Randy Newman: C or D/S & D

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!!!

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!

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

Also search: his very funny/sharp Oscar acceptance speech Sunday night.

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.

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.

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."

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.

'Thanks for the compliment'

Just for that comment, he is now a hero of mine.

oh just fck off to the opera and leave pop alone.

magnusson would have known better !

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

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

awes. i've been curious, but on a budget :/

bad love was ok! (can not believe that was like 9 years ago)

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.

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.

the substitution chord he goes for at about 1:48 is just unspeakable cruelty

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.

Just sayin'

That's good news!

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

yeah this is a much more bitter & better album than Bad Love

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

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

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*.

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.

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?

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"?

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.

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

Damn, this is pretty good.

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.

I love Faust unreservedly.

So far so good. Maybe on to the s/t debut next.

Little Criminals is the other classic i guess. also Land Of Dreams and Trouble In Paradise are great and under rated too!

Randy must have been the first rock musician I ever knowingly heard, though not cognizant at the time of his respectable back catalogue. Watching Toy Story in 1995 as a little kid, sick with fever, hearing him sing "and I will go sailing.....noooooo more..." is one of those kiddie memories that has a little but secure place in my heart. It became even more special when I grew up and became a big fan of his 70s work. Sail Away is an album I never get sick of listening to, and Good Ol' Boys isn't far behind.

Is anything worth getting after the 70s? I've not investigated those yet.

i want to know more about your youth. were you prohibited from listening to rock and/or roll?

Not really, but at five/six, I hadn't got around to checking out zappa/vu/beefheart/can, et al.

well sure but

when were you born

nineteen-ninety.

damn son

there are rock singers who are not as obscure as beefheart and lou reed,
sometimes you hear them on the radio

no kidding.

we didn't play the radio in my house.

to say randy newman was the very first one may not be true. but it's a first memory which i subsequently came to know as the author of "rednecks" and "god's song".

there were other extenuating circumstances which meant that music was not played much in our house. mostly revolving around my mother suffering extensively from mental illness during my childhood, other interests at the time, etc.

in any case, that's irrelevant. anyone know if newman is any good after the 70s?

There are more than a few glimmers of acid brilliance here and there, and some lovely ballads, but a lot of his later albums are actually only good enough. Which ain't bad!

Believe it or not, his songbooks, which feature songs already released performed by just him on piano, are really good. The version of "Lonely At the Top" might actually be even better than the original Sail Away version.

why is Little Criminals held up as a bad Randy Newman album when the second half (start with "In Germany Before the War" + the second side) is so good? I think it's almost as good a second half as Sail Away.

"I'll Be Home" sounds a lot different in sequence here than it does on Nilsson Sings Newman ( and it's not just Newman's voice compared to Nilsson).

the title track is great, I love the way that it manages to mock these people's delusions but still have that excitement + buoyancy be infectious

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/arts-and-entertainment/wp/2016/10/10/exclusive-listen-to-randy-newmans-first-new-song-in-four-years-its-about-bare-chested-vladimir-putin-really/

song is hilarious

Kinda formulaic Newman musically though

http://www.npr.org/2017/07/27/537309087/first-listen-randy-newman-dark-matter

this record is so good

this record Randy Newman is so good.

i kinda go back and forth on Maron's WTF, but his Newman interview this week was entertaining.

josh otm

"sonny boy" is wonderful

As is "She Chose Me."

never heard the Sinatra story

http://www.maximumfun.org/bullseye/bullseye-jesse-thorn-randy-newman

On my five favorites....

ta for this, agree with number 1, and glad Harps & Angels got a nod too :-)

He's written a song.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6Hk2L2G_W0

Just saw that

"Don't touch your face - I saw you!"

https://skeletonstv.bandcamp.com/album/i-think-its-going-to-rain-today

Finally got the Original Album series yesterday that I'd meant to buy for ages but hadn't been in the racks locally.
So have now heard his 1st 5 which are pretty great. Wasn't sure what to expect in terms of settings etc so 1st l.p. was a bit of a surprise. But most of its great.
Will be listening to this quite a bit I hope.

ok so when I was a young'n in southern california my hatred for robert hilburn was at nuclear levels 24 hours a day. just the original herb. never noticed anything until a press kit told him to, but then? once in the tank, could not shut up about his newest thing. Springsteen first, but then X, Lone Justice, the Blasters. Just constantly giving column space to these acts and comparing them to Springsteen every chance he got, among my friends Hilburn bashing was a sport we engaged at least twice weekly. Christ when Big Country happened my dude was like oh, it's almost as optimistic as U2. The pain. And yet.

I'm so going to preorder his Randy Newman book.

http://www.roberthilburnonline.com/inside-randy-newman.html

his website says "pre-orders being taken now" but there are zero live links to a pre-order. keep shooting yourself in the foot, Bob

He put out the cover a week or two ago:

I’m so excited about my Randy Newman biography (due Oct. 22) that I’m going to write some short teasers about the book on my website weekly. I’m starting this week with why I chose to write about Randy. The answer is at https://t.co/ji6RFnGgvD .@RandyNewman pic.twitter.com/TPHYPMImSh

— Robert Hilburn (@roberthilburn) August 13, 2024

i was so nice to stay away from this thread! see, i can be nice....

This is worth checking out---from Wiki on Good Old Boys:

Good Old Boys was initially envisioned as a concept album about a character named Johnny Cutler, an everyman of the Deep South. Newman made a demo of these songs on February 1, 1973: they were released as the bonus disc for the 2002 reissue, titled Johnny Cutler's Birthday.

The kernel of this concept survived into the released album, although as Newman's take on viewpoints from the inhabitants of the Deep South in general, rather than from a single individual character.

I got it while researching Newman, because I was writing about another Rhino double, the 20th Anniversary Edition of Randy Newman's Faust, as well as The Randy Newman Songbook, Vol. 1: short, not too sweet, and archived here because ancient Voice links can be unreliable:
https://myvil.blogspot.com/2005/12/sandman-coming.html

wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Good_Old_Boys_(Randy_Newman_album)

And here's Johnny (says Full Albun, and I think it is):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cN15bppefQ

I know how I knew about such thangs on 11th Ave., but how the hell did Newman? Sure, he had relatives in New Orleans, but---

And speaking of covers, Etta James did right by "Let's Burn Down The Cornfield," "You Can Leave Your Hat On," and hopefully others I don't know about---but this is one of my favorite performances by anybody, "God's Song," on her good s/t:

http://myvil.blogspot.com/2005/12/sandman-coming.html

damn, sorry! Here tis:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDzxnExnexE

"We'll be right back, after we go shoot up"

Randy, band, and Hollywood Bowl Orchestra at set break, 201x

"next time bring your fuckin' friends."

- randy, just prior to encore at the half-full tilles center, 2011

you've got a fuckin' friend in me, if you can fill some more seats in this dump

I'm reading the new Hilburn book, and man, I am learning so much about Randy Newman. Just a fascinating overview of his life and career. Good overview/review from Christgau (one of the first prominent critics to really "get" Newman) here:

https://robertchristgau.substack.com/p/a-few-words-in-praise-of-randy-newman

A good observation (in both book and Xgau) is just, when you think about it, how unique Newman is, how when you listen to him, he just rarely brings to mind anyone else. He's one of one. The other (in both book and Xgau) is that Newman really puts the "wrought" in songwriting, which is apparently so stressful and arduous for him that film composing was essentially a fallback distraction when the songs just weren't coming.

Also learned, from the book, how Randy would sometimes spend days alone just watching TV, pretty much anything, and also how many of his songs were inspired by really specific sources (books, short stories, movies, etc., from "2001" to a weird obsession with Albania) but shaped into new forms that barely reflected their origins.

I keep coming back to that song Cowboy from his debut album, what a masterpiece. The gently strummed (literally cowboy-) chords completely betray the sophistication of the rest which I'm guessing comes from the same influence of 20th century classical that was also on so much film music of the time. And as Harry proved, just as compelling of a song sung a cappella.

I like Scott Walker's version too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8n43NiGc04

Deluxe two-CD reissue of Trouble in Paradise, completely remastered, out next month.

This edition will also feature Un Samedi En Décembre, a promotional live album originally released exclusively in France and included with early French copies of the album and the previous unissued demos.

Disc: 1
1 I Love L.A. (2025 Remaster)
2 Christmas in Capetown (2025 Remaster)
3 The Blues (2025 Remaster)
4 Same Girl (2025 Remaster)
5 Mikey's (2025 Remaster)
6 My Life Is Good (2025 Remaster)
7 Miami (2025 Remaster)
8 Real Emotional Girl (2025 Remaster)
9 Take Me Back (2025 Remaster)
10 There's a Party at My House (2025 Remaster)
11 I'm Different (2025 Remaster)
12 Song for the Dead (2025 Remaster)
13 I Love L.A. (Demo)
14 Christmas in Cape Town (Demo)
15 The Blues (Demo)
16 Same Girl (Demo)
17 My Life Is Good (Demo)
18 Miami (Demo)
19 Real Emotional Girl (Demo)
20 Take Me Back (Demo)
21 There's a Party at My House (Demo)
22 I'm Different (Demo)
23 Song for the Dead (Demo)
24 Big Fat Country Song (Something to Sing About) (Demo)
25 Rainbow (Demo)

Disc: 2
1 Ragtime (Extrait de la Bande Originale du Film) [Live in Paris, France, 1982]
2 Louisiana 1927 (Live in Paris, France, 1982)
3 It's Money That I Love (Live in Paris, France, 1982)
4 Sail Away (Live in Paris, France, 1982)
5 Old Man (Live in Paris, France, 1982)
6 Love Story (Live in Paris, France, 1982)
7 Short People (Live in Paris, France, 1982)
8 Christmas in Cape Town (Live in Paris, France, 1982)
9 Rednecks (Live in Paris, France, 1982)
10 Baltimore (Live in Paris, France, 1982)
11 I Think It's Going to Rain Today (Live in Paris, France, 1982)
12 You Can Leave Your Hat On (Live in Paris, France, 1982)
13 Marie (Live in Paris, France, 1982)
14 Ragtime (Live in Paris, France, 1982)

FWIW, this is out now and it's the definitive digital release of this album. Better sound than the old CD and the extras are at least pretty good. Hopefully it does well enough that WB will release more. (Reportedly the previous reissue campaign stopped after three albums because sales for the two-disc Faust release was so bad, Rhino panicked and pulled the plug. Why they thought a deluxe reissue of a very poor-selling album would do better is beyond me.)

Faust is hugely underrated

Love "Feels Like Home"

It's too bad the stage production didn't last long and never made it to Broadway. (IIRC Newman staged some stripped-down versions later on, possibly to help generate interest and sell the idea of financing more productions, but to no avail.)

That reminds me, I once imagined how it could work if you could stage it with rock singers, but from the indie world instead of the album's guest stars (something you could do as one-offs that would be theoretically easier to organize without megastars involved).