
ProducerBilly Joel
Billy Joel chronology
Streetlife Serenade
(1974) 		Turnstiles
(1976) 		The Stranger
(1977)
Singles from Turnstiles
  1. "James"
    Released: July 1976[1]
  2. "I've Loved These Days"
    Released: October 1976[1]
  3. "Say Goodbye to Hollywood"
    Released: November 1976[1]

Turnstiles is the fourth studio album by American singer-songwriter Billy Joel, released May 19, 1976, by Family Productions and Columbia Records.

Production

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Joel recorded Turnstiles in part as a celebration of his return to his native New York City.[2] Three of the album's tracks reference New York: "Summer, Highland Falls", "New York State of Mind" and "Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway)". It begins with "Say Goodbye to Hollywood" (inspired by The Ronettes song "Be My Baby") and also includes "I've Loved These Days", a tongue-in-cheek expression of regret at leaving behind Hollywood decadence. In an interview, Joel stated that the lyrics to the song "James" referred to various different people he knew in real life, with the title character being a "composite" of those people.[3] In the song "Prelude/Angry Young Man", Joel opens and closes the song rapidly hammering the piano, which was meant to simulate the drum part in the song "Wipe Out" by The Surfaris.[4]

The songs were first recorded at Caribou Ranch (near Nederland, Colorado), with members of Elton John's band (Nigel Olsson on drums and Dee Murray on bass) and produced by Chicago producer James William Guercio. Dissatisfied with the results, Joel took over as producer and returned to New York, where he re-recorded the album from start to finish, with his own touring band, which consisted of Long Island musicians Richie Cannata and the members of the band Topper: Liberty DeVitto, Russell Javors, Howie Emerson,[2] and Doug Stegmeyer. Turnstiles marked the first time that Joel's band played on one of his studio albums.

The album cover photo was shot in the uptown platform of the New York City Subway's Astor Place station. According to Joel, each of the characters on the album cover was meant to represent a particular song (e.g., the girl in headphones for "All You Wanna Do is Dance", the wealthy couple for "I've Loved These Days").[5][6]

Barbra Streisand covered "New York State of Mind" on her album Superman, released in the Spring of 1977, opening up Billy Joel's music to a mainstream audience. He thanked her for the exposure, and also told her his New York relatives were duly impressed to have the Queen of Brooklyn cover one of his songs.

Critical reception

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Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[7]
Blender[8]
Christgau's Record GuideC+[9]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[10]

Robert Christgau of The Village Voice wrote that Joel's craft improves, but "he becomes more obnoxious: the anti-idealism of 'Angry Young Man' isn't any more appealing in tandem with the pseudoironic sybaritism of 'I've Loved These Days.'"[9] In a retrospective review, Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic wrote that "the key to the record's success is variety, the way the album whips from the bouncy, McCartney-esque 'All You Wanna Do Is Dance' to the saloon song 'New York State of Mind'; the way the bitterly cynical "Angry Young Man" gives way to the beautiful 'I've Loved These Days' and the surrealistic apocalyptic fantasy 'Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway).' No matter how much stylistic ground Joel covers, he's kept on track by his backing group."[7]

Cash Box called the single "James" "a song to an old friend, wondering what he’s doing now," saying "This beautiful tune kicks off with some sensitive playing on the Fender Rhodes, accompanied solely by bass. Gradually, as the song builds, so does the instrumentation."[11]

Cash Box said that the single "I've Loved These Days" creates "a perfect mood of grand cinema romance" and commented on "its elegant strings and crashing piano."[12] Record World said that "both melody and lyrics stand out on this powerful ballad, that could put him over the top."[13]

Track listing

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All tracks are written by Billy Joel

Side one
No.TitleLength
1."Say Goodbye to Hollywood"4:36
2."Summer, Highland Falls"3:15
3."All You Wanna Do Is Dance"3:40
4."New York State of Mind"5:58
Side two
No.TitleLength
5."James"3:53
6."Prelude/Angry Young Man"5:17
7."I've Loved These Days"4:31
8."Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway)"5:12
Total length:36:22

Many tracks have alternate mixes exclusive to the Quadrophonic LP release including "New York State of Mind", "Prelude/Angry Young Man", "I've Loved These Days" and "Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway)". Contrary to some sources, the saxophone solo on "New York State of Mind" was never re-recorded by Phil Woods for the release of Greatest Hits, Vols. I and II. The only time that Phil Woods performed on a Billy Joel recording was the song "Just the Way You Are" in 1977.[14]

Personnel

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Adapted from the AllMusic credits.[15]

Production

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  • Jerry Abramowitz – cover photography
  • John Berg – cover design
  • Gerard Huerta – cover lettering
  • Bruce Botnick – mixing
  • John Bradley – engineer, project supervisor
  • Jo Buckley – production coordination
  • Billy Joel – producer
  • Don Puluse – engineer
  • Brian Ruggles – basic track consultant
  • Lou Waxman – tape engineer

Charts

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References

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  1. ^ a b c Strong, Martin Charles (1995). Great Rock Discography. Canongate Press. p. 436. ISBN 978-0-86241-541-9.
  2. ^ a b "Classic Flashback: Billy Joel, 'Turnstiles'". About.com Entertainment. Archived from the original on November 11, 2016. Retrieved November 7, 2016.
  3. ^ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: "Billy Joel Interview 1976". YouTube. November 12, 2017.
  4. ^ "Billy Joel Howard Stern part 9". YouTube. January 17, 2015. Archived from the original on December 5, 2021.
  5. ^ Billy Joel on Turnstiles – from THE COMPLETE ALBUMS COLLECTION. YouTube. October 18, 2011. Archived from the original on December 21, 2021. Retrieved September 29, 2014.
  6. ^ Katz, Mike (2018). Rock and roll explorer guide to New York City. Kott, Crispin, McNeil, Legs. Guilford, Connecticut. p. 150. ISBN 978-1-63076-316-9. OCLC 1007036799.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  7. ^ a b Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Turnstiles – Billy Joel". AllMusic. Retrieved September 29, 2014.
  8. ^ Browne, David (May 22, 2007). "Billy Joel: Turnstiles". Blender. Archived from the original on February 3, 2010. Retrieved October 19, 2015.
  9. ^ a b Christgau, Robert (1981). "Billy Joel: Turnstiles". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor and Fields. ISBN 0-89919-026-X. Retrieved August 25, 2011.
  10. ^ Evans, Paul (2004). "Billy Joel". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp. 434–35. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
  11. ^ "CashBox Singles Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. September 18, 1976. p. 14. Retrieved December 11, 2021.
  12. ^ "CashBox Singles Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. June 4, 1977. p. 22. Retrieved December 26, 2021.
  13. ^ "Single Picks" (PDF). Record World. June 4, 1977. p. 32. Retrieved February 16, 2023.
  14. ^ https://www.philwoods.com/biography/item/5-phil-woods
  15. ^ "Turnstiles – Billy Joel | Credits | AllMusic". AllMusic.
  16. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 156. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  17. ^ "Billy Joel Chart History: Billboard 200". Billboard. Retrieved June 24, 2020.
  18. ^ "Highest position and charting weeks of Turnstiles by Billy Joel". oricon.co.jp (in Japanese). Oricon Style. Retrieved October 31, 2011.
  19. ^ "Cash Box Newspaper" (PDF). Cash Box. May 20, 1978. p. 20. Retrieved November 13, 2021 – via World Radio History.
  20. ^ "American album certifications – Billy Joel – Turnstiles". Recording Industry Association of America.
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