“When you get back in the harness, it’s not just singing, it’s promoting, performing, radio, politics, business, blah, blah, blah,” he said, waving his hand. “I didn't want to go back in the harness, but if you're going to take it seriously, you've got to give it 100 percent. So I said [expletive] that. “
“Turn the Right Back On,” which Joel debuted live at the Grammy Awards in Los Angeles on Sunday night and was released on Joel's longtime label Columbia, is about a relationship on the brink. Joel was captivated by the lyrics. “There's always this fear that I'm going to hurt this relationship. Am I going to do something to ruin it? Because I've done it in the past.” From her second marriage, she has two young daughters. Her eldest daughter, Alexa Ray, is 38 years old.
As the recording process progressed, Joel came up with an idea for percussion, strings, and an acoustic guitar to provide the pulse. The centerpiece of this track is his crystal clear vocals, which continue his steady piano playing, with some filigree in the bridge. Part of the freedom he felt collaborating on this song was that “the focus was on the music, not the music business.”
Some old concerns fade with age and time. “I remember stressing about when to release the recording: Is this going to be a hit?” he said. “What are the critics going to say? Are people going to like it? There's nothing like that right now. I just sang a song and that's it. If they like it, that's great. Yeah. If not, that doesn't mean it's not good.”
Joel plans to end his run at the Garden in July with his 150th show at the arena, which will give him more flexibility in booking shows in and around New York. He didn't count out more compositions with Wexler (“Anything's Possible”), and for the first time since the start of his residency, he's adding new songs to the setlist.