OTHER PAGES OF INTEREST  

  Radio Page
  News & Notes
  Concert Page 
  Americana Today
  What is Americana?
  Resources / Web Sites
  Contact Us

Americana Concerts and Performances 
There are many great websites featuring live performances by Americana artists. We try to keep track of some of these sites for your convenience.  Check out the Concert Page for links to free online concerts featuring Americana artists. 

Katrina Recalls Randy Newman Classic

What has happened down here is the wind has changed.
Clouds roll in from the North and it started to rain.
Rained real hard and it rained for a real long time.
Six feet of water in the streets of Evangeline.

                                                               -- Randy Newman

Randy Newman’s "Louisiana 1927" tells the story of the Great Flood of 1927 which devastated the City of New Orleans. Written more than 30 years ago, the song is one of the highlights of Newman’s 1974 release, Good Old Boys. Before Newman attained fame for novelty songs like "Short People" and "I Love LA," he was already a highly regarded songwriter with a unique, witty and often ironic perspective on America and its people.

Newman’s Good Old Boys is a concept album about the people and politics of Louisiana where Newman spent much of his early childhood. Based loosely around the life and times of Louisiana Governor and Senator Huey P. Long, the album featured many memorable songs, including the aforementioned story of the 1927 flood. The album maintained Newman’s well established songwriting approach which often featured the concept of an untrustworthy narrarator. It’s an approach that has made Newman a favorite of critics over the years, but has probably prevented him from achieving consistent commercial success. "People don’t expect irony in pop music," he once said. But "Louisiana 1927" departed from his typical songwriting approach and featured a straight-forward sympathetic view of the devastation a natural disaster can reap upon a community and its people.

It was probably inevitable that "Louisiana 1927" would garner renewed attention in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Both Aaron Neville (who featured the song as the opening track on his 1991 release, Warm Your Heart) and Newman himself have performed the song for televised benefits in the aftermath of Katrina. In this regard, the song has helped to raise money for the people whose lives were so tragically affected.

The re-discovery of this classic Americana song and the relevance it has to this particular event in our history tells us something very important about Americana music. It is music that evokes images and stories about real people, real places and real events. It is not artificial or manufactured. Instead, it comes from the heart and it's part of the land. It also has a relevance and permanence that will outlive much of what passes for popular music. It is part of our culture and will be with us in one form or another for the rest of our lives. And no flood can ever change that. 

(Oct. 18, 2005)