A Few Words in Defense of Our Country: The Biography Randy Newman

"The definitive biography of songwriter Randy Newman, told with his full cooperation, by acclaimed biographer and longtime Los Angeles Times music critic, Robert Hilburn. Randy Newman is widely hailed as one of America's all-time greatest songwriters, equally skilled in the sophisticated melodies and lyrics of the Gershwin-Porter era and the cultural commentary of his own generation, with Bob Dylan and Paul Simon among his most ardent admirers. While tens of millions around the world can hum 'You've Got a Friend in Me, ' his disarming centerpiece for Toy Story, most of them would be astonished to learn that the heart of Newman's legacy is in the dozens of brilliant songs that detail the injustices, from racism to class inequality, that have contributed to the division of our nation. Rolling Stone declared that a single Newman song, 'Sail Away, ' tells us more about America than 'The Star-Spangled Banner.' And yet, his legacy remains largely undocumented in book form--until now"--