Randy Newman 12 Songs 24 Karat Gold CD Audio Fidelity HDCD Limited Numbered Edition Nr. 1926

Erscheinungsdatum: 25. Februar 2010
Label: Audio Fidelity  (AFZ070)
Format: Audio CD (CD-Anzahl: 1)

Tonträger HDCD
Besonderheiten Limited Edition, Nummeriert, Pappschuber, 24kt. Gold-CD
Jahr 2010
Orig. Release 1970
Zeit 29:51
Plattenfirma Audio Fidelity
Herstellungsland USA
Musikrichtung Singer/Songwriter/Liedermacher
EAN-Nr. 780014207021
Katalog-Nr. AFZ 070

       Tracks

1. Have You Seen My Baby? 2:32   
2. Let's Burn Down The Cornfield 3:03   
3. Mama Told Me Not To Come 2:12   
4. Suzanne 3:15   
5. Lover's Prayer 1:55   
6. Lucinda 2:40   
7. Underneath The Harlem Moon 1:52   
8. Yellow Man 2:19   
9. Old Kentucky Home 2:40   
10. Rosemary 2:08   
11. If You Need Oil 3:00   
12. Uncle Bob's Midnight Blues 2:15


Produktbeschreibungen

Randy Newman hat es sich auch auf seinem zweiten Album aus dem Jahr 1970 nicht leicht gemacht. Die Songs handeln von eher unsympathischen Charakteren wie untreuen Ehefrauen, Alkoholikern, Rassisten und Betrügern und eigneten sich damit überhaupt nicht für die Radiosender der 70er Jahre in den USA. Dem entsprechend erfolglos war das Album auch im Verkauf. Gleichzeitig bieten die blueslastigen Songs eine Eindringlichkeit und Intimität wie sie auf anderen Produktionen nur selten zu finden sind.
Erst mit den späteren Erfolgen von Randy Newman ist das Album „12 Songs" wieder ins Gedächtnis der Musikfreunde zurück gekehrt und taucht seitdem immer wieder in Bestenlisten für wegweisende Alben auf. Musikalisch zwischen Blues, Jazz und Folk angesiedelt mit Randy Newman am Piano und wechselnder Besetzung für Gitarre (darunter auch Ry Cooder), Bass, Schlagzeug und Percussion ergibt sich eine eigenwillige jedoch durchaus audiophile Mischung mit hervorragender Räumlichkeit.

Die analogen Bänder wurden von Kevin Gray neu gemastert. Er entschied sich hierbei dafür das Grundrauschen nur geringfügig einzudämmen um die wunderbare Präsenz der Aufnahme nicht einzuschränken. Die Gold CD ist zusätzlich mit HDCD codiert.

Randy Newman's 1970 album, "12 Songs"  is the announcement of the full emergence of a leading innovator in rock and roll. The songs cover a wide range of styles, including rock 'n roll, R & B, folk, jazz, and blues.
The lyrical perspective on these darkly subtle, yet amazingly bright songs set the stage for his later career.  Cynicism, bitterness and sexual perversion are unleashed as he sings from the point of view of different characters; an arsonist, stalker, lonely misogynist, well-meaning racist, self-involved redneck and huckster salesman   Ugly people and beautiful music.

The subtle nuances of the music and Newman's unique phrasing require careful listening, and his performance is richly effective without complicated orchestration. The understated accompaniment serves the dark atmospherics of the songs - the sharpness produced by piano, guitar, drums and bass perfectly supports his moving and sometimes fragile voice.

Some of Newman's best songs are here, the obvious one is "Mama Told Me Not To Come" which Three Dog Night took to the top of the charts.

Superb material brilliantly executed, "12 Songs" was Randy Newman's first great album, and is still one of his finest moments on record. 

Review by Mark Deming
On his debut album, Randy Newman sounded as if he was still getting used to the notion of performing his own songs in the studio (despite years of cutting songwriting demos), but apparently he was a pretty quick study, and his second long-player, 12 Songs, was a striking step forward for Newman as a recording artist. While much of Randy Newman was heavily orchestrated, 12 Songs was cut with a small combo (Ry Cooder and Clarence White take turns on guitar), leaving a lot more room for Newman's Fats Domino-gone-cynical piano and the bluesier side of his vocal style, and Randy sounds far more confident and comfortable in this context. And Newman's second batch of songs were even stronger than his first (no small accomplishment), rocking more and grooving harder but losing none of their intelligence and careful craft in the process. "Have You Seen My Baby?" and "Mama Told Me Not to Come" are a pair of sly, updated New Orleans-style rockers (both of which would be much-covered in the coming years); "Let's Burn Down the Cornfield" and "Suzanne" are subtly ominous tales of love and sex; "Yellow Man" was an early meditation on one of Newman's favorite themes, the absurdity of racial prejudice (which he would also glance at in his straight-but-twisted cover of "Underneath the Harlem Moon"); and "My Old Kentucky Home" is a hilarious and quite uncharitable look at life in the deep South (another theme that would pop up in his later work). Newman's humor started getting more acidic with 12 Songs, but here even his most mordant character studies boast a recognizable humanity, which often make his subjects both pitiable and all the more loathsome. Superb material brilliantly executed, 12 Songs was Randy Newman's first great album, and is still one of his finest moments on record.

Condition: E:  EXCELLENT 

"Item Condition" notes:

SS / OVP:       CD & LP is factory sealed in shrink-wrap or cellophane.

NEU / NEW:      CD & LP is open and not yet played.(Achtung: = Nicht alle neuen CDs werden vom Hersteller eingeschweißt!)

NM: NEAR MINT   CD & LP Just about in perfect condition.

E:  EXCELLENT   CD & LP Near perfect, may show very light signs of use & maybe one very light scratch.

VG: VERY GOOD   CD & LP  CD has some very minor wear (several very light scratches or marks). If insert, may have dimple marks or very light wrinkles/folds,

G:  GOOD        CD & LP  Some to very heavier wear or tear (some to very scratches throughout the CD), still plays perfectly. If insert, may have some wrinkles, folds, ripples, tears or multiple case. If  case has cracked or is broken.

Demo-Copy:      CD & LP = Promo - not for sale - particularly rare!!