Cold Spring Harbor Live by Elio Pace – Album Review
When I was about five years old, my dad brought home a new record. It was the album An Innocent Man by Billy Joel, which kicked off with the fast-tempo ‘Easy Money’ and included my favourite song on Top Of The Pops at that time – ‘Uptown Girl’. I’d copy some of the dancing going on in the garage in the video back then, but I’ve grown out of that now. I loved that record, with Billy Joel becoming my favourite ‘pop star’ for a time, as my dad liked him too.
A few years later, my mum bought me a best of Billy Joel cassette, where I first heard the incredible ‘Piano Man’ and really took a shine to other tracks such as ‘Moving Out (Anthony’s Song)’, ‘The Stranger’ and ‘My Life’. That LP and cassette pretty much made Billy Joel part of the soundtrack of my earlier growing up, and that’s something that never really left me.
So when I heard about celebrated singer-songwriter and pianist Elio Pace releasing Cold Spring Harbor Live! – a reimagining of Billy Joel’s 1971 debut album – I felt the urge to get my ears around it and check it out. And I have to say, it’s a pretty decent record.
“Sense of authenticity”
Kicking off with an introduction by Elio Pace to Billy Joel’s former drummer Rhys Clark and guitarist Don Evans, the album opens with huge applause and a delicate piano bringing in the opening bars to ‘She’s Got A Way’. It’s clean, sounds rich, and Pace does the tune justice – it sounds beautiful.
That leads nicely into ‘You Can Make Me Free’ and ‘Everybody Loves You Now’, complete with train-speed piano. The latter’s one of my favourite Joel tracks, and it’s executed so well on this live 10-track album. With Clark and Evans both having played on the original 1971 album, their presence here lends a real sense of authenticity. I was expecting a soundalike when I first saw the album was coming out, and although Pace doesn’t match that unique Joel vocal, he carries his own voice into the songs really well and does a great job.
‘Tomorrow Is Today’ is a big standout track. The guitar solo bringing it in sounds so good, and the power of Pace’s vocal is lovely. ‘Turn Around’ is perhaps where he sounds most like Billy Joel, and the record ends with the beautiful piano ballad ‘Got To Begin Again’.
“A genuinely brilliant listen”
I really like this album. It’s more than an interpretation of great work from a great artist – it’s a genuinely brilliant listen, and one that I won’t just play a couple of times before letting it fade into the background. The full arrangements and the inclusion of Joel’s original musicians make it something really special.
It also makes you realise that Elio’s The Billy Joel Songbook Tour coming up in 2026 – with Yorkshire dates at Harrogate Royal Hall (2nd March), Hull City Hall (6th March) and Sheffield City Hall (24th March) – will promise three great nights. Evenings for those who appreciate well-composed, well executed music, and quality songs.
Give Steve music, give him food, give him theatre, tech or travel… and he’s a happy man. He’s been writing professionally since 2003, turning to journalism in 2017 when it offered him the chance to enjoy a lot of his existing passions, and learn some new ones at the same time. Steve can be found spending many of his summer nights watching bands at The Piece Hall in his hometown of Halifax, or enjoying a bite to eat and a drink with his wife anywhere in Yorkshire at any time of year. Random fact: He does the best impression of Zippy and George from Rainbow that anyone has ever heard.
