AUDIO: Randy Newman (1983)
John Hutchinson, Rock's Backpages audio, February 1983
The songwriter talks abut storytelling; how he gets the big names to play on his albums; his latest album Trouble in Paradise, and how he writes and arranges his songs; adopting personas in songs and avoiding "naked cruelty" in his lyrics; not feeling shy on stage; his ambivalence about his country; how he become a musician, his family’s musical influence, and his old friend Lenny Waronker encouraging him to write songs; why he sells so few records; ‘I Love L.A.’ and its arrangement; New Orleans music and his deep love of Fats Domino; and songs such as ‘Sail Away’ and ‘Germany Before the War’.
