Billy Joel will release his Russian recordings in May.
Columbia/Legacy will release A Matter of Trust: The Bridge to Russia by Billy Joel on May 20.
The set adds twelve tracks not on the original 1987 live release Концерт while the documentary is an update of Live in Leningrad 1987 which hasn’t been seen since its original VHS release. The Deluxe Edition add a book with rare photographs and new liner notes.
From the press release::
Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Billy Joel was building a catalog of timeless songs while enjoying a string of consecutive hit albums and singles. Though selling out concerts around the world, Billy and his music were, like much of western pop culture and rock ‘n’ roll itself, unheard behind the Iron Curtain (except for black market bootlegs and faint shortwave radio).
By the late 80s, The Cold War between the USSR and the West had begun to thaw in the light of Russian head-of-state Mikhail Gorbachev’s policies of Glasnost and Perestroika, designed to bring openness and transparency to the Soviet Union while promoting political reform and cross-cultural exchanges.
When the Kremlin invited Billy Joel to perform in the Soviet Union, he jumped at the chance to realize a long-time dream of performing for the Russian people. As America’s pop rock musical ambassador, Billy Joel brought the Soviets their first fully staged high energy rock show. The tour began with a small acoustic concert in Tbilisi, followed by three electrifying stadium shows in Moscow and three shows in Leningrad.
Billy Joel’s historic visit to Russia became a worldwide news event, with journalists and writers covering the tour, its progress, and the effect Billy, his band and his family were having on the Russian people. The entire tour was professionally filmed and the concerts were simulcast on radio worldwide.
During their stay, Billy and his family, along with musicians, staff, and a huge press entourage spent their days interacting with the Russian people, forging true bonds of friendship wherever they went. The tour been seen as a major cultural turning point in the course of US and Soviet relations.
Seen and heard now, more than a quarter century later, Billy Joel’s Russian concert tour performances stand out among the most electrifying and moving of his career. A MATTER OF TRUST–THE BRIDGE TO RUSSIA bears witness to the timeless revolutionary power of rock & roll.
Track List
A Matter of Trust: The Bridge to Russia: The Concert (DVD or Blu-ray)
Prelude/Angry Young Man
Allentown
Goodnight Saigon
Big Man On Mulberry Street
Baby Grand
An Innocent Man – previously unreleased
Honesty – previously unreleased
The Longest Time – previously unreleased
A Matter Of Trust
Only The Good Die Young
It’s Still Rock And Roll To Me – previously unreleased
Sometimes A Fantasy – previously unreleased
You May Be Right – previously unreleased
Uptown Girl
Big Shot
Back In The U.S.S.R.
Pressure (DVD/Blu-Ray Extra)
A Matter of Trust: The Bridge to Russia: The Music (2 CDs) expands on 1987’s original live KOHUEPT release, with 12 previously unreleased performances.
Disc One
Odoya
Prelude/Angry Young Man
Honesty
The Ballad of Billy the Kid (Previously Unreleased)
She’s Always A Woman (Previously Unreleased)
Scenes From An Italian Restaurant (Previously Unreleased)
Goodnight Saigon
Stiletto
Big Man On Mulberry Street
Baby Grand
What’s Your Name (Previously Unreleased)
The Longest Time (Previously Unreleased)
An Innocent Man
Disc Two
Pressure – previously unreleased
Allentown
A Matter Of Trust
Only The Good Die Young
It’s Still Rock And Roll To Me (Previously Unreleased)
Sometimes A Fantasy
You May Be Right (Previously Unreleased)
Uptown Girl
Big Shot
Back In The U.S.S.R.
The Times They Are A Changin’
She Loves You (Previously unreleased Russian concerts rehearsal recording)
New York State Of Mind (Previously Unreleased)
Piano Man (Previously Unreleased)
Read more at VVN Music
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