--UNOFFICIAL-- BotB: Singers & Songwriters: Norah Jones vs. Randy Newman

[a21schizoidman]

NORAH JONES

Norah Jones (born Geethali Norah Jones Shankar on March 30, 1979) is an American singer-songwriter, pianist, keyboardist, guitarist, and occasional actress of Anglo-American and Bengali descent. She is the daughter of musical maestro Ravi Shankar and half sister of sitarist Anoushka Shankar.[1]

Jones' career was launched with her 2002 debut album Come Away with Me, a contemporary pop album with a sensual, plaintive soul/folk/country tinge, that sold over twenty million copies worldwide and received five Grammy Awards, with Jones winning "Best New Artist". Her second album, Feels like Home, was released in 2004, clocking more than a million sales in the first week of U.S. release. In 2007, she released her third album, Not Too Late, which debuted at number one on the world charts. She has become one of the most successful recording artists of the decade, racking up sales of more than 16 million records in the US and 39 million records worldwide.

Come Away With Me:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBKcKQHZXks

Nightingale:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IP9m2pNFa60

What Am I To You?:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnolNQUxzdo

Not My Friend:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CR0kymlHWGk

Be My Somebody:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVEdZq2uH4I

vs

RANDY NEWMAN

Randall Stuart “Randy” Newman (born November 28, 1943) is an Academy Award–winning American songwriter, arranger, composer, singer and pianist who is notable for his mordant (and often satirical) pop songs and for his many film scores.

Newman is noted for his practice of writing lyrics from the perspective of a “character” far removed from Newman’s own biography, often using the literary device of an unreliable narrator. For example, the 1972 song "Sail Away" is written as a slave trader’s sales pitch to attract slaves, while the narrator of "Political Science" is a U.S. nationalist who complains of worldwide ingratitude toward America and proposes a brutally ironic final solution (“Let’s drop the big one”).

Since the 1980s, Newman has worked mostly as a film composer. His film scores include Ragtime, The Natural, Toy Story, Meet the Parents and Seabiscuit. He also scored four other Pixar films: A Bug's Life, Toy Story 2, Monsters, Inc., and Cars.

He has also been singled out for a number of awards by his colleagues, including an Academy Award, two Emmy Awards, four Grammy Awards, and the Governor's Award from the Recording Academy.[1] Randy Newman was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2002.

Short People:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NvgLkuEtkA

You've Got A Friend In Me:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXARd...eature=related

Sail Away:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xE5k2euahDI

I Love L.A.:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KiizQk_3pLI

Lousiana 1927:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8ZyHAwAuRw

[sg327]

Norah Jones on this one.

[Mystlyfe77]

Norah Jones by default. I can't stand Randy Newman.

[OldFogey]

Not even close as far as I'm concerned. None of Norah's songs stand out in my mind, but Randy has written so many classics. Love his sarcastic/sardonic wit, too.

[a21schizoidman]

one more day to vote to break the tie!

[a21schizoidman]

/voting
Randy Newman wins 5-4

[foolosophy]

Norah Jones writes some of the most beautiful, yet simple songs. She's a big favorite of mine. Her mellow tunes and smooth voice are impossible for me to dislike.

[Sayburr]

gotta go with Nora... heck, Come Away with Me is Alesia and my song. It was the song we danced to after becoming husband and wife.

[topperharley]

Norah Jones by default. I can't stand Randy Newman.

Not even close as far as I'm concerned. None of Norah's songs stand out in my mind, but Randy has written so many classics. Love his sarcastic/sardonic wit, too.

While I personally am not a fan of Randy Newman, Fogey is right. He's written a lot of classic songs. I'm not sure that Snorah Jones' work will stand the test of time as well. Beautiful voice, but she needs to do less of the soporific stuff she's become popular for and more stuff like she did with Peter Malick on the New York City EP.