Randy Newman Guitar Songbook (Guitar Tab) (Guitar-Tab Edition) [Paperback]

Randy Newman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 31, 2006 | Series: Guitar-Tab Edition

Arranged for Guitar Tablature & Standard Notation With Lyrics. Arrangements and transcriptions by Hemme Luttjeboer, with Jim Moran and Randy Newman. 20 songs from the award wining composer transcribed and arranged for the first time for guitar. Foreword by Randy Newman. Contents: Baltimore, Birmingham, Burn On, Feels Like Home, Guilty, I Love L.A., I Love To See You Smile, I Miss You, I Think It's Going To Rain Today, Living Without You, Lonely At The Top, Louisiana 1927, Mama Told Me Not To Come, Marie, Political Science, Rednecks, Sail Away, Short People, You Can Leave Your Hat On, You've Got A Friend In Me.

Product Details

• Paperback: 112 pages
• Publisher: Alfred Publishing (January 31, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0757937187
• ISBN-13: 978-0757937187
• Product Dimensions: 11.8 x 8.8 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #224,820 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally, the perfect book for a guitar playing Newman fan, October 25, 2006

By 

Jimmy Nashville "eclectic guitar fan" (Music City, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Randy Newman Guitar Songbook (Guitar Tab) (Guitar-Tab Edition) (Paperback)

The Randy Newman Guitar Songbook is a wonderful collection of Newman's most popular (by Randy Newman's standards!) and acclaimed songs. Would be of value for any musician, as it contains several songs not found in the Randy Newman Anthology Vol. 1 or Vol. 2 folios, but it's especially a treat for his guitar playing fans. The selection of material is first-rate, spanning Newman's career from his first LP through his recent work for Pixar Films. It includes his vintage but incredibly timely classics "Political Science" and "Louisiana, 1927", among other timeless gems. According to the publisher's notes, Randy had a direct hand in developing this folio, including song selection and approval of the charts. Newman's classically inspired piano style is nicely suited to the guitar, as seen in several of these transcriptions, and his rock/shuffle material also works smoothly. The arrangements are mostly intermediate level, incorporating very nice authentic chord voicings and accurate melodies for all the essential riffs. Arranged in standard notation and guitar tablature, the material is easily accessible for both the studied and the casual guitarist. The riffs are great fun to play, but it's also rewarding just to play the accompanying chords in their proper voicing. This book seems like a can't miss for any Randy Newman fan, and is highly recommended. Be nice to your guitarist pals and turn them on to it, they'll thank you.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Just Fine (but note that...), February 14, 2008

By 

HiddenMick (California, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Randy Newman Guitar Songbook (Guitar Tab) (Guitar-Tab Edition) (Paperback)

Five stars, since this is probably the first and only book to present Randy Newman music for the guitar. Also, since I agree with the positive things said in the previous review, I'll focus on something of a negative, so that the handful of consumers interested in this book have a better idea of what it contains. It seems that the authors tried to transcribe the original piano from the recordings directly onto guitar, but with with no embellishment; this is very faithful to the music and respectful to the composer. However, this means that for some of the tunes, the fingerpicking tab (and notation) drops out and you're left with chord slashes. It also means that for most of these tunes, you're playing an accompaniment, not chords *and* melody, as you would in a full fingerstyle arrangement. That is, if you want lyric melody as you play, you'll have to sing it (either out loud or in your head). But a lot of fingerstyle players are used to playing both at the same time. Here you're often just picking out chords (which are great to see - the book gives even long-time fans greater appreciation for what Randy does differently from his '60s and '70s peers). So, if you you want your guitar to sound very close to what the piano is doing in "Lonely at the Top," or in the intro to "Rednecks," or in "I Think It's Going to Rain Today" get this book. But what works on piano doesn't automatically work on guitar (though sometimes it does, surely); what the authors didn't do was take these songs and make guitar music out of it; that is, they didn't use the original tunes as a jumping off point to create something that while still Randy Newman music, is also something unique to the guitar, exploiting the unique qualities of the guitar and the things it can do. That might seem like a minor quibble, but there are plenty of tab books that do this for other composers/types of music and good fingerstyle players/authors who could do this, and actually this was what I was hoping for here (perhaps unreasonably) and didn't get. Maybe that approach would have made the arrangements more difficult, but that would have been better. On the other hand, this book has gotten the seal of approval from the great composer himself who, in his intro, thanks the authors for their creative interpretations. But he then goes on to confess that the guitar mystifies him. Hmm.

Naturally this kind of book is for very casual players who (like me) are pathetic when it comes to figuring out tunes on their own. So on that level, I'm very happy to have it, and appreciative of what the authors did. But honestly, I think there's room in the market for another book - something like "Randy Newman for Fingerstyle Guitar" or "Randy Newman for Solo Guitar." This book is neither of those things.

4.0 out of 5 stars Thank you Randy from guitar players, May 24, 2009

By 

Billy Nines (usa) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Randy Newman Guitar Songbook (Guitar Tab) (Guitar-Tab Edition) (Paperback)

Long overdue help for guitarists who want to perform Randy Newman songs, and some care has actually been taken to ensure accuracy and voicings that approximate the piano parts. Some of the chordings seem impossible which makes me wonder if they were transcribed by a guitar player. Selection of songs is excellent (for me).