Harps and Angels is a studio album by Randy Newman

Randy Newman

Randall Stuart "Randy" Newman is an American singer-songwriter, arranger, composer, and pianist who is known for his mordant pop songs and for film scores....

. It was released on August 5, 2008

2008 in music

2008 was a huge year in music history with the emergence of pop superstars Lady Gaga and Katy Perry into the mainstream. Also, this is the year that is widely agreed upon by critics as the start of the fall of hip hop from the mainstream and the rise of Synthpop into the mainstream due to acts such...

 and was produced by Mitchell Froom

Mitchell Froom

-Career:Froom began his career as a keyboard player in Sonoma County, California. The band Crossfire featured two keyboards players; Mitchell on one side of the stage and brother David on the other with Gary Pihl on guitar...

 and Lenny Waronker

Lenny Waronker

Lenny Waronker is a record producer for Warner Bros. Records.-Career:He produced recording sessions for Nancy Sinatra, The Everly Brothers, Van Dyke Parks, The Beau Brummels, Harpers Bizarre, Randy Newman, Ry Cooder, Arlo Guthrie, Maria Muldaur, Gordon Lightfoot, Rickie Lee Jones, James Taylor, ...

. It contains two updated versions of previously released compositions. “Feels Like Home” originally appeared on his musical album Randy Newman's Faust

Randy Newman's Faust

Randy Newman's Faust is a 1993 musical by American musician and songwriter Randy Newman, who based the work on the classic story of Faust, borrowing elements from the version by Goethe, as well as Milton's Paradise Lost, but updating the story to the modern day, and infusing it with humorous cynicism...

, and a demo of “Laugh and be Happy” was included in the box set Guilty: 30 Years of Randy Newman

Guilty: 30 Years of Randy Newman

Guilty: 30 Years of Randy Newman is a four-disc box set released in November 1998 that chronicles the first three decades of singer songwriter Randy Newman's musical career.-Disc One:#"Love Story "#"Bet No One Ever Hurt This Bad"#"Cowboy"...

 .

Harps & Angels debuted on the UK Albums Chart

UK Albums Chart

The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...

 at #46. It was made #48 in Q

Q (magazine)

Q is a popular music magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom.Founders Mark Ellen and David Hepworth were dismayed by the music press of the time, which they felt was ignoring a generation of older music buyers who were buying CDs — then still a new technology...

s 50 Best Albums of the Year 2008.

Track listing

All tracks written and arranged by Randy Newman

1. "Harps and Angels" - 5:07
2. "Losing You" - 2:41
3. "Laugh and Be Happy" - 2:17
4. "A Few Words in Defense of Our Country" - 4:14
5. "A Piece of the Pie" - 2:41
6. "Easy Street" - 3:14
7. "Korean Parents" - 3:26
8. "Only a Girl" - 2:45
9. "Potholes" - 3:39
10. "Feels Like Home" - 4:37

The Orchestra

• Randy Newman - pianist and bandleader
• Greg Cohen
  Greg Cohen
  A native of Los Angeles, bassist Greg Cohen has been playing in various acclaimed music groups since the '60s. He is perhaps best known for his work with John Zorn's Masada quartet; more recently he has been touring with Ornette Coleman, and performed on Coleman's much-praised Sound Grammar...
  
   - bass
• Steve Donnelly - guitar
• Pete Thomas
  Pete Thomas
  Pete Thomas is best known as the longtime drummer for Elvis Costello. Tom Waits has referred to him as "one of the best rock drummers alive".-Career:...
  
   - drums
• Greg Leisz
  Greg Leisz
  Greg Leisz is an American multi-instrumentalist, playing lap and pedal steel guitars, guitar, mandolin, and bass.- Biography :Leisz was influenced early on by the Byrds and Flying Burrito Brothers, especially pedal steel player "Sneaky" Pete Kleinow...
  
   - pedal steel guitar and acoustic slide guitar
• Mitchell Froom
  Mitchell Froom
  -Career:Froom began his career as a keyboard player in Sonoma County, California. The band Crossfire featured two keyboards players; Mitchell on one side of the stage and brother David on the other with Gary Pihl on guitar...
  
   - piano and organ
• VIOLINS: Roger Wilkie (concertmaster), Eun-Mee Ahn, Jacqueline Brand, Kevin Connolly, Joel Derouin, Julie Ann Gigante, Natalie Leggett, Helen Nightengale, Alyssa Park, Sara Parkins, Katia Popov, Rafael Rishik, Anatoly Rosinsky, Marc Sazer, Tereza Stanislav, Lisa M. Sutton, Sarah Thornblade, Irina Voloshina
• VIOLAS: Brian Dembow (first viola), Robert Berg, Thomas Diener, Steven Gordon, Roland Kato, Darrin McCann, Victoria Miskolczy, Michael Nowak, Shanti Randall, David Walther
• VIOLONCELLI: Dennis Karmazyn (first cello), Antony Cooke
  Antony Cooke
  Antony Cooke, , is an American cellist, composer, astronomer, and author.-Life and career:Antony Cooke is the son of internationally renowned cellist Nelson Cooke, and was born abroad in Sydney, Australia in 1948 while his father was playing for the Sydney Symphony Orchestra...
  
  , Steve Erdody, Christine Ermacoff, Armen Ksajikian, Andrew Shulman, David Speltz, Cecelia Tsan
• BASS VIOLINS: Michael Valerio (first bass violin), Drew Dembowski, Edward Meares, Susan Ranney
• FLUTES: James Walker, Norda Mullen, Geraldine Rotella, David Shostac
• CLARINETS: Gary Boyver, Stuart Clark, Donald Foster, Marty Krystall
• SAXOPHONES: Daniel Higgins, Gary Foster, Greg Huckins, Bill Liston, Brian Scanlon
• OBOES: Thomas Boyd, Leslie Reed
• BASSOONS: Kenneth Munday, Michael O'Donovan, Judith Farmer
• FRENCH HORNS: James Thatcher, Mark Adams, Richard Todd
• TRUMPETS: Warren Luening, Malcolm McNab, Daniel Fornero, Jon Lewis, Timothy Morrison
• TROMBONES: William Booth, Bruce Fowler, Alesander Iles, William Reichenbach, George Thatcher
• TUBA: Doug Tornquist
• PERCUSSION (INCLUDING MALLETS): Alan Estes, Gregory Goodall
• HARPS: Jo Ann Turovsky, Allison Allport
• ACCORDION: Frank Marocco
• BACKGROUND VOCALS: Carmen Carter, Tim Davis, Luana Jackman, Steve Jackson, Rick Logan, Susan Stevens Logan, Fletcher Sheridan, Oren Waters, Terry Woods

Album credits

• Produced By Mitchell Froom and Lenny Waronker
• Engineered By David Boucher
• Recorded at Sunset Sound Studios in Hollywood and at The Newman Stage, Twentieth Century Fox Studios in Beverly Hills
• Mixed at Tea Time Studios in Santa Monica
• Mastered By Robert C. Ludwig at Gateway Mastering Studios in Portland, Maine
• Randy Newman's Personal Manager: Cathy Kerr Management, Inc. of Los Angeles
• Angry Belgians on "A Piece of the Pie": Kathie Van Kerckhoven and Jeremy Altervain
• Happy Immigrants on "Laugh and Be Happy": Los Amigos Locos del Este
• Orchestral Contractor: Sandy DeCrescent
• Music Preparation: Jo Ann Kane Music Services
• Vocal Contractor: Luana Jackman
• Album Photography: Autumn De Wilde
• Stock Photography for Booklet By Jupiterimages (page 8), Perry Mastrovito (outside inlay), and Photo 24 (inside inlay)
• Art Direction and Design: Barbara De Wilde
• Production Manager for Nonesuch Records: Eli Cane
• Editorial Coordinator for Nonesuch Records: Ronen Givony
• Executive in Charge of Production for Nonesuch Records: Karina Beznicki
• Executive Producer: Robert Hurwitz
• Randy Newman would like to thank Steinway Pianos and David Ida at Fields Piano in Los Angeles, California
• Special Thanks To Lenny Waronker, David Boucher, Russ Bartmus, Michael Roth, Mitchell Froom, Steve Donnelly, Pete Thomas, Greg Cohen, Bob Hurwitz, Susan McTigue, Scott Downie, Joan Manners, Alan Newman, Cathy Kerr
• This Album Is Dedicated To Allen Adashek