In 1987, Billy Joel had a Top 40 hit with “Back In The U.S.S. R.” The song is part of Kohuept, a live album that Joel recorded in the Soviet Union. But before Joel recorded “Back In The U.S.S. R.”, it was first recorded by The Beatles. Written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, “Back In The U.S.S. R.” first came out in 1968. It is on The Beatles’ eponymous ninth studio album.
“Back In The U.S.S.R.” says, “I’m back in the U.S.S.R. / You don’t know how lucky you are boy / Back in the U.S.S.R.”
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McCartney later said that “Back In The U.S.S. R.” was a bit of a departure, even for them.
“We added Beach Boys-style harmonies,” McCartney says. But as fun as it was, the meaning of “Back In The U.S.S.R.” runs much deeper.
“It was also hands across the water, which I’m still conscious of,” McCartney later said.
“’Cause they like us out there, even though the bosses in the Kremlin may not,” he added. “The kids do. And that to me is very important for the future of the race.”
What Billy Joel Says About Recording “Back In The U.S.S. R.”
Joel made history with “Back In The U.S.S. R.” and all of the songs on Kohuept. Joel was reportedly the first Western artist to do a full-blown tour, with a massive stage production, behind the infamous Iron Curtain shortly before the end of Communism.
“I’m glad we did that trip,” Joel tells Ultimate Classic Rock. “I was very proud of that trip, and I think we helped kick the door in a little bit to open it up to Democratic stuff.”
Ironically, Joel had the idea to perform in the U.S.S. R. years before, after visiting Cuba in 1979, where he played a concert.
“I thought, ‘If I can do that in Havana, why can’t I do it in Moscow?’” Joel reflects. Still, it wasn’t until his daughter Alexa was born in 1985 that Joel felt compelled to do the Russian concert.
“I thought, ‘What kind of world do I want her to grow up in?’” Joel reflects. “I wanted it to be better. … It was kind of like, ‘What did you do in the Cold War, daddy?’ So my management said, ‘If you want to do it, we’ll do it,’ and they did.”
Joel’s cover of this song by The Beatles is the most popular, but his isn’t the only one. Elton John also recorded a live version of this song during his tour in 1979, although his tour was not as much of an undertaking as Joel’s.
Photo By Rick Diamond/Getty Images
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