It all began with an article (if that's the correct word these days) on the
Guardian's website from yesterday evening listing Randy's
20 greatest songs, at least as according to author Elle Hunt. First, let's look at the list
before making comments:
20. Short people 19. Have you seen my baby? 18. Lonely at the top 17. You can leave your hat on 16. When she loved me 15. Love story (you and me) 14. Mama told me not to come 13. Birmingham 12. Political science 11. Louisiana 1927 10. I think it's going to rain today 9. I love LA 8. Simon Smith and the amazing dancing bear 7. Rednecks 6. Marie 5. In Germany before the war 4. My life is good 3. Living without you 2. Sail away 1. God's song
Really? It's as if Randy has done nothing good since 'Trouble in Paradise' (1980). 'Living without you' in position 3? As much as I like the old songs, most of them don't belong on this list. 'You can leave your hat on' may have earned more money than the other songs, but it's not much of a song as a song.
If I were going to list his 20 best songs, they might be (in chronological order)
1. I think it's going to rain today 2. Simon Smith and the amazing dancing bear 3. Davy the fat boy 4. Sail away 5. Lonely at the top 6. Rednecks 7. Louisiana 1927 8. In Germany before the war 9. It's money that I love 10. Same girl 11. My life is good 12. Christmas in Capetown 13. Dixie flyer 14. New Orleans wins the war 15. Bad news from home 16. The world isn't fair 17. A piece of the pie 18. Shame 19. Lost without you 20. She chose me
One thing that I have noticed about Randy's songs is that they have become less amenable to covers. How could anyone else record 'The world isn't fair', a song that in my point of view is amongst his best?
Today really is Sandy Denny's birthday. In the summer of 1973, she played some concerts as support to Randy Newman, but I've never been able to find anything out about these concerts.
No comments:
Post a Comment