Customer Reviews

Guilty: 30 Years of Randy Newman

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Randy Newman has been writing and performing his own unique style of pop/folk/rock/country/art music for nearly forty years. His influences are eclectic. His family has roots in the Deep South as well as Hollywood. His background and musical history is detailed in a biography included in this set. The first two CD's represent a chronological presentation of selections from his albums. You will hear the original versions of several cover hits by artists such as Linda Ronstadt, Three Dog Night, Bonnie Raitt, and Joe Cocker. Songs of love, rage, dementia, desperation, and desire expressed in styles ranging from heartaching simplicity to throbbing complexity tell tales of common experience and outrageous depravity.

One of the last songs John Belushi performed on Saturday Night Live is the desperate self-pitying "Guilty." Juxtapose this with Grammy-nominated "I Love to See You Smile," from the movie "Parenthood," and his symphonic film scores. It is obvious why Randy Newman is uncategorizable and unendingly entertaining. This is an indispensable collection of music from the creative genius of an influential and truly original American artist.

Randy Newman is one of the most versatile composers of all time, able to write witty parodies (Short People; I Love L.A.); touching ballads (When She Loved Me); award-winning theatrical scores (Ragtime, Toy Story, etc.) and a lot of great stuff that just doesn't pigeonhole very easily.

A lot, but not all, of it is here in this compilation; and given the fact that this is four packed-to-capicity CDs, it's remarkable that so much of what was left out is also great (Toy Story, A Bug's Life, Pleasantville, etc.).

For those of us who really love Newman's music this compilation is a must-have. The third disc is filled with demos and unreleased songs that are not available elsewhere. The other three discs are more than just a "greatest hits", they are a sort of a musical biography -- a chance to see how Newman has changed and grown as a composer and performer over the years.

Long overdue, this collection captures the broad range of styles that Newman has mastered, and a master he is of style and substance. If you listen very carefully, you'll hear the roots of Elvis Costello and Graham Parker in Newman's songs and sound.

This collection sequences both Newman's major songs, along with his novelty pieces well. The arrangement of the discs allows for a full picture of Newman as both an artist and innovator in American song. In fact, Newman's craftmanship harks back to Gershwin, Berlin and others of that era, but puts a modern sophisticated sheen to the music and lyrics.

While the soundtrack portion might seem overkill, or less worthy to a lot of fans, but, in fact, it just adds greater depth to the picture of Newman that this anthology paints. The scores for his pictures(including THE NATURAL, THE THREE AMIGOS and others) are delightful, particularly if you're a musician.

Randy Newman is wonderful, wonderful, wonderful. I spent 60 bucks on this set. And even though I don't like all his music, it grows on you. His unique voice and look at the world open up to you. The music itself is odd. I bought this CD because of a few of his songs I enjoyed like "Sail Away", "I love LA", and "You've Got a Friend". And as I listened to it I found some awesome tracks, like "Political Science" "Rednecks", "Short People", "My Life is Good," and "I Love to see You Smile." I'm sure in time I'll learn to enjoy more of these songs (I better, because for a teenager 60 bucks is a lot). Randy Newman sings about the daily things America has seen, heard or experience. What a genius he is! He tell is plain, simple and blunt. Not afraid to speak (or should I say sing) his mind. God bless you Mr. Newman!

What got me the most were the reviews by his friends, co-musicians, reviewers and all the fabulous photographs in the book that comes with the disc set! The stories and photos really make this set LIVE ON! He has a true voice of distinquished luster that provides listeners with gutsy feelings! I have always loved his work from "You can leave your hat on" to "Toy Story 2". Your music is a tribute to your uncle Alfred and I loved his music too! "How the world was won" by Randy! Many thanks. A terrific collection for any Fan!

As compilations go, this one is INTERESTING, to say the least. Randy Newman (to me) has always been interesting, but now all of his many rare gems, obscurities and, of course, the hits are all here in one package, and I must've died and went to Heaven.

Randy is so much more than "Short People", "I Love LA" and "Mama Told Me Not To Come", though it's all here. And so are some of my personal favorites like "I Wish It Would Rain Today", "Sail Away", "Guilty", "You Can Leave Your Hat On", "Rider In The Rain", some stuff from his masterwork "Faust" etc etc on ad infinitum. But Randy's even more than that...

He's a True American Treasure. A brilliant and prolific melodist, lyricist, arranger, showman, witty humorist and all-around "composer" in the strictest sense of the word, Randy is the quintessential storyteller/satirist/musician of contemporary American Music, ranking up there with the likes of Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, John Mellencamp and Tom Petty. No one can tug at your heartstrings one minute and have you scratching your head the next like Randy, and when he takes his teeth out and sits down at the piano, you know it's gonna be a good night.

Not everyone knows this, but everyone in the music business worldwide and us devotees, purists and appreciative audiophiles know it for sure, and here it is all in one set. THANK YOU RANDY, for putting it all together for us. A masterful job, great choice of material and stellar production, crisp, clean and to the point and beyond. We love you man, and keep the stuff coming!!

Well, first, Randy Newman is unbelievably talented. He is a song writer, a singer, and last but not least, a film composer. And what a composer he is! This multi talent has a family name, which can be a real pain in the ars. But Randy doesn't seem to be bothered by it at all. He wrote some of the most beautiful scores of the 80's and 90's. His music for Pleasantville should have won him an Oscar. But remember The Natural, Toy Story, Awakenings, just to name a few. This really nice compilation and anthology gives Newman the treatment he has long deserved. I love the title: Guilty: 30 years of Randy Newman. This man does not seem to take himself seriously. Yet his art is pretty serious, and he is aware of it very much. Randy Newman is there in the world of music, yet he is not there. You have to listen to this man to get to know him, and once you meet him, you do not want to part from him, he will be a friend of yours forever.
Randy Newman is right by the side of the greatest composers, such as Williams, Goldsmith, Bernstein or his late uncle Alfred Newman.
Buy this anthology and get to know this musical giant.

I've been a fan of Randy Newman since I first heard "short people" in 1973. He can blow you away with a lyric and suprise you again with his dark vision and light touch. I would love to buy him a beer and just listen all night.

I am buying three of these sets: one for me and two for my closest friends. On the list of recordings, I discovered that he had composed the scores for two of my favorite American films: The Natural and Avalon.

If I had to take three records to the legendary "desert island", they would include one from this set,(Oh hell, the whole set), Porgy and Bess by Miles Davis, and Glen Gould playing damned near anything by Bach.

I've been skydiving since 1953 and parachuting from fixed objects since 1968 (BASE). I've torn the holy bejesus out of my knees and the left one will be replaced in two weeks. If all goes well, I'll be in the hospital for seven to ten days, and recuperating for six months, and the pain will be made tolerable because I'm taking this collection and a walkman to the hospital. Heavy narcotics and great literature (Unabridged Books on Tape)and Randy will do me just fine. He's the Jewish James Crumley with a touch of Tom Leher's cloven hoof. Buy this. Listen carefully to what he says, or just enjoy the music. Either way you win.

And this set shows why. The dead- on pointedness in his lyrics of "Rednecks", "Birmingham", "Political Science" and "Little Criminals" is matched only by the haunting beauty of songs like the atmospheric and chilling "In Germany before the War". The best disc, though, has got to be the third; it contains demos and unreleased material that show a real artist doesn't need huge orchestras, remixes or backup singers; just a piano and a voice. In particular, the disc's "My Name is James" stands out as one of Randy's best "character" songs yet. While not admittedly for all tastes (Some may take offesnse especially to some of the "Good 'ol Boys" songs), it's quite possibly the best boxed set ever made, highlighting the best of a true American original.

I've been a Randy Newman fan "ever since there WUZ no Randy Newman," and so picture my delight when my very own kids bought me this boxed bonanza for Christmas (so I wouldn't have to). Randy Newman on the stereo on Christmas morning is about as Newmanesque a way to disturb the warmth of home and hearth as you can imagine. At one time or another I've owned every Newman album ever recorded, so I needed this collection like another hole in the head, but I have to recommend it as much for the surprisingly revealing biographical data as for the song selections. There are surprises here for even an old Newman trivialist like myself, and it was a relief to read of Randy's hardships as well as successes, since the dark side of this dark soul has too often been danced around in past articles and interviews. We learn that Randy's father, Irving Newman, MD, was an overbearing and cantankerous coot not above slugging it out with perfect strangers on public highways. We learn that the distracting eye condition Randy was born with, and the failed surgical attempt to correct it, may have helped to mold not only Newman's unique world view, but his discomfort with public attention. Interviewers (myself included) have generally conceded that "Randy Newman just can't look you in the eye," but then, why should he when he has such a gift for cutting straight to the heart with his nostalgic sentiments and shark-attack wit. Of the many selections in this package, my standouts are his 1962 demo Golden Gridiron Boy, a delight to hear at long last since throughout Newman's career it has appeared as nothing more than a musical history anecdote. Turns out it is a quite competent version of that idiotic pop sub-genre of the '50s and early '60s when unrequited love burned teenybopping hearts alive to the accompanyment of snickering female vocal backups. Then comes Jesus in the Summertime, the highly unlikely mock spirtual that has the distinction of having been so offensive to so many ears that a session musician actually walked out of the studio rather than play on it. Now THAT's chutzpah! Personally, I like it, and find nothing offensive about it, other than the fact that it has the name Jesus in the title. Finally, there's Laugh and Be Happy, an unfortunately incomplete demo that features Newman at his Tin-Pan-Alley best, with a catchy ragtime riff and a delightfully mocking lyric. This number is for my money one of the best tracks ever laid down by one of our most consistently rewarding, if challenging, singer-songwriters. Thanks for the memories, Randy!