''Songs in the Attic'' is the first live album by

Billy Joel William Martin Joel (born May 9, 1949) is an American singer, pianist and songwriter. Commonly nicknamed the "Piano Man (song), Piano Man" after his album and signature song of the same name, he has led a commercially successful career as a solo ...

, released in 1981. At the time of its release, it was the first widely available appearance of music from his first album, ''

Cold Spring Harbor Cold Spring Harbor is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the Town of Huntington, in Suffolk County, on the North Shore of Long Island in New York. As of the 2010 United States census, the CDP population was 5,070. History Cold Spri ...

'', released in 1971.

History

In the liner notes, Joel writes that ''Songs in the Attic'' introduced his earlier work to fans who had come to know his work after '' The Stranger''. In that earlier work, most of the instruments were played by session musicians while Joel himself sang and played piano, keyboards, and harmonica. But by the late 1970s, Joel had a fairly consistent touring/recording band and wanted to showcase his songs as played by his band. The single-releases included: "

Say Goodbye to Hollywood "Say Goodbye to Hollywood" is a song written and performed by Billy Joel, first released in 1976 on his album ''Turnstiles''. It was originally released in the United States as the B-side to "I've Loved These Days" before being re-released a m ...

", which peaked at #17 on the U. S. Billboard Hot 100; and "

She's Got a Way "She's Got a Way" is a song by American singer-songwriter Billy Joel, originally released on his first studio album, '' Cold Spring Harbor'' (1971) and as a single from that album in some countries. It was also featured as a single from the 1981 ...

", which reached #23 on the same chart; and " You're My Home". In Japan, "

Los Angelenos "Los Angelenos" is a song written by Billy Joel that was first released on his 1974 album ''Streetlife Serenade''. A live version was released on the 1981 album ''Songs in the Attic''. Lyrics and music The Long Island-raised Joel wrote the song ...

" was also available in 1981. A series of promotional music videos were filmed. Though the concert filming may have been staged for the occasion, the audio versions are nonetheless different from the live recordings featuring on the live album. A total of five promo videos were filmed: four of them recorded at Sparks Saloon in Huntington, NY, and one in a recording studio. At least two of them were not released as worldwide official singles.Archived a
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Everybody Loves You Now "Everybody Loves You Now" is a song written by Billy Joel. It was first released on his 1971 debut album ''Cold Spring Harbor (album), Cold Spring Harbor'' and was also released as a b-side to his singles "She's Got a Way" and "Tomorrow Is Today. ...

" (not a single) directed by Steve Cohen (live at Sparks); "You're My Home" directed by Steve Cohen (live at Sparks); "Los Angelenos" (not a single, though a Japanese 7" vinyl was in existence) directed by Steve Cohen (live at Sparks); "Say Goodbye to Hollywood" directed by Steve Cohen (live at Sparks); "She's Got a Way" live in a studio, also a different version from the live album.

Track listing

All songs written by

Personnel

*Billy Joel –

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

pianos The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

synthesizer A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica inclu ...

*David Brown – electric guitar (lead),

acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

(lead) *

Richie Cannata Richie Cannata (born March 3, 1949) is an American music producer, saxophonist, keyboardist and studio owner. He is most notable for playing saxophone in Billy Joel's band alongside Liberty DeVitto, Russell Javors, and Doug Stegmeyer. After leav ...

–

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pr ...

flute The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...

organ Organ may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a part of an organism Musical instruments * Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone ** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument ** Hammond ...

Liberty DeVitto Liberatori "Liberty" DeVitto (born August 8, 1950) is an American rock drummer. He is best known for his work as a drummer for New York singer-songwriter Billy Joel's recording and touring band. He has also been a session drummer on recordings of ...

–

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

Russell Javors Russell Javors (born June 13, 1952) is an American rock guitarist. He is best known as a rhythm guitarist for Billy Joel from 1976 to 1989. Career At age 15, Javors was performing songs with his childhood friend Liberty DeVitto. He met Doug Stegm ...

–

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gui ...

(rhythm), acoustic guitar (rhythm) *

Doug Stegmeyer Douglas Alan Stegmeyer (December 23, 1951 – August 25, 1995) was an American musician who was best known as the bassist and back-up vocalist for Billy Joel. Stegmeyer also performed as bassist for Debbie Gibson and Hall & Oates. Biography ...

–

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

;Technical *

Phil Ramone Philip Ramone (né Rabinowitz, January 5, 1934March 30, 2013) was a South African-born American recording engineer, record producer, violinist and composer, who in 1958 co-founded A & R Recording, Inc., a recording studio with business par ...

- producer *

Ted Jensen Ted Jensen (born September 19, 1954) is an American mastering engineer, known for having mastered many recordings, including the Eagles' ''Hotel California'', Green Day's '' American Idiot'' and Norah Jones' ''Come Away with Me''. Biography Ted ...

at Sterling Sound, NYC - mastering *James Boyer - Recording Engineer *

Bradshaw Leigh Brad Leigh is an American Audio Engineer, known for having recorded and mixed many recordings including Billy Joel's ''River of Dreams'', Tracy Chapman's '' Matters of the Heart'' as well as Julian Lennon's ''Valotte'' and '' Secret Value of Day ...

- Recording Engineer *Larry Franke - Recording Engineer

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications/Sales

References

{{Authority control Albums produced by Phil Ramone Billy Joel live albums 1981 live albums Columbia Records live albums Albums recorded at Madison Square Garden