BILLY JOEL – GREATEST HITS VOL I & II 2LP – Nr MINT 1985 ORIG

Billy Joel – Greatest Hits Volume I & Volume II
(CBS Records  1985  88666)
Matrix No’s: A1/B1/C1/D1

Gatefold Sleeve in Nr MINT condition
– some slight wear to edges

Double Vinyl in Nr MINT condition
(there are some light surface marks visible on the vinyl when held up to the light but they don’t affect the sound quality apart from some light dust crackles)

William Martin “Billy” Joel (born May 9, 1949) is an American pianist, singer-songwriter, and composer. Since releasing his first hit song, “Piano Man”, in 1973, Joel has become the sixth best-selling recording artist and the third best-selling solo artist in the United States. His compilation album Greatest Hits Vol. 1 & 2 is one of the best-selling albums in the US.

Joel had Top 40 hits in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, achieving 33 Top 40 hits in the US, all of which he wrote himself. He is also a six-time Grammy Award winner who has been nominated for 23 Grammy Awards. He has sold more than 150 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling artists of all time.

Joel was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame (1992), the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (1999), and the Long Island Music Hall of Fame (2006). In 2001, Joel received the Johnny Mercer Award from the Songwriters Hall of Fame. In 2013, Joel received the Kennedy Center Honors, the nation’s highest honor for influencing American culture through the arts. With the exception of the 2007 songs “All My Life” and “Christmas in Fallujah”, Joel stopped writing and releasing pop/rock material after 1993’s River of Dreams. However, he continues to tour, and he plays songs from all eras of his solo career in his concerts.

Billy Joel’s Greatest Hits is a collection released in two sets, 12 years apart. The first set, consisting of two discs, titled Volume I and Volume II, was released in 1985. The second, single disc titled Volume III was released in 1997. “You’re Only Human (Second Wind)” and “The Night Is Still Young” were new songs and, at the time, only available on this compilation. All songs but the last three on Volume III, “To Make You Feel My Love”, “Hey Girl” and “Light as the Breeze” were written by Joel. The other songs appear mostly in order of their release dates and generally represent Joel’s most successful singles.

Greatest Hits – Volume I & Volume II has been certified double diamond by the RIAA, selling over 11.5 million copies (23 million units) and is tied with Pink Floyd’s The Wall and Led Zeppelin’s Led Zeppelin IV for third most certified album of all time in the U.S.

The album includes hits from 1973 to 1985 in chronological order with one exception. Some pressings do not include “Honesty”, and instead include “Don’t Ask Me Why”. The compilation includes two previously unreleased tracks, “You’re Only Human (Second Wind)” and “The Night Is Still Young”. These two songs were also available as singles and, in 1989, on the 5-disc box set Souvenir: The Ultimate Collection which included the entire Greatest Hits Volume I & Volume II (with “Honesty”). “You’re Only Human (Second Wind)” later featured on the compilation The Ultimate Collection released in 2000, and on disc 15, Collected Additional Masters, of The Complete Albums Collection box set, released in 2011. “The Night Is Still Young” was also included on that same disc 15. The sax solo on “New York State of Mind” was re-recorded by Phil Woods for the release of Greatest Hits. It replaced Richie Cannata’s original solo, recorded in 1976 for the album Turnstiles.

Tracklist

Personnel

• Billy Joel: keyboards, acoustic piano, Hammond B-3, Fender Rhodes, synthesizers, clavinet, accordion, harpsichord, harmonica, lead and backing vocals
• Bob Bailey, Kim Fleming, Yvonne Hodges, Donna McElroy, Chris Rodriguez, Trisha Yearwood, Alex Brown, Jackie Gouche, Monalisa Young, Wrecia Ford, Marion Saunders, B. David Whitworth, Frank and George Simms, Patty Darcy, Frank Floyd, Mick Jones, Joe Lynn Turner, Ian Lloyd, Chuck Arnold (and members of the Hicksville High School Chorus): background vocals
• Emory Gordy Jr., David Brown, Russell Javors, Dean Parks, Joey Hunting, Mike Tyler, Danny Kortchmar, Tommy Byrnes, Phillip Nowlam, Bob Mann, Dann Huff, Mac McAnally: guitars
• Paul Franklin: pedal steel (“Light as the Breeze”)
• Matt Rollings, Ray Charles: acoustic piano
• Steve Nathan: organ
• Robbie Kondor, Randy Waldman: keyboards
• John Mahoney: keyboards, keyboard programming
• Kevin Jones: keyboard programming
• Jeff Jacobs, Jeff Bova: synthesizers
• Doug Stegmeyer, Neil Stubenhaus, Schuyler Deale, T. M. Stevens, Chuck Treece, Jeff Lee Johnson, Will Lee, Willie Weeks, Randy D. Jackson: bass guitar
• Liberty DeVitto, Vinnie Colaiuta, Zachary Alford, Shawn Pelton: drums
• Crystal Taliefero: percussion, backing vocals
• Mark Rivera: percussion, alto and tenor saxophones
• Michael Brecker: tenor sax
• Ronnie Cutler: baritone sax