Randy Newman Live At The Odeon 1983 DVD feat. Linda Ronstadt

[alyn]

Randy Newman Live At The Odeon 1983 DVD

I took delivery of this dvd last week after seeing a couple of youtube clips decided I had to have the whole dvd to watch.

I'm glad I did, it's another great addition to my Linda Ronstadt collection.

I'm sure it's all old news to other Linda fans here, but it's really nice to 'discover' these gems.

I had never really looked into Randy Newman's music before apart from knowing all the obvious songs and the kind of singer-songwriter he is. Since buying this dvd I have bought his greatest hits cd and Live In Germany 2006 and enjoying that show in particular.

Back to Live At The Odeon, I really like Linda's two songs, especially 'Texas Girl...' it is a beautiful song and she delivers it perfectly. 'Real Emotional Girl' suited her well too.

In between, Randy's song 'Linda' is really funny and I love the moment when he asks as an aside to Linda 'so how many houses do you have?' and her reaction :-)

Later in the set is 'Rider In The Rain' when Linda and Ry Cooder contribute. After Randy sings the first verse, the way Linda comes in with her verse is just marvellous, her voice is so penetrating for want of a better word, she just sings it just beautifully. Of course there is more fun as Randy messes about in the chorus and has Linda reduced to giggles, I love the relaxed feel to it all, just great fun.

The whole set is really good, I really enjoyed Simon Smith and his Amazing Dancing Bear, I hadn't heard that for years and it has been on my brain ever since.

The sound is not perfect, there is a marked hiss all the way through but with the music being so good, I can happily put up with that.

As ever I ripped the audio and have listened to it many times.

I see the dvd can be very expensive from some sellers, but cheap from others, I managed to get it at a very good price, about £8 total from a seller in the States.

Another aside - I am a big fan of Stephen Bishop and I can see where his dry humour comes from with his between-songs chat and some of his lyrics, it is very Randy Newman-like.

Stephen Bishop's Live CD from 2014 is a huge favourite of mine, I'd place it alongside Boz Scaggs 'Greatest Hits Live' from 2004 as indispensable.

[Richard W]

Funny that you should mention Stephen Bishop. The second time I saw Linda in concert, 1977, he was her opener.

Always appreciate reviews of these sorts of DVDs. Thank you!

[Richard W]

BTW, that was at Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa.

[Deleted]

Texas Girl and Real Emotional Girl are two of my favorite Linda performances. I also like Gainesville and Sandman's Coming from Randy's Faust. She seems to have a real affinity for his songs...

[alyn]

Thanks Richard, Robert - yes I agree Robert, you hit the nail on the head there, she really seems to feel at home with Randy Newman's work, in my opinion, more so than when she sings Neil Young songs, but I could be in the minority there. I really like Linda's tracks on Faust, but my problem with Faust is that although it is an accumulation of some great artistes, I just don't like swearing in lyrics and call me a lightweight but it just doesn't sit well with me. I know there is not bad language in all the songs and some are great, but it is a concept album and when I get to the sweary parts it just grates on me, so ultimately I have trimmed it to the 4 or 5 songs I like.
Regarding Stephen Bishop opening for Linda, I'm pretty sure this gets mentioned in the interview 'extra' on the dvd of America, Andrew Gold & Bish 'Live at The Ventura', and the interview is quite funny, Bish and Gold being somewhat boisterous compared to the interviewer, one of America I seem to recall, I must re-visit that :-)