Randy Newman Creates Something New Under The Sun, 12 Songs, Sail Away & Good Old Boys are funny and sad and beautiful. I should have a million things to say about these records because they make me think and feel so differently than just about anything else I listen to, but I feel like I can't say anything that doesn't sound trite compared to the complexity and ambiguity of the records themselves.
― fritz, Monday, 25 March 2002 01:00 (11 years ago) Permalink
― Curt, Monday, 25 March 2002 01:00 (11 years ago) Permalink
― brian, Monday, 25 March 2002 01:00 (11 years ago) Permalink
― dleone, Monday, 25 March 2002 01:00 (11 years ago) Permalink
― philT, Monday, 25 March 2002 01:00 (11 years ago) Permalink
― hstencil, Monday, 25 March 2002 01:00 (11 years ago) Permalink
Randy's first LP is an extraordinary piece of work, one of the most ambitious records ever made. It succeeds on every level. Sail Away, Good Old Boys are also.... gosh Fritz, you're right. These *are* difficult records to describe without sounding trite. Nilsson Sigs Newman is also up here as one of the greatest records ever made. Yep, another banal trte statement. But 'tis true.
And he finally won an Oscar last night. Hoo-ray!!!
― harveyw, Monday, 25 March 2002 01:00 (11 years ago) Permalink
― John Darnielle, Monday, 25 March 2002 01:00 (11 years ago) Permalink
I actually just bought a new copy of "Good Old Boys" yesterday. Even now, I'm afraid that somebody's going to catch me singing along with "Rednecks" and jump to the wrong conclusion. That ought to count for something!
― J, Monday, 25 March 2002 01:00 (11 years ago) Permalink
― duane, Monday, 25 March 2002 01:00 (11 years ago) Permalink
― Phong Wiedermeier, Tuesday, 26 March 2002 01:00 (11 years ago) Permalink
Newman's an honest American artist, and perhaps one of the few well known guys even slightly connected in show-biz who'll acknowledge all those contradictions in American society and hang them out to dry -- a real-life Trojan Horse
like Jack Nitzsche, he might be a backroom boy in the bullshit showbiz world, but here's a guy who delivers America faithfully when it's his turn to make an album -- never confuse his work with his art -- and full credit to him for clearly distinguishing the two
― George Gosset, Tuesday, 26 March 2002 01:00 (11 years ago) Permalink
Also search: his very funny/sharp Oscar acceptance speech Sunday night.
― Jeff W, Tuesday, 26 March 2002 01:00 (11 years ago) Permalink
― John Darnielle, Tuesday, 26 March 2002 01:00 (11 years ago) Permalink
I've always been on the fence about Randy. I wouldn't hesitate to call myself a fan, and that includes records like Little Criminals and Born Again even as they creep toward total immersion in dim Tom Lehreresque satire . . . that mars even the early records. (Which was the record with "It's Money That Matters"? That was awful.)
I actually think many of his best songs were written very early. His first album has some brilliant ones but unfortunately Newman hasn't really learnd to use his voice to his best advantage yet. Someone should compile a collection of singles written by Randy and performed by others, from the days when he was a songwriter-for-hire à la Carole King.
Dusty's version of "I've Been Wrong Before" is the best thing I associate with Randy. "Suzanne" is pretty great too. Although I adore Leonard Cohen it is a pretty nice riposte just the same.
As for his supposed nastiness (he often repeats the line that he was the most offensive thing on the radio before gangsta rap), I actually wish he would have indulged it a bit more, especially on Good Old Boys which seems like a bit of a hedge to me.
― Amateurist (amateurist), Sunday, 9 March 2003 20:52 (10 years ago) Permalink
― J0hn Darn1elle (J0hn Darn1elle), Sunday, 9 March 2003 21:19 (10 years ago) Permalink
I still don't think the record is all that great, except for a few stray things like "Louisiana 1927" and "Guity."
Hm, I don't know what's come over me; I've been needlessly argumentative lately, which Lord knows is not what this board needs.
― Amateurist (amateurist), Sunday, 9 March 2003 22:48 (10 years ago) Permalink
― roger adultery (roger adultery), Sunday, 9 March 2003 23:08 (10 years ago) Permalink
Randy Newman is, again in my 'umble opinion, the best songwriter of the last...name it. Also, a great orchestrator, arranger...in short, he leaves most of the folks who've done popular music since about 1965 in the dust. Unless, of course, craft and all that old-fashioned stuff don't mean anything to you, which I can well understand how it might not...a conflicted American artist and one that we as conflicted Americans should be right proud of...I've listened to 'em all and really there's not a bad Randy Newman record with the possible exception of "Little Criminals."
― Jess Hill (jesshill), Sunday, 9 March 2003 23:36 (10 years ago) Permalink
Newman's ability to turn jokey premises into genuinely moving (or disturbing) performances is pretty impressive, and I think most of his power comes from his ambiguity: he's always been on the fence about everything - which, ironically, (I think ironically: I've always been wary of using that word ever since an editor told me 99% of the time it was used wrongly) can make it hard to really love, not just admire him. But when Newman sings certain songs - like "Davy the Fat Boy" or "Suzanne" or "God's Song" - I get the sense that he BELIEVES what he says, at least at the moment, and he's allowed himself to be taken over by the subject of the song, and that's not something I can say of someone like Zappa, who rarely (never? I couldn't say, as I can't make myself listen to all 654,000 of his albums to be sure) shows any sympathy or warmth for anything he ridicules. Newman is all about the contradictions, and I like that.
― Justyn Dillingham (Justyn Dillingham), Monday, 10 March 2003 07:33 (10 years ago) Permalink
― piscesboy, Monday, 24 November 2003 12:15 (9 years ago) Permalink
― Jim Robinson (Original Miscreant), Monday, 24 November 2003 17:50 (9 years ago) Permalink
― Billy Dods (Billy Dods), Monday, 24 November 2003 23:11 (9 years ago) Permalink
― chris herrington (chris herrington), Tuesday, 25 November 2003 03:59 (9 years ago) Permalink
'Thanks for the compliment'
Just for that comment, he is now a hero of mine.
― neil simpson (neil simpson), Tuesday, 25 November 2003 12:49 (9 years ago) Permalink
oh just fck off to the opera and leave pop alone.
magnusson would have known better !
― piscesboy, Tuesday, 25 November 2003 12:53 (9 years ago) Permalink
― harveyw (harveyw), Tuesday, 25 November 2003 15:19 (9 years ago) Permalink
new album out today, Harps and Angels to which I just started listening
the arrangement on the title track is just breathtaking, as is the vocal delivery
― J0hn D., Tuesday, 5 August 2008 14:01 (4 years ago) Permalink
2nd song is a devastating/devastated lost-love ballad in the style of "Living Without You" and others in that unironic mode - it is brutal
― J0hn D., Tuesday, 5 August 2008 14:10 (4 years ago) Permalink
awes. i've been curious, but on a budget :/
bad love was ok! (can not believe that was like 9 years ago)
― will, Tuesday, 5 August 2008 14:14 (4 years ago) Permalink
oh cool I hadn't realized a new record was coming out. I've been listening through the box set with the kids a lot lately, and in particular the cd of film music has been hitting hard. Those arrangements! And these are more recent work than the usual classic stuff I focus on with Newman, so I'm totally open minded about new work with him.
― Euler, Tuesday, 5 August 2008 14:39 (4 years ago) Permalink
I can't make it past this 2nd song. It is so incredible. I think you have to be old to dig it but I could be wrong.
― J0hn D., Tuesday, 5 August 2008 19:54 (4 years ago) Permalink
the substitution chord he goes for at about 1:48 is just unspeakable cruelty
― J0hn D., Tuesday, 5 August 2008 19:56 (4 years ago) Permalink
I met a bunch of guys I went to school with a few days ago and they're all massive Randy Newman fans. Thought it was kinda weird, I mean they're all like 20 but Randy Newman is the big thing.
― I know, right?, Tuesday, 5 August 2008 19:58 (4 years ago) Permalink
Just sayin'
That's good news!
― J0hn D., Tuesday, 5 August 2008 20:01 (4 years ago) Permalink
amazing lyric (especially considering that, as far as I know, RN & JB go to the same parties) in re: class disparity in the U.S.:
Jesus Christ it stinks here high and low The rich are getting richer, I should know While we're going up, you're going down And no-one gives a shit but Jackson Browne
― J0hn D., Tuesday, 5 August 2008 20:06 (4 years ago) Permalink
yeah this is a much more bitter & better album than Bad Love
― J0hn D., Tuesday, 5 August 2008 20:07 (4 years ago) Permalink
i think i was around 19 or 20 when my boy j@s0n brought home 12 Songs & Good 'Ol Boys home from Davidson. Pretty much all we listened to that entire summer. well, that, Steely Dan, Some Girls & ATLiens.
lol old heads
― will, Tuesday, 5 August 2008 20:08 (4 years ago) Permalink
oh man he reprises "Feels Like Home" from Faust (there sung by Bonnie Raitt), I mean this is one of the hardest most devastating songs
holy Christ
― J0hn D., Tuesday, 5 August 2008 20:10 (4 years ago) Permalink
there's a live version (piano + vocals) on the box set (of "Feels Like Home"). Does the new version have a fuller arrangement? It's a powerful song, "I can almost see through the dark there's a light", *almost*.
― Euler, Tuesday, 5 August 2008 20:15 (4 years ago) Permalink
it's arranged, yes. I mean, I love this song on Faust; it's like the crystallization of every song in its mode - Newman in his maturity has a subtlety that's almost invisible ("hope this feeling lasts/for the rest of my life" contains the seed of that hope's vanity & hopelessness). Here, it's pretty huge; he puts it at the end of the album, which I read as: "You may have missed this one. It's one of my good ones, have a look."
I really love Newman in his love-that-will-surely-kill-you mode, it wastes me.
― J0hn D., Tuesday, 5 August 2008 20:20 (4 years ago) Permalink
John, you're selling this to me. Was thinking about getting this but the reviews I'd seen were a little sniffy. Is there anything as bleakly comic as 'The Great Nations of Europe' on it?
― Billy Dods, Tuesday, 5 August 2008 20:23 (4 years ago) Permalink
haha yes a couple of things. the main thing is, his structures are really complex now - they use to be more readily available, now they sound loose. They're not, actually, but they demand more scrutiny than a lot of stuff. Van Dyke Parks comes to mind - that kind of "so much going on it seems chaotic/unfocused."
But to me the album's about 3/4 "Great Nations" and 1/4 "Feels Like Home." I could go with all "Feels Like Home," 'cause I'm emo like that, but if irascible Randy is yr deal, well, how you not gonna like a song like "Korean Parents"?
― J0hn D., Tuesday, 5 August 2008 20:30 (4 years ago) Permalink
John's doing a great job of selling this already but Losing You completely floors me. I interviewed him recently and he said he always prefers the bitter songs but he knows that most people will go for Losing You and Feels Like Home, just like they went for I Miss You or I Think It's Going to Rain Today, even though he thinks he sounds "mewly" when he sings ballads. I must say most people have a point - the older he gets, the more devastating the sad songs become. Potholes has a jollier arrangement but the lyrics are heartbreaking - the story about his shitty dad showing him up in front of his wife-to-be is true.
― Dorianlynskey, Tuesday, 5 August 2008 23:44 (4 years ago) Permalink
Damn, this is pretty good.
― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Wednesday, 6 August 2008 00:04 (4 years ago) Permalink
I got a chance to hear the first couple of songs on this today, and though I *really* want a new randy newman album to be good, they weren't knocking me out. part of it was that a lot of the music sounded familiar, which is always going to be a problem for someone who bases their harmonic ideas on music written 75-100 years ago -- but in this case, i actually thought they sounded mostly like other randy newman songs. i'll listen to the rest of the record today and hope for the best.
in fairness, I liked but didn't love Bad Love, and can barely stand to listen to Faust. I may be a randy newman rockist.
― Dominique, Wednesday, 6 August 2008 01:03 (4 years ago) Permalink
I love Faust unreservedly.
― J0hn D., Wednesday, 6 August 2008 01:19 (4 years ago) Permalink
― thomp, Friday, 10 August 2012 23:37 (9 months ago) Permalink
they are distinguishable by most readers. you can't make the distinction. you're also not listening to anybody's explanation, but gainsaying it immediately. there is no point. cling to your wrong opinion, you aren't interested in actually understanding the song.
― steven fucking tyler (underrated aerosmith bootlegs I have owned), Friday, 10 August 2012 23:37 (9 months ago) Permalink
lol for a LONG time I was like "I do not fucking get it" with those Onion cartoons
If you hand me two bucktoothed, slant-eyed, yellow-skinned caricatures of Chinese people,
except you're not being handed a caricature of Chinese people
you're being handed a caricature of a narrator
you don't understand that, you think the narrator has to say I AM A NARRATOR or it's racism, but that's just your own weird trip
― steven fucking tyler (underrated aerosmith bootlegs I have owned), Friday, 10 August 2012 23:39 (9 months ago) Permalink
aero I appreciate you goin in on the line readings but yeah I think those lines are pretty weak as signifiers of greater depth - Newman works this angle better elsewhere, it's like his approach is insufficiently developed here. the patronizing undertone in the lines you cite isn't overt enough imho, they're too close to actual patronizing racist lines.
xp
― the choogler and the chosen one (Shakey Mo Collier), Friday, 10 August 2012 23:41 (9 months ago) Permalink
I'm not claiming it's his masterpiece, it's an early song - B effort from him at best. But that it's clearly, obviously, to almost anyone, a caricature of a stance - that is obvious. Without extratextual clues.
― steven fucking tyler (underrated aerosmith bootlegs I have owned), Friday, 10 August 2012 23:43 (9 months ago) Permalink
you think the narrator has to say I AM A NARRATOR or it's racism
that's ... sort of true. racism is tricky like that.
― the choogler and the chosen one (Shakey Mo Collier), Friday, 10 August 2012 23:43 (9 months ago) Permalink
and again, retract the blackface claim - he's not saying "We are Siamese." The narrator is white, speaking about an Other, not through an Other's voice. You are wrong to compare that to blackface.
xp lol you really severely do not get it
― steven fucking tyler (underrated aerosmith bootlegs I have owned), Friday, 10 August 2012 23:44 (9 months ago) Permalink
if Randy Newman had sang Kung Fu Fighting would you guys be defending it as satire?
"Kung Fu Fighting" is not reductionist and does not refer or act as meta-commentary on anything from around the same time in the same way "Yellow Man" does, so it's a dumb question. Essentially, Randy Newman never would have written it - it's not like anything he's ever done. "Kung Fu Fighting" was a hit because it played upon the early to mid-70s craze for kung fu movies in urban black neighborhoods. Plus it was sing-songy and catchy as hell - great performance and a good groove, with a fab hook. Carl Douglas (performer of "Kung Fu Fighting") was not, nor has ever been, known for anything else much, and he certainly had no persona that would have provided the context necessary to see it any other way.
Mo, I've got to be believe that if you were much of a Randy Newman fan you would have heard this song long ago. Randy Newman's never been the big seller that one might expect from his acclaim and long career, in part that's because context is generally needed to see all the facets of his work. It's a bit like "Seinfeld" - low ratings at first, because taken on their own (that is to say, without knowing the characters and actors and without having seen other episodes), "Seinfeld" does not seem very funny. It's only when the viewer - through repetition and variations of themes - understands the patterns that the show comes alive. (If you like it, that is!) So I think if you spent more time with Newman and don't hold onto this grudge, the song will began to appeal in a different way. It's worth it, in my opinion.
Steven Fucking Tyler's last few comments take a different tack, but get it exactly right, Mo. I don't think you're trying, you're avoiding reasonable explanations and making silly and inaccurate comparisons (re: the Chinese caricatures and "Kung Fu Fighting") and not really understanding the implicit idea that there is a narrator there . . . just like there is in nearly every other song.
― crustaceanrebel, Friday, 10 August 2012 23:44 (9 months ago) Permalink
"Kung Fu Fighting" does not refer or act as meta-commentary on anything from around the same time
hahaha this is a joke right
― the choogler and the chosen one (Shakey Mo Collier), Friday, 10 August 2012 23:46 (9 months ago) Permalink
Again, to you. "Yellow Man" was on the first Randy Newman album I ever had, and I didn't know a thing about him at all. I still got it. Deeper knowledge and further listenings through the years certainly *add* context. But while racism might be "tricky" for you, it doesn't appear to be as tricky for some of the rest of us.
― crustaceanrebel, Friday, 10 August 2012 23:47 (9 months ago) Permalink
The narrator is white, speaking about an Other, not through an Other's voice.
wait isn't the Other in this case the racist lol
my only point about the blackface thing was that it's dangerous for white people to attempt to appropriate racist imagery with the intention of showing how racist it is. if it isn't done deftly and with a lot of care, it risks just being another reproduction of racist imagery. which is essentially what happened in Yellow Man.
― the choogler and the chosen one (Shakey Mo Collier), Friday, 10 August 2012 23:50 (9 months ago) Permalink
also I hate Seinfeld fwiw
― the choogler and the chosen one (Shakey Mo Collier), Friday, 10 August 2012 23:51 (9 months ago) Permalink
Shakey, I bear you no ill will so I'm going to try again. Literally every line of "Yellow Man" is a clichéd white description of the exoticized other. Kung Fu Fighting, on the other hand, is actually trying to describe then-trendy kung fu movies, and while the language is indeed racist, it's not textbook you've-actually-heard-people-say-this racism like "very far away in a foreign land live a yellow woman and the yellow man." note that this first line situates our narrator and goes out of its way to use the definite article "the" to point out to you, the gentle reader, that an entire race is being reduced to a single person. "Kung Fu Fighting" does not, in fact, have any similar authorial signposts. I consider this explanation pretty clear, but I will also bet five dollars that your opinion is "no way, they're exactly the same."
― steven fucking tyler (underrated aerosmith bootlegs I have owned), Friday, 10 August 2012 23:51 (9 months ago) Permalink
it's not textbook you've-actually-heard-people-say-this racism
apart from the generic term "Chinaman" ... but in the interest of earning $5 I will concede this is a good point
― the choogler and the chosen one (Shakey Mo Collier), Friday, 10 August 2012 23:55 (9 months ago) Permalink
gotta go now btw
thx for the insights (honest)
― the choogler and the chosen one (Shakey Mo Collier), Friday, 10 August 2012 23:56 (9 months ago) Permalink
i think marcus says something in 'mystery train' about how newman was reluctant to play this song live. kinda understandable, tho it doesn't necessarily reflect on the song's meaning -- i think 'rednecks' is one of the all-time triumphs of newman's songwriting and a total masterpiece in every way, but i'm not putting it on any party playlists.
― (The Other) J.D. (J.D.), Friday, 10 August 2012 23:57 (9 months ago) Permalink
if you're still in SF I will straight give you five bones next time I'm out there, a bet's a bet!!
― steven fucking tyler (underrated aerosmith bootlegs I have owned), Friday, 10 August 2012 23:57 (9 months ago) Permalink
Hating "Seinfeld" should not obliterate an understanding of how it works best with external context. I don't like it much either. So what's your point?
I don't even think "Kung Fu Fighting" is racist, to be honest. In fact, the only thing I think anyone could take any offense at is the term "Chinaman," which wasn't intended to cause offense . . . just a little dated (though less so in 1974) and insensitive. But other than that, the song was simply a celebration of kung fu movies . . . and not, as people like to read it, meta-commentary on Chinese people. Unless you're an idiot. But why should art be dumbed down so that idiots don't misunderstand it? (I'm not referring to you, Mo.)
― crustaceanrebel, Saturday, 11 August 2012 00:03 (9 months ago) Permalink
wish there were a randy newman song sung from the POV of someone who doesn't like seinfeld.
― (The Other) J.D. (J.D.), Saturday, 11 August 2012 00:09 (9 months ago) Permalink
Now I can't get the image of Shakey (whom I've never met, so can't actually imagine) making a pinched Seinfeld face and saying, "Newman," through clenched teeth.
― EZ Snappin, Saturday, 11 August 2012 00:09 (9 months ago) Permalink
they say that it's funnyyes, that's what they sayso i sit down and i watch itday after day...
― (The Other) J.D. (J.D.), Saturday, 11 August 2012 00:10 (9 months ago) Permalink
me and a friend did a cover of yellow man when we were stoned and I listened to it a week later and we had like 10 vocal tracks recorded on top of one another and all of them had really heavy reverb or w/e and I was like what the hell were we thinking
― puff puff post (uh oh I'm having a fantasy), Friday, August 10, 2012 10:37 PM (Yesterday)
hahahaha this is fantastic
― drawings by teen cultists (Crabbits), Saturday, 11 August 2012 02:47 (9 months ago) Permalink
I only heard the song "Yellow Man" of Harry Nilsson's NILSSON SINGS NEWMAN, which as mentioned is so shickoingly gorgeous I think I can be excused for never paying attention to the words and somehow thinking it was a moving ode to a full mooon
― drawings by teen cultists (Crabbits), Saturday, 11 August 2012 02:49 (9 months ago) Permalink
― puff puff post (uh oh I'm having a fantasy), Saturday, 11 August 2012 16:21 (9 months ago) Permalink
you are actually criticizing Randy Newman for getting his tone too perfect
btw I think this is essentially true fwiw and is probably the most illuminating thing I took away from this. to be fair, it doesn't really make me like the song any more - some imperfections in the tone or more overt peek-behind-the-curtains sort of lines would have improved it imho
― the choogler and the chosen one (Shakey Mo Collier), Monday, 13 August 2012 17:59 (9 months ago) Permalink
don't feel bad Shakes, a lot of people out there think that Newman really does love L.A., you even hear the song at Clippers games IIRC
― frogbs, Monday, 13 August 2012 18:49 (9 months ago) Permalink
well that's the thing about "i love l.a." of course randy loves the city. it's where he's lived most of his life, and where he has chosen to stay. and of course he sees a lot here to make fun of. his genuine affection for the city he's making fun of is a big part of the soul of that song. (and he's really making gentle fun, at best.)
― fact checking cuz, Monday, 13 August 2012 20:32 (9 months ago) Permalink
Shakey being a hueg Tarantino fan adds to the comedy here.
Randy could live anywhere but lives near Hollywood, doesn't he? He does love LA.
― Pangborn to be Wilde (Dr Morbius), Monday, 13 August 2012 20:47 (9 months ago) Permalink
oh, xp
exactly, you just can't take it at face value (I guess it's a bad comp because I Love L.A. has at least SOME truth to it, but c'mon, this is Randy Newman)
― frogbs, Monday, 13 August 2012 21:05 (9 months ago) Permalink
― Jazzbo, Tuesday, 18 September 2012 16:11 (8 months ago) Permalink
At last we get to see the comments Rednecks and Short People would have provoked if YouTube had existed in the 70s. The Toy Story guy is racist WTF???
― Get wolves (DL), Tuesday, 18 September 2012 16:51 (8 months ago) Permalink
ugh
Flooding ALL & ONLY White countries with non-Whites and telling everyone to "assimilate" to create a "brown future" is White genocide.Africa will still be full of Africans.Asia will still be full of Asians.Only White children will suffer from this.Read the UN genocide conventions: It is genocide plain and simple!Anti-racist is a codeword for anti-White.Kevin Culver 13 minutes ago
Flooding ALL & ONLY White countries with non-Whites and telling everyone to "assimilate" to create a "brown future" is White genocide.
Africa will still be full of Africans.
Asia will still be full of Asians.
Only White children will suffer from this.
Read the UN genocide conventions: It is genocide plain and simple!
Anti-racist is a codeword for anti-White.
Kevin Culver 13 minutes ago
― last few days to vote in the 80s rock poll by.. (Algerian Goalkeeper), Tuesday, 18 September 2012 16:53 (8 months ago) Permalink
dorian that's your fault i read that
Oh is that the one at the top now? Sorry.
― Get wolves (DL), Tuesday, 18 September 2012 17:28 (8 months ago) Permalink
HOW ABOUT IM DREAMING OF FALSE JEW KHAZAR *SYNAGOGUEOF SATAN (REVELATION 2:9) . HAHA :)`666ASTANA 4 hours ago
― Inconceivable (to the entire world) (underrated aerosmith bootlegs I have owned), Tuesday, 18 September 2012 18:17 (8 months ago) Permalink
"Political Science" is CLASSIC. I'd never listened to Randy Newman but the local record store had "Sail Away" and "Good Old Boys" for a dollar each and i have been rocking them for the past week or so. Great stuff, so effing sarcastic.
― Emperor Cos Dashit (Adam Bruneau), Saturday, 17 November 2012 17:03 (6 months ago) Permalink
Gotta say the first song I listened to was "Rednecks" and I was LOLling the entire time.
― Emperor Cos Dashit (Adam Bruneau), Saturday, 17 November 2012 17:06 (6 months ago) Permalink
"college boys from LSU/went in dumb/came out dumb too"
― 50 Shades of Greil (C. Grisso/McCain), Saturday, 17 November 2012 17:16 (6 months ago) Permalink
Don't know our ass from a hole in the ground
― Emperor Cos Dashit (Adam Bruneau), Saturday, 17 November 2012 17:18 (6 months ago) Permalink
GOB and SA are on endless repeat at my house this fall. I don't think I've heard a classic record like these that contained so many beautiful songs in a long time.
― Emperor Cos Dashit (Adam Bruneau), Sunday, 18 November 2012 22:20 (6 months ago) Permalink
I mean sweet Jesus, this is some beautiful music.
― Emperor Cos Dashit (Adam Bruneau), Sunday, 18 November 2012 22:21 (6 months ago) Permalink
I've seem him live a few times, and each time I've been amazed by his remarkable economy. For all the words in his songs, there often really aren't that many words. He just makes them all count. "Sail Away," for example, is just three brief verses, and a couple of simple choruses, but the song conveys so much.
― Josh in Chicago, Sunday, 18 November 2012 22:38 (6 months ago) Permalink
sail away's practically an epic!!
― attempt to look intentionally nerdy, awkward or (thomp), Monday, 19 November 2012 00:45 (6 months ago) Permalink
Josh otm. He's really the anti-Elvis Costello.
― frogbs, Monday, 19 November 2012 15:00 (6 months ago) Permalink
I love how he says "I've been his friend since we were little babies" in "Davy the Fat Boy".
― Emperor Cos Dashit (Adam Bruneau), Monday, 19 November 2012 16:29 (6 months ago) Permalink
I went back to that record store (Full Moon Records in Atlanta) and found "Live" and it's pretty damn awesome. Also they had "All Things Must Pass" 3xLP set in very good condition also for $1!
― Emperor Cos Dashit (Adam Bruneau), Monday, 19 November 2012 16:55 (6 months ago) Permalink
I love the link he plays in rock history, too. His uncles were all film composers, as are a couple of cousins. Meanwhile, his best bud growing up was Lenny Waronker (they took piano lessons together) whose father Simon (after writing music in Hollywood) founded Liberty records, who made its fortune off Ross Bagdasarian, aka David Saville, who did the Chipmunks (Simon Waronker was where "Simon" came from). Simon parlayed that success into stuff like Jan & Dean. But thanks to Lenny, Liberty/Simon hired Randy Newman as a songwriter when he was still a teen. Eventually Lenny goes to Warner Bros. and brings along Randy and Van Dyke Parks. Etc.
― Josh in Chicago, Monday, 19 November 2012 19:53 (6 months ago) Permalink
'davy the fat boy' is blood-chilling, espec: 'YOU'VE GOT TO LET THIS FAT BOY IN YOUR LIFE!'
― (The Other) J.D. (J.D.), Monday, 19 November 2012 23:07 (6 months ago) Permalink