Songbook Vol. 3

Submitted by nonesuch on
Release Date
DescriptionExcerpt

This third volume in the Randy Newman Songbook series, featuring solo recordings of songs from throughout Newman's five-decade career ("a peerless canon," says Uncut), includes 16 tunes, like "Short People," "Mama Told Me Not to Come," "I Love L.A.," and "You've Got a Friend in Me." The album was produced by Mitchell Froom and Newman's lifelong friend and colleague Lenny Waronker.

Description

Nonesuch Records releases The Randy Newman Songbook, Vol. 3 on September 23. The album is the third in a series comprising solo recordings of songs from throughout Newman's five-decade career. Previous volumes were released in 2003 and 2011. (A four-LP, vinyl-only limited-edition box set, The Randy Newman Songbook, containing all three volumes in a new, thematic sequencing, is being released simultaneously.) Mitchell Froom and Newman's lifelong friend and colleague Lenny Waronker produced The Randy Newman Songbook, Vol. 3

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 at Conway Recording Studios, Hollywood, CA
Engineer: David C. Boucher
Mixed at Tea Time Studios, Santa Monica, CA
Engineer: David C. Boucher
Mastered by Robert C. Ludwig at Gateway Mastering Studios, Portland, ME

Art Direction & Design by Michael Carney
Photography by Pamela Springsteen

Executive Producers: Robert Hurwitz and Cathy Kerr

Nonesuch Selection Number

525952

ns_album_releasedate
Album Status
Artist Name
Randy Newman
MusicianDetails

MUSICIANS
Randy Newman, piano and vocals

Cover Art
UPC/Price
Label
CD+MP3
UPC
075597953251
Label
MP3
Price
11.00
UPC
075597978148
Label
FLAC
Price
12.00
UPC
075597953275
Label
88/24 HD FLAC
Price
16.00
UPC
075597940695
  • 525952

News & Reviews

  • In celebration of Nonesuch Records' 60th anniversary, the label has partnered with photographer Michael Wilson—who has exquisitely captured dozens of Nonesuch artists over the past quarter-century—to produce Michael Wilson / 25 Years: A Nonesuch Collection, an extremely limited quantity of 100 box sets containing newly created prints from his Nonesuch archive, out now. You can take a quick look inside here. Designed by the Grammy-winning team at SMOG Design, each box comprises twenty 12" x 12" prints, numbered and signed by the photographer. Artists featured are Allen Toussaint, Ambrose Akinmusire, Audra McDonald, Bill Frisell, The Black Keys, Brad Mehldau, David Byrne, Dr. John, Emmylou Harris, Frederic Rzewski, Jeremy Denk, Kronos Quartet, Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, Manuel Galbán and Ry Cooder, Philip Glass, Randy Newman, Rhiannon Giddens, Stephin Merritt and Lemony Snicket, Steve Reich, and Timo Andres, who wrote a note for the box.

  • For Nonesuch Records' 60th anniversary, the label has partnered with photographer Michael Wilson—who has exquisitely captured dozens of Nonesuch artists over the past quarter-century—to produce Michael Wilson / 25 Years: A Nonesuch Collection, 100 box sets of 20 newly created prints from his Nonesuch archive, due September 13. Here, Wilson shares stories from the photo sessions behind the images in the box, with Allen Toussaint, Ambrose Akinmusire, Audra McDonald, Bill Frisell, The Black Keys, Brad Mehldau, David Byrne, Dr. John, Emmylou Harris, Frederic Rzewski, Jeremy Denk, Kronos Quartet, Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, Manuel Galbán and Ry Cooder, Philip Glass, Randy Newman, Rhiannon Giddens, Stephin Merritt and Lemony Snicket, Steve Reich, and Timo Andres.

  • About This Album

    Nonesuch Records releases The Randy Newman Songbook, Vol. 3 on September 23. The album is the third in a series comprising solo recordings of songs from throughout Newman's five-decade career. Previous volumes were released in 2003 and 2011. (A four-LP, vinyl-only limited-edition box set, The Randy Newman Songbook, containing all three volumes in a new, thematic sequencing, is being released simultaneously.) Mitchell Froom and Newman's lifelong friend and colleague Lenny Waronker produced The Randy Newman Songbook, Vol. 3

    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 at Conway Recording Studios, Hollywood, CA
    Engineer: David C. Boucher
    Mixed at Tea Time Studios, Santa Monica, CA
    Engineer: David C. Boucher
    Mastered by Robert C. Ludwig at Gateway Mastering Studios, Portland, ME

    Art Direction & Design by Michael Carney
    Photography by Pamela Springsteen

    Executive Producers: Robert Hurwitz and Cathy Kerr