The Randy Newman Songbook, Vol. 1
Although he's now best known as the curly haired Prince of Pixar (he's written hit songs for a number of animated blockbusters, includingToy Story 2andA Bug's Life, Randy Newman began his career as a misanthropic satirist and thwarted romantic. It’s this version of Newman who shows up forSongbook Vol. 1, revisiting 18 of his compositions, most written in the '60s or '70s, and all stripped down to just voice and piano. The idea is borrowed from vintage tributes to the masters, the "songbooks" ofJerome KernorCole Porter, usually interpreted by a great vocalist such asElla Fitzgerald. In Newman's case, it's hard to imagine anyone else singing a slave trader's smooth sales pitch ("Sail Away"), a deity's bemused take on mankind ("God's Song"), or a child murderer's creepy meditation ("In Germany Before the War"). Stripped of rock backbeats or orchestral sweetening, Newman's songs reveal their stark beauty and classic craftsmanship even more keenly. What may be most remarkable, however, is how prescient some of the songs seem now ("Lonely at the Top" predates the rise ofPeoplemagazine and a revolving cast of whining superstars by half-a-decade) and how timely some of its humor is. "Political Science" may have been written during the Vietnam War, but its clueless narrator ("No one likes us I don't know why/We may not be perfect but heaven knows we try") sounds a lot like a Bush Jr. cabinet member or this season's hottest Fox News pundit. Since the early '80s, Newman has focused the lion's share of his attention on soundtrack scores and sly but cuddly buddy songs.Songbook Vol. 1makes one wish Newman would devote more of his energies to writing new songs as topical, vibrant, and biting as his old ones.--Keith Moerer