For more than 35 years, Bruce Springsteen has set a standard of consistent excellence that few other rock and roll artists could ever hope to match. He has written so many great songs, as both a solo artist and with the E Street Band, that it would seem almost impossible to try and rank those classics one against another. And yet one fan was daring enough, or maybe foolhardy enough, to try.
Levon Helm's voice is nothing short of a national treasure. It should be protected by the government as if it's an endangered species.
Randy Newman - Memo To My Son The Mud Hut
I promised something about Randy Newman, so here it is, my second-to-last post ever (?) on this blog. Here's an amusing video that sums up the dilemma of being Randy Newman quite well (almost as well as Greil Marcus's musings on the man in Mystery Train ): Newman has long been the unsung genius of pop songwriting. When The Chills wrote "Song for Randy Newman Etc." they placed him in a pop landscape that included Brian Wilson, Scott Walker and Nick Drake. You might call him the original [...]
![Jon Hardy And The Public: Little Criminals [Video]](http://cdn.elbo.ws/posts/1784690_lg.jpg)
Jon Hardy And The Public have ventured into interesting territory - releasing a four-song cover EP filled solely by tracks from singer/songwriter Randy Newman. No surprise: the songs sound nothing like Newman. Actually, "Little Criminals" sounds more like The Walkmen than anything else (except, of course, Jon Hardy And The Public). Like Ultimate Reality by Dan Deacon, this video should come with a disclaimer. The visual elements are trippy and consistently screw with the eyes. Despite being entirely black and white. The best cover songs have [...]
NEVER TELL YOUR MOTHER SHE'S OUT OF TUNE Jack Bruce Songs For a Tailor Atco : 1969 [Buy It] YOU SAY YOU TRUST YOUR MOTHER Swamp Dogg 1972 Available on : Excellent Sides of Swamp Dogg, Vol. 2 S.D.E.G. : 2001 [Buy It] MY MOTHER WAS A FRIEND OF THE ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE Blurt 1980 Available on : The Best of Blurt Vol. 1: The Fish Needs a Bike [...]
Three Dog Night: Mama Told Me Not to Come [ purchase ] Randy Newman: Mama Told Me Not to Come [ purchase ] Am I the last person on the planet to learn that Randy Newman wrote this song ?!? - don't answer that... :-) In doing a bit of research , I see that Eric Burdon & The Animals released the tune in the late-60's... but my first awareness of it [...]
Randy Newman is an amazing songwriter. I have no idea how he comes up with his songs… and I'm sure I'll be searching my whole life for that answer. His work with Pixar has been sensational, and I must admit that I look forward to hearing a new tune of his with every film. "Louisiana 1927″, off of Good Old Boys, tells the story of the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, a disaster that left about 700,000 people homeless and stranded in both Louisiana and Mississippi. The song resurfaced when Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005. I remember playing [...]
Randy Newman is an amazing songwriter. I have no idea how he comes up with his songs… and I'm sure I'll be searching my whole life for that answer. His work with Pixar has been sensational, and I must admit that I look forward to hearing a new tune of his with every film. "Louisiana 1927″, off of Good Old Boys, tells the story of the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, a disaster that left about 700,000 people homeless and stranded in both Louisiana and Mississippi. The song resurfaced when Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005. I remember playing [...]
There was a guy in high school, Mark, who always smelled of smoke from the pack of Parliament Lights he kept on him. He was a black belt in karate, had a twin sister, and our senior year, he convinced me to sing the national anthem with him at a girl's volleyball game. With arms around one another, each with one hand on the cordless microphone, our bass voices spit out the most horrendously offensive version of the "Star Spangled Banner" since Roseanne. We had practiced singing together only two times, both of which were in my Jeep on the [...]
Welcome back to Almost Famous, where we select one lucky Uncensored Interviewee who we deem to be on the verge of spreading beyond our illustrious tastemaking boundaries and taking over the cultural zeitgeist at large in the coming months. The act of releasing an album on Sufjan Stevens ' Asthmatic Kitty label is equivalent to the having the VIP-ist laminate of them all at SXSW, and DM Stith's new Heavy Ghost album, released March 10, has those highest of the high credentials. I mean, one song alone, "Pity Dance," features insprirational boost [...]
Randy Newman - Last Night I Had a Dream "You know what my name is..."
The Family Guy spoof be damned-- Newman's contributions to the American songbook are perfectly invaluable.
It goes without saying that gospel music is a fundamental building block of soul. Some of soul's most iconic artists – Sam Cooke, Aretha Franklin and Al Green – sang gospel, were raised in it, or left secular music to go back to it. Simply put, it was part of the fiber of their being. And the importance of the church in African-American life has been historically paramount – especially during the years of Jim Crow and segregation. Etta James was trained in gospel, and perhaps that's why hearing her 1973 cover of [...]
We wouldn't be doing our job as a music blog if we didn't mention this year's SXSW and how we are not there. We are in the internet, not Texas. NewVillager are there though, spreading their joyous, psychedelic chant-pop throughout Austin's dusty, booze-stained streets. Read about them at our NME blog, and after the jump they answer our three little questions.
If I was on that desert island that old record lovers talk about, and I had only one record to lay my head on at night, Nilsson Sings Newman might be it. That or Reign In Blood . Randy Newman wrote some unbelievably sharp, deeply felt music, but sometimes, you know, his voice and personality might give a person the oogies. But with our dear, dear Harry on vocals there's nothing to keep the possibly uptight listener from falling, falling, laughing, and weeping. Five stars and two thumbs up ! [...]
Randy has a voice that works for any audience. I think his varied and rather awesome body of works helps prove this: ex 1. ex 2. ex 3. I hate to bring it up again (does every record I listen to have Clarence White on it?) but gaddang I love the original Old Kentucky Home with many renewed thanks to cw (I've always been more...
Everyone and their dog got sick of these best-of lists weeks ago, but I couldn't be a self-respecting blogger if I didn't throw mine out there. Late though it may be, it has the advantage that I at least waited until the year was actually over – any record that comes out in December is screwed in most of these lists. Though, looking over my selec tion, I didn't actually pick any December albums, so… In fact, what didn't make the cut is as notable here as what did. Much-hyped [...]
Amigo Studios was opened on Compston Avenue in North Hollywood in the mid 1960's by legendary producer Snuff Garrett. He used the facility while working as the staff producer and head of A&R at Liberty Records (during which time he hired Phil Spector as a producer.) Garrett was the man behind a number of Bobby Vee 's hits (including Devil or Angel and Rubber Ball ) as well as sides for the Ventures , Sonny and Cher , Gene McDaniels and Sonny Curtis . Garrett also signed J.J. [...]
Everyone thinks i'm crazy, all I said last night on the way home from the airport was how much I love LA. I <3 Traffic, and Smog, and Dillusion. I love it all. At least Randy Newman feels me. Looks like another perfect day... I LOVE LA Also soundtrack to my XMAS EVE = The Shortwave Set - Now Til 69 (aeroplane rmx) (divshare linky) Tags: Dodger Games , i-love-la , Randy newman , Video Related [...]
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[Listen] Azealia Banks - '1991' (EP Stream)
Music Singles Chart #109
The Killers Reveal Details Of Fourth Album
Disclosure – What’s In Your Head
