Greatest Hits

by Rodney Carrington

Overview

Country comedian and comic singer Rodney Carrington hasn't had any hits, greatest or otherwise, in the conventionally accepted sense of the term. But Greatest Hits is a two-disc compilation drawn from four albums -- Hangin' with Rodney (its tracks licensed from Mercury Records), Morning Wood, Live: C'mon Laugh You Bastards, and Nut Sack. The first disc features Carrington's non-singing standup comedy, the second songs. Carrington has enjoyed commercial success with his albums by presenting redneck humor with a heavy complement of vulgar sexual commentary, poor taste (in "Growing Up Poor -- Toughskins Jeans," he makes fun of the Kennedy assassination), and bouts of intolerance toward Asian-Americans and, especially, homosexuals. Indeed, his obsession with gay people evidences an extreme homophobia that might benefit from therapy. But then, his comedy routines probably are that therapy, though they don't help him overcome his problems. He covers much the same ground in his songs, while introducing musical satires as he sets his lyrics to everything from Tex-Mex to Frankie Laine-style Western pop, and even (on one of two versions of "Letter to My Penis"), Frank Sinatra-style traditional pop swagger. Despite his vulgarity, Carrington reveals a wide streak of sentimentality, making it clear how dependent he is on his wife, and on the album-ending song "Things We Didn't Know," one of two new tracks, he drops the joking completely in favor of a sincere, and cloying, tribute to his family. But maybe that shouldn't be a surprise; he's spent a lot of the album demonstrating that, despite his potty mouth, he's really just a softie. ~ William Ruhlmann

Product Details

Release Date:	02/24/2004
Label:	Capitol
UPC:	0724359416427
Rank:	50418

Tracks

Disc 1

1. Country Bar -- Mechanical Sheep
2. Going to Heaven Drunk
3. Good Woman -- "Lucky"
4. Wife at Garage Sales
5. Growing Up Poor -- Toughskins Jeans
6. Deer Hunting -- Snake Hunting
7. Walmart
8. Booby Trap
9. Baptist Revival
10. People Piss Ya Off
11. Rodney Scared
12. The Weenie Story
13. Chucky Cheese
14. Japanese Restaurants
15. Vacation
16. Hypochondriac
17. Tips on Marriage
18. Helicopter

Disc 2

19. All the Reasons
20. Don't Look Now
21. That Awful Day
22. Carlos, Man of Love
23. It's Too Late
24. The Night the Bar Closed Down
25. Letter to My Penis
26. Titties and Beer
27. In Her Day
28. Gay Factory Worker
29. A Dozen Roses
30. Carlos
31. Morning Wood
32. More of a Man
33. Pickup Truck
34. Carlos
35. Grandpa
36. Sing You Bastards/Burning Sensation
37. Little Things
38. Dancing with a Man
39. Fred
40. Letter to My Penis
41. Put Your Clothes Back On
42. Things We Didn't Know

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Rodney Carrington   Primary Artist

Technical Credits

Bob Hoban   Composer
Denise Jarvis   Art Producer
Tom Griswold   Producer
Joanie Dixon   Make-Up
Mark Gross   Composer
Michelle Hall   Art Producer
Dean Dixon   Photography
Steve Allee   Producer
Carson Chamberlain   Producer
Rodney Carrington   Composer,Producer
Michael Clark   Producer
Gary Harrison   Producer
Wesley Ligon   Design
Joanna Carter   Art Direction