Sail Away: The Songs of Randy Newman

Randy Newman

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 9, 2006)
• Original Release Date: May 9, 2006
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sugarhill
• ASIN: B000F3UAC0
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #59,714 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Irony is a difficult concept to convey, especially in a musical context. Which makes covering Randy Newman, one of pop music's most devastatingly accurate ironists, such a difficult and thankless proposition. Harry Nilsson was one of the few to be successful at the task, on his classic Nilsson Sings Newman, but, generally Newman's iconoclastic style--filled with the blackest of humor, witty sarcasm, and dry, scathing satire--doesn't lend itself well to cover versions. This collection wisely sticks to a vague concept: Southern musicians (as is New Orleans native Newman) tackling the songwriter's early work, which was largely about the South and its inhabitants. All of these tracks were written in the '70s, but the sociopolitical concepts of American imperialism ("Political Science"), Louisiana floodwaters ("Louisiana 1927"), callous politicians ("Mr. President [Have Pity on the Working Man])," and rednecks (well, "Rednecks") makes this music as pertinent today as when it was released. A few of these versions succeed due to the sympathetic nature of artists such as Sonny Landreth (who changes "cracker" to the more PC "Cajun and Creole man" in "Louisiana 1927"), Tim O'Brien ("Sail Away"), Kim Richey ("Texas Girl at the Funeral of Her Father"), and bluegrass icon Del McCoury ("Birmingham"). But generally, even intelligent musicians such as Steve Earle, Marc Broussard, and the Duhks, whose hearts are in the right place, can't extract the appropriate subtleties in the lyrics and music to accomplish anything other than sending listeners back to the source. Which might ultimately be the best result of this well-meaning but ultimately futile tribute to one of America's finest and most underappreciated songwriters. --Hal Horowitz

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Surprisingly weak and ill-conceived..., May 19, 2006

By	Sound/Word Enthusiast (Rhode Island, USA) - See all my reviews

...an interesting idea -- round up a bunch of roots/bluegrass/Americana artists (mind you, mostly from the browner side of the pasture -- aside from the Duhks) to pay tribute to Randy Newman. Newman is as much a storyteller as he is a songwriter -- his compositions rich with a peerlessly literary degree of insight and an almost cinematic sense of emotion and tension. He's had a few well-known numbers, but he's basically been an underground/cult artist for the past four decades...aside from his work scoring films and writing music for animated features.

But this disk...first problem is a hakneyed song selection. Considering the consistant quality of Newman's output, here the producer (or the artists) have settled on a set of Newman's most familiar cuts. No interesting obscurities, no uncovered gems. And they ARE out there. I mean, do we really have to hear "You Can Leave Your Hat On" again??? Especially a hammy version like this one? It's one of Newman's least interesting...why doesn't someone take a stab at "Beehive State"? "Vine Street" Anything from his brilliant recent disk "Bad Love"? Despite the fact that Newman's been doing good stuff in the '80s and '90s, no one attempts a tune made after 1977. Strikes me as laziness. Yawn. Kim Richey's choice of "Texas Girl at the Funeral of Her Father" is as by far the most intriguing choice...

With that complaint out of the way, even if these were interesting selections, the performances are thoroughly uninspired. Lackluster. Adequate. Bela Fleck's instrumental run through of "Burn On" is pretty cool, but that's it. Most of the other folks either try to ape Newman's own delivery (bad idea) or just kinda bland their way through the songs...taking them so literally that the songs limp lifelessly to a close...

Not the best way to honor Newman...but maybe this is all part of his own sense of misanthropy and self-sabatoge. I don't know.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars good cover album, June 18, 2006

By	Michael P. Maslanka (dallas, texas United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Hearing these cover songs is like hearing the song for the first time---different voices, different interpretations. Rednecks has a gritty anger that you don't hear in newman's original. Sail Away is done justice with its slow, lyrical beat and its understated tone contrasts with its subject, making you pay attention and listen. A fine effort that's worth a listen.