Billy Joel's 1987 concert in Leningrad is now available in Wolfgang's Vault.
Just in case you're feeling nostalgic.
Liberty DeVitto - drums Kevin Dukes - electric guitar Peter Hewlett - backing vocals Russell Javors - acoustic guitar Billy Joel - vocals, piano, guitar (on Back In The USSR) David LeBolt - keyboards Mark Rivera - alto & tenor saxophone George Simms - backing vocals Doug Stegmeyer - bass, vocals Oleg Smirnoff - onstage translator
The year following the adoption of glasnost, Billy Joel would become one of the first major American rock performers to play in the Soviet Union since the Berlin Wall was erected, making it a historically significant visit. During his 1986 tour supporting the release of The Bridge album, Joel and his management began planning this monumental endeavor. Six concerts were planned; three in Moscow and three in Leningrad. In June of 1987, Joel, along with his family and full touring band, set off for Russia. To offset the costs of the trip, the entourage was filmed for television and video, and plans were made to simulcast the final night of the tour on radio around the world, another musical landmark at the time. A live double album and video documentary were also planned to encapsulate the trip. The album was released in the fall of 1987, titled Kohuept (closest phonetic English/Russian for "concert") and contained highlights of the tour. In 1991, the documentary surfaced as A Matter Of Trust and additional concert footage was issued as Billy Joel: Live From Leningrad, USSR, both released on video and DVD. Estimates calculate that Joel spent more than a million dollars of his own money to finance the trip and concerts, but for a history buff like Joel, this was money well spent and he has been quoted as saying that the goodwill he was shown in Russia was well worth the expense.
Unlike the above mentioned releases, which were essentially edited highlights from The Bridge tour sets recorded at the Russian concerts, the recording we have here is the nearly complete final night of the tour, exactly as it went down.
