‘A kind of musical Mark Twain’: A look at Randy Newman

Randy Newman has been nominated for 22 Academy Awards (he’s won twice), for 23 Grammy Awards (seven wins), and for three Primetime Emmy Awards (and he won all three). Bruce Springsteen has called him “our great master of American song and storytelling.” Jackson Browne says Randy Newman is “the foremost satirist of our times.” And the composer John Williams has called him “a kind of musical Will Rogers or Mark Twain.” Critic Robert Hilburn has published what may well be the definitive biography of Newman, A Few Words in Defense of Our Country. This hour, Hilburn joins us to talk Randy Newman. GUEST: Robert Hilburn: Author of A Few Words in Defense of Our Country: The Biography of Randy Newman The Colin McEnroe Show is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, TuneIn, Listen Notes, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode! Subscribe to The Noseletter, an email compendium of merriment, secrets, and ancient wisdom brought to you by The Colin McEnroe Show. Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Colin McEnroe and Dylan Reyes contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.