Merry Christmas, Baby, Rod Stewart (Verve)

Rod has been a lounge lizard for a lot more years than he was a credible star of the classic rock era, but I gotta tell you I still love those old Faces records as well as those Rod solo discs from his Mercury Records era. It is for that reason Mistletunes takes up the question of this 2012 recording. Won't keep you in suspense; the song roster, with only a couple of exceptions, is mid-20th century holiday standards and classic carols, and the fact that this is on Verve Records confirms without listening that this is an extension of his American Songbook series of crooner records. The title song featuring Cee-Lo and Trombone Shorty (also on Cee-Lo's new disc) is a nice uptempo blues of the kind Rod used to lunge for. Mary J. Blige steps in to belt along with Rod on "We Three Kings," putting a taste of gospel into the proceedings. And there's one new original song, "Red-Suited Super Man," also featuring Trombone Shorty, which could have been a strong rocker but instead gets the crooner treatment, bringing it more in line with the other songs on here. The same thing happens to "Blue Christmas," with orchestra overwhelming the steel guitar. Dave Koz gets a sax solo on "Let It Snow," Michael Buble duets on "Winter Wonderland," and the project indulges in a little audio necrophilia with a "duet" between Rod and Ella Fitzgerald on "What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?" Fans of the crooners, and Rod fans, are well served here, but there's hardly any rock to speak of. Too bad we'll never hear Christmas as it might have been celebrated on Gasoline Alley.