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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 23, 2003)
Newman's latest release is purely American The album Songbook Vol. 1 contains ‘stripped down’ re-recordings of Randy Newman’s classics By Ryan Nyburg Senior Pulse Reporter REVIEW Randy Newman is probably the most purely American singer/song writer this country has ever pro duced. I mean this in - the best way possible. His songs have often represented a sad, cynical — but always honest — vision of this country that tell how tiling are rather than how they should be. In "The Randy Newman Songbook Vol. I, * he takes a few of his best songs — some dating back as early as 1966 — and records them simply and evoca tively, with only his own piano playing as accompaniment. This album is es sentially a studio-produced document of the kind of performances he does live, with the songs stripped down to their bare essence, much in the style of the first of Johnny Cash's "American Recordings" albums or the Ella Fitzger ald "Songbooks" series. An obvious question regarding a project such as this is: why? What pur pose is served by re-recording old songs, particularly ones that are pretty well fixed in the minds of anyone who heard the originals? Newman answers this pretty well in the opening track, "It's Lonely at the Top," a song that was originally written for, and subsequently rejected by, Frank Sinatra. Without any string arrangements or background vocals added, Newman's compositional skill is allowed to shine through. While the production on his songs wasn't always bad, it also wasn't always necessary, and the man is often at his best on his own. Lush production values are often beside the point when it comes to great song writing, and Newman's songwriting is top class. The style doesn't work for every song in this collection; selec tions such as "You Can Leave Your Hat On" lack the power a backing band could give it. But this method is the exception rather than the rule. The beauty of songs like "Louisiana 1927" or "Marie" is best served by this bare bones style, which gives the melodies room to spread out. And without any thing to get in the way, the messages behind Newman's songs are unhin dered, with many of the satirical barbs hitting just as hard as they did 20 or 30 years ago. The almost cheerfully done "Political Science," describes the frame of mind America has toward the rest of the world just as well today as it did in 1972. "Sail Away" and "Rednecks" both stab hard at racial assumptions. The first is sung from the perspective of a slave trader trying to tempt African na tives onboard his boat; the second de scribes in detail the hypocrisy North ern states show in their perspectives of the South. Both songs further reveal a brave songwriter. This bravery often takes the form of a lyrical bravado, such as in "God's Song (That's Why 1 Love Mankind)." flow many songwriters could write a song from the perspective of an om nipotent being and pull it off? The song rings with a cynicism so pure as to proclaim the existence of God and then accuse humanity of blindly wor shiping such a malignant force. Courtesy Singer/songwriter Randy Newman utilizes his piano and vocal talents on his new album, The Randy Newman Songbook Vol. 1/ Newman's cynicism is an intelli gent cynicism, however, and he's smart enough to know not to be bit ter or to wallow in self -pity. He doesn't hold himself above the cul ture his satire attacks and often seems more sad than angry at the way things are these days. The best expression of this is probably "The World Isn't Fair," which invites Karl Marx to come and look at how the world turned out. "... I'm glad I'm living in the land of the free / Where the rich just get richer / And the poor you don't have to see/ It would de press us, Karl / Because we still care/ That the world isn't fair." Randy Newman will be performing Friday at 7:30 p.m. at the Shedd Con cert flail on 868 High St. as part of the Oregon Festival of American Music. Contact the senior pulse reporter at ryannyburg@dailyemerald.com. Campus gallery gives students chance to show art Each week, the LaVerne Krause Gallery displays works from three students By Natasha Chilingerian Pulse Reporter Art students don't need to wait un til they graduate to see their creations in a gallery — they can exhibit right here on campus. Every week, three art students take work out of their studios and into the LaVerne Krause Gallery — located in Lawrence Hall — for all to see, interpret and critique. Graduate art student and La Verne Krause Gallery Coordinator Jennifer Zimmerman said the gallery gives students a chance to receive feed back on their work. "It's an experimental place for stu dents," she said. "They can get their work evaluated by students, faculty and the public. It's a step further from the studio." Students apply to exhibit their work at least one term before the po tential showing. Sana Krusoe, art as sociate professor and LaVerne Krause Gallery committee member, said the committee tries to accom modate all artists, except during spring term when the gallery is large ly filled by graduate student projects. "We support student work of all sorts," Krusoe said. "That includes work that is risky, edgy and less than-professional quality." New artwork is placed every week end and taken down the following Friday. An opening reception takes place at the gallery every Monday from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Student-run art galleries have exist ed at the University since the 1960s. Students used the Lawrence Hall lob by across from the courtyard to exhib it work throughout the 1960s and 1970s. In the late 1970s, students con verted room 141 in Lawrence Hall into "Gallery 141," which existed un til the early 1990s. Students eventual ly left 141, which was turned into a classroom, and in exchange moved the gallery to the room which is now the La Verne Krause Gallery. Art Professor Ken O'Connell said art department faculty and students chose to name the gallery after the late printmaking Professor LaVerne Krause because of her dedication to exhibiting student work. Krause died in 1987. "LaVerne would exhibit artwork in the backs of restaurants and taverns — anything with a hallway," O'Con nell said. "She always encouraged Turn to LAVERNE, page 12 PLEASE RECYCLE THIS PAPER. EUGENE, OR • OCTOBER 28 W.O.W. 1ALL * ALL AGES * 8PM SEATTLE, WA • OCTOBER 29 1HE*,S? SHOWBOX • ALL AGES • 8PM
