Bentley’s Bandstand: December 2025
Rodney Crowell, AIRLINE HIGHWAY. Of all the many talented singer-songwriters of the past 50-plus years out of Texas, here is one in the very toppermost of the poppermost on anyone’s list. Rodney Crowelll has always had a sense of the magical in his work that defies regular artists. He has a way of sending his songs into the stratosphere at will. And AIRLINE HIGHWAY is right at the top of his best. When Crowell’s songs enter the breathing of the world, a new sense of magic enters right along with them. The royal sound of eternity pairs right up with a working man like very few people can create. Maybe that’s because this is a Texan who grew up in the workingman’s area on the outskirts of Houston where every inch that a person is able to move forward is hard-earned. Breaks weren’t given; they were earned. But Lordy did Rodney Crowell show what incredible talents he has on his way to the top. And the way he walked the tightrope of country-western and rock & roll is always a study in truth. For this breathtaking album Crowell extended a hand to working with Lukas Nelson, Larkin Poe, Ashley McBryde, Tyler Bryant and Charlie Starr to step into the vocal booth with him to make sure his own talents were extended along with others. It’s called generosity in some circles, and this is one man who knows it’s called a Texas two-way street. Half-way through the album the song “Simple” rolls on and once again the role of philosopher comes spinning from Rodney Crowell’s soul like a full-on full moon thrill. This is a man that can make his heart burst through the world. By the ending song, “Maybe Somewhere Down the Road,” it is obvious Rodney Crowell has recorded the album he knew was in him to share with those who look for magic in the days and nights we’re here. In a lot of ways this is creativity beyond songs. And the sound of teardrops surely hitting the paper when it was written is one more truth that this man has shared with the world. Do not miss.
The Fabulous Thunderbirds, THE JIMMIE VAUGHAN YEARS: COMPLETE STUDIO RECORDINGS: 1978-1989. When it comes to semi-modern blues bands there will never be one to surpass the first incarnation of the Fabulous Thunderbirds. When blues guru guitarist Jimmie Vaughan formed the band in Austin in the mid-1970s with singer-harp player hero Kim Wilson, it was like they grabbed the glory of the blues and took into a new galaxy. Vaughan has a way of putting blues on the front burner and setting the songs on fire with his Stratocaster guitar that the guitarist carved his initials JLV into the back on to prove it was his. The Texan can take the most ferocious style of blues and turn it up even more. He was someone who really did make the music take off for the cosmos. The T-Birds started playing clubs in Austin like Antone’s and Rome Inn in the second half of the 1970s and before you could say “put it in the alley,” they almost single-handedly saved the style of true blues. Singer-harp player Kim Wilson had the same ferocious attack, and was right there with Vaughan. The way they used to set the Rome Inn joint and Antone’s nightclub in flames was a precious thing to behold. This big box collection of the band’s first eight albums with Vaughan in the front sounds like an unbelievable ride into the history book. Taken together, it’s about as glorious a history as anyone ever created outside Chicago. And in this massive music collection of THE JIMMIE VAUGHAN YEARS, the Fabulous Thunderbirds pulls a rabbit out of the hat with the previously unheard first recordings, done with the mighty producers Doc Pomus and Joel Dorn. Crazily enough, the band couldn’t find a label to release it in 1978 and it’s been in the closet since then. But guess what: it’s as good as any blues recorded in those years even though no one had a chance to hear it. So when the band’s so-called “debut” album often referred to as GIRLS GO WILD hit in 1979, it seemed like the galaxy-popper arrived with an explosion. And it had, but the previous Pomus/Dorn production will blow minds today as it would have back then if it had been given a chance. But sometimes that’s the way the world works. Now that all of Vaughan’s unforgettable contributions to the Fabulous Thunderbirds over their first ten years is put into one beautiful box it truly is celebration time for blues lovers and music mavens. This is it. With all the photos–both seen and unseen–collected together in an eye-busting collection right next to these ear-popping recordings, it’s an audio and visual trip into an irresistible galaxy. All aboard now!
Lukas Nelson, AMERICAN ROMANCE. There are a few singer-songwwriters in America now that feel like the resonance of modern life has supercharged their soul. And it makes total sense that Lukas Nelson is at the front of that line. He’s seen modern music being created up close and personal, and has the talents to take it all in and then take it forward. It can’t be denied. And this is the album where the young man hits the present head on and with enough talent and truth to take it forward. It really is an incredible achievemnt. With producer Shooter Jennings signed on for the total trip, AMERICAN ROMANCE is the kind of album that will shine for the next 20 years to remind listeners just what has arrived with these dozen songs to illustrate where American music is. And while it might not immediately become obvious, these are songs that will reverberate with such power and belief that each next generation is in for new truths. But isn’t that the way generations show how they take over the wheel when it’s time for such turning. America seems to be fighting now for the right to love: love friends, love country, love philosophies, love partners, love life. The last few generations have found ourselves turned into knots in so many ways. But this Nelson, privy to lessons from those around him, did not take them for granted. Instead, Lukas Nelson took them for the good inside those songs. For as the last half-dozen decades have taught, the lessons are deep and distinguished. The gig now is to continue learning any and all that is offered, and become the new generation that turns on the lights for all to learn from and see. And with songs like “Disappearing Light,” “Born Runnin’ Outta Time” and all the others here, it’s time to reach out and find the knowledge that’s needed to use the next 100 years of songs to make sure progress continues. Nothing’s for certain, but one thing’s for sure: music is the way to make the best of uncertainty. And ride the music of the spheres. Best of 2025.
Willie Nelson, WORKIN’ MAN: WILLIE SINGS MERLE. Could there ever be an ideal album better than this? Willie Nelson is all true-blue country vocalist. There is something about his voice that really does stop time. It’s like whatever else is happenging in the world can’t be more important than this. Maybe that’s because the Texan has surveyed all the possibilities on the planet and it’s after the vagaries of the heart have been tallied, and the way the singer deliveries the feelings of his voice is everything. And then add on Merle Haggard’s songs that will never be bettered, and the feeling of foreverness is settled in the center of the universe. Really. Haggard’s somehow got the trueness of the world and turned the feelings of the songs into a final pureity of truth. Joined together Nelson and Haggard have been able to go from truth and spinning wonder to something even beyond that: what humans are capable of when they don’t worry about bigness, but rather from grandiosity to simple allness. These songs from Merle Haggard’s belief in the last run around the track to the 100% humanity of Willie Nelson’s vocals come together to that place that can always be believed. It’s like a majesty of the chance to be heard for the basic humanity of the real. There are no real words to explain why perfection is that ability to add everything together into the slightest joy of the only thing that matters: truth. Thank goodness this album was recorded when both men walked the world. Because there won’t ever be two more that add together into allness. What a time.
Armand Paul, THOMAS GUIDE. There was a time pre-iPhones when a Thomas Guide Street Directory was a total necessity for living in Los Angeles. Otherwise drivers could never find directions or a location. Traveling through the massive monstrosity of streets and freeways was impossible. Now anywhere that needs to be found is a flick of the address or a name on an iPhone. How quickly drivers tossed their Thomas Guide catalogues. But Armand Paul doesn’t forget what was a living savior. Same with his music. The Los Angeleno has recorded these otherworldly songs that carry some loyalty of time past, but without getting lost in too much fealty to another time. It’s something from the past rolled into the future. Paul’s roots of Argentinian royalty that stretches regally to the 13th century, join with Persian and Peruvian roots. Quite the line-up. But, with a beautifully original sound, Armand Paul has created his very own audio audacity on his debut album, and creates a promise that says there’s miles and miles to go. Find out now.
Duke Robillard and His All Star Band, BLAST OFF! There are handful of guitarists who hit the rock & roll scene in the 1960s, and changed everything around for how the races enjoyed each other’s sides. One of those band was Roomful of Blues, full of Rhode Island’s finest, who jumped on the blues train and made sure younger listeners, well, listened. The aggregation became the kind of outfit that could set fireworks to the bandstand and make America’s truest sounds take flight. As the decades passed, the players changed and some even went and blew things apart with their own group. Guitarist extraordinaire Duke Robillard and His All Star Band is absolutely one of those groups of shining stars, and they continue kicking down the walls. Robillard himself is a player who rarely gets topped. He is a blues holy roller of the hottest magnitude and never settles for less. Robillard never compromises on the tunestack get-down, covering songs by Floyd Dixon, Allen Toussaint, Tom Waits, Eddie Jones and others, along with some knocked-out originals. There aren’t many guitaragators with this man’s expertise, and it’s always a thrill just to hear Duke Robillard plug in his Gibson rig and slip the juice to the room. There’s an American wildness to players like this. They don’t study what they’re going to blow up, and when the disc is done there is always a reason to hit the play button again and go for the gusto again. That’s because blues is a magic sound. It’s not there to be studied. It’s there to show how a listener’s blood can boil just from the low-down truth of the sounds being shared. The Duke is back to do it again, and there’s no doubt it is going to happen. Burne, Duke, Burn.
Lucinda Williams, WORLD’S GONE WRONG. It takes a magical musician who turns the downright darkness of so much of the modern world into a place where it ends up feeling modernity isn’t going to squash us all after all. Instead, there is a blowing breeze of hope and love that will save those who reach for righteousness. There can be no other way to steer the soul. Lucinda Williams has spent her life staring down the devils, and instead finding those glorious spots that save our hope. What other way can life be grasped?. From the very start this Southern woman wasn’t going to let the sound of crunching spirits be the last sounds we hear. That just can’t be. Music is the one truth that can continually save the day. Williams’ songs seem to come from that truth in a way that is rarely equaled. It seems like some of the hardest lessons in life are filled through this woman’s heart, and manage to come through with a deeper sense of light. Like Lucinda Williams knows what is ahead, but the only way to go is forward even if the bitter truths must be dealt with. The recent fluidity that songs from this woman are pouring through is something to hear. And even if it so often feels that the world actually had gone wrong, the lesson we can learn is that there is no necessity to stop. The most difficult experiences can be met with the strongest walls to turn the tide into the strength it’s going to need to push back in the direction of good. And just to make everything blow, the band consists of Mavis Staples, Brady Blades, David Sutton, Doug Pettibone, Marc Ford and Rob Burger. Lucinda Williams is a woman who has never given up. Listen and feel the strength. It is her only way. Lucinda Williams shines.
Reissue of the Month
Top Jimmy and the Rhythm Pigs, PIGUS DRUNKUS MAXIMUS. There is greatness, and then there is GREATNESS. Take Top Jimmy and the Rhythm Pigs. Once upon a time there was a band held together by whiskey, beer and tacos. And they would play some of the scuziest joints in Los Angeles starting when the 1970s slid into the 1980s. Top Jimmy himself was a study in true culture, the kind where intoxication was the ruling holiness. The man could sing blues and other cultural ruling sounds like he was born in a beer keg, and raised at the Zero Zero afterhours spot on the backside of Cahuenga Boulevard above Franklin. The Zero, as it was called, was a once in a lifetime memory. But once Top Jimmy and the Rhythm Pigs came into being and took over Monday nights at the Cathay de Grande at the corner of Selma and Argyle in Hollywood, they found their true home. The band members were some of the finest musicians in Los Angeles, but had no real ideas of stardom, and vocalist Top Jimmy lived in the moment. The only moment. In 1981 the loosey-goosey Rhythm Pigs tagged producer/saxophone king Steve Berlin to record the infamous crew and PIGUS DRUNKUS MAXIMUS was born and quickly became legendary. So legendary it seemed to disappear quicker than you could say “DUI.” But like all truly great things, the music has arisen. The band is beyond description, even though Chris Morris’ mind-spinning liner notes get mighty close. The LP, of course, disappeared long before their legend was secured. But now that it’s back the band’s true royalty has risen. Finally. And even if Top Jimmy moved on to the afterworld, like everything truly spiritual the album will live again–forever. Listeners are believers.