Randy Newman: C or D/S & D

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.