What? No Rootbeer Rag!?

Very cool. And long overdue, in my opinion. On Nov. 22, Columbia will release a Billy Joel box set titled My Lives that collects a whole heck of a lot of his demos, B-sides, soundtrack work and unreleased songs. There’s also a smattering of his early recordings with bands such as Attila and the Hassles. I’m a huge Billy Joel fan, and in my book, he’s second only to the Kinks. I’ve got scads of bootlegs of his, plus all his official albums (quite a few on CD, tape and vinyl, plus his “Video Albums” and all of his live shows on video (haven’t had the cash to upgrade to DVD there yet) not to mention a bunch of singles--both CDs and 45s. So I’m looking forward to getting this:

Disc 1:
"My Journey's End" (The Lost Souls)
"Time and Time Again" (The Lost Souls)
"Every Step I Take (Every Move I Make)" (The Hassles)
"You've Got Me Hummin'" (The Hassles)
"Amplifier Fire" (Attila)
"Only A Man" (Demo, Previously Unreleased)
"She's Got A Way"
"Oyster Bay" (Demo, Previously Unreleased)
"Piano Man" (Demo, Previously Unreleased)
"The Siegfried Line" (Demo, Previously Unreleased)
"New Mexico" (Demo, Previously Unreleased, Later Became "Worse Comes To Worst")
"Cross To Bear" (Demo, Previously Unreleased)
"Miami 2017 (Seen The Lights Go Out On Broadway" (Demo, Previously Unreleased)
"These Rhinestone Days" (Demo, Previously Unreleased, Later Became "I Loved These Days")
"Everybody Has A Dream"
"Only The Good Die Young" (Alternate, Previously Unreleased)
"Until The Night"
"Zanzibar"
"It's Still Rock and Roll To Me"

Disc 2:
"Captain Jack" (Live, 1981)
"The End of The World" (Demo, Previously Unreleased, Later Became "Elvis Presley Blvd.")
"The Prime of Your Life" (Demo, Previously Unreleased, Later Became "The Longest Time")
"She's Right On Time"
"Elvis Presley Blvd."
"Nobody Knows But Me"
"An Innocent Man"
"Christie Lee" (Demo, Previously Unreleased)
"Easy Money"
"And So It Goes" (Demo, Previously Unreleased)
"I'll Cry Instead" (Live, 1983)
"Keeping The Faith" (12" Dance Remix)
"Modern Woman"
"Baby Grand" (With Ray Charles)
"Getting Closer" (With Steve Winwood, Previously Unreleased)
"House of Blue Light"
"Money Or Love" (Demo, Previously Unreleased)
"The Times They Are A-Changin'" (Live, 1987)


Disc 3:
"The Downeaster 'Alexa'"
"I Go To Extremes"
"Shout"
"All Shook Up"
"Heartbreak Hotel"
"When You Wish Upon A Star"
"In A Sentimental Mood"
"Motorcycle Song" (Demo, Previously Unreleased, Later Became "All About Soul")
"You Picked A Real Bad Time"
"The River of Dreams" (Alternate, Previously Unreleased)
"A Hard Day's Night"
"Light As The Breeze"
"To Make You Feel My Love"
"Hey Girl"
"Why Should I Worry"
"Where Were You (On Our Wedding Day)?"
"Highway 61 Revisited" (Demo, Previously Unreleased)

Disc 4:
"Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)"
"You May Be Right" (With Elton John, Live, Previously Unreleased)
"Big Shot"
"Don't Worry Baby"
"Goodnight Saigon" (Vietnam Veterans Version)
"Los Angelenos"
"New York State of Mind"
"Opus 1. Soliloquy (On A Separation)"
"Opus 8. Suite For Piano (Star Crossed)"
"Elegy: The Great Peconic"

DVD:
"No Man's Land"
"Pressure"
"The Ballad of Billy The Kid"
"Leningrad"
"Allentown"
"My Life"
"I Go To Extremes"
"Shades of Grey"
"The River of Dreams"
"Goodnight Saigon"
"We Didn't Start The Fire"
"A Hard Day's Night"
"Big Shot"
"Piano Man"

Looking over the track list, I’m fairly impressed with the thoroughness of the selections. I assume the demo of “Only the Good Die Young” on disc 1 is the infamous reggae version, and I’m frankly shocked that “When You Wish Upon a Star” and “Why Should I Worry” are included, not because they’re bad songs, but because Disney’s notoriously chintzy when it comes to rights issues.

I’m particularly jazzed by the inclusion of such selections as "The Prime of Your Life," "The Siegfried Line" and “Time and Time Again,” songs I either don’t have a good recording of, or didn’t even know existed. During one of Joel’s master classes a few years back (which I’ve got a recording of) a student asked him if he planned to release a rarities disc, to which Joel replied he didn’t, because he didn’t have enough material. He said he cannibalized all his writing when putting together an album, so that there wasn’t anything left, and when he died there wouldn’t be a posthumous album of unreleased tracks and B-sides because there wasn’t enough material. Well, there might not be a posthumous album, but this boxed set shows he wasn’t entirely accurate regarding unreleased or rare material.

Still, there are some glaring gaps and missing songs that makes me scratch my head. I’ve got the bootlegs, after all, and am puzzled as to why such fan-favorite trade bait such as the instrumental “Handball” are left off. A quick glance at the list shows that “Silver Seas” (a version of “Nocturne” with lyrics), “Rosalinda,” “Josephine” (either the common live or rarer studio version) or “Where’s the Revolution?” Granted, some of those songs show his immaturity as a songwriter at the time, but even so they clearly illustrate his progression (and some are quite good by any standard). I don’t think this is a case of the old Family Records contract dispute rearing its head again, because other songs from that same era are included here. And I feel somewhat cheated that while he includes an “Uptown Girl” duet with Elton John, the song those two wrote together isn’t included.

If anyone out there is wondering what to get me for Christmas, well, consider this a big hint.

Now Playing: Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers Live at the Fillmore, vol. 2