Good Old Boys

Reprise released it on 10 September 1974 with catalogue number 2193. It was recorded between 1972 and 1974 at Warner Bros. Studios in North Hollywood, again with Waronker and Titelman producing. Newman first imagined a concept album about Johnny Cutler, an everyman of the Deep South, and made a demo of the songs on 1 February 1973. That demo came out in 2002 as the bonus disc Johnny Cutler's Birthday, on Rhino's reissue. Newman said he wrote Rednecks, the opening track, and then felt he had to do more for the man and explain him, which produced Birmingham and Louisiana 1927. Pitchfork added that Newman grew obsessed with Huey Long's political career while sketching interstitial songs, and that Every Man a King is a barroom version of one of Long's own campaign songs. Newman sings it with members of the Eagles before Kingfish. Glenn Frey, Don Henley and Bernie Leadon sing backing vocals.

The record is scored for piano, a full orchestra largely arranged and entirely conducted by Newman, and a rock rhythm section that includes Jim Keltner and Willie Weeks. Nick DeCaro arranged strings for Marie and Rollin', and Malcolm Cecil and Robert Margouleff programmed Moog and ARP synthesizers. Guilty, first recorded by Bonnie Raitt on Takin' My Time in 1973, and Louisiana 1927 were issued as singles, and neither reached the Hot 100.

It reached 36 on the Billboard 200 and 58 in Canada, and stayed on the US chart for 21 weeks. It earned a gold record in the Netherlands. Newman premiered it on 5 October 1974 at Symphony Hall in Atlanta, with Ry Cooder as guest and Newman conducting the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. Christgau graded it A and called it Newman's second-best album. Rolling Stone's review called Newman the Ambrose Bierce of rock and roll. In 2016 Pitchfork's Winston Cook-Wilson wrote that it was one of the best singer-songwriter albums of the 1970s. Rolling Stone's 2012 list of 500 greatest albums placed it at 394. David Kastin wrote a book on it, Song of the South, in 2014.