Randy Newman

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Randy Newman

Randall Stuart “Randy” Newman (born November 28, 1943) is an Academy Award–winning American

United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
singer/songwriter, arranger

Arrangement

In music, an arrangement is either a rewriting of a piece of existing music with additional new material or a fleshing-out of a compositional sketch, such as a lead sheet....
, composer

Composer

A composer is a person who creates music, usually in the medium of musical notation, for interpretation and performance. The level of distinction between composers and other musicians varies, which affects issues such as copyright and the deference given to individual interpretations of a particular piece of music....
, singer and pianist

Pianist

A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an musical ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers....
who is notable for his mordant (and often satirical

Satire

Satire is often strictly defined as a literary genre; although, in practice, it is also found in the graphic arts and performing arts. In satire, human or individual vices, follies, abuses, or shortcomings are held up to censure by means of ridicule, derision, burlesque, irony, or other methods, ideally with the intent to bring about improv...
) pop songs and for his many film scores.

Newman is noted for his practice of writing lyrics from the perspective of a “character” far removed from Newman’s own biography, often using the literary device of an unreliable narrator

Unreliable narrator

In fiction an unreliable narrator is a narrator whose credibility has been seriously compromised. The use of this type of narrator is called unreliable narration and is a narrative mode that can be developed by the author for a number of reasons, though usually to make a negative statement about the narrator....
. For example, the 1972 song "Sail Away

Sail Away (Randy Newman song)

"Sail Away" is a song by Randy Newman, the title track of his Sail Away ....
" is written as a slave trader’s sales pitch to attract slaves, while the narrator of "Political Science" is a U.S.

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Encyclopedia

Randall Stuart “Randy” Newman (born November 28, 1943) is an Academy Award–winning American

United States

Arrangement

In music, an arrangement is either a rewriting of a piece of existing music with additional new material or a fleshing-out of a compositional sketch, such as a lead sheet....
, composer

Composer

Pianist

Satire

Unreliable narrator

Sail Away (Randy Newman song)

"Sail Away" is a song by Randy Newman, the title track of his Sail Away ....
" is written as a slave trader’s sales pitch to attract slaves, while the narrator of "Political Science" is a U.S. nationalist who complains of worldwide ingratitude toward America and proposes a brutally ironic final solution (“Let’s drop the big one”).

Since the 1980s, Newman has worked mostly as a film composer. His film score

Film score

A film score is a broad term referring to the music in a film, which is generally categorically separated from songs used within a film. The term Soundtrack is often confused with film score, though a soundtrack may also include songs featured in the film as well as previously released music by other artists, while the score does...
s include Ragtime
Ragtime (film)

Ragtime is a 1981 film based on the historical novel Ragtime by E. L. Doctorow. The action takes place in and around New York City in the 1900?1909, and includes fictionalized references to actual people and events of the time....
, The Natural
The Natural (film)

The Natural is a 1984 in film film adaptation of Bernard Malamud's 1952 baseball The Natural. The film was directed by Barry Levinson and stars Robert Redford....
, Toy Story
Toy Story

Toy Story is a 1995 in film Cinema of the United States computer animation family film, directed by John Lasseter and starring Tom Hanks and Tim Allen....
, Leatherheads
Leatherheads

Leatherheads is a 2008 in film USA sports film comedy film from Universal Pictures directed by and starring George Clooney. The film also stars Ren?e Zellweger and John Krasinski....
, Meet the Parents
Meet the Parents

Meet the Parents is a 2000 in film United States comedy film written by Greg Glienna and directed by Jay Roach of Austin Powers fame. Starring Robert De Niro and Ben Stiller, the film chronicles a series of unfortunate events that befall a good hearted but hapless Men in nursing while visiting his girlfriend's parents....
and Seabiscuit
Seabiscuit (film)

Seabiscuit is a 2003 in film United States drama film based on the best-selling book Seabiscuit: An American Legend by Laura Hillenbrand....
. He also scored four other Pixar

Pixar

Emmy Award

The Emmy Award, also known as the 'Emmy', is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards....
s, four Grammy Award

Grammy Award

The Grammy Awards ?or Grammys?are presented annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States for outstanding achievements in the music industry....
s, and the Governor's Award from the Recording Academy. Randy Newman was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame

Songwriters Hall of Fame

The Songwriters Hall of Fame is an arm of the National Academy of Popular Music. It was founded in 1969 by songwriter Johnny Mercer and music publishers Abe Olman and Howie Richmond....
in 2002.

Early life

Newman was born in Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles is the largest city in the U.S. state of California and the List of United States cities by population in the United States. Often abbreviated as L.A. and nicknamed The City of Angels, Los Angeles is rated as a beta global city, has an estimated population of 3.8 million and spans over in Southern California....
, the son of Adele (née
Married and maiden names

A married name is the family name adopted by a person upon marriage, and in speaking of the many cultures where the practice is traditional for women, the maiden name is the family name that the married name replaces....
Fox), a secretary, and Irving George Newman, an internist. As an infant, Newman moved with his Jew

Jew

A Jew is a member of the Jewish people, an ethnoreligious group that traces its ancestry to the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East....
ish family to New Orleans, Louisiana

New Orleans, Louisiana

New Orleans is a major United States port city and the largest city in Louisiana. New Orleans is the center of the New Orleans metropolitan area metropolitan area, the largest metro area in the state....
, where his mother's family lived. He lived in New Orleans as a small child and spent summers there until he was eleven years old, his family having by then returned to Los Angeles. The paternal side of his family includes three uncles who were noted Hollywood film-score composers: Alfred Newman

Alfred Newman

Alfred Newman was a major United States composer of music for films.He received 45 Academy Awards nominations, making him the second most nominated composer-arranger in the history of the Academy Awards, behind John Williams ....
, Lionel Newman

Lionel Newman

Lionel Newman was an United States Conducting, pianist, and film and television composer. He was the brother of Alfred Newman and Emil Newman, uncle of Randy Newman, David Newman and Thomas Newman, and grandfather of Joey Newman....
and Emil Newman

Emil Newman

Emil Newman was an United States composer and conductor who worked on over 200 films and TV shows. He was nominated for an Academy award for musical direction on the classic Sun Valley Serenade ....
. Newman's cousins Thomas

Thomas Newman

Thomas Montgomery Newman is an American 10 time Academy Award-nominated film score composer....
and David

David Newman (composer)

David Newman is an United States composer known particularly for his music for the film.Newman was born in Los Angeles, California to the late Cinema of the United States composer Alfred Newman....
, and nephew Joey

Joey Newman

Joey Newman is a Los Angeles based film composer, orchestrator, arranger and conducting working in the fields of film, television and video game music....
are also composers for motion pictures. He graduated from University High, Los Angeles. Newman attended the University of California, Los Angeles

University of California, Los Angeles

The University of California, Los Angeles is a public research university located in Westwood, Los Angeles, California, California, United States....
.

Songwriter

Newman had become a professional songwriter by the time he was seventeen. His first single as a performer was 1961's "Golden Gridiron Boy", released when he was eighteen. However, the single flopped and Newman chose to concentrate on songwriting and arranging for the next several years. His early songs were recorded by Gene Pitney

Gene Pitney

Jerry Butler (singer)

Jerry Butler is an United States soul music singing and songwriter, known as "The Ice Man" because of his cool demeanour while singing often intensely emotional lyrics....
, The O'Jays

The O'Jays

The O'Jays are a Cleveland Ohio-based soul/R&B group, originally consisting of Walter Williams , Bill Isles, Bobby Massey, William Powell and Eddie Levert ....
and Irma Thomas

Irma Thomas

Irma Thomas is a Grammy Award winning soul music and rhythm and blues singer from New Orleans. She is known as the "Soul Queen of New Orleans."...
, among others. His work as a songwriter met with particular success in the UK: top 40 UK hits written by Newman included Cilla Black

Cilla Black

Cilla Black Order of the British Empire is an England singer-songwriter and television personality. After a successful recording career, she went on to become the highest paid female presenter in British television history....
's "I've Been Wrong Before" (#17, 1965), Gene Pitney

Gene Pitney

Gene Francis Alan Pitney was an American singer-songwriter. He was also an accomplished guitarist, piano, drummer and skilled sound engineer. In 2002, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame....
's "Nobody Needs Your Love" (#2, 1966) and "Just One Smile" (#8, 1966); and The Alan Price Set's "Simon Smith and His Amazing Dancing Bear

Simon Smith and His Amazing Dancing Bear

"Simon Smith and His Amazing Dancing Bear" is a song written by Randy Newman, and popularized by the Alan Price Set. The song was also covered by Harry Nilsson and appeared in an early episode of The Muppet Show by the character Scooter , who plays Simon Smith with Fozzie Bear as the dancing bear....
" (#4, 1967). Besides "Simon Smith", Price featured seven Randy Newman songs on his 1967 A Price On His Head album.

In the mid-1960s, Newman was briefly a member of the band The Tikis, who later became Harpers Bizarre

Harpers Bizarre

Harpers Bizarre was an United States pop music-rock band of the 1960s, best known for their Broadway musical/choirboy sound and their remake of Simon & Garfunkel's "The 59th Street Bridge Song ."...
, best known for their 1967 hit version of the Paul Simon

Paul Simon

Paul Frederic Simon is an United States singer-songwriter and musician, perhaps best known for his partnership with Art Garfunkel in the duo Simon & Garfunkel....
composition "The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)

The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)

"The 59th Street Bridge Song " is a short and whimsical song by folk music duo Simon and Garfunkel, appearing on their 1966 album Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme....
." Newman kept a close musical relationship with Harpers Bizarre, offering them some of his own compositions, including "Simon Smith" and "Happyland". The band recorded six Newman compositions during their short initial career (1967-1969).

Recording artist

His 1968 debut album, Randy Newman
Randy Newman (album)

Randy Newman is the debut recording by Randy Newman, released in 1968 . Unlike his later albums which featured Newman and his piano backed by guitar, bass guitar and drums, Randy Newman was highly orchestral and aimed to blend the orchestra with Newman's voice and piano....
, was a critical success but never dented the Billboard Top 200. Many artists, including Alan Price

Alan Price

Alan Price...
, Judy Collins

Judy Collins

Judith Marjorie Collins is an United States folk singer and pop standards singer and songwriter, known for the stunning purity of her soprano; for her eclectic tastes in the material she records ; and for her social activism....
, the Everly Brothers

The Everly Brothers

The Everly Brothers are brothers and top-selling country music-influenced rock and roll performers, known for steel-string guitar playing and close harmony singing....
, Claudine Longet

Claudine Longet

Claudine Georgette Longet was a popular singer and recording artist during the 1960s and 1970s. She was also an actress and a dancer.Born in Paris, France, Longet was married to pop singer Andy Williams from 1961 until 1975....
, Dusty Springfield

Dusty Springfield

Mary Isabel Catherine Bernadette O'Brien, Officer of the Order of the British Empire , known as Dusty Springfield, was a leading pop music singer and entertainer....
, Nina Simone

Nina Simone

Eunice Kathleen Waymon, better known by her stage name Nina Simone , was a Grammy Award-nominated American singer, songwriter, pianist, arranger and civil rights activist....
, Pat Boone

Pat Boone

Charles Eugene "Pat" Boone is an United States singer, actor and writer who was a successful pop singer in the United States during the 1950s and early 1960s....
and Peggy Lee

Peggy Lee

Peggy Lee was an United States jazz and traditional pop singer and songwriter and Academy Award-nominated actress. She was born Norma Deloris Egstrom in Jamestown, North Dakota....
, covered

Cover version

In popular music, a cover version, or simply cover, is a new rendition of a previously recorded, commercially released song.In its current use, it can sometimes have a pejorative meaning — implying that the original recording should be regarded as the definitive version, usually in the sense of an "authentic" rendition, and all...
his songs and "I Think It's Going To Rain Today" became an early standard.

In 1970, Harry Nilsson

Harry Nilsson

Harry Edward Nilsson III was an American songwriter, singer, pianist, and guitarist who achieved the height of his fame during the 1960s and 1970s....
recorded an entire album of Newman compositions called Nilsson Sings Newman
Nilsson Sings Newman

Nilsson Sings Newman is an album by Harry Nilsson, of songs by Randy Newman and featuring Newman himself on piano. While not a huge commercial success, and Newman disappointed by aspects of the production, the album was critically praised, won a 1970 Record of the Year award from Stereo Review magazine, and remains a fan favorite....
. That album was a success, and it paved the way for Newman's 1970 release, 12 Songs
12 Songs (Randy Newman album)

12 Songs is a 1970 album by singer/songwriter Randy Newman. His second album, 12 Songs received much better reviews than Randy Newman ....
, which abandoned the elaborate arrangements of his first album for a more stripped-down sound that showcased Newman's piano. Ry Cooder

Ry Cooder

Ryland "Ry" Peter Cooder is an American guitarist, singer and composer.He is known for his slide guitar work, his interest in the American American folk music, and, more recently, for his collaborations with traditional musicians from many countries....
's slide guitar and contributions from Byrds members Gene Parsons and Clarence White helped to give the album a much rootsier feel. 12 Songs was also critically acclaimed (6th best album of the seventies according to Rolling Stone critic Robert Christgau), but again found little commercial success, though Three Dog Night

Three Dog Night

Three Dog Night is an United States rock band, best known for their music from 1968?1975. They were still making live appearances and recordings in 2008....
made a huge hit of his "Mama Told Me Not to Come

Mama Told Me Not to Come

"Mama Told Me Not to Come" is a song by Randy Newman written for Eric Burdon's first solo album in 1966....
". The following year, Randy Newman Live
Randy Newman Live

Randy Newman Live is a live album by United States singer Randy Newman.It is the only official live recording he has released. The album was recorded over three evenings between 17th and 19th September 1970 at the Bitter End, New York....
cemented his cult following and became his first LP to appear in the Billboard charts, at #191.

1972's Sail Away

Sail Away (Randy Newman album)

Sail Away is a 1972 album by Randy Newman. In 2003, the album was ranked number 321 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time....
reached #163 on Billboard, with the title track making its way into the repertoire of Ray Charles

Ray Charles

Ray Charles Robinson , known by his stage name Ray Charles, was an United States pianist, singer, and songwriter who shaped the sound of rhythm and blues....
and Linda Ronstadt

Linda Ronstadt

Maria Linda Ronstadt , known as Linda Ronstadt, is an United States popular music Singing and entertainer whose vocal styles in a variety of genres have resonated with the general public over the course of her four-decade career....
. "You Can Leave Your Hat On" enigmatically touches on what it is men find important in relationships, and was covered by Three Dog Night

Three Dog Night

Three Dog Night is an United States rock band, best known for their music from 1968?1975. They were still making live appearances and recordings in 2008....
, then Joe Cocker

Joe Cocker

John Robert "Joe" Cocker OBE is an England rock /blues singer who came to popularity in the 1960s, and is most known for his gritty human voice and his cover versions of popular songs, particularly those of The Beatles....
, and later by Keb Mo, Etta James

Etta James

Etta James is an American blues, soul music, rhythm and blues, rock & roll, gospel and jazz singer and songwriter. James is the winner of four Grammys and seventeen Blues Music Awards....
and Tom Jones

Tom Jones (singer)

Sir Thomas John Woodward Officer of the British Empire , known by his stage name Tom Jones, is a Welsh singer-songwriter, particularly noted for his powerful voice and wide vocal range....
(whose version was later used for the final striptease to the 1997 film The Full Monty
The Full Monty

The Full Monty is a 1997 in film United Kingdom comedy film. It tells the story of six unemployed men, four of them steel workers, who decide to form a male striptease act in order to gather enough money to get somewhere else and for main character Gaz to be able to see his son....
). The album also featured "Burn On," an ode to that infamous day in Cleveland when the heavily polluted Cuyahoga River

Cuyahoga River

The Cuyahoga River is located in Northeast Ohio in the United States. Outside of Ohio, the river is most famous for being "the river which caught fire", helping to spur the environmental movement in the late 1960s....
literally caught fire. In 1989, "Burn On" was used as the opening theme to the film Major League
Major League (film)

Major League is a 1989 in film United States comedy film written and directed by David S. Ward starring Tom Berenger, Charlie Sheen, Wesley Snipes, James Gammon, and Corbin Bernsen....
, whose focus was the hapless Cleveland Indians

Cleveland Indians

The Cleveland Indians are a professional baseball based in Cleveland, Ohio, Ohio. They are in the American League Central of Major League Baseball's American League....
.

His 1974 release Good Old Boys
Good old boys

Good old boys or "good ole boys/good ol' boys" is an United States slang term that can have both positive and negative meanings, depending on context and usage....
was a set of songs about the American South. "Rednecks

Rednecks (song)

Rednecks is a song by Randy Newman, the lead-off track on his famous 1974 album Good Old Boys....
" began with a description of segregationist Lester Maddox

Lester Maddox

Lester Garfield Maddox was an United States Democratic Party politician who was List of Governors of Georgia of the U.S. state of Georgia from 1967 to 1971....
pitted against a "smart-ass New York Jew" on a TV show, in a song that seems to criticize both southern racism and the complacent bigotry of American northeasterners who stereotype all southerners as racist yet ignore racism in northern states. This ambiguity was also apparent on "Kingfish" and "Every Man a King

Every Man a King

"Every Man A King" is a song connected with Governor of Louisiana and United States Senate Huey Long. Long was known for his list of slogans "Every man a king," which was the title of his and the catch-phrase of his Share Our Wealth proposal during the Great Depression....
," the former a paean to Huey Long

Huey Long

Huey Pierce Long, Jr. , nicknamed The Kingfish, was an United States politician from the U.S. state of Louisiana. A Democratic Party , he was noted for his Radicalism populism policies....
(the assassinated former Governor

Governor

A governor is a governing official, usually the Executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state. In federations, a governor may be the title of each appointed or elected politician who governs a constitutive state....
of, and United States Senator for, the State of Louisiana

Louisiana

The State of Louisiana is a U.S. state located in the U.S. Southern States of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans....
), the other a campaign song written by Long himself. An album that received lavish critical praise, Good Old Boys also became a commercial breakthrough for Newman, peaking at #36 on Billboard and spending 21 weeks in the Top 200.

Little Criminals
Little Criminals

Little Criminals is a 1977 album from Randy Newman. Like most of Newman's work, the album eschews traditional pop-music themes in favor of musical story-telling, often featuring quirky characters and cynical views....
(1977) contained the surprise hit "Short People

Short People

"Short People" is a song by Randy Newman from his 1977 album Little Criminals. The lyrics describe the many deficiencies that supposedly are exhibited by the short individuals, as demonstrated by the line They got little hands and little eyes and they walk around tellin' great big lies. It uses this bigoted description of short peopl...
," which also became a subject of controversy, as Newman's ironic depiction of bigotry aimed at the short was taken literally by some listeners. Both the album and the single stand as the best-selling of his career. In 1978, legislation was introduced to make playing the song on the radio illegal in Maryland, though the bill failed to pass. Newman often pokes fun at the misinterpretation of his song during concerts, sarcastically announcing, "I hate short people, it's true. The reason I don't say anything is because the record label's afraid I'll tell people what I really think."

1979's Born Again was a commentary on the money-worship of the coming era of Reaganomics

Reaganomics

Reaganomics refers to the Economics policies promoted by United States President Ronald Reagan during the 1980s. The four pillars of Reagan's economic policy were to:...
, which also featured a song satirically mythologizing the Electric Light Orchestra

Electric Light Orchestra

Electric Light Orchestra, commonly abbreviated ELO, were a symphonic rock group from Birmingham, England, who released eleven studio albums between 1971 and 1986 and another album in 2001....
(and their arranging style) entitled "The Story of a Rock and Roll Band." The album failed to capitalize on the commercial success of "Short People" but did include other noteworthy material, such as "Ghosts," a sorrowful "apology" from a lonely old man, and "Girls In My Life Part One," a dubious catalog of amorous boasts from a naive young man.

His 1983 album Trouble in Paradise included the hit single "I Love L.A.

I Love L.A.

"I Love L.A." is a satiric song about Los Angeles, California written and recorded by Randy Newman. It was originally released on his 1983 album Trouble in Paradise ....
," a song that has been interpreted as both praising and critiquing its subject, in this case, Los Angeles. This ambivalence is borne out by Newman's own comments on the song. As he explained in a 2001 interview, "There's some kind of ignorance L.A. has that I'm proud of. The open car and the redhead, the Beach Boys...that sounds 'really' good to me." The ABC network and Frank Gari Productions

Frank Gari

Frank Gari is a popular singer and songwriter from the late 1950s and early 1960s. His best known songs where he was a performer are Princess, Utopia and Lullaby Of Love, all of which hit the U.S....
transformed "I Love L.A." into an extremely popular '80s TV promotional campaign, retooling the lyrics and title to "You'll Love It! (on ABC)." The album featured some of his strongest material: "Real Emotional Girl" was a disturbingly frank portrait of a relationship, sung from the male point of view, while "Same Girl" told of the love affair between two junkies, and its inevitable and desperate final days.

In the years following Trouble in Paradise, Newman focused more on film work, but his personal life entered a difficult period. He split from his wife of nearly twenty years, Roswitha, and was diagnosed with the physically debilitating Epstein-Barr virus

Epstein-Barr virus

The Epstein-Barr Virus , also called Human herpesvirus 4 , is a virus of the herpesviridae , and is one of the most common viruses in humans....
. He has released three albums of new material as a singer-songwriter since that time: Land of Dreams
Land of Dreams

Land of Dreams is a 1988 album by Randy Newman full of vignettes of his childhood in New Orleans. The most well-known song on the album is "It's Money That Matters", which rose to the top of the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart for two weeks, to become Newman's only number one hit on any U.S....
(1988), Bad Love
Bad Love (Randy Newman album)

Bad Love is the tenth studio album by United States singer-songwriter Randy Newman released 1999. It was Newman's first solo album since 1988s Land of Dreams and followed an 11 year hiatus during which Newman had focused on film soundtracks, receiving several Academy Award nominations....
(1999), and Harps and Angels
Harps and Angels

Harps and Angels is a studio album by Randy Newman. It was released on August 5, 2008 in music. Produced by Mitchell Froom and Lenny Waronker, it contains seven new songs and four updated versions of previously released songs....
, which was released on August 5, 2008. Land of Dreams included one of his most well-known songs, "It's Money That Matters," and featured Newman's first stab at autobiography with "Dixie Flyer" and "Four Eyes," while Bad Love included "I Miss You," a moving tribute to his ex-wife. He has also re-recorded a number of his earlier songs, accompanying himself on piano, as The Randy Newman Songbook Vol. 1 (2003), and continues to perform his songs before live audiences as a touring concert artist.

In the aftermath of the Hurricane Katrina

Hurricane Katrina

Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was the costliest Atlantic hurricane, as well as one of the five deadliest, in the history of the United States....
catastrophe of 2005, Newman's "Louisiana 1927

Louisiana 1927

"Louisiana 1927" is a song written and originally recorded by Randy Newman on the album Good Old Boys, originally telling the story of the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 that left 700,000 people homeless in Louisiana and Mississippi....
" became an anthem and was played heavily on a wide range of American radio and television stations, in both Newman's 1974 original and Aaron Neville

Aaron Neville

Aaron Neville is an United States soul music and Rhythm and blues singer. He made his debut in 1966 with the hit single "Tell It Like It Is", a Number One hit on the Billboard R&B charts....
's cover version of the song. The song addresses the deceitful manner in which New Orleans's municipal government managed a flood in 1927, during which, as Newman asserts, "The guys who ran the Mardi Gras, the bosses in New Orleans decided the course of that flood. You know, they cut a hole in the levee and it flooded the cotton fields."

During a European tour in the summer of 2006, Newman premiered three new songs: "Potholes in Memory Lane," "Losing You," and the politically controversial "A Few Words in Defense of Our Country" (all three songs were later recorded for his 2008 album, Harps and Angels

Harps and Angels

Harps and Angels is a studio album by Randy Newman. It was released on August 5, 2008 in music. Produced by Mitchell Froom and Lenny Waronker, it contains seven new songs and four updated versions of previously released songs....
). The latter was released as an MP3 single in February 2007. It compares the United States to previous empire

Empire

Empire derives from the Latin word imperium, denoting ?military command? in Roman. Politically, an empire is a geographically extensive group of states and peoples united and ruled either by a monarch or an oligarchy....
s, criticizes the War on Terror and the Supreme Court

Supreme Court of the United States

The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest judicial body in the United States, and leads the federal United States federal courts. It consists of the Chief Justice of the United States and eight Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, who are nominated by the President of the United States and confirmed with th...
, and posits that "this empire is ending like all the rest." The song is available through his website .

Film composer

Newman's work as a film composer began in 1971, with his work on the Norman Lear

Norman Lear

Norman Milton Lear is an American television writer and Television producer who produced such popular sitcoms as All in the Family, Sanford and Son, One Day at a Time, The Jeffersons, Good Times and Maude ....
satire Cold Turkey
Cold Turkey (film)

Cold Turkey is a 1971 in film satire film. It stars a long list of comedic actors, several of whom are well-known to North American television audiences....
. He returned to film work with 1981's Ragtime
Ragtime (film)

Ragtime is a 1981 film based on the historical novel Ragtime by E. L. Doctorow. The action takes place in and around New York City in the 1900?1909, and includes fictionalized references to actual people and events of the time....
, for which he was nominated for two Academy Awards

Academy Awards

The Academy Awards, popularly known as the Oscars, are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers....
. Newman co-wrote the 1986 film ¡Three Amigos!
¡Three Amigos!

?Three Amigos! is a 1986 in film comedy film Western film, produced by George Folsey, Jr. and Lorne Michaels. John Landis directed for HBO....
with Steve Martin

Steve Martin

Stephen Glenn "Steve" Martin is an Emmy Award-winning United States actor, comedian, writer, playwright, Film producer, musician, and composer....
and Lorne Michaels

Lorne Michaels

Lorne Michaels, Order of Canada is a Canada-born United Statesn Emmy-winning television executive producer, writer and comedian best known for creating and producing Saturday Night Live and producing the various film and TV projects that spun off from it....
, wrote three songs for the film, and provided the voice for the singing bush. His orchestral film scores resembles the work of Elmer Bernstein

Elmer Bernstein

'Elmer Bernstein' was an Academy Award and two-time Golden Globe award winning American film score composer. He was famous for composing music for The Ten Commandments , The Man with the Golden Arm, The Great Escape , The Magnificent Seven, and To Kill a Mockingbird ....
(who he worked with on ¡Three Amigos!).

Newman scored the first four Disney

The Walt Disney Company

The Walt Disney Company is the largest media and entertainment corporation in the world. Founded on October 16, 1923, by brothers Walt Disney and Roy O....
/Pixar

Pixar

Pixar Animation Studios is a CGI animation production company based in Emeryville, California, United States. To date, the studio has earned twenty-two Academy Awards, four Golden Globes, and three Grammy, among many other awards, acknowledgments and achievements....
feature films; Toy Story
Toy Story

Toy Story is a 1995 in film Cinema of the United States computer animation family film, directed by John Lasseter and starring Tom Hanks and Tim Allen....
, A Bug's Life
A Bug's Life

A Bug's Life is a 1998 computer animation film produced by Pixar and released by Buena Vista Distribution in the United States on November 25, 1998, in Australia on December, 1998 and in the United Kingdom on February 5, 1999....
, Toy Story 2
Toy Story 2

Toy Story 2 is a 1999 Academy-Award-nominated computer-generated imagery film, the sequel to Toy Story; the third Disney / Pixar feature film, which featured the adventures of a group of toys that come to life when humans are not around to see them....
, and Monsters, Inc.
Monsters, Inc.

Monsters, Inc. is a 2001 computer animated comedy film and the fourth feature-length film produced by Pixar. The film was released to theaters by Walt Disney Pictures in the United States on November 2, 2001, in Australia on December 26, 2001, and in the United Kingdom on February 8, 2002....
He also scored the 1996 film James and the Giant Peach
James and the Giant Peach (film)

James and the Giant Peach is a 1996 in film fantasy film directed by Henry Selick, based on the Roald Dahl James and the Giant Peach. It was produced by Tim Burton, who also had written the movie The Nightmare Before Christmas which also was a Disney project....
and the 2006 Disney/Pixar film Cars
Cars (film)

Cars is a 2006 in film United States animation feature film produced by Pixar and directed by both John Lasseter and Joe Ranft. It was the seventh The Walt Disney Company/Pixar feature film, and the final film by Pixar before it was bought by Disney....
. Additional scores by Newman include Avalon
Avalon (1990 film)

Avalon is an Academy Award-nominated feature film directed by Barry Levinson. It is a mostly autobiography story of a family of Eastern European Jewish immigration to the United States who settle in Baltimore, Maryland, Maryland, at the beginning of the 20th century....
, Parenthood
Parenthood

Parenthood is a 1989 in film comedy-drama film with an ensemble cast that includes Steve Martin, Dianne Wiest, Mary Steenburgen, Jason Robards, Rick Moranis, Tom Hulce, Martha Plimpton, Keanu Reeves, Harley Jane Kozak, Eileen Ryan, Helen Shaw, Jasen Fisher, Alisan Porter, Zachary LaVoy, Ivyann Schwan, Joaquin Phoenix , and Dennis Dugan....
, Seabiscuit
Seabiscuit (film)

Seabiscuit is a 2003 in film United States drama film based on the best-selling book Seabiscuit: An American Legend by Laura Hillenbrand....
, Awakenings
Awakenings

Awakenings is a 1990 in film drama film based on Oliver Sacks' Awakenings . It tells the true story of a doctor who, in 1969, discovers beneficial effects of the then-new drug L-Dopa....
, The Paper
The Paper

The Paper is a 1994 in film comedy-drama film directed by Ron Howard and starring Michael Keaton, Robert Duvall, and Glenn Close. The movie depicts 24 hours in a newspaper editor's professional and personal life....
, Overboard
Overboard (1987 film)

Overboard is a movie starring Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell that was released in the fall of 1987. It was directed by Garry Marshall....
, Meet the Parents
Meet the Parents

Meet the Parents is a 2000 in film United States comedy film written by Greg Glienna and directed by Jay Roach of Austin Powers fame. Starring Robert De Niro and Ben Stiller, the film chronicles a series of unfortunate events that befall a good hearted but hapless Men in nursing while visiting his girlfriend's parents....
, and its sequel, Meet the Fockers
Meet the Fockers

Meet the Fockers is a comedy film and a sequel to Meet the Parents starring Robert De Niro, Ben Stiller, and Teri Polo. Both are directed by Jay Roach ....
. His score for Pleasantville
Pleasantville (film)

Pleasantville is an Academy Award-nominated 1998 in film film written, produced, and directed by Gary Ross. Released by New Line Cinema in Canada on September 17, and stars Tobey Maguire, Reese Witherspoon, Marley Shelton, William H....
was an Academy Award nominee. He also wrote the songs for Turner's Cats Don't Dance
Cats Don't Dance

Cats Don't Dance is a 1997 in film animation film, notable as the only animated feature produced by Turner Entertainment animation unit and one of the last American animated films to use traditional animation cels....
.

One of Newman's most iconic and recognizable works is the central theme to The Natural
The Natural (film)

The Natural is a 1984 in film film adaptation of Bernard Malamud's 1952 baseball The Natural. The film was directed by Barry Levinson and stars Robert Redford....
, a dramatic and Oscar-nominated score, which was described by at least one complimentary critic as "Coplandesque

Aaron Copland

Aaron Copland was an American classical music composer of concert and film music, as well as an accomplished pianist. Instrumental in forging a distinctly American style of composition, he was widely known as "the dean of American composers." Copland's music achieved a balance between modernism music and American folk styles....
."

Newman had the dubious distinction of receiving the most Oscar

Academy Awards

Nomination

Nomination is part of the process of selecting a candidate for either election to an office, or the bestowing of an honor or award.In the context of elections for public office, a candidate who has been selected by a political party is normally said to be the nominee of that party....
s (fifteen) without a single win. His streak was broken when he received the Oscar

Academy Award for Best Song

The Academy Award for Best Original Song is one of the awards given annually to people working in the film industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences ....
for Best Song in 2001, for the Monsters Inc. song "If I Didn't Have You

If I Didn't Have You

"If I Didn't Have You" is a song, written by songwriter and singer Randy Newman, that appears in the The Walt Disney Company/Pixar film, Monsters Inc. Sung by John Goodman and Billy Crystal, the song helped Newman to win his very first Academy Awards....
", beating the likes of Enya

Enya

Enya is an Ireland singer, instrumentalist and composer. She began her musical career in 1980, when she briefly joined her family band Clannad, before leaving to pursue her solo career....
and Paul McCartney

Paul McCartney

Sir James Paul McCartney Member of the Order of the British Empire is a multiple Grammy Award-winning England singer-songwriter, poet, composer, multi-instrumentalist, entrepreneur, record producer, film producer, Painting, and Animal rights....
. After receiving an enthusiastic standing ovation, a bemused but emotional Newman began with "I don't want your pity!"

Besides writing songs for films, he also writes songs for television series such as the Emmy-Award winning current theme song of Monk
Monk (TV series)

Monk is an Television in the United States comedy-drama Television program created by Andy Breckman and starring Tony Shalhoub as the main character....
, "It's a Jungle out There

It's a Jungle out There

"It's a Jungle out There" is a song written by Randy Newman, the theme song for the TV series Monk since its second season. In 2004, it won an Emmy Award for best theme song....
".

In October 2006 it was revealed that Randy Newman will be writing the music for an upcoming Walt Disney

Walt Disney

Walter Elias Disney was a multiple Academy Award-winning American film producer, film director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur and philanthropist....
movie called The Princess and the Frog, which is scheduled for release in 2009. During the Walt Disney Company's annual shareholder meeting in March 2007, Randy Newman performed a new song written for the movie. He was accompanied by the Dirty Dozen Brass Band

Dirty Dozen Brass Band

The Dirty Dozen Brass Band is a New Orleans, Louisiana, brass band. The ensemble was established in 1977 by Benny Jones together with members of the Tornado Brass Band....
.

Musical theater

In the 1990s, Newman adapted Goethe's Faust
Faust

Faust or Faustus is the protagonist of a classic German folklore who makes a pact with the Devil in exchange for knowledge. Faust's tale is the basis for many literary, artistic, cinematic, and musical works, such as those by Christopher Marlowe, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Thomas Mann, Hector Berlioz, Franz Liszt, Charles Gounod, Gu...
into a concept album and musical, Randy Newman's Faust
Randy Newman's Faust

Randy Newman's Faust is a 1993 musical theater 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....
. After a 1995 staging at the La Jolla Playhouse

La Jolla Playhouse

La Jolla Playhouse is a not-for-profit, professional theatre-in-residence on the campus of the University of California, San Diego. ...
, he retained David Mamet

David Mamet

David Alan Mamet is an United Statesn author, essayist, playwright, screenwriter and film director. His works are known for their clever, terse, sometimes vulgar dialogue and arcane stylized phrasing, as well as for his exploration of masculinity....
to help rework the book before its relaunch on the Chicago Goodman Theatre

Goodman Theatre

The Goodman Theatre is a theater in Chicago, Illinois's Chicago Loop, and part of Chicago theatre. It is Chicago's oldest, currently active nonprofit organization....
mainstage

Mainstage

For the software, see Mainstage Main stage theatre is that which falls between studio theatre and large-scale events. It is usually performed in a proscenium or on a thrust stage....
in 1996. Newman's Faust project had been many years in the making, and it suffered for it; a central joke was Newman's depiction of Faust as a shallow heavy metal

Heavy metal music

Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in England and the United States. With roots in blues-rock and psychedelic rock, the bands that created heavy metal developed a thick, massive sound, characterized by highly amplified Distortion , extended guitar solos, emphatic beats, and overall...
music fan in thrall to Satan, and this had to be modified to accommodate the less-than-devil obsessed age of grunge rock that was in fashion by 1995.

In 2000, South Coast Repertory

South Coast Repertory

South Coast Repertory is a professional theatre company located in Costa Mesa, California.SCR, founded in 1964 and continuing today under the leadership of Artistic Directors David Emmes and Martin Benson, is widely regarded as one of America's foremost producers of new plays....
(SCR) produced The Education of Randy Newman, a musical theater piece which recreates the life of a songwriter who bears some resemblance to the actual Newman. Set in New Orleans and Los Angeles

Los Ángeles

Los ?ngeles is the Capital of the Biob?o Province, in the municipality of the same name, in Regions of Chile VIII , in the center-south of Chile....
, it was modeled on the celebrated American autobiography, The Education of Henry Adams
The Education of Henry Adams

The Education of Henry Adams records the struggle of Bostonian Henry Brooks Adams , in early old age, to come to terms with the dawning 20th century, so different from the world of his youth....
. Newman, together with Jerry Patch and Michael Roth, surveyed Newman's songs to find those which, taken together, depict the life of an American artist in the last half of the 20th century. After its premiere at SCR

South Coast Repertory

South Coast Repertory is a professional theatre company located in Costa Mesa, California.SCR, founded in 1964 and continuing today under the leadership of Artistic Directors David Emmes and Martin Benson, is widely regarded as one of America's foremost producers of new plays....
, it was reworked with additional songs written specifically for the show by Newman and presented in Seattle by ACT.

Notable performances and appearances

In 2000, Randy Newman hosted a PBS special on Sunset Blvd, in his native Los Angeles. Driving a convertible, he followed the road from the Amtrak train station downtown, through Silver Lake
Silver Lake, Los Angeles, California

Silver Lake is a district east of Hollywood, Los Angeles, California in the city of Los Angeles, California. Silver Lake is inhabited by a wide variety of ethnicities and socioeconomic groups, but it is best known as an eclectic gathering of hipster , the creative class and a noticeable presence of LGBT people....
, on past his alma mater UCLA, and finished in Santa Monica.
Randy Newman appeared on The Colbert Report
The Colbert Report

The Colbert Report is a Peabody Award- and Emmy Award-winning American news satire television program that airs from 11:30 p.m. to 12:00 midnight Eastern Time Zone each Monday through Thursday on Comedy Central in the United States and on both The Comedy Network and CTV Television Network in Canada....
on October 9, 2006, performing "Political Science" after his interview. At the end of the performance Stephen Colbert
Stephen Colbert

Stephen Tyrone Colbert is an United States comedian, Satire, actor and writer, known for his ironic style , and for his deadpan comedic delivery....
said "I hope they're listening in D.C." This appearance came days after North Korea conducted an underground test of a nuclear weapon.
Randy Newman appeared on the season two finale of the sitcom 3rd Rock from the Sun
3rd Rock from the Sun

3rd Rock from the Sun is an Emmy Award-winning American situation comedy that aired from 1996 in television until 2001 in television on NBC....
, accompanying the character Harry Solomon
Harry Solomon

Harry S. Solomon is a character in 3rd Rock from the Sun, played by French Stewart. He is the brother of Dick Solomon and Sally Solomon, and the uncle of Tommy Solomon ....
's performance of "Life Has Been Good To Me" on piano in a dream sequence.
Randy Newman appeared as a musical guest during the Keynote Address at MacWorld
Macworld

Macworld is a web site and monthly computer magazine dedicated to Apple Macintosh products. It is published by Mac Publishing, which is headquartered in San Francisco, California....
's 2008 San Francisco MacWorld Expo, performing the songs "A Few Words in Defense of Our Country" and "You've Got a Friend In Me".
Randy Newman appeared as a musical guest on the second episode of NBC's Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live

Saturday Night Live is a weekly late-night 90-minute American sketch comedy/variety show filmed in New York City. It made its debut on October 11, 1975....
in 1975.
Had the lyrics to his song "A Few Words in Defense of Our Country" published in an op-ed piece in the NY Times on 1/24/2007.

Discography

Randy Newman
Randy Newman (album)

Randy Newman is the debut recording by Randy Newman, released in 1968 . Unlike his later albums which featured Newman and his piano backed by guitar, bass guitar and drums, Randy Newman was highly orchestral and aimed to blend the orchestra with Newman's voice and piano....
(1968)
12 Songs
12 Songs (Randy Newman album)

12 Songs is a 1970 album by singer/songwriter Randy Newman. His second album, 12 Songs received much better reviews than Randy Newman ....
(1970)
Randy Newman Live
Randy Newman Live

Randy Newman Live is a live album by United States singer Randy Newman.It is the only official live recording he has released. The album was recorded over three evenings between 17th and 19th September 1970 at the Bitter End, New York....
(1971)
Sail Away
Sail Away (Randy Newman album)

Sail Away is a 1972 album by Randy Newman. In 2003, the album was ranked number 321 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time....
(1972)
Good Old Boys
Good old boys

Good old boys or "good ole boys/good ol' boys" is an United States slang term that can have both positive and negative meanings, depending on context and usage....
(1974)
Little Criminals
Little Criminals

Little Criminals is a 1977 album from Randy Newman. Like most of Newman's work, the album eschews traditional pop-music themes in favor of musical story-telling, often featuring quirky characters and cynical views....
(1977)
Born Again (1979)
Trouble in Paradise (1983)
Land of Dreams
Land of Dreams

Land of Dreams is a 1988 album by Randy Newman full of vignettes of his childhood in New Orleans. The most well-known song on the album is "It's Money That Matters", which rose to the top of the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart for two weeks, to become Newman's only number one hit on any U.S....
(1988)
Randy Newman's Faust
Randy Newman's Faust

Randy Newman's Faust is a 1993 musical theater 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....
(1995)
Bad Love
Bad Love (Randy Newman album)

Bad Love is the tenth studio album by United States singer-songwriter Randy Newman released 1999. It was Newman's first solo album since 1988s Land of Dreams and followed an 11 year hiatus during which Newman had focused on film soundtracks, receiving several Academy Award nominations....
(1999)
The Randy Newman Songbook Vol. 1
The Randy Newman Songbook Vol. 1

The Randy Newman Songbook Vol. 1 contains newly recorded, stripped down versions of some of Randy Newman's best known songs, performed by Randy Newman singing and playing the piano without accompaniment....
(2003) (New recordings of previously released songs)
Harps and Angels
Harps and Angels

Harps and Angels is a studio album by Randy Newman. It was released on August 5, 2008 in music. Produced by Mitchell Froom and Lenny Waronker, it contains seven new songs and four updated versions of previously released songs....
(2008)

Awards and nominations

Academy Award

2007: Nominee - Original Song - "Our Town
Our Town (song)

"Our Town" is a song used in the 2006 in film Disney/Pixar film Cars .It was written by longtime Pixar contributor Randy Newman, and performed by James Taylor....
" - Cars
Cars (film)

Cars is a 2006 in film United States animation feature film produced by Pixar and directed by both John Lasseter and Joe Ranft. It was the seventh The Walt Disney Company/Pixar feature film, and the final film by Pixar before it was bought by Disney....
2002: Winner - Original Song - "If I Didn't Have You
If I Didn't Have You

"If I Didn't Have You" is a song, written by songwriter and singer Randy Newman, that appears in the The Walt Disney Company/Pixar film, Monsters Inc. Sung by John Goodman and Billy Crystal, the song helped Newman to win his very first Academy Awards....
" - Monsters, Inc.
Monsters, Inc.

Monsters, Inc. is a 2001 computer animated comedy film and the fourth feature-length film produced by Pixar. The film was released to theaters by Walt Disney Pictures in the United States on November 2, 2001, in Australia on December 26, 2001, and in the United Kingdom on February 8, 2002....
2002: Nominee - Original Score - Monsters, Inc.
Monsters, Inc.

Monsters, Inc. is a 2001 computer animated comedy film and the fourth feature-length film produced by Pixar. The film was released to theaters by Walt Disney Pictures in the United States on November 2, 2001, in Australia on December 26, 2001, and in the United Kingdom on February 8, 2002....
2001: Nominee - Original Song - "A Fool In Love" - Meet The Parents
Meet the Parents

Meet the Parents is a 2000 in film United States comedy film written by Greg Glienna and directed by Jay Roach of Austin Powers fame. Starring Robert De Niro and Ben Stiller, the film chronicles a series of unfortunate events that befall a good hearted but hapless Men in nursing while visiting his girlfriend's parents....
2000: Nominee - Original Song - "When She Loved Me" - Toy Story 2
Toy Story 2

Toy Story 2 is a 1999 Academy-Award-nominated computer-generated imagery film, the sequel to Toy Story; the third Disney / Pixar feature film, which featured the adventures of a group of toys that come to life when humans are not around to see them....
1999: Nominee - Original Dramatic Score - Pleasantville
Pleasantville (film)

Pleasantville is an Academy Award-nominated 1998 in film film written, produced, and directed by Gary Ross. Released by New Line Cinema in Canada on September 17, and stars Tobey Maguire, Reese Witherspoon, Marley Shelton, William H....
1999: Nominee - Original Musical or Comedy Score - A Bug's Life
A Bug's Life

A Bug's Life is a 1998 computer animation film produced by Pixar and released by Buena Vista Distribution in the United States on November 25, 1998, in Australia on December, 1998 and in the United Kingdom on February 5, 1999....
1999: Nominee - Original Song - "That'll Do" - Babe: Pig in the City
Babe: Pig in the City

Babe: Pig in the city is the 1998 sequel to the film Babe . It occurs in the fictional city of Metropolis. Due to the unexpected darker and more mature subject matter , the film was not received as well critically as the first Babe movie was, and reviews were generally mixed....
1997: Nominee - Original Musical or Comedy Score - James and the Giant Peach
James and the Giant Peach (film)

James and the Giant Peach is a 1996 in film fantasy film directed by Henry Selick, based on the Roald Dahl James and the Giant Peach. It was produced by Tim Burton, who also had written the movie The Nightmare Before Christmas which also was a Disney project....
1996: Nominee - Original Song - "You've Got a Friend in Me" - Toy Story
Toy Story

Toy Story is a 1995 in film Cinema of the United States computer animation family film, directed by John Lasseter and starring Tom Hanks and Tim Allen....
1996: Nominee - Original Musical or Comedy Score - Toy Story
Toy Story

Toy Story is a 1995 in film Cinema of the United States computer animation family film, directed by John Lasseter and starring Tom Hanks and Tim Allen....
1995: Nominee - Original Song - "Make Up Your Mind" - The Paper
The Paper

The Paper is a 1994 in film comedy-drama film directed by Ron Howard and starring Michael Keaton, Robert Duvall, and Glenn Close. The movie depicts 24 hours in a newspaper editor's professional and personal life....
1991: Nominee - Original Score - Avalon
Avalon (1990 film)

Avalon is an Academy Award-nominated feature film directed by Barry Levinson. It is a mostly autobiography story of a family of Eastern European Jewish immigration to the United States who settle in Baltimore, Maryland, Maryland, at the beginning of the 20th century....
1990: Nominee - Original Song - "I Love to See You Smile" - Parenthood
Parenthood

Parenthood is a 1989 in film comedy-drama film with an ensemble cast that includes Steve Martin, Dianne Wiest, Mary Steenburgen, Jason Robards, Rick Moranis, Tom Hulce, Martha Plimpton, Keanu Reeves, Harley Jane Kozak, Eileen Ryan, Helen Shaw, Jasen Fisher, Alisan Porter, Zachary LaVoy, Ivyann Schwan, Joaquin Phoenix , and Dennis Dugan....
1985: Nominee - Original Score - The Natural
The Natural (film)

The Natural is a 1984 in film film adaptation of Bernard Malamud's 1952 baseball The Natural. The film was directed by Barry Levinson and stars Robert Redford....
1982: Nominee - Original Score - Ragtime
Ragtime (film)

Ragtime is a 1981 film based on the historical novel Ragtime by E. L. Doctorow. The action takes place in and around New York City in the 1900?1909, and includes fictionalized references to actual people and events of the time....
1982: Nominee - Original Song - "One More Hour" - Ragtime
Ragtime (film)

Ragtime is a 1981 film based on the historical novel Ragtime by E. L. Doctorow. The action takes place in and around New York City in the 1900?1909, and includes fictionalized references to actual people and events of the time....

Golden Globe

2000: Nominee - Original Song - "When She Loved Me" - Toy Story 2
Toy Story 2

Toy Story 2 is a 1999 Academy-Award-nominated computer-generated imagery film, the sequel to Toy Story; the third Disney / Pixar feature film, which featured the adventures of a group of toys that come to life when humans are not around to see them....
1999: Nominee - Original Score - A Bug's Life
A Bug's Life

A Bug's Life is a 1998 computer animation film produced by Pixar and released by Buena Vista Distribution in the United States on November 25, 1998, in Australia on December, 1998 and in the United Kingdom on February 5, 1999....
1996: Nominee - Original Song - "You've Got a Friend in Me" - Toy Story
Toy Story

Toy Story is a 1995 in film Cinema of the United States computer animation family film, directed by John Lasseter and starring Tom Hanks and Tim Allen....
1991: Nominee - Original Score - Avalon
Avalon (1990 film)

Avalon is an Academy Award-nominated feature film directed by Barry Levinson. It is a mostly autobiography story of a family of Eastern European Jewish immigration to the United States who settle in Baltimore, Maryland, Maryland, at the beginning of the 20th century....
1990: Nominee - Original Song - "I Love to See You Smile" - Parenthood
Parenthood

Parenthood is a 1989 in film comedy-drama film with an ensemble cast that includes Steve Martin, Dianne Wiest, Mary Steenburgen, Jason Robards, Rick Moranis, Tom Hulce, Martha Plimpton, Keanu Reeves, Harley Jane Kozak, Eileen Ryan, Helen Shaw, Jasen Fisher, Alisan Porter, Zachary LaVoy, Ivyann Schwan, Joaquin Phoenix , and Dennis Dugan....
1982: Nominee - Original Song - "One More Hour" - Ragtime
Ragtime (film)

Ragtime is a 1981 film based on the historical novel Ragtime by E. L. Doctorow. The action takes place in and around New York City in the 1900?1909, and includes fictionalized references to actual people and events of the time....

Grammy

2007: Winner - Song Written for Motion Picture or Television - "Our Town
Our Town (song)

"Our Town" is a song used in the 2006 in film Disney/Pixar film Cars .It was written by longtime Pixar contributor Randy Newman, and performed by James Taylor....
" - Cars
Cars (film)

Cars is a 2006 in film United States animation feature film produced by Pixar and directed by both John Lasseter and Joe Ranft. It was the seventh The Walt Disney Company/Pixar feature film, and the final film by Pixar before it was bought by Disney....
2004: Nominee - Score Soundtrack Album for Motion Picture or Television - Seabiscuit
Seabiscuit (film)

Seabiscuit is a 2003 in film United States drama film based on the best-selling book Seabiscuit: An American Legend by Laura Hillenbrand....
2003: Winner - Song Written for Motion Picture or Television - "If I Didn't Have You
If I Didn't Have You

"If I Didn't Have You" is a song, written by songwriter and singer Randy Newman, that appears in the The Walt Disney Company/Pixar film, Monsters Inc. Sung by John Goodman and Billy Crystal, the song helped Newman to win his very first Academy Awards....
" - Monsters, Inc.
Monsters, Inc.

Monsters, Inc. is a 2001 computer animated comedy film and the fourth feature-length film produced by Pixar. The film was released to theaters by Walt Disney Pictures in the United States on November 2, 2001, in Australia on December 26, 2001, and in the United Kingdom on February 8, 2002....
'
2003: Nominee - Score Soundtrack Album for Motion Picture or Television - Monsters, Inc.
Monsters, Inc.

Monsters, Inc. is a 2001 computer animated comedy film and the fourth feature-length film produced by Pixar. The film was released to theaters by Walt Disney Pictures in the United States on November 2, 2001, in Australia on December 26, 2001, and in the United Kingdom on February 8, 2002....
2001: Winner - Song Written for Motion Picture or Television - "When She Loved Me" - Toy Story 2
Toy Story 2

Toy Story 2 is a 1999 Academy-Award-nominated computer-generated imagery film, the sequel to Toy Story; the third Disney / Pixar feature film, which featured the adventures of a group of toys that come to life when humans are not around to see them....
'
2001: Nominee - Score Soundtrack Album for Motion Picture or Television - Toy Story 2
Toy Story 2

Toy Story 2 is a 1999 Academy-Award-nominated computer-generated imagery film, the sequel to Toy Story; the third Disney / Pixar feature film, which featured the adventures of a group of toys that come to life when humans are not around to see them....
2000: Winner - Instrumental Composition Written for Motion Picture or Television - A Bug's Life
A Bug's Life

A Bug's Life is a 1998 computer animation film produced by Pixar and released by Buena Vista Distribution in the United States on November 25, 1998, in Australia on December, 1998 and in the United Kingdom on February 5, 1999....
2000: Nominee - Song Written for Motion Picture or Television - "The Time Of Your Life" - A Bug's Life
A Bug's Life

A Bug's Life is a 1998 computer animation film produced by Pixar and released by Buena Vista Distribution in the United States on November 25, 1998, in Australia on December, 1998 and in the United Kingdom on February 5, 1999....
'
1992: Nominee - Instrumental Composition Written for Motion Picture or Television - Avalon
Avalon (1990 film)

Avalon is an Academy Award-nominated feature film directed by Barry Levinson. It is a mostly autobiography story of a family of Eastern European Jewish immigration to the United States who settle in Baltimore, Maryland, Maryland, at the beginning of the 20th century....
1992: Nominee - Instrumental Composition Written for Motion Picture or Television - Awakenings
Awakenings

Awakenings is a 1990 in film drama film based on Oliver Sacks' Awakenings . It tells the true story of a doctor who, in 1969, discovers beneficial effects of the then-new drug L-Dopa....
1990: Nominee - Song Written for Motion Picture or Television - Parenthood
Parenthood

Parenthood is a 1989 in film comedy-drama film with an ensemble cast that includes Steve Martin, Dianne Wiest, Mary Steenburgen, Jason Robards, Rick Moranis, Tom Hulce, Martha Plimpton, Keanu Reeves, Harley Jane Kozak, Eileen Ryan, Helen Shaw, Jasen Fisher, Alisan Porter, Zachary LaVoy, Ivyann Schwan, Joaquin Phoenix , and Dennis Dugan....
1983: Nominee - Score Album for Motion Picture or Television - Ragtime
Ragtime (film)

Ragtime is a 1981 film based on the historical novel Ragtime by E. L. Doctorow. The action takes place in and around New York City in the 1900?1909, and includes fictionalized references to actual people and events of the time....

Emmy

2004: Winner - Main Title Theme Music ("It's a Jungle out There
It's a Jungle out There

"It's a Jungle out There" is a song written by Randy Newman, the theme song for the TV series Monk since its second season. In 2004, it won an Emmy Award for best theme song....
") - Monk
Monk (TV series)

Monk is an Television in the United States comedy-drama Television program created by Andy Breckman and starring Tony Shalhoub as the main character....
1991: Winner - Achievement in Music and Lyrics - Cop Rock
Cop Rock

Cop Rock is a short-lived United States television series that aired on American Broadcasting Company in 1990 in television. The show, a Police procedural presented as a Musical theatre, was created by Steven Bochco, who also served as executive producer....

Annie Award
Annie Award

The Annie Awards are presented by the Los Angeles, California branch of the International Animated Film Association, ASIFA-Hollywood since 1972....

2007: Winner - Music in an Animated Feature Production - Cars
Cars (film)

Cars is a 2006 in film United States animation feature film produced by Pixar and directed by both John Lasseter and Joe Ranft. It was the seventh The Walt Disney Company/Pixar feature film, and the final film by Pixar before it was bought by Disney....
2003: Nominee - Music in an Animated Feature Production - Monsters, Inc.
Monsters, Inc.

Monsters, Inc. is a 2001 computer animated comedy film and the fourth feature-length film produced by Pixar. The film was released to theaters by Walt Disney Pictures in the United States on November 2, 2001, in Australia on December 26, 2001, and in the United Kingdom on February 8, 2002....
2000: Winner - Music in an Animated Feature Production - Toy Story 2
Toy Story 2

Toy Story 2 is a 1999 Academy-Award-nominated computer-generated imagery film, the sequel to Toy Story; the third Disney / Pixar feature film, which featured the adventures of a group of toys that come to life when humans are not around to see them....
1997: Winner - Music in an Animated Feature Production - Cats Don't Dance
Cats Don't Dance

Cats Don't Dance is a 1997 in film animation film, notable as the only animated feature produced by Turner Entertainment animation unit and one of the last American animated films to use traditional animation cels....
1996: Winner - Music in an Animated Feature Production - Toy Story
Toy Story

Toy Story is a 1995 in film Cinema of the United States computer animation family film, directed by John Lasseter and starring Tom Hanks and Tim Allen....

BAFTA Award

1983: Nominee - Original Song - "One More Hour" - Ragtime
Ragtime (film)

Ragtime is a 1981 film based on the historical novel Ragtime by E. L. Doctorow. The action takes place in and around New York City in the 1900?1909, and includes fictionalized references to actual people and events of the time....

Chicago Film Critics Association Award

1999: Nominee - Original Score - A Bug's Life
A Bug's Life

A Bug's Life is a 1998 computer animation film produced by Pixar and released by Buena Vista Distribution in the United States on November 25, 1998, in Australia on December, 1998 and in the United Kingdom on February 5, 1999....
1996: Winner - Original Score - Toy Story
Toy Story

Toy Story is a 1995 in film Cinema of the United States computer animation family film, directed by John Lasseter and starring Tom Hanks and Tim Allen....

Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award
Los Angeles Film Critics Association

The Los Angeles Film Critics Association was founded in 1975. Its main purpose is to present yearly awards to members of the film industry who have excelled in their fields....

1981: Winner - Music - Ragtime
Ragtime (film)

Ragtime is a 1981 film based on the historical novel Ragtime by E. L. Doctorow. The action takes place in and around New York City in the 1900?1909, and includes fictionalized references to actual people and events of the time....

Online Film Critics Society Award
Online Film Critics Society

The Online Film Critics Society is a professional association for film critics as well as film journalists, scholars, and historians who publish their reviews, interviews and essays on the Internet....

1999: Winner - Original Score - Pleasantville
Pleasantville (film)

Pleasantville is an Academy Award-nominated 1998 in film film written, produced, and directed by Gary Ross. Released by New Line Cinema in Canada on September 17, and stars Tobey Maguire, Reese Witherspoon, Marley Shelton, William H....

External links

*Randy Newman: American Dreams, Kevin Courrier (2005) ISBN 1-55022-690-8
Lyrics to A Few Words in Defense of Our Country found at