Review – Rodney Carrington “El Nino Loco”
If you’ve never heard of comedian Rodney Carrington, that’s unfortunate. Carrington had a sitcom on television for a couple of years. Before and since then, he’s done a lot of stand-up comedy and other work. Carrington’s comedy is very “blue collar” like that of more well-known comedians like Jeff Foxworthy and Bill Engvall, though more “off color” than Foxworthy or Engvall. His act is part traditional stand-up comedy and part country music. I’ve been a fan of Carrington’s since the first time I heard him perform on The Bob and Tom Show several years ago. His latest comedy album “El Nino Loco” was just released this week.
(If you don’t enjoy off-color humor you may want to stop reading at this point.)
The album starts with the title track (”El Nino Loco”) about a man who’s normally mild and reserved at home, but who gets drunk acts crazy while on a vacation in Mexico (this earning the nickname “El Nino Loco” from the natives). The track is a country song infused with Mexican instruments and backing vocals. The musical style is reminiscent of country singer Marty Robbins. It’s a pleasant song to listen to, but not Rodney’s funniest work by far.
In “Drink More Beer”, Carrington suggests that you can relieve life’s stress by drinking more beer. A typical line from the song: “When your truck keeps overheatin’ cause your radiator’s leakin’, grab the brown bag at your feet ‘n’ drink more beer.” It’s an exaggerated parody of more traditional country songs about drinking, making the ridiculous point that “Bud makes you wiser, Bud Light makes you lighter” and wine coolers make you less likely to be straight.
“If I’m the Only One” tells the story of a loving, dedicated husband troubled by his wife’s “wilder” past and current exploits. Musically, it sounds like a traditional country song. Carrington’s vocal performance is excellent, and makes for a very enjoyable listen if you have any appreciation of country music. Carrington’s stand-up humor slips into this song better than the first two, with lines like “If I’m the only one you ever loved, whose underwear are these? If I’m the only one you ever loved, how come you got so many Mardi Gras beads?” and “I came by your office with some cookies I baked. I walked in and I saw him and his hands were in your hair. Both your feet were pointed in the air. If I’m the only one you ever loved, how come your boss is all over you? If I’m the only one you ever loved, how come his pants are down around his shoes? I’m just askin’ questions, I don’t mean to pry. You got all the answers, so baby just tell me why…” The video for this track was a free iTunes download recently. The video ends with all the scenes of cheating being just a bad dream Rodney had after eating a “Pita Pocket” before going to bed, and his many children (none of whom look like him) being the result of adoption (and of course his wife being faithful after all). It’s definitely the stand-out track on the album.
The next track, “Wish She Would Have Left Quicker” tells how a man’s wife has left him unexpectedly, but “Now I’m just wishin’ that someday she’ll listen ’cause I know just what I would say… I wish she would have left quicker, I would have had lots more fun. There could’ve been shots of tequila, with Sherry and Sheila, bikinis with bottoms – no tops, and one happy man… with no ring on my hand.”
“White Shirts & Rain” discusses how women in wet white T-shirts are more attractive.
In “The Best You’ll Do Tonight” the singer tells us how a very attractive woman in a mini-skirt spent the evening turning heads and flirting with the menu in the bar, but took too long to find the one she wanted to take home and now has to settle for those who are left. Carrington tells her “I know you had intentions of goin’ home with Mr. Right, but it’s last call for alcohol and I’m the best you’ll do tonight.” To help the woman save face, he tells her “Hey, we can leave in separate cars and no one has to know. I hope you don’t live too far from here, my gas tank’s runnin’ low. But if all goes well and I close the deal and you’re lookin’ for a date next week, you can come right back to the same old bar and I’ll be sittin’ in the same old seat.”
In a turn of phrase worthy of the best country songwriters out there, “Bowling Trophy Wife” tells the story of a man who’s found a woman to make him happy even though she “weighs a buck ninety” (190 pounds). He tells us he asked her to marry him when she belched out his name. “Yeah, other guys like trophy wives with tiny little waists, they’ll buy ‘em yachts and caviar to suit their champagne taste. Me, I like ‘em husky with an appetite for life. I thank God for givin’ me my Bowlin’ Trophy Wife.”
The next track on the album tells of the regrets of a man who had lots of women in his life but “got down in the wrong one’s pants” and is “married now, three kids and dog” but says he’d “love to have the chance to go back and do you all”.
“Don’t Tell My Wife” exaggerates on the typical country music theme of a husband away from home who does things he shouldn’t.
The final track, “Funny Man” is a relatively serious one, about how a funny man is sad when he’s away from his family. This is probably based on Carrington’s own life. After his sitcom deal ended, Carrington returned home to Bixby, Oklahoma. He told Tulsa World in August 2008 that “Two years (in Los Angeles) doing that TV show (the sitcom ‘Rodney’ aired on ABC from 2004-06), and I learned my lesson. I don’t want any more of that, and there won’t be anything like that again. Tulsa suits me fine.” He said that “It was a great experience, and I met a lot of great people, but I was actually thrilled when it ended because I got my life back. Before I started doing TV, I had a successful career, and I was making a lot more money touring and selling comedy albums. When I went to do the TV show, I not only increased by 80 hours a week my workload, but I took a pay cut. It was a bad deal all the way around.”
Musically, this a great album to listen to. Carrington’s vocals and the accompanying instrumental work is as good as you’ll find on any current country album. From a comedic standpoint, it isn’t his best work. That’s not to say it’s a “bad” album at all. It’s quite fun to listen to. I find his stand-up (spoken) comedy much funnier than his musical work, though I do enjoy both. His 1998 album “Hangin’ With Rodney” might be his best work overall, as it contains several of his signature bits like “Dancing with a Man”, his country cover of “Purple Rain” and “Kiss” by Prince, “Fred”, “Little Things”, and “Letter to My P*nis.”