BILLY JOEL 'SOUVENIR' 1977 RARE COLUMBIA PROMO LIVE/STUDIO ORIGINAL AUTHENTIC LP

$

40

BILLYJOEL 'SOUVENIR' 1977 RARE COLUMBIA PROMO LIVE/STUDIO
BILLY JOEL "SOUVENIR" PROMOTIONAL SAMPLER LABEL: COLUMBIA AS 326 ~ FAMILY PRODUCTIONS AS 326 RELEASED: 1977 RECORDING: LIVE 1976 PALMER AUDITORIUM, NEW LONDON, CT EDITION: FIRST AND ONLY PRESSING 1977 PRESSING: COLUMBIA PITTMAN PLANT ('p' IN MATRIX) COVER ILLUSTRATION: RON LEVINE MATRIX (Side A): XSM160937-1A P :)
CONDITION:  VINYL: EX- to EX   JACKET: EX-
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I've been going thru my massive vinyl record collection this winter and pulling out some LPs that I thought that someone else would want for their collection. I've been collecting records for over 40 years and it's time to pass some of them on to the next generation of collectors.
This week on EBay I am offering up this fantastic, clean copy of Billy Joel's 'Souvenir', a very rare original 1977 9-track 'white label promo' LP.
This was a Promotional-only release by Columbia Records in 1977 to promote Billy Joel's Catalog and also promote his Live shows, which were legendary. Anyone who saw Billy Joel live back in those days knew that he was much better in person than he was on record.
This was 'released' just before his 'The Stranger' album.
It's pressed using Columbia's white promo labels, which clearly state "Demonstration - Not For Sale" at the bottom. The front cover is also marked "Please Note ~ Demonstration Not For Sale"
These were distributed mainly to radio stations and Billy Joel's Fan Club at the time. They were not available for sale.
This is a relatively rare record. It was only pressed once, in 1977, and was never re-released on CD. It was Promo only so never sold in stores.
I got my copy direct from Columbia, mailed to my College Radio Station in New Jersey at the time.
The 4 songs on Side One were recorded Live December 5th and 6th, 1976 at Palmer Auditorium, Connecticut College in New London during the same live recording that the "Billy Joel Tonight" video was taken from.
This is NOT the same Audio track as the Video tape. There are 2 live songs on this LP, "Summer, Highland Falls" and "Souvenir" that are NOT included in the "Billy Joel Tonight" video.   
The text on the back of this original has the location slightly wrong. It says that this was recorded at the University of Connecticut. It was actually recorded at Connecticut College's Palmer Auditorium in New London, CT, not at U.C., which is in Storrs.
The 4 live songs on Side One: "The Ballad of Billy the Kid," "Summer, Highland Falls," "New York State of Mind," and "Souvenir," are all excellent.
The live version of "New York State of Mind" is kinda rare and unique. It was the only live version of the song ever officially released until the 1999 New Year's Eve Party in Times Square, which was released in early 2000.
Side Two of this record pulls 5 selections from his three Columbia albums that were released at the time this Promo was made. This album does NOT include anything from 'Cold Spring Harbor' because that was on a different label, not Columbia. That album was released on 'Family Productions Records' and later on 'Paramount', and eventually in 1984 it was remixed and remastered on Columbia.
The 5 songs on side 2 include:
The Entertainer (From "Streetlife Serenade") I've Loved These Days (From "Turnstiles")  Captain Jack (From "Piano Man")  Los Angelenos (From "Streetlife Serenade") Say Goodbye to Hollywood (From "Turnstiles")
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ COUNTERFEITS v/s ORIGINALS
This rare Promo-only album is known to have been heavily counterfeited. There are many more 'fakes' out there than originals. Few originals were made. Originals sound fantastic, the copies sound inferior. 
On this original, legit, Columbia Promo pressing, there are several ways to verify it's the rare real deal, and not the Counterfeit copy.
The Matrix numbers are sharp, bold, deep and stamped. The copies have the same Matrix markings, but they are very lightly stamped.
Interestingly, the Matrix on both sides of the original say '1A'. One side has a very tiny 'P' for the Pittman plant and the other side has a very tiny smiley face ':)'  The copies lack this, they have no pressing identification.
The Columbia "eye" insignia on the front right bottom is sharp and clear. It's blurry and 'bleeds' on the copy.
The "Ron Levine" signature on the cover art, in the front bottom left, is sharp and clear. It's 'fuzzy' on copies.
The Spine lettering is sharp and clear. The 'stripes' don't bleed. The Spine is also thick and square. Copies have a wimpy, 'fuzzy' spine.
The gold "For Promotion Only" stamp is on the back upper left. It's on the bottom on copies and not as 'gold' and not as clear.
The cardboard jacket is thick stock. Also the inside is natural dark 'grey' not light or white. Copies have a thinner jacket.
"Ballad" (in "The Ballad of Billy the Kid") is spelled correctly. It's misspelled as 'Ballard' on most fake copies.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ BILLY JOEL'S EARLY CAREEER
As a New York City teen, I was a big fan of Billy Joel in the 1970s.
Joel grew up in Hicksville, out on Long Island. He learned to play piano at an early age and was a gifted keyboardist by his teens.
He was a good enough player to get some session work around NYC before he even got his driver's license. He dropped out of High School to chase his music dream.
Like so many, after seeing the Beatles on Ed Sullivan, he started a band. He had several bands in the 60's, The Echoes, the Emeralds, the Lost Souls, and eventually, by 1967, the Hassles, a long Island Rock band that had a record contract with United Artists Records. 
The Hassles made 2 albums, ‘The Hassles’ and ‘Hour of the Wolf' and recorded 4 singles, which are pricey collectibles, but not very good.
Joel and his buddy Jon Small, the Hassles Drummer, then went on to form 'Atilla' in 1969, which was heavier Organ & Guitar based rock. Guitar effect pedals were all the rage in 1969 and Joel used them on his Organ instead. Atilla cut an album for Epic in July 1970 that went nowhere.
Meanwhile, Joel had an affair with Jon Small's girl, Elizabeth Weber, which split the band up. Joel later married Elizabeth.
Joel sank into depression and alcohol abuse, being forced to write jingles and do minor session work to survive.
In 1971, Joel signed a lousy recording deal with Artie Ripp, the owner of Family Productions Records, who recorded his first album, "Cold Spring Harbor."
The Family deal gave them lifelong rights to his music, which he was forced to comply with, up until their deal expired in the late 1980s.
On most all of Joel's earlier albums you'll see the Family Records copyright and production info, even though he recorded for Columbia.
This Promo record has the 'Family' production rights on it.
After fooling around with 60s Rock bands, Joel became a solo act in the singer/songwriter style that was popular back then, and released  'Cold Spring Harbor.' The mastering engineers sped up the original session tapes making the album sound too fast and horrible. Dismal sales followed. Family Records was broke from lack of album sales and they never made a second album to give Joel another chance.
He did his first short tour in 1971, opening for other artists, and he was much better live than he sounded like on his first album.
Fed up with the situation on the East coast, Joel decided to move to Los Angeles in 1972 and start his career all over again.
He got a job as 'Bill Martin' at the 'Executive Room' Bar in the Whiltshire area of Los Angeles doing a low paying, glamour less piano lounge gig. At least the drinks were free...
Also around 1972, Billy Joel's limited popularity in New York spread south to Philadelphia and WMMR-FM started playing Joel's music, including snippets of a live recording they made of Billy at the Main Point. 
His live take of "Captain Jack" became a local hit and caught the ears of Columbia Records who hunted him down and signed him to a deal.
Columbia had to pay Family Records a huge fee and also had to list Family's publishing on Joel's records. Columbia felt so sure about Billy Joel and his music that they agreed.
In late 1973, Columbia released "Piano Man" to overwhelming success. The title track was an autobiographical sketch of his life and the characters at the 'Executive Room' in seedy Los Angeles. Joel did a small Tour in 1974 to promote the record, also as an opening act.
'Streetlife Serenade' followed in late 1974, and had the hit "The Entertainer." 
He then started recording 'Turnstiles' but fired both his producer and manager during the process. Joel then made his wife, Elizabeth Weber, his manager in 1975. "She's Got a Way" was written about her. "Summer, Highland Falls" was about their early tumultuous relationship. ("it was either sadness or euphoria." )
'Turnstiles', produced by Joel himself, was a big dud, but "New York State of Mind" from the album has become a Billy Joel classic over time.
His popularity grew as more people heard his music and he moved back home to New York in 1976. "New York State of Mind" was about returning home to New York. Billy Joel's early material was a combination of melodic piano-led pop combined with the storytelling of Broadway theater. Almost all of his early hits are like little short stories about real life and it's characters.
I saw him at the Bottom Line, a small club in Greenwich Village in the summer of 1976, around this time, and he was great. Very intimate and entertaining.
In 1977, I was working in College radio when this album was sent out to local New York area stations. I was the "Program Director" at the time, responsible for screening records for appropriate air play, and I 'borrowed' this album from my college station and never returned it. Ooops. 
The Story I heard about this Promo album back then was that Columbia was going to give Billy Joel one last chance. Joel was very hard to work with, arrogant, opinionated, and drinking too much, so Columbia wasn't sure if it was worth their efforts to try to make another studio album, or should they release a Live album instead. This promo was made as a gauge to see what was more popular on the radio, Live or Studio. (My local audience never got to hear it!)
Columbia decided to try another studio album. In the fall of 1977, Columbia released 'The Stranger.' Produced by Phil Ramone, who didn't take any of Billy's shit, it had clean tight songs, great production and great sound. 
"Just the Way You Are", written about his wife, won the Grammy. "Only the Good Die Young," "Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)," and "She's Always a Woman" were huge hits. The album sold well, and the rest, as they say, is History. It has sold well over 10 Million copies.
Billy's follow-up "52nd Street" was released in the fall of 1978 and was an instant hit. It's hit singles included "My Life," "Big Shot," and "Honesty," plus it won the 1979 Grammy for Album of the Year. 
He toured extensively in 1979, then made 'Glass Houses" in 1980. It had some big hits as well. "You May Be Right," "It's Still Rock'n'Roll to Me," and "Don't Ask Me Why." It won another Grammy.
In 1981, Columbia finally released his live album, "Songs in the Attic", mostly containing his earlier songs.
I saw him twice around then, but that's about when I lost interest. My ears were listening to more Punk and New Wave. New York had the Talking Heads, Blondie, and The Lounge Lizards. Rap was starting up north in Queens with RUN/DMC and The Beasties. Billy Joel just sounded 'old' to me by then.
In 1982, Billy Joel broke both his hands in a Motorcycle accident, got divorced and taken to the cleaners by his wife/manager and everyone in New York assumed he was done. 
His next release 'The Nylon Curtain' bombed. "Allentown" wasn't hip and cool and neither was Billy anymore. The local songwriting hero from Long Island then married a super-model and lost touch with reality, although "Uptown Girl" made him rich.
He's deservedly in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ CONDITION: I tried to show good hi-resolution photos of the cover, labels and vinyl in my pictures.
VINYL: The vinyl looks great. Clean, Bright and Shiny. There are no significant marks, scratches or scuffs. This is my original copy, direct from Columbia, and I took great care of it. I tried to show some close-up pictures of the vinyl to show how good it looks. I'm sure you'll be happy with it.
LABELS: This is pressed with Columbia's White Promo labels. The labels are clean and bright. No marks or damage. The spindle holes are sharp and clean, suggesting minimal playing.
JACKET: The Jacket is in very nice condition, but not perfect. I showed details in my pictures. The corners are sharp, with minimal bumping. Bottom right corner has a mild 'ding'. Spine is fine but a tiny 'ding' at the top of the spine. Very very mild ring wear in spots. This white cover is notorious for showing dirt and wear, but this copy looks real nice. No seam splits. No marks, names or writing. I'll call it EX-, but you can see from my pictures it's quite nice. 
Overall, a very nice, clean, bright ORIGINAL and REAL copy of this rare Promo record. I'm sure you'll love it. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ** NOTE: I'm selling this rare 'Collector' record "AS IS" and "NO RETURN". It's rare and as described and I'm sure you'll be very happy with it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The overall recording quality of this album is terrific, A very pleasurable experience! 
If you're a Billy Joel fan then this rare original Live Promo record belongs in your collection. They are rare and becoming harder to find.
Add this fantastic album to your collection today. It should be in any classic vinyl record collection. 
~~~~~~~ I’m recently retired and downsizing and letting go some gems and rarities from nearly 45 years of vinyl record collecting. Check out the many other fantastic 45s and 33s coming soon to my page!
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THANK YOU for looking and reading if you got this far.  -- JOHN