It’s been a long time in coming – Volume 2 was released 5 years ago – but Randy Newman’s The Randy Newman Songbook Volume 3 is out on Nonesuch on September 23.
The much-loved series sees Newman revisit his wonderful catalogue of songs with just voice and piano. The previous two volumes (Vol.1 came out in 2003) have been super-well received by fans old and new, and this one features new interpretations of his two biggest hits "Short People" and "I Love LA", as well as a new version of his iconic Oscar-nominated Toy Story theme, "You’ve Got a Friend in Me".
At the same time as Volume 3 comes out on CD and digital release, a deluxe and limited edition 4LP The Randy Newman Songbook boxset is released, featuring all the material from all three volumes together with 15 extra tracks, all re-sequenced thematically.
The Randy Newman Songbook Volume 3 is available to pre-order now.
Check out a preview of "Guilty" from Volume 3 and the boxset here:
The New York Times said of the first volume of The Randy Newman Songbook: “The great craftsmanship is more apparent in the stripped-down context,” and the Associated Press said, “Few singer-songwriters could inject more new life into solo piano versions of their work than Randy Newman.”
The UK’s Uncut called Vol. 2 “another subtly sublime stroll through the master’s back catalogue,” noting that Newman is “owner of a peerless canon,” and that the album “isolates his full range of qualities: the improbable juxtapositions of caustic topicality and heart-wrenching universality, the concise character studies, and singing and piano playing that seem to emanate from the very fabric of America.”
The Randy Newman Songbook, Vol. 3 Tracklisting:
- Short People
- Mama Told Me Not to Come
- Love Story
- Burn On
- You’ve Got a Friend in Me
- Rollin’
- Guilty
- Simon Smith and the Amazing Dancing Bear
- Davy the Fat Boy
- Red Bandana
- Old Man
- Real Emotional Girl
- I Love to See You Smile
- I Love L.A.
- Bad News from Home
- I’ll Be Home
The Randy Newman Songbook Volume 3 is available to pre-order now.