Randy Newman: Sail Away Label: Reprise Records Year: 1972 You hear all these famous songwriters say they don’t know how they do it. The songs just find them. Keep the antenna up at all times with tape recorders, typewriters, notepads and mobile devices in every room. That’s not how Randy’s songs sound. Randy’s songs sound like he’s spent months if not significantly longer laboring over every detail no matter how minor. If you’re a singer with a moderate amount of talent, sing any one of these songs and they’ll sound good. Sure you’re no Joe Cocker, but who is?
It is a boon (and surely a relief) that singers the world ‘round don’t find themselves measured against the likes of Joe Cocker. To call him singular is diplomacy, to deny him as a crime. But what a devastating combination that would make, songs composed with Newman’s slavish devotion to every note, expressed and exorcised through the pain and beatific lens of Joe Cocker‘s voice. What the world that would be.
*what a world…
*is a crime…
It is a boon (and surely a relief) that singers the world ‘round don’t find themselves measured against the likes of Joe Cocker. To call him singular is diplomacy, to deny him as a crime. But what a devastating combination that would make, songs composed with Newman’s slavish devotion to every note, expressed and exorcised through the pain and beatific lens of Joe Cocker‘s voice. What the world that would be.
He lost me with "Short People." This one has Ry Cooder, Wilton Felder, and Jim Keltner on it? All is forgiven.