Randy Newman Little

In Randy Newman’s musical version of Faust, not even God is safe from the poison baton. Newman has rounded up a bunch of his friends to sing the parts — James Taylor, Don Henley, Elton John, Bonnie Raitt and Linda Ronstadt. And that’s pretty close to the roster of the band playing in my idea of hell. Yet Faust turns out to be the best work in years for all involved. The musical poses a question Newman first raised in “God’s Song (That’s Why I Love Mankind),” from 1972’s Sail Away, one that Christianity can’t adequately answer.

In Randy Newman’s musical version of Faust, not even God is safe from the poison baton. Newman has rounded up a bunch of his friends to sing the parts — James Taylor, Don Henley, Elton John, Bonnie Raitt and Linda Ronstadt. And that’s pretty close to the roster of the band playing in my idea of hell. Yet Faust turns out to be the best work in years for all involved. The musical poses a question Newman first raised in “God’s Song (That’s Why I Love Mankind),” from 1972’s Sail Away, one that Christianity can’t adequately answer.

For their expanded 2002 reissue of Randy Newman's classic Sail Away album, Rhino/Reprise unearthed five previously unissued gems. Of these, arguably the most notable is the studio version of "Maybe I'm Doing It Wrong," originally released on the stop-gap Randy Newman Live album; it was left off the album because Newman and his producers felt that he didn't capture the song but, decades later, this sounds every bit as good, if not better, than the issued live version. Of the remaining four bonus tracks, only "Let It Shine" isn't an alternate version or demo, and while it's not quite up to the high standards of the other songs on Sail Away, it's still quite strong. If the early version of "Dayton, Ohio – 1903" isn't radically different, the early version of "Sail Away" is – bouncy and bluesy, its humor more apparent. Finally, the demo of "You Can Leave Your Hat On" is a little rawer than the album version and wholly welcome. Though these five bonus tracks are the main attraction for Randy Newman fans, the remastered sound, the liner notes by David Wild, introduction by Randy, and rare photos make this another wonderful reissue in Rhino's line of Newman expanded editions.

This five disc, U.K.-only box set includes a remarkably solid quintet of full albums from Randy Newman, including his eponymous 1968 debut, 1970's 12 Songs, 1972's Sail Away, 1973's Good Old Boys, and 1977's Little Criminals, the latter of which featured the novelty hit "Short People."
An anomaly among early-'70s singer/songwriters, Randy Newman may have been slightly influenced by Bob Dylan, but his music owed more to New Orleans R&B and traditional pop than folk. Newman developed an idiosyncratic style that alternated between sweeping, cinematic pop and rolling R&B, which were tied together by his nasty sense of humor. Where his peers concentrated on confessional songwriting, Newman drew characters, creating a world filled with misfits, outcasts, charlatans, and con men…

This five disc, U.K.-only box set includes a remarkably solid quintet of full albums from Randy Newman, including his eponymous 1968 debut, 1970's 12 Songs, 1972's Sail Away, 1973's Good Old Boys, and 1977's Little Criminals, the latter of which featured the novelty hit "Short People."
An anomaly among early-'70s singer/songwriters, Randy Newman may have been slightly influenced by Bob Dylan, but his music owed more to New Orleans R&B and traditional pop than folk. Newman developed an idiosyncratic style that alternated between sweeping, cinematic pop and rolling R&B, which were tied together by his nasty sense of humor. Where his peers concentrated on confessional songwriting, Newman drew characters, creating a world filled with misfits, outcasts, charlatans, and con men…

On his debut album, Randy Newman sounded as if he was still getting used to the notion of performing his own songs in the studio (despite years of cutting songwriting demos), but apparently he was a pretty quick study, and his second long-player, 12 Songs, was a striking step forward for Newman as a recording artist. While much of Randy Newman was heavily orchestrated, 12 Songs was cut with a small combo (Ry Cooder and Clarence White take turns on guitar), leaving a lot more room for Newman's Fats Domino-gone-cynical piano and the bluesier side of his vocal style, and Randy sounds far more confident and comfortable in this context. And Newman's second batch of songs were even stronger than his first (no small accomplishment), rocking more and grooving harder but losing none of their intelligence and careful craft in the process…

Guilty: 30 Years of Randy Newman is a four-disc box set released in November 1998 that chronicles the first three decades of singer songwriter Randy Newman's musical career.

Unlike his contemporaries in the singer/songwriter community, Randy Newman has displayed little interest in writing about himself, with nearly every song in his repertoire set in the voice of some imagined character. So 1988's Land of Dreams was startling because its first three songs formed a triptych about Newman's childhood; for the first time on one of his albums, Newman was clearly writing about his own life, and the results were extraordinary…