Randy Newman – Sail Away (Pop Folk)

Randy Newman is one of the great names of American song. His generation of songwriters has a very strong influence on today’s independent scene, and it is not unusual to hear Pop, Rock or even Punk bands cite these legends as real sources of inspiration, whether or not their music is far removed from them. It must be said that many artists of the time conceived their records as concept albums, works where a common thread guides the listener through a full-blown epic.Sail Away (1972) is Randy Newman’s third album, after Randy Newman (1968) and 2 Songs (1970). The first, very grandiloquent, made way for a fairly massive pop orchestration, while the second came closer to the clipped riffs of a purer rock and roll. Sail Away bridges the two albums mentioned above. As with 2 Songs, Sail Away features Ron Elliott on guitar, who had played on the Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds, the Doors’ L.A. Woman, and Love’s brilliant Forever Changes. The immense Lee Herschberg is also on board, who produced Sinatra, Duke Ellington, Petula Clark, Hendrix, Van Morrison, Deep Purple, Clapton and many more besides. Suffice to say that the team that worked on this LP was top-flight, but the songs still had to measure up.

“Sail Away” is the opening track of this album, and in my view the best Randy Newman ever wrote. Surprisingly, this song is not hailed as one of the greatest classics in history. That is a mistake, so much does it deserve every possible praise. You could almost make it an American anthem, against a backdrop of ‘In America every man is free ; to take care of his home and his family‘. If only Randy were not using this ballad to criticise American mores. This satirical side did not stop Ray Charles from making a fine cover of it. Great music returns with “He Gives Us All His Love“, a track of beautiful sadness. Two minutes of rare gravity emerge from these few piano notes. And then Randy Newman treats us to one of his finest tracks with “Last Night I Had a Dream“. The lyrics are terrifying, Randy Newman creates a B-movie atmosphere. We jump from one thing to another with “Simon Smith and the Amazing Dancing Bear“, a piano-bar track that in the end reveals fairly well the Randy Newman of the albums to come.

A nostalgic “Old Man” later, no, it is not an old Walt Disney, and a few ironic minutes with “Political Science“, where Randy Newman mocks the Americans’ wish to make the world a better place, we find a declaration of love to the city of Cleveland on “Burn On“. Those who have seen the film Major League will remember that this is the song that opens the feature. “Dayton, Ohio – 1903“, the next song, had appeared two years earlier on an album by the brilliant Harry Nilsson called Nilsson Sings Newman (I point out in passing that in 1972 Nilsson recorded one of the best BBC sessions in history (especially from 6″45), at this link).

And then Randy Newman lets us hear one last masterpiece with “God’s Song (That’s Why I Love Mankind)“. It is very probably one of the most violent satires of the Church of its time. Note that Randy Newman was in the habit of denouncing under the guise of approval. That is what he did on “Short People” and “Rednecks“. That last track is in the end a reflection of the album: playful, it hides a real message, probably more aggressive than what some Punk bands would do later. Knowing Randy Newman’s very satirical bent, it is surprising that he chose to drop his solo career in the 1980s to devote himself to writing songs for Walt Disney – Pixar (Toy Story and co…). That certainly did not stop him from entering the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2002. But more than an award, Randy Newman deserves to be recognised as one of the greatest songwriters of his time. And we might as well do it while he is alive.

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