Merry Christmas, Baby, Edwin McCain (Saguaro Road)

South Carolina singer-songwriter Edwin came to prominence in the 1990s with "I'll Be" and "I Could Not Ask For More." For 2019, he dropped this "surprise" album, according to the press release. (Strangely, no Amazon link at this time.) Don't be fooled by him getting his start in the 90s; this is solid 60s-70s R'nB done with his regular band, augmented by Ivan Neville on keyboards. Edwin's guitarist Larry Chaney provides the only original here, "Christmas Cheer," a downbeat ballad about the relative lack of same. The other 10 songs are familiar, starting with the often-covered Charles Brown number that serves as the title song here, and going on to include "Christmas in New Orleans," plus versions of "Jingle Bells" and "Jingle Bell Rock" that are infused with that city's musical readymades. "The Christmas Song (Chestnuts)" and "Silent Night" are more folky renditions of those songs, and the remainder of the songs -- "Winter Wonderland," "Frosty the Snowman," "Silver Bells," and "Mele Kalikimaka" are solidly upbeat. Not a particularly groundbreaking collection, but it's eminently listenable. Can't leave this behind without mentioning Edwin's previous Christmas song, not included here, "Christmas Chihuahua," a 2016 single in which the singer sings to a child about giving Santa a pet. It has more of a novelty ring to it, which I imagine is why it didn't make the cut this year.