Heavy Years: 2000-2010 (Ernest Jenning) is the latest release from Brooklyn-by-way-of-Chicago singer/songwriter Chris Mills. The 14-track retrospective compiles songs from his last four albums, along with two new tracks recorded with DJ Oktopus (Dalek). Mills is currently on the road supporting Heavy Years, and he will also be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. Read our brand new Q&A with him.
Mills: It’s a tragedy that many people are only familiar with Randy Newman through his animated lampooning on Family Guy or his slightly more dignified persona as the Oscar-winning composer. He’s also one of the most gifted American pop songwriters of the last century. Incredibly self-deprecating and wickedly funny, Newman is one of a handful of writers who I would consider actually brave—so brave, you could say he has balls the size of Madison Square Garden. How else could he write a song like the take-no-prisoners “Rednecks,” a simultaneous indictment of Southern bigotry and Northern hypocrisy written at the height of the racially tumultuous ‘70s? He also has a rare gift for wringing maximum power and emotion out of the simplest melodies and most economical turns of phrase. “Living Without You” from his 1968 self-titled debut is amazing, but the solo version from 1971’s Randy Newman Live will rip your heart out.
What I most admire about Newman, though, is how he respects his audience. It goes beyond appreciating the people who listen to him; he has such faith in the listener that he refuses to condescend (unless for humorous effect), instead believing that people can handle complicated stories, despicable characters and uncomfortable issues without needing to be preached at or have their hands held. He seems to have faith that people (well, at least some people) have the capacity for intelligence and compassion and the ability to listen to something for what it’s really saying. Although, he does apparently have some sort of issue with short people.
Video after the jump.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTcfrdh4krk
