Contemporary Composers: Randy Newman's Popular Music

Improved Essays
Randy Newman is one of the many contemporary composers who has shaped our favorite movies and songs into what they are today. Randy was born in a humble home in Los Angeles, California on November 28, 1943. He moved a lot as a child. He first was in Los Angeles, then he moved to New Orleans his mother’s hometown, and finally at age eleven moved back to Los Angeles! He attended and graduated from University High School in Los Angeles, California, and went to college at the University of California to study musical composition, but later he dropped out. He started his musical training by writing pop songs.

Randy Newman mostly wrote pop songs and film music from the contemporary era. He also loved singing and playing piano. Randy Newman

Related Documents

  • Decent Essays

    John Towner Williams (born February 8, 1932) is an American composer, conductor, and pianist. In a career spanning over six decades, Williams has composed some of the most popular and recognizable film scores in cinematic history, including the Star Wars series, the first two Jaws films, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, the Indiana Jones series, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Superman, the first two Home Alone films, Hook, the first two Jurassic Park films, Schindler's List, Saving Private Ryan, the first three Harry Potter films, Catch Me If You Can, Memoirs of a Geisha, War Horse, and Lincoln. John Towner Williams genre of music consists of film score, contemporary classical music, post-romanticism, and jazz. He started his career in music in 1952, and his music is still widely popular to this day. His music was an inspiration to artists of all variations.…

    • 329 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Randy had some very notable accomplishments in his High school sports career despite his small town and his childhood. Moss was born on february 13, 1977 in Charleston, West Virginia. He grew up in the nearby small town of Rand and attended Dupont High school. Rand (aka “Rand University” according to ESPNS 30 for 30 on Randy) was a very small town with a population under two-thousand. In his High school days as a Dupont Panther, he carried his football team to back-to-back state championships and the 1994 AAA Title.…

    • 497 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Luke Bryan Research Paper

    • 1105 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Luke Bryan has worked over the years to become the successful country artist he is today. He grew up working on a farm in Georgia for his father (Luke Bryan Biography 1). In his early teens, he had decided that he wanted to have a career in music (Luke Bryan Biography 1). Luke began writing songs with some help from others (Luke Bryan Biography 1). Many of his songs made it on the Billboard Hot 100, and a lot of his albums made it on the Billboard 200 (Demings Award Section).…

    • 1105 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Thomas Luther “Luke” Bryan was born and raised in Leesburg, Georgia with his father and siblings who owned a peanut farm. He picked up the country music from his parents records that consisted of Alan Jackson, George Strait and Conway Twitty. Luke’s childhood consisted of hunting,fishing and singing. His parents bought him a guitar at 14 and started playing songs in local bands and in the park. Luke still helped around the farm but he still found some time to write songs and to sing them when he got the chance.…

    • 490 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Willie was born in the 30’s during the great depression. After he was born his mother left his father and his father remarried and moved leaving Willie to be raised by his grandparents. Willie accredits his music styles are influenced by Frank Sinatra, Louis Armstrong and none other than Hank Williams. Willie Nelson learned to play the guitar at a very young age. He wrote his first song when he was only nine years old.…

    • 1121 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    published a ballet and opera. Though many of his most popular songs were published, Joplin did not have the money to produce many other works. After little success in St. Louis, Joplin’s personal life had begun to struggle and get more complicated. Joplin’s first marriage ended in divorce due to the loss of their infant.…

    • 255 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    John Wayne lived a long life, accomplishing many great things. Wayne was a amazing actor. He was also an great father. Along with being one of the greatest actors, John Wayne was also a great role model for his kids, fans, and great friends (“John Wayne” 1). John Wayne was born on May 26, 1907 in Winterset,Iowa.…

    • 269 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Does one dare to explore mysterious/wondrous short stories? Dan Chaon has an approach to the craft of writing that is both unique and different. Among the missing is a collection of short stories about everyday people, most of whom are somehow broken on the inside. Whether it’s a woman finding comfort from a blowup doll, a family driving into the lake committing mass suicide or a boy who imagines he’s a detective who investigates a man he believes is his future self. His work is ambitious and weird yet it feels real.…

    • 825 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    There were many forms of music in the 1930s, it was one of the greatest eras for music. Thomas (also known as Tommy) Dorsey was one of the amazing composers of the time period. He was so talented that he and his brother, Jimmy, had a movie made about themselves The Fabulous Dorseys. Tommy Dorsey was by far, the greatest musician of the decade.…

    • 1335 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Hank was raised in Nashville TN, where his career could spring forward. He learned many different things about music and learned how to play the guitar, banjo, and piano. And well of course he could already sing. Hank was claimed to be a country music star. Country Weekly 2001-01-23 Life in the Slow Lane: Hank Williams, Jr ...…

    • 549 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Born in 1735, Paul Revere grew up in Massachusetts to later become an American Patriot, known for his acts of bravery. Paul is also known for many, many accomplishments and inventions. This is the story of Paul Revere. Paul Revere was born on January 1,1735 in North End of Boston, Massachusetts.…

    • 800 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Billy Strayhorn was an incredibly gifted musician, as well as a talented arranger and composer, who was best known for his work while in the band Duke Ellington and His Orchestra. His love for music stemmed from his mother, a classically trained pianist, and from playing hymns on his grandmother’s piano at a young age. Strayhorn preferred to work in the shadows, content to arrange and compose music for the band as his employer wanted. Through working with Ellington, Strayhorn blossomed as an aspiring musician and composer and was able to live a discreet life as an openly as a gay man (Ethier). Through his brilliantly crafted and refreshingly original arrangements, Strayhorn was able set the standard for jazz compositions and influence future composers and arrangers through his…

    • 1464 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Art is motivated by feeling and expression, through the creators eyes they open up their feelings and create in their own image, it doesn 't matter how it is created, but it is about getting the message out. David Hammon 's is known to be a hipster of art, he does not follow the particular norm with his genius effort, he does not use a usual paint brush and paper. David Hammons configures objects together, he creates body portraits with him covering various parts of his body with oil. He makes things that the average people do not usually see as art. Throughout his work he shows that anything can be made into art, no matter how useless it may seem.…

    • 760 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Charles Ives was an outstanding composer of the American Modernist Period. He made many types of music that a lot of people were inspired by. Ives combined church-music traditions with European art music, and was among the first composers to engage of experimental music. Charles Ives had a rough childhood. Ives was born on October 20, 1874 in Danbury, Connecticut.…

    • 330 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Superior Essays

    For centuries, people have found some sort of comfort/aid in the various genres and sounds of music. Although, with these different genres of music, people with different backgrounds can listen to something they can relate to, or maybe something that makes them feel good. Throughout the years, music has changed for both the good and not-so good, from bringing kids closer to God, to including more vulgarity. Those are just some of the ways music has changed within popular culture. Music is also very influential in the minds and behaviors of children and teens, by giving them a sense of inspiration and wonder.…

    • 1302 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays