Thursday, August 07, 2008

Actors Who Sing

Billy Bob Thornton's Countrybilly tribute album named after his band, The Boxmasters, is best on the new songs and just okay on the covers. Thornton has that twisted Alt-Country Americana sense of humor going for him. What he doesn't have is a good voice. Here he does sound better than he did on his solo records. The Rockabilly meets Hillbilly 60's updated for the 00's makes him more passable than a rockin' Kris Kristofferson.
But while the album is a good throwback it got me thinking of actors who sing and whether I care if they are a better actor or singer. Thornton's bio says he was in bands long before he started acting, but that doesn't mean he should sing. He's a good songwriter, and the humorous ones save the Boxmasters. Actors who aren't normally thought of as singers usually get a bum rap from critics. Why can't they stick with what they do best? So, we do get one-hit wonder duds like Bruce Willis or Jack Wagner. Actually I don't care if they can or can't, just give me something good to spin. You'll like the Boxmasters if you like my description of it above, but you'll still think of Thornton as actor first and singer second.
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