The Randy Newman Songbook Vol. 1
| The Randy Newman Songbook Vol. 1 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Studio album by Randy Newman | ||||
| Released | September 30, 2003 | |||
| Recorded | January-February 2003 | |||
| Studio | Conway Studios | |||
| Genre | Singer-songwriter | |||
| Label | Nonesuch Records | |||
| Producer | Mitchell Froom | |||
| Randy Newman chronology | ||||
|
||||
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   |
The Randy Newman Songbook Vol. 1 contains newly recorded, stripped-down versions of some of Newman's best-known songs, performed by Randy Newman singing and playing the piano without accompaniment.
The album spans a 33-year period, from early songs like "I Think It's Going to Rain Today" and "Living Without You" to "The World Isn't Fair" from his Bad Love album (1999). Also included are three instrumental extracts from his film scores.
Re-recording older songs forced Newman to reassess his previous work. "I was surprised at the consistency. Whether good or bad, there were no real jumps in quality or drop-offs that I could tell when I listened to it. There were no real bad surprises. A lot of things I would have done differently, in terms of tempo or arrangement."
Newman said the album was different to his other work. "It's sort of an ugly Norah Jones record. You can put it on and eat potato chips and drink Pepsi to it, unlike my other records," he said.
All tracks composed and arranged by Randy Newman
Randy Newman - vocals, piano
A line in "It's Money That I Love" was changed from "it'll get you a half-pound of cocaine And a sixteen-year-old girl" to "it'll get you a half-pound of cocaine And a nineteen-year-old girl" (in the USA, the age of consent varies between sixteen and eighteen on a state-by-state basis).
...
Wikipedia