- Culture
- 25 May 16
Ed Murphy dishes out his opinion on The Life of Randy Newman by David and Caroline Stafford.
It’s not often that someone’s prodigious talents alternate so successfully across film, music and theatre. One such exception is American musician Randy Newman. The Californian-born artist is a renowned singer-songwriter and composer, who’s won three Emmys, six Grammy Awards and two Oscars.
Newman began writing songs at 17, releasing his first single in 1962. He’s written tracks for high profile acts such as Cilla Black, Alan Price, Dusty Springfield and Joe Cocker. In the ’80s, he began scoring feature films, with Seabiscuit and Meet the Parents among his many notable credits, as well as the Pixar box-office smashes Toy Story, Monsters, Inc. and Cars. The Life Of Randy Newman chronicles his outstanding career over nearly 70 years and includes biographical notes, key background facts and essays about the arranging legend.