Born Again Randy Newman Album Cover

April 25, 2022 Post a Comment

It's a well known fact that Randy Newman has ever been an eccentric artist to say the least, a musician who veers way from the norm and straight towards subjects that are clearly far afield of the mainstream. As well, he can be controversial also. His tomes about short people, slavery, the scourge of the Old South, 50.A., and any number of other off-kilter admonishments have made him i of the more peculiar characters occupying the singer/songwriter vernacular, his successful picture show scores and soundtracks notwithstanding.

All the same, his sixth anthology, Built-in Again, released in August 1979, establish him pressing his luck through some unlikely extremes. Post-obit on the heels of one of his more successful LPs, 1977'due south Little Criminals — the album that yielded one of the well-nigh massive hits of his career with "Curt People," likewise as such career highlights as "Baltimore" and "Passenger in the Pelting" — information technology fared poorly with both the public and the pundits, resulting in some of the worst sales to date. Nevertheless, information technology was reported at the time that Newman was pleased with the record and believed that information technology would fare well. "I was looking forward to it coming out so much that I didn't fly whatsoever small planes before it was released," he supposedly said later on the fact. Consequently, the poor reviews only added insult to injury.

Then again, Newman also acknowledged that the subjects of its songs might have struck listeners in an odd style. Various tracks — "Mr. Sheep," "Ghosts" and "They Just Got Married" — appeared to disparage the plight of the average working man. His ode to the worship of wealth, "It'due south Money That I Beloved," every bit plied with his trademark sarcasm and cynicism, struck some as mere cocky gratification. The aforementioned could be said of "The Girls In My Life (Part I)," a love song on the one manus, but somewhat smug statement on the other. His tale about a transvestite, "Half A Human being," might accept proved somewhat baffling at the time (and even more cringey at present), while "Pants" ("Gonna take off my pants… and the police can't cease me") is wholly inappropriate, especially by today'due south standards. "The Story of a Rock and Roll Band," sung from the perspective of an ELO fan, is also narrowly cast, admitting in a different sort of fashion.

Randy Newman *Built-in Again*, Warner Bros. 1979

Plainly Jeff Lynne didn't take any offense however. He later loaned his product prowess to Newman's underrated 1988 LP, Fifty and o f Dreams.

Of class, the album comprehend, picturing Newman equally a corporate executive working at his desk-bound fabricated up like a member of Kiss, probable put off many would-be listeners straight from the become-become. That is, of course, unless you were in on Randy's joke, then it was pure genius.

Ultimately, it'south unfortunate Born Once more didn't do better. Granted, information technology was birdbrained in many ways, but the majority of the songs themselves were effusive in typical Newman manner. The jaunty "Mr. Sheep," the sweep of "The Story of a Stone and Ringlet Ring" and the jangly "Pants" are, despite the subject matter, as melodious and mischievous equally any offerings in Newman's curious career. Besides, with a cast of supporting musicians that included guitarists Waddy Wachtel and Buzz Feiten, Victor Feldman on keys, Andy Newmark on drums, Lenny Castro playing percussion, Tom Scott and Chuck Findley on horns, and backing vocalists Stephen Bishop and Valerie Carter, he had an proficient instrumental armory at his command also.

In retrospect, Born Again isn't nigh the failure that critics judged it to exist at the time. Perhaps it deserves reexamination and fifty-fifty opportunity for it to remain truthful to its title.