A Few Words in Defense of Our Country: The Biography of Randy Newman

(Hardback)

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Description

Randy Newman will never write a book. At least not on his own.

Fortunately, his friend of almost 50 years, Robert Hilburn will, with Randy's full attention and cooperation. Through extensive interviews with Randy, his family, friends and closest confidants as well as the musicians he's worked with and the ones who worship him, Bob is crafting the definitive book on Randy Newman, his profound American voice and his incredibly unique career.

Randy is a novelist disguised as a songwriter and piano player. He is a historian of the American character, a harsh critic the country's failings and a loving celebrator of the its successes. He is interested in characters and never writes in the first person and he never writes love songs. How many living artists do the likes of Bob Dylan and Neil Young genuflect for Not many . . . perhaps only the bespectacled one we consider here.

Author Bio

Robert Hilburn was the chief pop music critic for the Los Angeles Times for more than three decades. Author of the bestselling biography Johnny Cash: The Life, which Michiko Kakutani of the New York Times selected as one of her top ten books of 2013, Hilburn has reported extensively on most of pop music's giants, including Bob Dylan, John Lennon, Joni Mitchell, Leonard Cohen, Michael Jackson, Bruce Springsteen and U2. He lives in Los Angeles.