Randy Newman
Stove
Posts: 320
Saw Randy Newman only gets a few mentions on here. He deserves his own dang thread! So I knew about him probably the way most people in the 90s did which was his contributions to Toy Story. That was really my understanding of him and the Mad tv sketches they had about him. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgaBveqoR6E
But the reality of course if far deeper then whats at the surface. He''s an amazing songwriter and musician. My exposure to his music (non toy story) was this year at a small bar called "The Cinema Bar" here in Socal. A country band was playing there and they delved into a cover of one of his songs called "Louisiana 1927" , the introed the song with the common conception that Newman is singularly known for his work on Disney films, which was my basis of knowledge at the time...how wrong I was. The incredible thing of Randy Newman is his ability to put himself in the place of characters singing about events/issues/situations. He can be bitter sweet, sardonic and romantic all within the confines of 30/40 minutes albums. The song itself moved me as I had no idea that the guy who wrote "You got a friend in me" and who was frequently parodied on Mad TV had such an incite into the human condition of flooding in New Orleans in 1927 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGs2iLoDUYE (which would also be revisited again with Hurricane Katrina in 2005) If you haven't heard it do yourself a favor, have listen. A powerful song from opening orchestration to the final closing chorus.
After that I purchased "Good Ol Boys" which features Louisiana 1927 but also the controversial opener "Rednecks" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5mue4uDHNQ as told from the perspective of what I could only assume is a chest pounder zealot that you might find at a more recent rally. This song is far more potent in modern divided America under the this administration as well. A kin to this is the song "Political Science" off his album "Sail Away" which shares much the sediments of us a disenfranchised nation. The composition could almost be told from the perspective of the man in office lamenting his position and tweeting away to console himself of responsibility late at night. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jTzgR-ClB4 There's so much more, "Sail Away", "Suzanne" "Mama Told Me Not To Come" In the future I plan to purchase all of his albums because his unique approach and brilliant melodies are that of legendary status. Which I mean in every sense of the word as he is drawing from historical context but also archetype characters from an American Landscape. Anyways..he's probably my favorite artist I've discovered this year.
But the reality of course if far deeper then whats at the surface. He''s an amazing songwriter and musician. My exposure to his music (non toy story) was this year at a small bar called "The Cinema Bar" here in Socal. A country band was playing there and they delved into a cover of one of his songs called "Louisiana 1927" , the introed the song with the common conception that Newman is singularly known for his work on Disney films, which was my basis of knowledge at the time...how wrong I was. The incredible thing of Randy Newman is his ability to put himself in the place of characters singing about events/issues/situations. He can be bitter sweet, sardonic and romantic all within the confines of 30/40 minutes albums. The song itself moved me as I had no idea that the guy who wrote "You got a friend in me" and who was frequently parodied on Mad TV had such an incite into the human condition of flooding in New Orleans in 1927 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGs2iLoDUYE (which would also be revisited again with Hurricane Katrina in 2005) If you haven't heard it do yourself a favor, have listen. A powerful song from opening orchestration to the final closing chorus.
After that I purchased "Good Ol Boys" which features Louisiana 1927 but also the controversial opener "Rednecks" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5mue4uDHNQ as told from the perspective of what I could only assume is a chest pounder zealot that you might find at a more recent rally. This song is far more potent in modern divided America under the this administration as well. A kin to this is the song "Political Science" off his album "Sail Away" which shares much the sediments of us a disenfranchised nation. The composition could almost be told from the perspective of the man in office lamenting his position and tweeting away to console himself of responsibility late at night. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jTzgR-ClB4 There's so much more, "Sail Away", "Suzanne" "Mama Told Me Not To Come" In the future I plan to purchase all of his albums because his unique approach and brilliant melodies are that of legendary status. Which I mean in every sense of the word as he is drawing from historical context but also archetype characters from an American Landscape. Anyways..he's probably my favorite artist I've discovered this year.
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