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Little Criminals is the fifth studio album by American singer-songwriter Randy Newman. Like most of Newman's work, the album eschews traditional pop-music themes ("I'll Be Home" is the only love song on the album) in favor of musical story-telling, often featuring quirky characters and cynical views. The first song on the album – "Short People" – became a hit single in its own right. The album itself peaked at #9 on the US Billboard 200 chart, Newman's highest-charting album to date. Some of the instrumental work and backing vocals on the album are performed by members of the Eagles. In particular, Glenn Frey played guitar on two tracks, Joe Walsh played guitar on three tracks, and Don Henley and Tim Schmit sang background vocals on one track each. Frey and JD Souther, who had earlier been the duo Longbranch Pennywhistle, sang background vocals on three tracks. Newman wrote, conducted and played keyboards on all tracks. Synthesizers were programmed by Michael Boddicker. In September 1977 the British music magazine NME published the following interview with Newman talking sardonically about his then new release: "There's one song about a child murderer," Newman deadpans. "That's fairly optimistic. Maybe. There's one called 'Jolly Coppers on Parade' which isn't an absolutely anti-police song. Maybe it's even a fascist song. I didn't notice at the time. There's also one about me as a cowboy called 'Rider in the Rain'. I think it's ridiculous. The Eagles are on there. That's what's good about it. There's also this song 'Short People'. It's purely a joke. I like other ones on the album better but the audiences go for that one." "Baltimore" was covered by Nina Simone, Nils Lofgren, the Tamlins, David Gray, Billy Mackenzie, Lianne La Havas, Jazmine Sullivan, Mink Stole, and Dr. Samuel Waymon. "In Germany Before the War" was covered by British band Diesel Park West on their covers album "God Only Knows" in 1992, and by Marianne Faithfull on her album Easy Come, Easy Go, in 2009. The song "I'll Be Home", meanwhile, had been written by Newman years previously, and was originally recorded in 1970 by Harry Nilsson on his album Nilsson Sings Newman and by Tim Hardin on his 1972 album Painted Head. The album's cover artwork is a photographic portrait of Randy Newman by Bob Seidemann. It shows Newman standing on the West 7th Street overpass above the I-110 freeway in the Financial District of Los Angeles.
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Little Criminals is one of the classic albums (together with "Sail Away" and "Good Old Boys") of American singer songwriter Randy Newman with contributions from Glenn Frey, Joe Walsh, Don Henley and Ry Cooder. It contains famous songs like "Short People", "In Germany Before the War" and "Baltimore". The voice of Randy is somewhat of an acquired taste, but the ironical lyrics are top-notch.
I listened to this on the balcony of a cruise ship staring out to sea, so the song In Germany Before the War really hit me! I grew up loving the song Short People which introduced me to sardonic wit from one of the masters of the form… Randy Newman. Since he may have softened with his lovely Pixar soundtracks but this is really where I most appreciate Newman. This listen was terrific and earns a five, but I’m sure when I listen again it will only go up in esteem.
2 Randy Newman albums I feel was already more than enough, but I guess others felt differently. Regardless, this is a quality work.
It's through listening to this album that I realized that Randy Newman is a stellar lyricist also for the words he actually leaves *out* of his lyrics, forcing you to connect the dots. This applies to sardonic songs such as "Short People" or "Jolly Coppers On Parade", where the real joke can easily get over your head. But this can also apply to the "serious" songs, like "In Germany Before The War" -- a very creepy cut for sure, underlined by such eerie, nearly atonal harmonies on the piano -- or the devastating "Baltimore", a gem that David Simon should have used to soundtrack the second season of *The Wire* in an alternate universe. Musically, the album oscillates between enticing soft-rock (the great title-track, "Kathleen..."), moody novelty orchestrations using schmaltz to hammer some lyrical points home ("Sigmund Freud's Impersonation of Albert Einstein In America", "Texas Girl At The Funeral Of Her Father") or C&W ("Rider In The Rain"). Newman's chords on the piano are awesome as well ("Baltimore", once again, or the barebones closer "Old Man On The Farm"). Maybe the album lacks some cohesiveness to a certain degree -- it's not easy to follow the twists and turns in Newman's mind, whether musically or lyrically. But one thing's for sure, you never get bored when you listen to this LP and pay enough attention to its many details. 3.5/5 for the purposes of this list dedicated to essential albums, rounded up to 4. 8.5/10 for more general purposes (5 for the musicianship and production values + 3.5 for the artistry) ---- Number of albums from the original list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 465 Albums from the original list I *might* include in mine later on: 288 Albums from the original list I won't include in mine: 336 ---- Number of albums from the users list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 119 Albums from the users list I *might* select for mine later on: 134 (including this one) Albums from the users list I won't select for mine: 291 ---- Yo Émile, Bon tu n'as pas dû voir mon message de fin de vacances, où je te disais que je m'étais effectivement embrouillé les pinceaux, que c'était effectivement à moi de répondre, et où je te demandais si tu avais rejoint le serveur discord du générateur. De ce que j'ai vu, il est massivement utilisé par les cinq mêmes personnes, mais je me dis que ce serait rigolo de s'y croiser. As-tu eu le Yellow Magic Orchestra en suggestion du jour ? Et as-tu écouté le *Inferno* de Boards Of Canada ? Cool que le (très suivi) show d'Angine de Poitrine à Montréal a été cool pour toi. Tout à fait d'accord pour dire que *The Mountain* est supérieur à *Cracker Island*, même s'il ne m'emballe pas trop. Je ne me demande ce qui s'est passé dans le crâne de l'utilisateur qui a suggéré cet autre Gorillaz quand d'autres pas encore cités sont clairement meilleurs... Alors, les Sopranos ? Oui, je crois te l'avoir déjà dit, *The Test Dream* est l'épisode vu par hasard qui m'a fait tout reprendre depuis le début. En plus, je m'intéressais un tour petit peu à la psychanalyse à l'époque... qui est autant au centre du show que la mafia au départ, pour des résultats hilarants et/ou émouvants. Bon j'imagine que tu dois en être rendu à la fin, là, non ? Il ne fait plus chaud en France. Demain c'est ma rentrée de prof. Life goes on... What's new ? Ah, plein de sorties cools encore pour moi cette année, et en particulier pour moi -- et vu que je parle à un cousin de la Belle Province qui vit dans les encablures autour de Montréal -- le nouveau Yoo Doo Right !!! Je trépigne d'impatience... Looking forward to hearing from you, coz.
i'm a fan of randy newman but i'm not very well versed in a lot of his albums. this one was new to me (outside of the big hit, which i do love). pound for pound, it hangs up there alongside some of his best. as always, great character exploration in his lyrics, extremely clever and witty. it's one i feel i will come back to.
Short People :) Good Solid album. Not much else to say... 4/5
Decent Newman.
Classic song: Short People The album is solid and probably better than the other Randy Newman on the 1001 list. 4/5
Not bad
Short people got No reason
Short people is an all timer, and Randy is just enjoyable to listen to. Perhaps some of the more subtle ironies in the lyrics which made sense in the 70s are lost to the sands of time, but we enjoy his goofball attitude nonetheless.
He's always good. Never great, but good. :) I was 10 when short People came out. Good fun. Not sure today's generation could handle it.... 4/5
Rating: 6/10 Best songs: I’ll be home
Rock. Ni fu ni fa.
I took a year off after completing the list and this is my first of the user list. Seems a waste of a pick. Shouldn't we be using this to highlight artists the main book unjustly ignored? But I guess not everyone takes that view or has a pet album by one of those artists, I should gird my loins for a lot of repeats. I took a week off after generating this first one so I should really get on with it. Yeah its good, it's not bad, they do all kind of sound like the theme tune to a 70s buddy cop show - I haven't listened to the other two Newman albums since the list and I don't think this record is changing things. In Germany Before the War I enjoyed the most I think. The one that reminded me most of Divine Comedy who have regularly cited him as an influence. Yeah, only a couple of songs stood out for me, not enough to make me want to listen again.
Randy wild for this one
As a lifelong short person (I'd like to think not a hung up or resentful one), the opening track and main hit is not endeared to me. I realize Newman meant it as satire on the general absurdity of prejudice, and I gather he bore it something of a grudge for its popularity as a novelty song being arguably his biggest claim to fame, at least until Toy Story came around. Anyway, Randy Newman: I tend to feel that outside of his sharpest satire (songs like Political Science come to mind), there tends to be a bit too much of a smirk behind much of his work, and the music is about as straight down the middle American songbook fare as it's possible to get. Even so, I liked this well enough.
Randy Newman is alright, sometimes a bit too cutesy for his own good. 3 stars.
We get it, he sings with snark and irony.
A few notable tracks, but mostly bland fare compared to the rest of Newman's discography. The heavy hitters are already on the main 1001, not sure why this is a necessary addition.