Randy Newman (album)
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''Randy Newman'' is the debut
studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...
by American singer-songwriter
Randy Newman Randall Stuart Newman (born November 28, 1943) is an American singer-songwriter, arranger, composer, and pianist known for his Southern American English, Southern-accented singing style, early Americana (music), Americana-influenced songs (often ...
, released in 1968 by
Reprise Records Reprise Records is an American record label founded in 1960 by Frank Sinatra. It is owned by Warner Music Group, and operates through Warner Records, one of its flagship labels. Artists currently signed to Reprise Records include Enya, Michael ...
. The album is sometimes referred to as ''Randy Newman Creates Something New Under the Sun'', written on the reverse of the album sleeve. Newman had been a noted songwriter for some years prior to the release of his debut, which was advertised as sounding "like a greatest hits". In contrast to his later albums which usually feature Newman and his piano with a
rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
backing, ''Randy Newman'' is highly orchestral. ''Randy Newman'' was not a commercial success. It never dented the ''
Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
'' Top 200 ; indeed, according to Ken Tucker, the album sold so poorly that Warner offered buyers the opportunity to trade the album for another in the company's catalog. The album was out of print for over 15 years until it was issued on CD in 1995,
remaster Remaster refers to changing the quality of the sound or of the image, or both, of previously created recordings, either audiophonic, cinematic, or videographic. The terms digital remastering and digitally remastered are also used. Mastering A ...
ed by Lee Herschberg. ''Randy Newman'' has received critical attention in recent years. In 2000, it was placed number 716 in
Colin Larkin Colin Larkin (born 1949) is a British writer and entrepreneur. He founded, and was the editor-in-chief of, the ''Encyclopedia of Popular Music'', described by ''The Times'' as "the standard against which all others must be judged". Along wit ...
's ''
All Time Top 1000 Albums ''All Time Top 1000 Albums'' is a book by Colin Larkin, creator and editor of the ''Encyclopedia of Popular Music''. The book was first published by Guinness Publishing in 1994. The list presented is the result of over 200,000 votes cast by the ...
''. In 2017, the album was ranked the 97th greatest album of the 1960s by '' Pitchfork''.


Details

Newman later commented on the lack of influence from rock and roll on the album.
"It's like I'd never heard
The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically d ...
. I thought you could move things along just with the orchestra, that it was somehow cheating to use drums. What
Van Dyke Van Dyke, VanDyke or Vandyke is an Americanized or anglicized form of the Dutch-language toponymic surname ''Van Dijk'', ''Van Dijke'', ''Van Dijck'', or '' Van Dyck''. Meaning living near the dike. Van Dyke, VanDyke or Vandyke may refer to: As a ...
and I, and Harry Nilsson to some degree, were doing, it was like a branch of homo sapiens that didn't become homo sapiens. Homo erectus," he said.
Newman said in 2017, that he signed away the publishing rights on his first album, does not see any money from people doing covers of those songs, and advised people getting into the business to never sign away their publishing.


Previous versions of songs on this album

As with many of Newman's early albums, several Newman-penned songs had been previously recorded by other artists. *"
I Think It's Going to Rain Today "I Think It's Going to Rain Today" (or "I Think It's Gonna Rain Today") is a song by American singer-songwriter Randy Newman. It appears on Julius La Rosa's 1966 album ''You're Gonna Hear from Me'', Eric Burdon's 1967 album ''Eric Is Here'', on N ...
", was originally recorded and released by Julius LaRosa in 1966. It had also been covered in 1966/67 by
Judy Collins Judith Marjorie Collins (born May 1, 1939) is an American singer-songwriter and musician with a career spanning seven decades. An Academy Award-nominated documentary director and a Grammy Award-winning recording artist, she is known for her ec ...
, Eric Burdon, and others. *"Living Without You" was issued as a single (under the title "So Hard Living Without You") by Keith Shields in February 1967. *"Love Story" was released as a single by The Brothers in August 1967. *"So Long Dad" was released as a single by
Manfred Mann Manfred Mann were an English rock band, formed in London and active between 1962 and 1969. The group were named after their keyboardist Manfred Mann, who later led the successful 1970s group Manfred Mann's Earth Band. The band had two differen ...
in September 1967. * The
Alan Price Set Alan Price (born 19 April 1942) is an English musician. He was the original keyboardist for the British band the Animals before he left to form his own band the Alan Price Set. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994 as a m ...
issued recordings of "Living Without You", "Bet No One Ever Hurt This Bad" (as "No One Ever Hurt So Bad") and "So Long Dad" on their 1967 album ''A Price On His Head''.


Singles

"I Think It's Going to Rain Today" b/w "The Beehive State" was issued as a single on Reprise 0284. Reprise also issued this single on a promotional 10" vinyl 78 rpm record as the first (and only) release under their proposed "Reprise Speed Series" of 78 RPM releases (the series was discontinued by Reprise due to a lack of interest and sales a few months after this release).


Reception

''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
'' noted, "the mood of a bitter longing for affection" that characterizes the album. Denny Cordell has called Newman “the foremost practitioner of suburban blues,” and certainly “Love Story” is the blues of Middle America. The song marks out a simple pattern of life: boy meets girl, gets married, lives in suburbia, has children, dies. Randy moves in on The Dream in an uncommon way: “When our kids are grown/They’ll send us away to a little home in Florida/ We’ll play checkers all day/Till we pass away.”"


Legacy

Critic Ellen Willis feels that the songs on the album, "show an intimate familiarity with, and an affection for, all the nuances of American life - the setting and characters, the family relationships, the romantic fantasies, the euphemisms - as well as an unsparing awareness of our oppression of old people, fat people, and other nonmainstream types." William Ruhlmann in an
AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
retrospective review feels that Newman's lyrics are "intent upon taking clichés and using them to satirize social conventions, a popular parlor game in the late '60s." Overall he considers the album "an audacious first album by a major, if extremely quirky, talent." In 2000 it was voted number 716 in
Colin Larkin Colin Larkin (born 1949) is a British writer and entrepreneur. He founded, and was the editor-in-chief of, the ''Encyclopedia of Popular Music'', described by ''The Times'' as "the standard against which all others must be judged". Along wit ...
's ''
All Time Top 1000 Albums ''All Time Top 1000 Albums'' is a book by Colin Larkin, creator and editor of the ''Encyclopedia of Popular Music''. The book was first published by Guinness Publishing in 1994. The list presented is the result of over 200,000 votes cast by the ...
''.


Track listing

All songs written and arranged by Randy Newman. #"Love Story (You and Me)" – 3:20 #"Bet No One Ever Hurt This Bad" – 2:00 #"Living Without You" – 2:25 #"So Long Dad" – 2:02 #"I Think He's Hiding" – 3:04 #"Linda" – 2:27 #"Laughing Boy" – 1:55 #"Cowboy" – 2:36 #"The Beehive State" – 1:50 #"
I Think It's Going to Rain Today "I Think It's Going to Rain Today" (or "I Think It's Gonna Rain Today") is a song by American singer-songwriter Randy Newman. It appears on Julius La Rosa's 1966 album ''You're Gonna Hear from Me'', Eric Burdon's 1967 album ''Eric Is Here'', on N ...
" – 2:55 #"Davy the Fat Boy" – 2:50


Personnel

;Technical *Lee Herschberg – engineer, supervisor * Tommy LiPuma – engineer * Ed Thrasher – art direction * Guy Webster – cover photography


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Randy Newman (album) 1968 debut albums Randy Newman albums Albums produced by Lenny Waronker Reprise Records albums Albums produced by Van Dyke Parks