Good Old Boys: Deluxe Edition (CD)

• Category:  Music  »  Rock & Pop  »  Singer/Songwriter
• Format: CD   Learn more about the CD format using Tower WIKI.
• Release Date: May 21, 2002
• Label: Rhino Records (USA)
• UPC: 081227824327
• WAPI (Tower ID): 106395281
• Average Customer Review: There are no customer reviews yet. Be the first to write a review!
• Tower.com Sales Rank: #14095 in Music (See Top 100 Music Bestsellers)
• #5328 in Rock & Pop (See Top 100 Rock & Pop Bestsellers)
• #330 in Singer/Songwriter (See Top 100 Singer/Songwriter Bestsellers)

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Rhino's superbly compiled reissue of Randy Newman's masterpiece, GOOD OLD BOYS, raises the stakes on what was already an essential disc. The remastering of the original album is an aural treat, bringing a new clarity to Newman's own performances and brilliant arrangements, and tacks on a stripped-down demo version of the song "Marie," one of Newman's most heartbreaking and beautiful love songs. It also includes a bonus disc, entitled JOHNNY CUTLER'S BIRTHDAY (the working title for GOOD OLD BOYS), that includes earlier versions of the songs that ended up on the finished album. The second disc is fascinating as a sketchbook work-in-progress, and thoroughly enjoyable as a piece of music in its own right.

Personnel: Randy Newman (vocals, piano, electric piano, synthesizer); Dennis Budimir, Ron Elliott (acoustic guitar); John Platania, Ry Cooder (electric guitar); Al Perkins (pedal steel guitar); Red Callender, Russ Titelman, Willie Weeks (bass instrument); Milt Holland (drums, percussion); Jim Keltner, Andy Newmark (drums); Bobbye Porter Hall (percussion); Don Henley, Glenn Frey, Bernie Leadon (background vocals).

Liner Note Author: David Wild.

Recording information: Warner Brothers Studios, Hollywood, CA.

Whereas 1972's SAIL AWAY played like a superbly crafted collection of short stories, 1974 's GOOD OLD BOYS was Newman's first novel. The literary analogies are not misplaced--Newman brings a writer's eye to character development, detail, setting, and scenario on GOOD OLD BOYS, a concept album about life in the Deep South. The opening track, "Rednecks," is a mercilessly scathing swipe at Southern racism, with a rollicking, sing-along chorus that only sinks the song's knife in deeper. And "A Wedding in Cherokee County" is a lovely ballad about a highly suspect backwoods marriage.

But for every attack on provincialism, Newman offers a tender portrait of a Southern character in the throes of personal turmoil. "Guilty," for example, is a self-destructive man's confessional lament, while "Marie" may be Newman's most heartbreaking and beautiful love song. By inhabiting his characters with uncanny accuracy, Newman achieves a sense of comedy and empathy that might be impossible were he narrating these tales from his own point of view. There are lighter tracks, too, like the good-time "Rolling" and the enigmatic "Naked Man," but even these are graced with the artist's fine arrangements and ear for melody. Unique, confrontational, and moving, GOOD OLD BOYS remains one of Newman's finest achievements.

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