''Harps and Angels'' is the 10th studio album by Randy Newman. It was released on August 5,

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

,''Billboard.com'' - Randy Newman Returns With First Album in Nine Years (May 2, 2008)
/ref> and was produced by

Mitchell Froom Mitchell Froom (born June 29, 1953) is an American musician and record producer. He was a member of the bands Gamma and Latin Playboys, and is currently the keyboardist for Crowded House. He has produced albums for several artists, including R ...

and Lenny Waronker. It contains two updated versions of previously released compositions. “Feels Like Home” originally appeared on his musical album ''

Randy Newman's Faust ''Randy Newman's Faust'' is a 1995 musical by American musician and songwriter Randy Newman, who based the work on the classic story of ''Faust'', borrowing elements from the version by Goethe, as well as Milton's ''Paradise Lost'', but updatin ...

'', and a demo of "Laugh and be Happy" was included in the box set '' Guilty: 30 Years of Randy Newman''.''Billboard.com'' - Randy Newman Readies Solo Tour, New Album (September 21, 2006)
/ref>

Reception

''Harps and Angels'' debuted on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...

at #46. It placed 12th in the 2008 Pazz & Jop Critics Poll, and it made #48 in '' Qs 50 Best Albums of the Year 2008. The song "A Few Words in Defense of Our Country" was named the sixth best song of the 2000s decade by music critic Robert Christgau.

Track listing

All songs written and arranged by Randy Newman # "Harps and Angels" - 5:07 # "Losing You" - 2:41 # "Laugh and Be Happy" - 2:17 # "A Few Words in Defense of Our Country" - 4:14 # "A Piece of the Pie" - 2:41 # "Easy Street" - 3:14 # "Korean Parents" - 3:26 # "Only a Girl" - 2:45 # "Potholes" - 3:39 # " Feels Like Home" - 4:37

Musicians

*Randy Newman - pianist and bandleader *

Greg Cohen Greg Cohen (born July 13, 1953) is an American jazz bassist who has been a member of John Zorn's Masada quartet and worked with numerous other noted musicians for over four decades. Career Cohen plays traditional jazz and other styles, includin ...

- bass *Steve Donnelly - guitar * Pete Thomas - drums *

Greg Leisz Gregory Brian Leisz ( ; born September 18, 1949) is an American musician. He is a songwriter, recording artist, and producer. He plays guitar, dobro, mandolin, lap steel and pedal steel guitar. Biography Leisz grew up in the garage band cultu ...

- pedal steel guitar and acoustic slide guitar *

- keyboard and organ *Violins: Roger Wilkie (concertmaster), Eun-Mee Ahn, Jacqueline Brand, Kevin Connolly, Joel Derouin, Julie Ann Gigante, Natalie Leggett, Helen Nightengale, Alyssa Park, Sara Parkins, Katia Popov, Rafael Rishik, Anatoly Rosinsky, Marc Sazer, Tereza Stanislav, Lisa M. Sutton, Sarah Thornblade, Irina Voloshina *Violas: Brian Dembow (first viola), Robert Berg, Thomas Diener, Steven Gordon, Roland Kato, Darrin McCann, Victoria Miskolczy, Michael Nowak, Shanti Randall, David Walther *Violoncelli: Dennis Karmazyn (first cello),

Antony Cooke Antony Cooke (born 3 August 1948, in Sydney, Australia), is an American cellist, recording artist, former university professor, composer, and author of published books and articles on musicology and astronomy. Cooke's formal music and musicolog ...

, Steve Erdody, Christine Ermacoff, Armen Ksajikian, Andrew Shulman, David Speltz, Cecelia Tsan *Bass violins: Michael Valerio (first bass violin), Drew Dembowski, Edward Meares, Susan Ranney *Flutes: James Walker, Norda Mullen, Geraldine Rotella, David Shostac *Clarinets: Gary Boyver, Stuart Clark, Donald Foster, Marty Krystall *Saxophones: Daniel Higgins, Gary Foster, Greg Huckins, Bill Liston, Brian Scanlon *Oboes: Thomas Boyd, Leslie Reed *Bassoons: Kenneth Munday, Michael O'Donovan, Judith Farmer *French horns: James Thatcher, Mark Adams, Richard Todd *Trumpets: Warren Luening, Malcolm McNab, Daniel Fornero, Jon Lewis, Timothy Morrison *Trombones: William Booth,

Bruce Fowler Bruce Lambourne Fowler (born July 10, 1947) is an American trombonist and composer. He played trombone on many Frank Zappa records, as well as with Captain Beefheart and in the Fowler Brothers Band. He composes and arranges music for movies, ...

, Alesander Iles, William Reichenbach, George Thatcher *Tuba: Doug Tornquist *Percussion (including mallets): Alan Estes, Gregory Goodall *Harps: Jo Ann Turovsky, Allison Allport *Accordion: Frank Marocco *Background vocals: Carmen Carter, Tim Davis, Luana Jackman, Steve Jackson, Rick Logan, Susan Stevens Logan, Fletcher Sheridan, Oren Waters, Terry Woods

Album credits

*Produced by Mitchell Froom and Lenny Waronker *Engineered by David Boucher *Recorded at Sunset Sound Studios in Hollywood and at The Newman Stage, Twentieth Century Fox Studios in Beverly Hills *Mixed at Tea Time Studios in Santa Monica *Mastered by Robert C. Ludwig at Gateway Mastering Studios in Portland, Maine *Randy Newman's personal manager: Cathy Kerr Management, Inc. of Los Angeles *Angry Belgians on "A Piece of the Pie": Kathie Van Kerckhoven and Jeremy Altervain *Happy immigrants on "Laugh and Be Happy": Los Amigos Locos del Este *Orchestral contractor: Sandy DeCrescent *Music preparation: Jo Ann Kane Music Services *Vocal contractor: Luana Jackman *Album photography: Autumn De Wilde *Stock photography for booklet by Jupiterimages (page 8), Perry Mastrovito (outside inlay), and Photo 24 (inside inlay) *Art direction and design: Barbara De Wilde *Production manager for Nonesuch Records: Eli Cane *Editorial coordinator for Nonesuch Records: Ronen Givony *Executive in charge of production for Nonesuch Records: Karina Beznicki *Executive producer: Robert Hurwitz

References

{{Authority control Randy Newman albums 2008 albums Albums produced by Mitchell Froom Albums produced by Lenny Waronker Nonesuch Records albums Albums recorded at Sunset Sound Recorders