Description
Offered for sale is a limited edition Japanese pressing of Cold Spring Harbor by Billy Joel, including the original obi, issued as part of CBS/Sony’s Mastersound audiophile series.
About this copy: This copy of Cold Spring Harbor is a 1983 Japanese pressing on the CBS/Sony label of an album that was originally released in 1971.
This was part of a limited edition, heavy-vinyl series of digitally remastered audiophile pressings. This particular title was digitally remastered and pressed on heavier vinyl than the standard release.
The cover is M- and still has the original shrink wrap. There is a sticker attached to the wrap that says “Mastersound” in English and Japanese.
The generic Mastersound inner sleeve is VG+ with quite a bit of foxing. The lyric insert is M-. The generic Mastersound catalog is missing.
The disc is M- with a couple of spindle marks on the labels, but no marks on the vinyl. Clean disc!
A nice copy of one of the harder titles to find in the Mastersound series and the first copy we’ve ever had for sale.
Background: In 1980, Columbia Records introduced their Mastersound series, which included titles that were either digitally remastered or half speed mastered and pressed on heavy, high-quality vinyl.
While most of the titles in the U.S. series were half speed mastered, most of the titles in the Japanese series were digitally remastered. The Japanese series also included titles that were not released in the U.S.
These titles were sold at a premium price, did not sell particularly well, and did not stay in print for very long.
Released in 1971, Cold Spring Harbor was the first solo album by BIlly Joel.
The album did not chart and was soon deleted.
In 1983, the album was remixed, portions were re-recorded, and the speed was corrected from the original issue, which played too fast. The reissued album reached #158 on the U.S. album chart.
Allmusic.com gave Cold Spring Harbor a 3 star review:
A few short months after abandoning the heavy organ-and-drums duo Attila — partially because their sole record flopped, partially because he stole the drummer’s wife — Billy Joel reinvented himself as a sensitive singer/songwriter. He had shown signs of McCartney-esque songcraft on Hour of the Wolf, the last Hassles album, but his debut album, Cold Spring Harbor, is where these talents blossomed. The record was uneven but very charming, boasting two of his finest songs — the lovely “She’s Got a Way” and the bitterly cynical “Everybody Loves You Now” — and a score of flawed but nicely crafted songs that illustrated Joel’s gift for melody, as well as his pretensions (the mock-gospel in “Tomorrow Is Today,” a classical stab entitled “Nocturne”). In its own way, Cold Spring Harbor was a minor gem of the sensitive singer/songwriter era; Joel may have been in his formative stages as a craftsman, but his talents are apparent, and he never made an album as intimate and vulnerable ever again.
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| Country of origin: | Japan |
| Size: | 12″ |
| Record Label: | CBS/Sony |
| Catalog Number: |
30AP-2548 |
| Year of Release: | 1983 |
| Format: | Stereo |
| Share: |       |
