Sail Away: The Songs of Randy Newman
Irony is a difficult concept to convey, especially in a musical context. Which makes covering Randy Newman, one of pop music's most devastatingly accurate ironists, such a difficult and thankless proposition. Harry Nilsson was one of the few to be successful at the task, on his classicNilsson Sings Newman, but, generally Newman's iconoclastic style--filled with the blackest of humor, witty sarcasm, and dry, scathing satire--doesn't lend itself well to cover versions. This collection wisely sticks to a vague concept: Southern musicians (as is New Orleans native Newman) tackling the songwriter's early work, which was largely about the South and its inhabitants. All of these tracks were written in the '70s, but the sociopolitical concepts of American imperialism ("Political Science"), Louisiana floodwaters ("Louisiana 1927"), callous politicians ("Mr. President [Have Pity on the Working Man])," and rednecks (well, "Rednecks") makes this music as pertinent today as when it was released. A few of these versions succeed due to the sympathetic nature of artists such as Sonny Landreth (who changes "cracker" to the more PC "Cajun and Creole man" in "Louisiana 1927"), Tim O'Brien ("Sail Away"), Kim Richey ("Texas Girl at the Funeral of Her Father"), and bluegrass icon Del McCoury ("Birmingham"). But generally, even intelligent musicians such as Steve Earle, Marc Broussard, and the Duhks, whose hearts are in the right place, can't extract the appropriate subtleties in the lyrics and music to accomplish anything other than sending listeners back to the source. Which might ultimately be the best result of this well-meaning but ultimately futile tribute to one of America's finest and most underappreciated songwriters.--Hal Horowitz