Cold Spring Harbor was Billy Joel's first solo album, and was released in 1971. He had already released three albums as a member of the bands The Hassles (1966 to 1969) and Attila (1970).
The album was released by Family Productions, but through an error in the album's mastering, the songs were slightly too fast, up one half step, causing Joel's voice to sound unnaturally high. According to a long standing rumor, when Joel first heard the finishe...
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Cold Spring Harbor was Billy Joel's first solo album, and was released in 1971. He had already released three albums as a member of the bands The Hassles (1966 to 1969) and Attila (1970).
The album was released by Family Productions, but through an error in the album's mastering, the songs were slightly too fast, up one half step, causing Joel's voice to sound unnaturally high. According to a long standing rumor, when Joel first heard the finished product, he "ripped it off the turntable, ran out of the house, and threw [the record] down the street."
Artie Ripp, owner of Family Productions and hence the owner of the original master tapes, re-mixed and re-released an updated version of the album in 1983 on Columbia Records, without any involvement by Billy Joel. Ripp had originally signed the then-unknown 22-year old Joel to a 10-record contract. As a result he was able to continue collecting large royalties on sales of Joel's biggest hit records long after Joel's acrimonious departure...
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