Randy Travis -- Anthology

I ordered "Anthology" instead of the other options primarily due to "blueswork's" review claiming that the book includes TAB. This book does NOT contain guitar tablature. It does feature guitar chord diagrams for the songs, but no TAB. I'm sure I'll still find this book quite useful, but I cannot deny my disappointment on this matter. REVIEWERS: When posting reviews in the future, please make sure you know what you're talking about.

I am a professional musician, and have always enjoyed Randy Newman's music -- but getting a good look at the actual sheet music made me appreciate him even more. The music is complex and subtle, and a powerful work of art.

The kind of transcriptions we are all looking for. Perfect, super. I'm anxiuos to come back to home to play them. Randy is great: in words, notes and message. I wait for a next book, specially to see if Memo to my son is there, you know.

There are three reasons why this book deserves five stars:1) The transcriptions are extremely good. Instead of an interpretation that sounds dubiously like the melody line, the piano parts have been reproduced from Newman's own archives. Some of them are not EXACTLY what Newman plays, but for the most part they are. 2) The selection of songs is such that consideration has gone into what is 'fun' to play on the piano. Included is music from Newman's entire career, from 'Davy the Fat Boy' through to 'Bleeding All Over the Place'. Thought has been put into which songs work best on the piano and which ones are not repetitious. 3) The lyrics have been expertly aligned with the music and the music itself is clear and well presented. For these reasons, the Randy Newman Anthology is a superlative songbook compared to the plethora of dodgy chord-based songbooks out there. Randy Newman's 'Bad Love' songbook is also very good. For a true Newman fan this book will never get old.

...Then this book is a must-have! Not only is it full of otherwise impossible-to-find songs (I spent nearly ten years looking for "Gainesville" after losing my copy), it includes an invaluable introduction by Michael Roth, probably the world's greatest expert on Newman. Roth's advice on just how to approach Newman's scores is borne of decades of collaboration with the composer and will help you give that "Newman feel" to your playing. For singers, this book offers a wealth of little-known gems to add to your repertoire. Yes, it doesn't include a lot of his big hits, but you can find those anywhere. This is the book I've been waiting for.