12 Songs (Randy Newman Album)

12 Songs (Randy Newman album)

12 Songs is the second studio album by American singer-songwriter Randy Newman, released in April 1970 on Reprise Records. "Have You Seen My Baby?" was released as its sole single in May.

As with all of Newman's early albums, several of its songs had been previously recorded by other artists. In this case, "Mama Told Me Not To Come" had originally been recorded in 1967 by Eric Burdon, and that same year The Beau Brummels released their version of "My Old Kentucky Home". Three other songs originally appeared in versions by other artists just a few months prior to the LP release of 12 Songs: "Yellow Man" by Harry Nilsson on his 1970 album Nilsson Sings Newman; "Have You Seen My Baby" by Fats Domino (as a 1969 single); and "Let's Burn Down The Cornfield" by Lou Rawls (the b-side to his 1970 R&B hit "You've Made Me So Very Happy"). Newman himself played piano on the Nilsson and Domino tracks.

After being well received upon its release, 12 Songs garnered retrospective acclaim from music critics such as Robert Christgau and Rolling Stone, both of whom cite it as one of the best albums of all time.