My Precious Little One

by Stephen Thomas ErlewineRick Springfield has never been one to take even the simplest tasks lightly. When he cut a Christmas album, he delivered not a collection of frivolous secular tunes, but carols that played like madrigals, and he takes a similar sober approach to My Precious Little One, his first children's album. Springfield doesn't succumb to cutesiness, he doesn't record standards, he writes a selection of clear-eyed originals that are directed as much to the parents as they are to the kids. Certainly that's true of the title track, which invites parents to put themselves in Springfield's shoes as he gazes lovingly at his sleeping child, but all ten lullabies on My Precious Little One strike a delicate balance between pleasing adults and children, sounding soothing without being boring, sweet without being saccharine. To be sure, this is still a soft, sleepy album, one that's designed to relax not energize, but it's a testament to Springfield's skill as a craftsman that it's engaging, feeling at once like a kid's album and a low-key record for adults.