Billy Joel’s Cold Spring Harbor released

Cold Spring Harbor Billy Joel

Released: November 1, 1971 Peak: 158 US, 95 UK, -- CN, -- AU Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- US, -- UK, -- world (includes US and UK) Genre: pop/rock singer-songwriter

Tracks: Click on a song title for more details. She’s Got a Way You Can Make Me Free Everybody Loves You Now Why Judy Why Falling of the Rain Turn Around You Look So Good to Me Tomorrow Is Today Nocturne Got to Begin Again Total Running Time: 32:54

Rating: 3.259 out of 5.00 (average of 16 ratings)

About the Album Cold Spring Harbor was Billy Joel’s first solo endeavor after albums with the groups the Hassles and Attila flopped. Unfortunately, this one still “bombed so badly that he fled the East Coast for California (and, as Bill Martin, hit the piano-lounge circuit, inspiring ‘Piano Man’).” DB On the album, Joel “reinvented himself as a sensitive singer/songwriter.” AM 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.” AM “The record was uneven but very charming, boasting two of his finest songs” AM –She’s Got a Way and Everybody Loves You Now. AM Overall, though, the album was weighed down by “an overabundance of simpy ballads in which his pugnacious appeal was buried in lyrics about ‘misty satin dreams’ and too many references to crying.” DB The album “didn’t sound right upon its original release. Through a bizarre mastering error, the tapes were sped up – legend has it that upon hearing the completed album, he ripped it off the turntable, ran out of the house, and threw it down the street. It wasn't until 1983 that Columbia released a corrected reissue.” AM The Songs Here’s a breakdown of each of the individual songs.

She’s Got a Way Billy Joel

Writer(s): Billy Joel Released: November 1971 (single), Cold Spring Harbor (1971), Greatest Hits Volume I & II (1985), The Ultimate Collection (2000), The Essential (2001), Piano Man: The Very Best of (2004) B-Side: “Everybody Loves You Now” First Charted: 11/21/1981 (live version) Peak: 23 BB, 25 CB, 28 HR, 17 RR, 4 AC, 16 CL, 46 CN, 5 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 50.57 streaming About the Song: Joel’s Cold Spring Harbor album “was uneven but very charming, boasting two of his finest songs” AM one of which was “the lovely She's Got a Way.” AM It was the only song from the album with any legs, eventually becoming a top-20 hit when it was released as a single in support of the 1981 live album Songs in the Attic.

You Can Make Me Free Billy Joel

Writer(s): Billy Joel Released: Cold Spring Harbor (1971) Peak: -- Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 1.94 streaming About the Song: Cold Spring Harbor featured some drastically edited songs. “You Can Make Me Free, one of the standouts, was chopped by nearly five minutes and instruments and backing vocals were stripped away from numerous tracks. It may be a bastardization of the original release, but it's an acceptable one, since these changes only accentuate the intimacy and vulnerability of the recording.” AM

Everybody Loves You Now Billy Joel

Writer(s): Billy Joel Released: November 1971 (B-side of “She’s Got a Way”) Cold Spring Harbor (1971), The Ultimate Collection (2000), The Hits (2010) Peak: -- Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 10.71 streaming About the Song: Joel’s Cold Spring Harbor album “was uneven but very charming, boasting two of his finest songs” AM one of which was “the bitterly cynical Everybody Loves You Now.” AM

Why Judy Why Billy Joel

Writer(s): Billy Joel Released: Cold Spring Harbor (1971) Peak: -- Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 2.53 streaming

Falling of the Rain Billy Joel

Writer(s): Billy Joel Released: Cold Spring Harbor (1971) Peak: -- Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 1.98 streaming

Turn Around Billy Joel

Writer(s): Billy Joel Released: Cold Spring Harbor (1971) Peak: -- Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 1.24 streaming

You Look So Good to Me Billy Joel

Writer(s): Billy Joel Released: Cold Spring Harbor (1971) Peak: -- Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 1.32 streaming

Tomorrow Is Today Billy Joel

Writer(s): Billy Joel Released: Cold Spring Harbor (1971) Peak: -- Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 2.71 streaming About the Song: Cold Spring Harbor featured some “flawed but nicely crafted songs that illustrated Joel’s gift for melody, as well as his pretensions” AM such as “the mock-gospel in Tomorrow Is Today [and] a classical stab entitled Nocturne.” AM

Nocturne Billy Joel

Writer(s): Billy Joel Released: Cold Spring Harbor (1971) Peak: -- Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 1.75 streaming About the Song: Cold Spring Harbor featured some “flawed but nicely crafted songs that illustrated Joel’s gift for melody, as well as his pretensions” AM such as “the mock-gospel in Tomorrow Is Today [and] a classical stab entitled Nocturne.” AM

Got to Begin Again Billy Joel

Writer(s): Billy Joel Released: Cold Spring Harbor (1971) Peak: -- Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 1.44 streaming

Resources/References: AM AllMusic.com review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine DB David Browne (6/07). Blender magazine. Pages 114-5. Related DMDB Pages: First posted 5/9/2011; last updated 2/9/2026.