Billy Joel: The bridge to Russia

For another twenty years his hits records, live concerts and diverse collaborations have moved on because he has continued to sing, but there has been nothing or very little new songs.

In 2014, Columbia Records has presented his fans a very luxurious edition entitled BILLY JOEL: A MATTER OF TRUST: THE BRIDGE TO RUSSIA.

It´s made up by two 2 CD´s and a DVD or large Blue Ray that include the concerts Mr. Joel and his band made in Moscow, Odessa and Leningrad in 1987 with real images and reflections of what happened in that initial tri to the former Soviet Union and many songs not included before. The material includes a book with photos and texts allusive to that time when the Soviets, public and astonished authorities “faced” a Made in USA rock concert. It is true that both, the concert and the album, had been edited with the name in Russian, Концерт, but the restoration of the material deserves a comment in my weekly column.

From “Angry young man” to “Piano man”, through all his classics, the CDs summed up the authenticity, love and the enthusiasm of the North American musicians before an audience both warm and astonished for the show they were attending to for the first time. Both governments had serious disagreements, not the peoples.

The documentary directed and re-edited by the experienced filmmaker Jim Brown, depicts that bridge that brought Billy many troubles because in “both sides” North Americans and Soviets “reconciled themselves” to condemn Billy without understanding that also culture, not only sports, will make a great contribution to end the Cold War and the status quo. Billy Joel came to Cuba in 1979, but that´s another story I will talk about some other day.

According to the present situation I would have a question: Billy: Wouldn´t it be the time to repeat that venturous concert in Russia? You would cause so much good as you did before.

Translation: Liana Felitas (Cubarte)