No. 393: Good Old Boys

Band: Randy Newman
Album: Good Old Boys
Why Rolling Stone gets it right: Randy Newman's clever mind turns toward the American South on "Good Old Boys." It's biting, reverential and great.
Why Rolling Stone gets it wrong: Some of the songs have good lyrics, but aren't well executed. "Naked Man," specifically, comes to mind.
Best song: "Mr. President (Have Pity on the Working Man)" is awesome, but "Rednecks" and "Louisiana 1927" are the best songs in the album.
Worst song: "Naked Man" evokes a show tune feeling.
Is it awesome?: Yes.

I've said it before, but it bears mentioning again. Randy Newman is a badass.

"Good Old Boys" builds, in some ways, off the idea put forth in the title track of "Sail Away," as Newman takes on several guises of the American South (hence the title of the record). Contrary to what many would expect (and, as you would imagine from reading the song titles), the record isn't simply condescending towards the South. It often celebrates it without irony (the version of "Every Man a King," for example) and Newman -- in a way that Sufjan Stevens has done in his states albums -- simple paints of a picture of the region.

"Louisiana 1927," a song about a great flood that upended many people's lived, sounds especially prescient today with Hurricane Katrina in our direct rearview. Newman, not surprisingly, played it at one of the Katrina benefit concerts immediately following the disaster.

The album's opening track, "Rednecks," is probably the signature track from album and is more complex than a lot of people think. As Newman drops the N bomb (Something Kelly referenced in the comments section of this post) in character several times, he's assuming the character of a southern, well, redneck. In Newman's way, he paints the character as proud but unlikeable.

However, the latter part of the song is where Newman's brilliance shines. A California guy, he notes that Northern cities -- for all of their pomposity on Civil Rights -- simply segregate African-Americans:

That the North has set the nigger free
Yes he's free to be put in a cage
In Harlem in New York City
And he's free to be put in a cage in the South-Side of Chicago, the West-Side
And he's free to be put in a cage in Hough in Cleveland
And he's free to be put in a cage in East St. Louis
And he's free to be put in a cage in Fillmore in San Francisco
And he's free to be put in a cage in Roxbury in Boston

How great is that? Newman just sprays everyone, cleverly and smartly.

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There are few songwriters who can use humor the way Newman does. He's extremely clever. There's value in his songwriting and he can really turn a phrase. "Good Old Boys" is one of the best examples of that.

No. 354: 12 Songs

Band: Randy Newman
Album: 12 Songs
Why Rolling Stone gets it right: Randy Newman's second record is an exercise in copping personalities. Newman's sardonic wit is, of course, evident in the songwriting as he appears -- at times -- to be somewhere between Frank Zappa and Steve Albini. Also, Ry Cooder, who may or may not be hung like a donkey.
Why Rolling Stone gets it wrong: I'm not the world's biggest fans of Newman's arrangements. He's certainly the best piano troubadour I can find (better even than Elton John), but he's still a piano troubadour.
Best song: "Let's Burn Down the Cornfield" is a what Dylan and the Band wanted to do on the "Basement Tapes." It's almost blues perfectly executed. "Mama Told Me (Not to Come)" is much better than the Three Dog Night version, but I still don't love it.
Worst song: "Yellow Man" is, uh, I'm not really sure.
Is it awesome?: Yes.

Turnabout is fair play and I should probably apply the same standards to Randy Newman (an artist I enjoy) to artists I don't enjoy (Billy Joel or Dire Straits this week).

So, in the effort of fairness, I'll suggest that "12 Songs" is troubling in the way that Newman cops characters out of his own background. The great example, of course, is "Yellow Man." On the surface, it has no point, but as Allmusic points out, the song is a relfection on Newman's views on racism. It's silly and it makes no sense, as the song does. It's not Newman's clearest thing, but it is good, nonetheless.

Newman, of course, sings regular old rock and roll well. "Lucinda" is a pleasant 12-bar blues record and "Mama Told Me (Not to Come)" is a rave-up of sorts and "Rosemary" has the sound of Memphis soul.

"Old Kentucky Home" is great storytelling episode, built around irony and a pretty little guitar/piano lick. Like the Velvet Underground's masterpiece "Who Loves The Sun," "Old Kentucky Home" is a musical optimistic romp and lyrically is despotic and mean. It's a wonderful juxtaposition and one that Newman often juggles with aplomb.

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I'd be lying if I said I loved piano-based nonsense. I don't. Randy Newman, however, is on another planet. He's an amazing songwriter and uses humor in a way that nearly no other songwriter does (save for maybe Zappa).

No. 321: Sail Away

Band: Randy Newman
Album: Sail Away
Why Rolling Stone gets it right: You know who's a badass? Randy Newman.
Why Rolling Stone gets it wrong: Newman is hardly rock and roll in any conventional sense. I imagine most people who love the preceding and following albums are big Newman fans. Or anyone who loves the first ten albums on the list.
Best song: "Political Science" is perfect for current American life, while "God's Song (That's Why I Love Mankind)" and "He Gives Us All His Love" are a great maltheistic track. "Burn On" features Newman's classic sarcasm.
Worst song: I don't really like "Simon Smith and His Amazing Dancing Bear"
Is it awesome?: Yes.

About his music... Randy Newman does a lot of film scoring and songwriting for children's movies these days. He's not really much in the way of a rock and roller, but he never really was. He has a giant pop sensibility and his ability to use old genre-style piano stuff -- honky tonk, New Orleans jazz, etc. -- backs up his catchiness.

The reason to listen to Newman, of course, is his world-famous sarcasm. Simply put, Newman is awesome. He opens the album with the title track, a song of a carnival barker singing the virtues of... The slave trade. In pure parody, he sings the virtues of America:

In America every man is free
To take care of his home and his family
You'll be as happy as a monkey in a monkey tree

A ridiculous notion and one that is wonderfully clever. And, of course, that's just the first song. From the sarcasm about Cleveland ("Burn On") to the prescient political theme song ("Political Science," in we the U.S. bombs the whole world) it's a wonderful record.