Turnstiles by Billy Joel
Turnstiles is the fourth studio album by American singer-songwriter Billy Joel, released on May 19, 1976. In part, Joel recorded the album as a celebration of his return to New York City after a sojourn in California. 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. The songs were initially recorded at Caribou Ranch with members of Elton John's band and produced by Chicago producer James William Guercio. Dissatisfied with the results, Joel dismissed Guercio. He then took over as producer and returned to New York, where he re-recorded the album in its entirety. Producing his own record allowed Joel to use his own touring band, which consisted of Long Island musicians Richie Cannata and all four members of the band Topper: Liberty DeVitto, Russell Javors, Howie Emerson, and Doug Stegmeyer. Turnstiles marked the first time that Joel's band played on one of his studio albums. Joel has stated in an online interview that the album cover photo was shot in "an abandoned subway station." It was actually shot in the Astor Place station on the Lexington Avenue Line. In the same interview, Joel notes that 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").
By 1976, Billy Joel had seen how many different ways there were to not sell records. The Commandos—his Hicksville, Long Island high school band—made two singles and disappeared like a Mafia trial witness. Then there was a pair of albums with The Hassles, a white R&B band, for United Artists, followed by one with Attila, the world’s first keyboard-and-drums heavy metal duo, which is distinguished only by its novelty and a cover photo worth seeking out. His 1971 solo debut, <i>Cold Spring Harbor</i>, was mastered at the wrong speed, which made him sound like one of the Chipmunks, he later said. When he signed with Columbia Records, the home of Bob Dylan, Barbra Streisand and Simon & Garfunkel, among other stars, Joel got a fresh start with a powerhouse record company. “Piano Man”, the title song from his Columbia debut, was a minor pop hit in the US, and “Captain Jack” was an underground hit on FM stations (yes, there was a time when Billy Joel was underground), though because it was over seven minutes long and mentioned masturbation, it was played mostly late at night. For his third album with Columbia, some changes needed to be made, and Joel, who can be combative, fought to use his touring band, rather than studio pros, which helped him find the right sound he wanted. “Prelude/Angry Young Man” opens with some pickpocket-fast piano-pounding that may have left a big impression on Ben Folds. It’s very much a New York album, from the cover photo of Joel in a subway station to the two love songs to his city: the apocalyptic “Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway)” and the breezy “New York State of Mind”, which was later covered by Tony Bennett and Barbra Streisand, among many others. Four of the songs on <i>Turnstiles</i> stayed in Joel’s live set for years, and when he played them, crowds celebrated. But notably, nothing from the album charted—though “James” was pretty big in the Netherlands. His fourth solo album didn’t reverse his (mis)fortunes in the music business, but on his next record, the hits came in bunches.
