The Bottom Line
Pros
- "Sail Away" - Tim O'Brien
- "Birmingham" - Del McCoury Band
- "Rednecks" - Steve Earle
- "Mr. President (Have Pity On the Working Man)" - Sam Bush
- "Louisiana" - Sonny Landreth
Cons
- None
Description
- Newman's best work performed by some of the best contemporary folk & bluegrass players
- An honest record that sails through beautiful songs with melodic ease
- Steve Earle, Bela Fleck, Tim O'Brien, The Duhks, Sam Bush, Del McCoury Band, Kim Richey, and more
Guide Review - Sail Away: The Songs of Randy Newman
As Randy Newman has said himself, "If you don't listen close, I don't think my stuff is any good." Like Newman's own versions of his songs, this album is not intended for background music. If you're just going to put it on in the background at a party, it'll likely be met with wrinkled noses and a strong desire to change the music; but that's okay, because Randy Newman never wrote background-at-a-party music, except for, maybe, "Short People" (suspiciously absent from the track listing here).In fact, Steve Earle's version of "Rednecks" is so cleverly wrong, that if you don't listen closely enough, you just might think you're offended. The Duhks' fantastic cover of "Political Science" is as witty as Newman's own, and feels even more timely now than it did in 1972.
Other bright moments include every other song on the disc. Honestly, how could Tim O'Brien go wrong with "Sail Away," or Del McCoury with "Birmingham"? Sonny Landreth's version of "Louisiana" is already all over the radio.
Newman's gift for songwriting is unprecedented and often overlooked by anyone who's not a songwriter already; but with any luck, Sugar Hill's compilation will convince the non-songwriters of the world of Randy Newman's insurmountably tenacious, purposeful talent. If nothing else, at least it offers a dozen songs that celebrate the things Americans cherish most: love, sex, death, dissent, and rednecks.
