hayabusa401 Posted February 15, 2010 Share Posted February 15, 2010 Just happened to be listening to Billy Joel's 1971 debut album "Cold Spring Harbor" this morning and I could not help but notice some strong similarities between the early singing and songwriting stylings of Billy Joel and the later work of W. Axl Rose. I was especially taken by the track "Tomorrow is Today." We all know the affinity Axl had for Elton John's work, but take a listen to the lyrics of this track and specifically the vocal style of the song at the 2:25 mark. Definitely reminiscent of Axl's patented nasally vocals on a few of the ballads. Anyways, no big deal but kind of cool. If nothing else, you'll get to hear a great song you have maybe never heard before. Have a good day! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruben122 Posted February 15, 2010 Share Posted February 15, 2010 Just happened to be listening to Billy Joel's 1971 debut album "Cold Spring Harbor" this morning and I could not help but notice some strong similarities between the early singing and songwriting stylings of Billy Joel and the later work of W. Axl Rose. I was especially taken by the track "Tomorrow is Today." We all know the affinity Axl had for Elton John's work, but take a listen to the lyrics of this track and specifically the vocal style of the song at the 2:25 mark. Definitely reminiscent of Axl's patented nasally vocals on a few of the ballads. Anyways, no big deal but kind of cool. If nothing else, you'll get to hear a great song you have maybe never heard before. Have a good day! Great song. I wonder if this was his suicide note as people say in the video comments. But, remember that this whole album sounds faster because of a mastering error. Maybe this is why you're getting that impression.From Wikipedia:"Cold Spring Harbor represented Joel's first solo effort. It 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." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dalsh327 Posted February 15, 2010 Share Posted February 15, 2010 Elton John mentioned being a huge fan of Laura Nyro who had a powerhouse of a voice and had a big influence on Elton's "Tumbleweed Connection". And I think that album (or the songs off of it) is one Axl's mentioned as being a favorite. I think Nyro is extremely underrated, but was the beginning of all those singers like Joni Mitchell, Carole King, etc. Her and Baez were the first, but Baez was still doing a lot of traditional folk stuff. "Diamonds and Rust" and "The Night They Drove Dixie Down" didn't come until way later. Billy Joel was all over the radio in the 70s and 80s, but that type of singing was actually something McCartney was doing at the time, you can hear it on "You Never Give Me Your Money". He's also mentioned trying to sound like Ray Charles and Steve Winwood when he was starting out. Elton was doing the same thing on the early albums. As far as nasal - The Beach Boys and The Beatles had nasally singers...Mike Love and John Lennon. Billy had discussed how side 2 of "Abbey Road" was a huge influence on how he put together "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant", taking pieces of different songs and creating one song out of it. I think "Piano Man" holds up well as an album, love "Ballad of Billy the Kid", and "Turnstiles" might be one of his most underrated. "Songs in the Attic" is the best of the early era. If you can find the WMMR radio concert from 1972, you'll hear great early renditions of songs from "Cold Spring Harbor" and the version of "Captain Jack" that put him on the radio. before "Piano Man" came out . And check out Attila... it was a 2 man band and his "Spinal Tap", songs like "Wonder Woman", "Revenge Is Sweet', "California Flash", etc. it's pretty funny to listen to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Audrey Posted February 15, 2010 Share Posted February 15, 2010 white wedding!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tyler Drama Posted February 15, 2010 Share Posted February 15, 2010 white wedding!!!!!Billy Idol? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Honcho Posted February 16, 2010 Share Posted February 16, 2010 white wedding!!!!!Billy Idol? :rofl-lol: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jellyzero Posted February 16, 2010 Share Posted February 16, 2010 Elton John mentioned being a huge fan of Laura Nyro who had a powerhouse of a voice and had a big influence on Elton's "Tumbleweed Connection". And I think that album (or the songs off of it) is one Axl's mentioned as being a favorite. I think Nyro is extremely underrated, but was the beginning of all those singers like Joni Mitchell, Carole King, etc. Her and Baez were the first, but Baez was still doing a lot of traditional folk stuff. "Diamonds and Rust" and "The Night They Drove Dixie Down" didn't come until way later. Billy Joel was all over the radio in the 70s and 80s, but that type of singing was actually something McCartney was doing at the time, you can hear it on "You Never Give Me Your Money". He's also mentioned trying to sound like Ray Charles and Steve Winwood when he was starting out. Elton was doing the same thing on the early albums. As far as nasal - The Beach Boys and The Beatles had nasally singers...Mike Love and John Lennon. Billy had discussed how side 2 of "Abbey Road" was a huge influence on how he put together "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant", taking pieces of different songs and creating one song out of it. I think "Piano Man" holds up well as an album, love "Ballad of Billy the Kid", and "Turnstiles" might be one of his most underrated. "Songs in the Attic" is the best of the early era. If you can find the WMMR radio concert from 1972, you'll hear great early renditions of songs from "Cold Spring Harbor" and the version of "Captain Jack" that put him on the radio. before "Piano Man" came out . And check out Attila... it was a 2 man band and his "Spinal Tap", songs like "Wonder Woman", "Revenge Is Sweet', "California Flash", etc. it's pretty funny to listen to.Awesome insight. I myself am a huge Joel fan and his influence on music is bigger than many of us can even realize. I love the early stuff like "52nd Street" & "Turnstiles" but I find myself listening to many of the tracks off of "Storm Front" & "River Of Dreams" more. I always find it amusing that in his final pop album he changed his formula and then gave it up entirely. For any musicians/songwriters interested in some amazing insight and tips into his method - look up some of his college Q & A's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dalsh327 Posted February 16, 2010 Share Posted February 16, 2010 Other than That's Not Her Style and We Didn't Start the Fire, the last 2 albums he did were great. And The Bridge was kind of weak but has its moments. I'd like to see him work on something new, but at 59-60 he seems to just enjoy delivering live shows to young and old audiences. I am hoping him and Bruce team up again the way they did for the Obama fundraiser instead of doing another Face to Face with Elton. What would be cool is if Ben Folds produced Billy, if he were to work on a new album. Elton John mentioned being a huge fan of Laura Nyro who had a powerhouse of a voice and had a big influence on Elton's "Tumbleweed Connection". And I think that album (or the songs off of it) is one Axl's mentioned as being a favorite. I think Nyro is extremely underrated, but was the beginning of all those singers like Joni Mitchell, Carole King, etc. Her and Baez were the first, but Baez was still doing a lot of traditional folk stuff. "Diamonds and Rust" and "The Night They Drove Dixie Down" didn't come until way later. Billy Joel was all over the radio in the 70s and 80s, but that type of singing was actually something McCartney was doing at the time, you can hear it on "You Never Give Me Your Money". He's also mentioned trying to sound like Ray Charles and Steve Winwood when he was starting out. Elton was doing the same thing on the early albums. As far as nasal - The Beach Boys and The Beatles had nasally singers...Mike Love and John Lennon. Billy had discussed how side 2 of "Abbey Road" was a huge influence on how he put together "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant", taking pieces of different songs and creating one song out of it. I think "Piano Man" holds up well as an album, love "Ballad of Billy the Kid", and "Turnstiles" might be one of his most underrated. "Songs in the Attic" is the best of the early era. If you can find the WMMR radio concert from 1972, you'll hear great early renditions of songs from "Cold Spring Harbor" and the version of "Captain Jack" that put him on the radio. before "Piano Man" came out . And check out Attila... it was a 2 man band and his "Spinal Tap", songs like "Wonder Woman", "Revenge Is Sweet', "California Flash", etc. it's pretty funny to listen to.Awesome insight. I myself am a huge Joel fan and his influence on music is bigger than many of us can even realize. I love the early stuff like "52nd Street" & "Turnstiles" but I find myself listening to many of the tracks off of "Storm Front" & "River Of Dreams" more. I always find it amusing that in his final pop album he changed his formula and then gave it up entirely. For any musicians/songwriters interested in some amazing insight and tips into his method - look up some of his college Q & A's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jellyzero Posted February 16, 2010 Share Posted February 16, 2010 I have to wonder how many great songs he has written (and possibly demoed) that are just sitting in his house unheard....like someone else we know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olorin Posted February 16, 2010 Share Posted February 16, 2010 Just happened to be listening to Billy Joel's 1971 debut album "Cold Spring Harbor" this morning and I could not help but notice some strong similarities between the early singing and songwriting stylings of Billy Joel and the later work of W. Axl Rose. I was especially taken by the track "Tomorrow is Today." We all know the affinity Axl had for Elton John's work, but take a listen to the lyrics of this track and specifically the vocal style of the song at the 2:25 mark. Definitely reminiscent of Axl's patented nasally vocals on a few of the ballads. Anyways, no big deal but kind of cool. If nothing else, you'll get to hear a great song you have maybe never heard before. Have a good day! It is a new song to me, and I love it, thanks for sharing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
springclean Posted February 16, 2010 Share Posted February 16, 2010 Great post, I'd love to see more like these. Thanks for the thoughts and the video!!I wonder what influenced the songs on CD. I hear a bit of Zeppelin on Rhiad (Finck should have played that solo) and TWAT sounds very late 90's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irish Rose Posted February 16, 2010 Share Posted February 16, 2010 Great Tune. Never heard it before Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dalsh327 Posted February 17, 2010 Share Posted February 17, 2010 Most of the demos he has are on "My Lives", and there's not that many on there, he put a lot of album cuts on there. To me, that's probably the last thing a fan of his music should get, plus I was really disappointed with the DVD they included. It was a 1993 concert made for Disney, 1 hour long. Everyone who bought that box set complained about it, they wanted something more "archival". Like this: But what IS worth picking up is "The Stranger" box set, 2 CDs/1 DVD long box version. You get the CD, plus you get the Carnegie Hall concert, AND the DVD of the Old Grey Whistle Test from that tour. "12 Gardens" is really a good recording of the 12 sold out MSG shows from a few years ago. I have to wonder how many great songs he has written (and possibly demoed) that are just sitting in his house unheard....like someone else we know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dalsh327 Posted February 17, 2010 Share Posted February 17, 2010 Here's some more: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxBjKa8KcW0 And this is the really early stuff: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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