#356 - Randy Newman - 12 Songs (1970)

MUSIC HISTORY COMPILED BY BEN AUSTIN-DOCAMPO:

77 year old Randall Stuart Newman was born in Los Angeles in 1943. His uncle was Academy Award winning composter Lionel Newman. The American singer-songwriter, arranger, composer and pianist began his songwriting career at 17 years old, writing hits for the Fleetwoods, Cilla Black, Gene Pitney and the Alan Price Set. He made his debut as a solo artist with a self-titled album in 1968. The album we’re getting in to today (12 songs) was his second release.

Newman’s style has a bit of a Southern accent with his singing, and his music and lyrics inspired by early Americana with satirical, biting sense of humor. A primary influence of Newman was Ray Charles, with Newman saying “I loved Charles’ music to excess”. He released 7 albums from 1968-1983 before transitioning to doing more film composing in the 1980s and 1990s, scoring 9 Disney-Pixar films (all 4 Toy Stories, A Bug’s Life, both Monster’s Inc films, and the first and third Cars films) among others. He’d release five more albums from 1988-2017. His roster of all-time hits includes “Mama Told Me Not To Come” (which we’ll talk about today), “I Think It’s Going to Rain Today”, “You Can Leave Your Hat On”, Short People, I Love L.A., You’ve Got A Friend In Me. The list of people who have covered Newman’s work is extensive, ranging from singers like Barbra Streisand and Bette Midler, to Art Garfunkel, the Everly Brothers, Bonnie Raitt, Pat Boone, and Neil Diamond.

Newman’s list of career accolades includes 22 Academy Award nominations (winning twice for Best Original Score in 2002 for a Monsters Inc song and 2011 for a Toy Story 3 song), 3 Emmy’s, and 7 Grammy’s (he needs a Tony to EGOT). He was recognized by the Walt Disney Company in 2007 as a “Walt Disney Legend”, was inducted in to the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame in 2002, and the Rock N Roll HOF in 2013.

This is the second studio release from Newman in April of 1970 featured, you guessed it, 12 tracks. The album showcases Newman’s abilities on the piano with a swampy style of roots music, and also includes the slide guitar playing of Ry Cooder, and contributions form The Byrd’s Clarence White on guitar, the drumming of fellow Byrds member Gene Parsons, and also drumming by Jim Gordon of Derek and the Dominoes. His first album, Randy Newman, featured a mix of him and an orchestra. The orchestra was replaced by the aforementioned rock rhythm section (along with some other musicians). Newman’s singing has a bluesier style on this album, and topics that are written about on this album include love, sex, racial prejudice, , and life in the south. The album was well-received on release, being described as the best record of 1970s and Newman’s first great album.

This album did not make the cut for the 2020 Rolling Stone Top 500 Album list. His album “Sail Away” moved up to 268 on the 2020 list from 322 on the 2012 list, so we’ll be talking Randy again in about 6 months.