Live
After two vastly contrasting LPs, Reprise filled the gap between Randy Newman's studio stays with this 1970 solo concert recording from the Bitter End in New York. Constructed around five songs from theeponymous first albumand four from the second LP (12 Songs), it's rounded out with two selections that would later appear onSail Away, another Newman didn't polish in the studio until 1977'sLittle Criminals("I'll Be Home"), and two trifles--"Tickle Me" and "Maybe I'm Doing It Wrong"--that didn't turn up until 1998's four-disc box set,Guilty.Livehas a modest, intimate appeal, but with all that redundancy, it's ultimately not essential.--Steven Stolder