Amazon.com essential recording
Randy Newman's 1974 concept album explores the modern contradictions and early-20th-century history of the Deep South with his bracing mix of irony, affection, and empathy for twisted psyches and hungry, venal dreams. What sounds like Southern gothic material is a virtuosic balancing act between light comedy and political broadside, shivering with moments of unexpected pathos: "Birmingham" is a booster anthem, "A Wedding in Cherokee County" a tableau of dysfunctional romance at once grotesque and touching, "Guilty" a probing confession of addiction, and "Louisiana 1927" a Copelandesque tragedy of the ravages of that year's historic flood. Capping it all is his classic, double-edged indictment of racism, "Rednecks," which turns the knife back on smug outsiders blind to their own prejudices. Rhino's 2002 remixed, expanded reissue caps the initial disc with a demo version of the ballad "Maria" and includes a fascinating salvaged-from-the-vaults second disc dubbed "Johnny Cutler's Birthday" (the working title for the project), featuring Newman sketching the finished album through songs and commentary.
--Sam Sutherland
From Amazon.co.uk
Randy Newman's 1974 concept album explores the modern contradictions and early 20th century history of the Deep South with his bracing mix of irony, affection, and empathy for twisted psyches and hungry, venal dreams. What sounds like Southern gothic material plays as a virtuosic balancing act between light comedy and political broadside, shivering with moments of unexpected pathos: "Birmingham" is a booster anthem, "A Wedding in Cherokee County" a tableau of dysfunctional romance at once grotesque and touching, "Guilty" a probing confession of addiction, and "Louisiana 1927" a Copeland-esque tragedy of the ravages of that year's historic flood. Capping it all is his classic, double-edged indictment of racism, "Rednecks", which turns the knife back on smug outsiders blind to their own prejudices.
--Sam Sutherland
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