The Great One

Through the years, the on-going debate continues: who is the greatest figure that Rock Music has produced. My vote for Greatest American Songwriter/Musician goes to the complex, cynical and deeply hilarious Randy Newman. I'll go even further: he's the Greatest Jewish Songwriter/Musician (sorry Bob, Paul, Lou, Neil and Leonard).

I recall first seeing Randy Newman on a Liza Minelli TV special in the summer of 1970. She introduced him as one of the new and upcoming talents. It was just him and his piano... and his half-glasses. His voice sounded strained and whiney. His song sounded stark and simple. He sang more to the ivory keys than to the audience. When he finished, he looked around like he had just awakened from a deep sleep. Liza seemed to like it just fine. I thought he was strange.

Later that same summer, I enjoyed the Three Dog Night hit, "Mama Told Me Not To Come." Little did I know it was written by that same strange looking and sounding man. On early FM, I heard the same whiney voice singing "Political Science". Boom goes London. Boom Paree. Was this guy serious?

The more I listened, the more I liked. He was an English major's dream: multi-faceted lyrics, direct, but cloaked with ambiguity. The role of song narrator as distinct from the songwriter was particularly appreciated. The absence of a band served to spotlight the lyrics and the strength of the song structure. And it didn't hurt that so many of his songs had a funky New Orleans piano roll, recalling Fats Domino, Professor Longhair and Huey Smith.

The more facts I discovered about Newman, the more amazing he became to me. He wrote music for the old "Dobie Gillis" TV show. He arranged the music for Peggy Lee's "Is That All There Is?" It seemed like he was the go-to-songwriter-guy for singers everywhere.

In the fall of 1974, I was lucky enough to see Newman perform solo, along with a similarly solo Ry Cooder, at the Amazingrace coffee house. (Newman headlined.) What I strongly recall, apart from the brilliance of his song list, was the sophisticated stream of humor he employed between songs. His timing and delivery was as polished as a Milton Berle.

By the end of the 70's, Newman was bailing out of "rock". He devoted much more of his time crafting movie soundtracks, like his uncles Alfred, Lionel and Emil. He began a string of 15 Oscar nominations, and no wins, for Best Film Score or Best Song. Think of Pixar flicks, Ragtime, Pleasantville, Awakenings... think of the heroic french horns as Roy Hobbes lofts an improbable fly ball into the stadium lights in The Natural.

When he finally won the Oscar (for a song from Monsters, Inc. that he thought was fairly second-rate) the Academy crowd gave him a standing ovation as he climbed the stairs to the microphone. Looking out across the crowd, he said, "I don't want your pity." When the pit orchestra started to play their cue to cut his remarks short, he glared into the pit and groused, "Hold it!! I'm not done. And if any of you want work from me ever again, you'll wait until I'm through!"

To truly appreciate the scope of Newman's work, check out the Wikipedia entry for him:

Randy Newman - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

And here is Newman describing his creative process:

YouTube - The Randy Newman Writing Style

And now for some musical selections from our Guest Star. But before we get into his own performances, let's enjoy Joe Cocker perform a Newman standard:

YouTube - Joe Cocker - You Can Leave Your Hat On

SOOO over the top. Here is a Randy Newman radio channel, courtesy of Last.fm:

Randy Newman – Listen free and discover music at Last.fm

And here is Newman performing some of his classics:

YouTube - Mr. Randy Newman - Rednecks Live

(I remember being astounded by this song at the Amazingrace.)

YouTube - God's Song (Randy Newman) - The Truth

(Everyone's favorite God as Atheist song.)

YouTube - My Life Is Good.

(What a slam on the Life of Privilege... and The Boss!)

YouTube - Randy Newman - Political Science

(As apt today as when it was written in 1972)

And for our Quote of the Day, yes, it's Randy Newman, but in the form of a song. The lyrics were printed as an Op-Ed piece in the New York Times:

YouTube - Randy Newman - A Few Words in Defense of Our Country