Sail Away: the Songs of Randy Newman

[KiwiCoromandel]

Tribute compilations are rarely successful. There's a desire to put a distinctive stamp on songs already known, admired and loved.

The exception occurs when the "tributed" person is a genius songwriter who, in another age, would probably have worked in Tin Pan Alley or the Brill Building writing songs for others.

Randy Newman is such a talent - wry, satiric, ironic and with a wickedly witty spin on American life - and these are sublime interpretations of his songs.

Bluegrass maestro Tim O'Brien does a seductive rendition of Sail Away; Steve Earle toys amusingly with the ambiguity implicit in Rednecks; Bela Fleck shows on Burn On that Newman is a fine writer of instrumentals; Marc Broussard's version of You Can Leave Your Hat On is suitably hot and steamy; and Kim Richey delivers a beautiful Texas Girl at the Funeral of Her Father. If you like Randy Newman, you'll love this album.

source:AP