• Guilty: 30 Years of Randy Newman

• Randy Newman
• Rhino
• 1999

Before attempting to find this set, I had never realised how many tribute boxed sets there were dedicated to everyone from Elvis to Frank Sinatra and in many ways, this set hasn't come soon enough. On the other hand, Randy Newman doesn't actually have a vast output. It is almost uniformly excellent, but in sheer quantity, it has taken a 30 year career to amass a volume of work to be then represented (and represented very well indeed) in the form of this 4 CD Anthology. The concept of the set is very simple; the first two discs cover all his studio albums up to Faust, disc 3 features demos, live recordings and a few studio songs they couldn't quite fit onto the first two discs and the fourth disc contains short selections from almost of his film scores up to James and the Giant Peach. I suppose the easiest way is to go through each disc at a time.

Disc 1 features music from his first album up to his really big success, Little Criminals and the infamous Short People. What is most notable about these songs is the way he uses an orchestra to such a great extent. The first two albums in particular were and still are, very much different from anything else and tend to eschew guitar, bass and drums for a more subtle orchestral backdrop to the often bitingly satirical lyrics. Due to the very disappointing sales of his first albums, Newman did decide to ditch the greater orchestral texture for a much more intimate feel in Sail Away. Most of those songs feature just Newman singing and on piano with a small band as and when required. The song that Newman describes as the "first time he wasn't trying to be Carol King" is Simon Smith and the Amazing Dancing Bear (actually featured on disc 3 here), which is just piano and vocal. This is considered to be his best album and certainly contains some of his best satire and most sublime music. It is clearly favoured by Newman himself as it features almost all of the songs from the original album. It is worth noting that all Newman song albums have only 12 (occasionally 11) cuts on them and so looking down the listings, it is apparent that most of the songs from most of the albums are here.

Disc 2 starts in fine fashion with Short People and after a few other cuts from Little Criminals we move onto one of Newman's least popular albums. Whether it was some kind of backlash against his new found fame, Newman wrote one of his more bitter and harsh albums in the shape of Born Again. The musical style was also a huge departure from his trademark arrangements, featuring synths to a great extent and some incredibly bizarre soundscapes. I would admit that this album did have a few very curious entries, but still enjoy it almost as much as most of his other song collections, even if my favourite, The Story of a Rock and Roll Band - a sublime tribute/parody of the Electric Light Orchestra - is missing. The more downbeat songs from Trouble in Paradise are generally favoured over the more upbeat rock and roll efforts, which does give perhaps an inaccurate reflection of the album in general, but often the more subtle songs are where Newman shines brightest. Land of Dreams does feature pretty much the top picks from the album and shows Newman verging slightly back toward the synth style of Born Again, but the ragtime stylings of New Orleans and rock sensibilty of It's the Money that Matters and the crushing I Want You to Hurt Like I Do demonstrate a composer still hitting peaks. In an effort to keep Randy at the forefront, the songs from Faust are Randy's solo efforts and as such the rather longer album gets rather short shrift (even though there are a few live and demo versions on disc 3).

Perhaps the most interesting disc for Newman fans will be the third one. This features almost entirely previously unreleased demo and live performances. The one thing to notice primarily about these recordings are how much effort must go into the official albums to get Randy to sing nicely and in tune. I must admit that some of the performances are fairly appauling although it does occasionally fall into the so bad it's good catergory. The Ballad of the Three Amigos features Randy's cracked falsetto to startling effect. In his demo of Gainesville from Faust, he gives up singing altogether "this bits too high" and "I haven't decided on an ending" being choice comments as he carries on the piano line during the high bit. Yes, quite. Being a rap song, Masterman and Baby J isn't ideally suited to a raspy voice and piano rendition and for the final version, much praise must go to the producers and arrangers for making the thing work.

There are of course a few choice gems which for whatever reason, Randy didn't like enough to put on an album, but thankfully are rescued from obscurity on here. Interiors is a gorgeous song apparently inspired by the Woody Allen film of the same name. Days of Heaven was originally meant to feature on Land of Dreams but sadly wasn't included - I find it somewhat strange; the song is excellent and would have stood up to the final selection. The piano work in this song is somewhat atypical Randy Newman and reminds me of something else although I can't think what it is offhand. It would probably have needed a bit of refinement to get work to best effect as a final version, but I must admit that I'm glad I heard it. Lines in the Sand is to the Gulf War what Song for the Dead was to Vietnam. This would have made a wonderfully noble song, if arranged replete with brass chorales and high strings - however we'll have to do with the excellent demo version for now. A more amusing gem, with a superb ragtime piano accompaniment is Laugh and Be Happy (don't let the bastards grind you down). This was written in dedication to the animators on the film Cats Don't Dance for which Randy wrote some songs (although none are included here). The notes mention that they were having "trouble with the authorities" - but whatever this was, it resulted in an inspired and very amusing song. The unused Happy was originally going to feature in The Three Amigos, but was cut (probably due to the insitant swearing and it's rather short).

Randy's film music has a very distinctive style that is generally a lot more genuinely sincere than either his songs or some of his peers' music. One addition that will be lapped up are the tracks from Ragtime. While this is often considered his best score, it is sadly only available on LP currently - a great shame since the selections here convince me that I would definitely like to have the rest - superb stuff. At least the sound quality indicates that the session tapes are still in decent condition should someone emterprising with a few spare quid feel like releasing it on CD. The selections represent the scores very well, even if they are only brief. Almost all of the songs sung by Randy are featured, even if the enjoyable Strange Things from Toy Story is missing.

There isn't really any reason not to love every aspect of this anthology. The song selections are pretty consistent with what I'd pick as either personal favourites (even if they do include the detestable Mikey's from Trouble in Paradise - the only complaint I have) or best selections either lyrically or musically. The demos are interesting and just go to show the high standards that Newman imposes on himself. Some of the songs he rejected for release would put some artist's best songs to shame. The booklet contains many photos of Newman as he moved from his John Lennon look that he adopted around Sail Away to one with Randy dressed as the Devil, looking evil and wielding a rather nasty looking curved blade. There are several sections of text in the booklet, an appreciation by long time associate/producer Russ Titelman, "The Man, The Music" by Lenny Waronker, a lengthy, fascinating (albeit slightly dated) interview with Mr Newman, a listing of all the tracks with comments about each one by Randy (riddled with his typically ironic, sardonic humour) and then a full track listing with credits and times. This is the Randy Newman Musical Bible, no Newman fan should be without it and everyone else should worship it.

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