walking upstream…
Randy Newman
photo: angela george · cc by-sa 3.0 ↗Randy Newman
sourcesWikipedia
Randy Newman grew up between Los Angeles and New Orleans, the nephew of Hollywood film composers, and he fused those inheritances into one of American pop's most singular voices. After a 1968 debut he built a body of work — 'Sail Away' (1972), 'Good Old Boys' (1974) — that married lush orchestral writing to a drawling New Orleans piano and, above all, to unreliable narrators: bigots, hucksters, and fools who indict themselves in the first person. That satirist's use of character made him a songwriter's songwriter long before 'Short People' briefly made him a star. From the late 1980s he became Hollywood's genial balladeer, scoring the 'Toy Story' films, but the acid wit of his early records remains his lasting mark.
the sound in question
1972
Sail AwayRandy Newman
walk the tributaries ↓
Ray Charles1950s–60s · R&B / Soul / Jazz
Newman has called Ray Charles his greatest early influence — 'I loved Charles' music to excess' — and the debt shows in his gruff, behind-the-beat phrasing and his blurring of R&B, gospel, and pop. Charles's example licensed Newman to sing conversationally, in character, rather than prettily.
listen: upstream & here
1959
What'd I SayRay Charles
1972
You Can Leave Your Hat OnRandy Newman
listen forSet Charles's 'What'd I Say' beside 'You Can Leave Your Hat On' — both ride a lascivious, call-and-response R&B groove, the vocal growled and swaggering over a vamping band.
Fats Domino1950s · Rock and roll / Rhythm and blues / Boogie-woogie
Newman's family ties to New Orleans run straight through his piano, and he has credited the city's rhythm-and-blues — Fats Domino above all — for the rolling, triplet-heavy shuffle in his left hand. It grounds even his most orchestral songs in a loose, barrelhouse swing.
listen: upstream & heresource: Louisiana Music Hall of Fame ↗
1956
Blueberry HillFats Domino
1974
Louisiana 1927Randy Newman
listen forPlay Domino's 'Blueberry Hill' and then 'Louisiana 1927' — both let a fat, triplet-rolling piano and an easy New Orleans lilt carry the song, the rhythm ambling rather than driving.
George Gershwin1920s · Jazz / Broadway
Newman carries his New Orleans R&B into the ambitious pop-orchestral tradition of George Gershwin, whose blend of the concert hall and popular song underwrites Newman's habit of scoring three-minute character studies with real orchestral weight.
listen: upstream & here
1924
Rhapsody in BlueGeorge Gershwin
1968
I Think It's Going to Rain TodayRandy Newman
listen forFollow Gershwin's 'Rhapsody in Blue' into 'I Think It's Going to Rain Today' — both slip bluesy, jazz-inflected harmony inside a sweeping orchestral frame, high art and popular melody folded together.