Bob Dylan, Jackson Browne, James Taylor, Bonnie Raitt and Linda Ronstadt are among the musicians who extol Randy Newman at the beginnings of various chapters in Robert Hilburn’s “A Few Words in Defense of Our Country: The Biography of Randy Newman.” All the boldface testimonials overflow with unabashed praise of a unique artist and polymath talent, but none are as spot-on as Don Henley’s tribute.

“There has never been anybody remotely like Randy Newman in the galaxy of popular singer-songwriters,” the Eagles’ co-founder says.

That Newman, 81, is able to hear such praise from such luminaries while he’s alive is likely the best gift an artist could ask for. And if he’s read “A Few Words …,” he’ll find more of it across the 544 pages. For while Hilburn, the former pop music critic for The Los Angeles Times, has turned in a richly sourced, deeply researched and thorough biography of Newman, it does at times flirt with hagiography, as the author makes no secret of his own fandom and refers to his subject by his first name as often as by his surname.

But this is a minor issue that is easily overlooked as Hilburn devotes plenty of space to reprinting Newman’s cutting lyrics – seeing the words on the page gives only makes his songwriting shine more brightly – and delves deeply into Newman’s bouts of insecurity and inertia. 

“If Randy wasn’t so insecure, I wonder if his music would be so profound,” one if Newman’s nieces told the author.

Fans who were surprised by Newman’s eventual turn to film scores (“the Natural,” the “Toy Story” franchise, et. al) will learn that it was likely inevitable as movie music runs deep in his blood. His uncles, Alfred, Lionel and Emil were film composers who dominated the industry for decades with Alfred Newman eventually taking home nine Oscars. And fans who are familiar with Newman’s quirky view of the world and quirkier way of writing about it – usually employing a narrator to speak rather than speaking himself – will likely be unsurprised to learn Newman is a voracious reader who also enjoyed watching “the Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends, “the New Zoo Revue” and “the Simpsons.”

Television for Newman is like “an addiction,” the songwriter says. “I can’t shake it.”

Because of Newman’s writing style – think of his characters as akin to Norman Lear’s Archie Bunker – numbers such as “Short People” and “Roll with the Punches” are often widely misunderstood. And in the case of the latter, Newman eventually dropped it from his repertoire as people mistook the white supremicist  in the song for the songwriter. 

“I disagree completely with everything the guys says in the song,” Newman said.

While some may misunderstand Newman before reading Hilburn’s book, it would be impossible for anyone to misunderstand Newman after reading Hilburn’s book. And for anyone still confused, just listen to Dylan.

“King of the mountain,” he says of Newman, “that’s who he is and always was.”