52nd Street (album)

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52nd Street is the sixth studio album by American singer-songwriter Billy Joel, released in 1978. It was the first of four Joel albums to top the Billboard charts, and it earned him two Grammys. Three songs reached the Top 40 in the United States, contributing to the album's success: "My Life" (#3), "Big Shot" (#14), and "Honesty" (#24). It was similarly well received by critics, earning the 1979 Grammy for Album of the Year. This Grammy was presented to its producer, Phil Ramone. Upon Ramone's death, 52nd Street's Album of the Year Grammy was passed on to Joel. Additionally, the album is notable for being among the first batch of albums commercially released on the compact disc format, reaching store shelves on October 1, 1982 in Japan (it was one of fifty CDs released that day, including three other Billy Joel albums, but bore the first catalogue number in the sequence, 35DP-1, and so is frequently cited as the first to be released).

The title is a reference to 52nd Street, which was one of New York City's jazz centers in the middle of the century. Joel's label was headquartered on 52nd Street (in the CBS Building) at the time of the album's release. The studio where recording took place was also on 52nd Street, a block away from the CBS Building.

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Reception

Allmusic praises Joel for expanding stylistically on 1977's The Stranger, describing 52nd Street as "more sophisticated and somewhat jazzy." (Jazz trumpeter Freddie Hubbard guests on "Zanzibar".)

Accolades

In 2003, the album was ranked number 352 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

Maps 52nd Street (album)

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Billy Joel.

Side one

Side two

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Song notes

The song "Rosalinda's Eyes" was inspired by Joel's mother, Rosalind Nyman Joel. The song was used in the 1982 feature film Personal Best. It was also featured in an episode of the cult classic TV series Freaks and Geeks, (entitled "Carded and Discarded"), in 2000.

Billy Joel - 52nd Street - Amazon.com Music

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Personnel

Billy Joel - acoustic piano, Yamaha CP-70 electric grand piano, Fender Rhodes, synthesizers, vocals
Doug Stegmeyer - bass, backing vocals
Liberty DeVitto - drums
Richie Cannata - saxophones, organ, clarinet
Steve Khan - electric guitar, acoustic guitar, backing vocals
Freddie Hubbard - flugelhorn and trumpet on "Zanzibar"
Mike Mainieri - vibes and marimba on "Zanzibar" and "Rosalinda's Eyes"
David Spinozza - acoustic guitar on "Honesty"
Donnie Dacus & Peter Cetera - background vocals on "My Life"
David Freidman - orchestral chimes and percussion on "Until the Night"
Ralph MacDonald - percussion on "Rosalinda's Eyes" and "Half a Mile Away"
Eric Gale - electric guitar on "Half a Mile Away"
Frank Floyd, Babi Floyd, Zack Sanders, Milt Grayson, & Ray Simpson - background vocals on "Half a Mile Away"
George Marge - sopranino recorder on "Rosalinda's Eyes"
Hugh McCracken - nylon string guitar on "Until the Night" and "Rosalinda's Eyes"
Robert Freedman - horn and string orchestration on "Until the Night" and "Honesty"
Dave Grusin - horn orchestration on "Half a Mile Away"
David Nadien - concertmaster
Phil Ramone - producer, mixing
Kathy Kurs - associate producer
Carol Peters - associate producer
Jim Boyer - engineer, mixing
David Martone - assistant engineer
Ted Jensen - mastering at Sterling Sound (New York City, NY)
John Berg - cover design
Jim Houghton - photography