First time hearing BILLY JOEL - NEW YORK STATE OF MIND REACTION(Live Old grey whistle test) 

Billy is brilliant, hard to overstate his genius, especially at this age, and this performance

Billy’s the Great American songwriter, the American McCartney.

The perfect song for that time. The perfect time for that song. I remember that performance even today.

Iconic! I also can’t forget the healing power of The Who singing Won’t Get Fooled Again to the first responders. Killer!

" his area of the country he called home" I grew up in Maine, the northern most bit of the East Coast, and he was our voice. He must have been an influence on Springsteen, given the times and place. He was like my big brother giving me advice. He is just older than me such that what he wrote at 20 was on the (alternative rock) radio when I was 20 and living it. He has the been the sound track to my life, my movie, and the counter to that hateful, selfish, Wishing they All were California Girls, HOOOLLYWOOD crap. BTW I gotta wonder if people get all the references, like taking the Greyhound on the Hudson River line, is a outrageously touristy thing to do, but how to grasp the size and beauty (and all) of NYC, and talking about the NY Times and the NY Post newspapers in the same breath is like missing both the Times of London and the trashiest tabloid, both equally. AND NYC was being bashed as if they the enemy, the other, by the GOP when wrote this, too It is not such a musically superb work, but his song Allentown captured the moment during the recessions of '70 when we Boomers were dealing with all the same things the that XYZ Generations are living now.

@@travelertime4382 Wow, I would never think of taking a Greyhound bus as a tourist thing. I think Metro North is the smoother way to do the "Hudson River line" or driving up the NYS thruway. For me, the Greyhound bus is a reference to working class life, the ticket you buy when you are a bit down on your luck. And when he was returning to NYC from Los Angeles in the early 1970s he was not a star, he was trying to remake his fledging career by returning to NYS. Coming through for New York in her moment of need, and NYS came through for him too.

Haha; it will always be "The City". And in our hearts!

I saw him a few years ago with Elton John. Not too shabby!

As an older performer, he's very good. In his prime -- late 70s thru the early 90s -- he was incredible live. I saw him climb halfway up the lighting cables, and also somersault off his piano. He was running all over the stage, playing keyboards at all four corners.

You guys are so lucky, I've never seen him live. But I have the Russian concert double CD and it's brilliant !

I've seen him 5 times in concert. Each time as good as the first. I would like to see him again. The times I've seen him was back in the day. Young and energetic. I'd like to see him again as a seasoned older piano man.

I’ve seen him a few times in concert. Never disappointed. One of the best.

true❣

Politicians have the opposite of the Midas touch - everything they touch turns to shit

I feel exactly the same way. I grew up in Brooklyn (Gravesend) in the 60's and 70's and I miss the Brooklyn I knew and the city I knew.

@@johnmiller8553 No matter where you live lol

@@michaeldezego340 Hey Michael, I spent almost 60 years in Bensonhurst. I miss the old days even more now that I left NYC😢

@@Beehashe I grew up in Gravesend starting in early 1960's

Ever see Alicia Keys cover this one ? It’s fantastic - “Global Citizen Festival , NY State of Mind/ Empire” (Central Park). Boy did she crush it that night ! Awesome performance.

I'm pretty sure he was doing a RayCharles impersonation--the "look-y here, now" lyric, the shades, repeating the last word of his lyric; all very Ray Charles. Kind of a bow to Ray--I know he was influenced by him.

Billy Joel WROTE "Baby Grand". FOR Ray Charles. Then recorded it with him. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-XUNOmN3YVL0.html In 1985, he honored his idol Ray Charles by naming his baby girl Alexa Ray Joel. In 1986, he recorded & released "Baby Grand" with Ray Charles. In 1999, Ray Charles was the speaker inducting Billy Joel into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

So not the years of learning, practising and honing his craft himself then?

Displaced New Yorkers unite! There's something about our hometown that is unassailable.

I miss the city as it was, every day. Never have really adapted to another place.

I agree. Billy in a live venue makes it such an intimate experience. Seen him 12 times in a 3 decade time period. Watched him grow and exceed as an artist. And seen him and Elton perform together, best of both worlds. They played each other's hits over the years. Mind blowing experience!

Me too but our seats were so bad the I fell asleep during the show.

Mine too! 7th grade. My big sister took me.

But can he Disco & Techno? No? LOL

He’s back at it.

The Stranger was Billy's breakthrough album and it is full of top-notch songs, but personally I have always preferred Turnstiles.

@@seanscanlon9067 Tough call between those 2. My favorite is The Nylon Curtain, but really, he’s prolly the most-consistent album maker ever.

I love The Load Out!

Agreed!

Agreed. I had not seen this one.

As a New Yorker who lived in Brooklyn at the time, I watched the concert on TV and just cried. Thank you for caring.