Rodney Carrington? What?! Wait, I was looking for Christmas music … what’s Rodney Carrington doing with an album?
You may be thinking the same think I was. There’s a nip in the air, so I started looking for new Christmas music to add to my collection. Christmas music might be the one musical styling where I love hearing different people doing the same song in different versions. But I was a little surprised seeing Rodney Carrington on the list. I figured it was just another of his comedy albums … but OH SO NOT!
I have to highly recommend this album. If you know Rodney Carrington (comedian/actor … typically crude), you will be VERY VERY VERY pleasantly surprised at this disc. It’s as if we’re in some sort of twilight zone … Rodney has a great tone, and the songs are fairly mainstream, but with a little flair of his own.
Album review from Zune:
Coming from a guy who has an album named Morning Wood, a song called “Rhymes with Truck” and who has appeared naked as a jaybird on an album cover, one might think “Make it Christmas” is a “put the kids to bed” affair, ripe with breast jokes and beer drinking that usually comes with Rodney Carrington.It’s anything but, as having teenaged kids has sent Carrington’s moral compass in a completely different direction – one that points to tradition, family values, good will toward men, and comfy sweaters … especially at Christmastime.
Make it Christmas is the country comedian/actor turning Johnnie Mathis, with his surprisingly good and extremely comfortable singing voice delivering a mixed bag of Christmas standards; new holiday music (including Carrington’s own “The Presents Under the Tree [Better be for Me]” and a handful of well-chosen, lesser-known numbers such as David Foster’s “Grown Up Christmas List.”
While few will be knocked out by his vocal stylings (op. I disagree – see below**), his likeability and warmth are what matter most. There is plenty of both front and center, with polished studio band and orchestra support led by producer/arranger Steve Dorff. The bittersweet and poinant “Camouflage and Christmas Lights” is that rare holiday song that speaks directly to military families, while the title track asks the age-old question of why peace on earth isn’t a year round concern.
Make it Christmas ends up both an above average celebrity Christmas album and an easy recommendation to his legion of fans.
** I think this is an understatement. Anyone who knows Rodney, his comedy stylings and his vocal tone just when speaking would be blown away to hear this album.
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