The Randy Newman Songbook (4-LP Set)

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Release Date
DescriptionExcerpt

The four-LP box set The Randy Newman Songbook marks the first vinyl release of the Songbook series—solo recordings of songs from throughout Newman's five-decade career. The first two volumes are joined by 16 additional songs from a new third volume, along with five bonus tracks, in a new, thematic sequencing, to create this complete Songbook set. The Associated Press has said: "Few singer-songwriters could inject more new life into solo piano versions of their work than Randy Newman." 

Description

Nonesuch Records releases the four-LP, vinyl-only, limited-edition The Randy Newman Songbook box set on September 23, 2016. Nonesuch's Randy Newman Songbook series—comprising solo recordings of songs from throughout Newman's five-decade career—previously included two volumes, released on CD in 2003 and 2011; the box set marks their first release on vinyl. Sixteen additional songs from a newly released third volume, along with five bonus tracks ("Feels Like Home," "A Wedding in Cherokee County," "Family Album: Homage to Alfred, Emil and Lionel Newman," "I'm Dreaming," and "Wandering Boy"), join those first two volumes in a new, thematic sequencing, to create this new complete Songbook box set. Mitchell Froom produced The Randy Newman Songbook, Vol. 1 and was joined on Vol. 2 and Vol. 3 by Newman's lifelong friend and colleague Lenny Waronker. (The Randy Newman Songbook box set will be released on CD and digital formats in late 2016.)

The Randy Newman Songbook, Vol. 3 also is available on September 23 as a stand-alone CD and digital album. 

The New York Times said of the first volume of The Randy Newman Songbook: "The great craftsmanship is more apparent in the stripped-down context," and the Associated Press said, "Few singer-songwriters could inject more new life into solo piano versions of their work than Randy Newman." The UK's Uncut called Vol. 2 "another subtly sublime stroll through the master's back catalogue," noting that Newman is "owner of a peerless canon," and that the album "isolates his full range of qualities: the improbable juxtapositions of caustic topicality and heart-wrenching universality, the concise character studies, and singing and piano playing that seem to emanate from the very fabric of America."

After starting his songwriting career as a teenager, Newman began recording as a singer and pianist in 1968 with his self-titled album. Throughout the 1970s he released several other acclaimed albums such as: 12 Songs, Sail Away, and Good Old Boys. In addition to his solo recordings and regular international touring, Newman began composing and scoring for films in the 1980s. The list of movies he has worked on since then includes The Natural, Awakenings, Ragtime, all three Toy Story pictures, Seabiscuit, James and the Giant Peach, A Bug's Life, and most recently, Disney/Pixar's Monsters University, the prequel to Monsters Inc. (which he also scored).

Randy Newman's many honors include six Grammys, three Emmys, and two Academy Awards. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2002 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2013—the same year he was given an Ivor Novello PRS for Music Special International Award. Mostly recently, Newman was presented with a PEN New England Song Lyrics of Literary Excellence Award in June 2014.

The highly praised 2008 Harps and Angels was Newman's first album of new material since 1999. The Austin Chronicle wrote "the characters are memorable, the satire sharp, the music luxurious, and the arrangements maybe the most gorgeous in all pop music." It was followed in 2011 by Vol. 2 of the Songbook series and a live CD and DVD recorded at London's intimate LSO St. Luke's, where he was accompanied by the BBC Concert Orchestra conducted by Robert Ziegler. Newman is currently working on his next album of new material, which Nonesuch will release in 2017.

ProductionCredits

PRODUCTION CREDITS
Co-produced by Mitchell Froom and Lenny Waronker
Recorded 2003 & 2010 at Conway Recording Studios, Hollywood, CA
Engineer: David C. Boucher
Assistant Engineer in 2003: Seth Waldmann
Mixed at Sound Factory, Hollywood, CA & Tea Time Studios, Santa Monica, CA
Engineer: David C. Boucher
Assistant Engineer at Sound Factory: Steven Rhodes
Mastered by Robert C. Ludwig at Gateway Mastering Studios, Portland, ME

Art Direction & Design by Michael Carney
Photograph by Mark Sennet

Executive Producers: Robert Hurwitz and Cathy Kerr

Nonesuch Selection Number

550735

ns_album_releasedate
Album Status
Artist Name
Randy Newman
MusicianDetails

MUSICIANS
Randy Newman, piano and vocals

Cover Art
UPC/Price
Label
4LP+MP3
UPC
075597949575
  • 550735

News & Reviews

  • Randy Newman is the guest on the season four finale of the podcast Score. He talks with hosts Robert Kraft and Kenny Holmes about his film music, his family's film scoring legacy, and more. You can watch their conversation here.

  • Randy Newman’s eight-LP box set Roll with the Punches: The Studio Albums (1979–2017), first released for Records Store Day's RSD Drop in July, is now available in limited supply in the Nonesuch Store as well. The set contains Randy Newman's latest seven studio albums—Born Again, Trouble in Paradise, Land of Dreams, Faust, Bad Love (on vinyl for the first time), Harps and Angels, and Dark Matter—on 140-gram vinyl, featuring original album jackets, lyric/credit sheets, and Faust demos. You can take a look inside here.

  • About This Album

    Nonesuch Records releases the four-LP, vinyl-only, limited-edition The Randy Newman Songbook box set on September 23, 2016. Nonesuch's Randy Newman Songbook series—comprising solo recordings of songs from throughout Newman's five-decade career—previously included two volumes, released on CD in 2003 and 2011; the box set marks their first release on vinyl. Sixteen additional songs from a newly released third volume, along with five bonus tracks ("Feels Like Home," "A Wedding in Cherokee County," "Family Album: Homage to Alfred, Emil and Lionel Newman," "I'm Dreaming," and "Wandering Boy"), join those first two volumes in a new, thematic sequencing, to create this new complete Songbook box set. Mitchell Froom produced The Randy Newman Songbook, Vol. 1 and was joined on Vol. 2 and Vol. 3 by Newman's lifelong friend and colleague Lenny Waronker. (The Randy Newman Songbook box set will be released on CD and digital formats in late 2016.)

    The Randy Newman Songbook, Vol. 3 also is available on September 23 as a stand-alone CD and digital album. 

    The New York Times said of the first volume of The Randy Newman Songbook: "The great craftsmanship is more apparent in the stripped-down context," and the Associated Press said, "Few singer-songwriters could inject more new life into solo piano versions of their work than Randy Newman." The UK's Uncut called Vol. 2 "another subtly sublime stroll through the master's back catalogue," noting that Newman is "owner of a peerless canon," and that the album "isolates his full range of qualities: the improbable juxtapositions of caustic topicality and heart-wrenching universality, the concise character studies, and singing and piano playing that seem to emanate from the very fabric of America."

    After starting his songwriting career as a teenager, Newman began recording as a singer and pianist in 1968 with his self-titled album. Throughout the 1970s he released several other acclaimed albums such as: 12 Songs, Sail Away, and Good Old Boys. In addition to his solo recordings and regular international touring, Newman began composing and scoring for films in the 1980s. The list of movies he has worked on since then includes The Natural, Awakenings, Ragtime, all three Toy Story pictures, Seabiscuit, James and the Giant Peach, A Bug's Life, and most recently, Disney/Pixar's Monsters University, the prequel to Monsters Inc. (which he also scored).

    Randy Newman's many honors include six Grammys, three Emmys, and two Academy Awards. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2002 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2013—the same year he was given an Ivor Novello PRS for Music Special International Award. Mostly recently, Newman was presented with a PEN New England Song Lyrics of Literary Excellence Award in June 2014.

    The highly praised 2008 Harps and Angels was Newman's first album of new material since 1999. The Austin Chronicle wrote "the characters are memorable, the satire sharp, the music luxurious, and the arrangements maybe the most gorgeous in all pop music." It was followed in 2011 by Vol. 2 of the Songbook series and a live CD and DVD recorded at London's intimate LSO St. Luke's, where he was accompanied by the BBC Concert Orchestra conducted by Robert Ziegler. Newman is currently working on his next album of new material, which Nonesuch will release in 2017.

    Credits

    MUSICIANS
    Randy Newman, piano and vocals

    PRODUCTION CREDITS
    Co-produced by Mitchell Froom and Lenny Waronker
    Recorded 2003 & 2010 at Conway Recording Studios, Hollywood, CA
    Engineer: David C. Boucher
    Assistant Engineer in 2003: Seth Waldmann
    Mixed at Sound Factory, Hollywood, CA & Tea Time Studios, Santa Monica, CA
    Engineer: David C. Boucher
    Assistant Engineer at Sound Factory: Steven Rhodes
    Mastered by Robert C. Ludwig at Gateway Mastering Studios, Portland, ME

    Art Direction & Design by Michael Carney
    Photograph by Mark Sennet

    Executive Producers: Robert Hurwitz and Cathy Kerr