Randy Newman: C or D/S & D

Maybe he's wondering why RN doesn't take a stand against slavery?

He's become an American Institution.

OTM. I nominate him for Kennedy Center Honors.

we've discussed this elsewhere, but i do not get the point of "sail away."

It's your basic ironized pro-slavery song, where the slave trader is conning his victim with a sales pitch about the American dream, leaving you wondering how much of the con the slave trader believes, whether his standard for what it means to be a contented American is a promise or a threat, and whether his casual racism/imperialism/narcissism is still how America presents itself to the world.

Maybe he's wondering why RN doesn't take a stand against slavery?
Why should he? He's telling a story, not running for office.

I mean, should he take a stand against rape in "Suzanne?"

(I was being more than a little facetious w/ my question)

I getcha.
But dad a hits it on the head. That's a recurrent theme in Newman's work, right up to his latest album.

we've discussed this elsewhere, but i do not get the point of "sail away."

um, ok.

anyone still listening to 'harps and angels'?

Yup! It made my Top Fifteen.

I put it at the very top of my Pazz & Jop ballot. There are other albums I listen(ed) to more, but Harps and Angels is pretty perfect. I play it when I can really concentrate on it.

I'm listening to it a bunch lately, but I got it only recently.

this thread inspired me to play "easy street," which has very strong legs - the delivery is so amazing:

all your old friends, you know you love 'em so
it's gonna break your heart, but you're gonna have to let 'em go

Has everyone already heard this 1972 concert on Wolfgang's Vault? Loving it all, especially his left hand on My Old Kentucky Home. Stage patter as cutting as you'd expect, with a long jokey folksy intro (including a parody of an old seafaring song) that sets you up for the sudden change of gears when he hits you with Sail Away. I always thought Sail Away needed that bed of strings, like gloppy saccharin sweets to help you take your harsh medicine, but without them it's even more stark and punishing.

http://concerts.wolfgangsvault.com/dt/randy-newman-concert/20052964-5721.html

Added bonus: Lennon glasses (no lie).

I'm discovering this guy properly for the first time having really only known the hits and compilations and wow TROUBLE IN PARADISE really is something isn't it?

Is there a good book about the guy?

dunno about books, but the chapter on him in g marcus's mystery train is pretty good

i must check that out thanks. dunno why i never have before actually.

Check out Paul Zollo's book on songwriters... Good interview with Randy. Most interviews with Randy are usually pretty interesting and in good humor. I've never looked, but if somewhere someone's posted the notes he sent out with Bad Love they're worth a read. He did a track by track breakdown and they're as enjoyable as the tunes.

I don't know why this is, but I find I enjoy his later albums MORE than the established classics. I like 12 Songs, Sail Away and Good Old Boys, but I find myself playing Trouble In Paradise, Land of Dreams, Bad Love and Harps and Angels more. I guess part of this has to do with just not being as familiar with the later stuff so it sounds fresher. I've also found myself doing this with other acts like The Ramones and Rolling Stones. Instead of Rocket to Russia or Aftermath, I'm drawn to Pleasant Dreams and Undercover. Anyone else share this affliction? Is there a cure?

well, sure, i think there's something to be said for discovering an artist's later work -- people like Randy Newman never got really horrible or anything, I just think they got more predictable (not a bad thing!). they're kinda doing the same thing over and over, but maybe improving upon the original occasionally. this is maybe more true of filmmakers than musicians? not sure.

"Why must everybody laugh at my mighty sword?"

http://www.amazon.com/Bless-You-California-Various-Artists/dp/tracks/B0034800FA/

also, really enjoying bad love recently. "shame" is pretty goddam hilarious. "you know, i have a lexus now... i don't get out much... you know what i'm saying..."

ok i really like what newman does with the melody in "dixie flyer" (from LAND OF DREAMS). there's a few parts where you think he'd shift into the chorus or pre-chorus but he unexpectedly sticks a few extra lines in the verse.

it happens during my favorite part of the song: the lines "old mother came down to the station to meet us/dressed as black as a crow in a coal mine/she cried when the little girl got off the train/<AND THEN IT HAPPENS RIGHT HERE> brothers and sisters came down from jackson mississippi/a great green hudson driven by a gentile they knew..."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jiLL2d-alc

such a beautiful song.

<sheds a lonely tear for randy newman>

fine, whatever. there's a moment on the bonus disc to the reissue of GOOD OLD BOYS, which comprises a series of demos cut for the album, where randy--who is recording in a studio with only an engineer as witness--starts explaining his rationale for the concept album and interjects, "wait, who the fuck am i talking to?"

ha, that bonus disc is gold.
soooo, are those "early Newman" comps worth getting?

you mean the collections of his early songs covered by other folks? YES, YES, 1000x YES. they are better than almost any of his LPs IMHO. and i LIKE his LPs.

yeah, that Vine Street comp and the one you linked to above ... I've heard a handful of things from each, but there are a ton I've never heard.

the fats domino track is fantastic.

why do we love this guy? randy newman you big so and so

I have listened to Beverley's "Happy New Year" about fifty times in the last day probably.

Randy Newman on the Oscars:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/the_big_picture/2011/02/randy-newman-on-playing-at-the-oscars-toy-story-3-song.html

"It's a long show and it's hot in there and if you're playing, you're playing to a crowd where the majority of people haven't won anything, so they don't even want to be there. I mean, it's not, ahem, a great audience."

Classic for arranging "Is That All There Is?" along with his other accomplishments.

Really love the Nilsson sings Newman album. "Cowboy" is such a sad song and I'm not even really too sure what it's about.

I love all versions of that song

dude is about as classic as they come. a friend of mine made me a big compilation of people covering newman's songs from 1962-1971, kind of a fun alternate walk through the 1960s.

Classic for arranging "Is That All There Is?" along with his other accomplishments

I didn't know this and yet I did

recent Pitchfork piece on Best Coast made reference to the fact that when it comes to lyrics the singer is "not exactly the Randy Newman of beach-pop". struck me as odd because how many average Pitchfork reading Best Coast fans would even know who he is, but it's cool he's still getting referenced for his wordsmithery because really even now, who else *is* there that can compete?

Tyler- any chance of that compilation making the blog?

Classic for arranging "Is That All There Is?" along with his other accomplishments

I didn't know this and yet I did

ez - it's all official stuff, so probably not, but i can get it to ya privately in the next couple of days.

Thank you kind sir.

there's also this

yes! that's where a lot of it is drawn from, but my friend expanded it to three or so discs. really cool stuff.

"Ragtime" (1982) ... "My song was sung by John Schneider from "The Dukes of Hazzard," which I guess is what I mean when I say the whole experience is pretty strange."

lol, I remember a TV shot of Randy sinking into his seat.

john schneider can sing! same with tom wopat.

jesus christ why isn't there a video of this performance online! internet you disappoint me.

"Your son is home dad, and he's found a girl/and she's the greatest girl in all the world/I think you'll like her Dad, I hope you do/but if you don't that's alright too"

God I love the way he sings this line

Tom Wopat is a respected cabaret/Broadway-caliber singer. Schneider's singing was... colorless.

there's also this

which was itself followed up by this

Randy Newman, C/D? Are you kidding me? He's at the pinnacle of the songwriter heap and I have to listen to Sail Away at least once a month. I love the way he plays the piano too.