Bentley’s Bandstand: Stan Ridgeway, Neon Mirage

BY BILL BENTLEY

Stan Ridgway, Neon Mirage, A440 Records

Take some of the nocturnal knowledge inherent to Los Angeles that Jim Morrison so famously tapped, add a bit of Dean Martin’s way cool swing-a-ding-ding and then drop in a splash of Pee Wee Herman just for kicks, and you’d be getting close to the subliminal wow of Stan Ridgway.

All these years, most famously with Wall of Voodoo, this man has opened those doors of perceptions not easily perceived. He’s always been an exciting explorer, but on the new album Neon Mirage he has finally found his way home. It’s a completely stunning work, full of strengths and surprises that even while we’ve come to expect them from Ridgway, they still ring home here with an inescapable heart. From the opening song “Big Green Tree,” which could be a modern prayer for us all, to the closing “Day Up in the Sun,” the singer-songwriter has found his innermost groove. Even better, he’s sharpened those prodigious musical skills he’s always shown to such a joyous edge that these dozen songs make life jump through new hoops. Seriously. Stan Ridgway might not be on everyone’s frontal lobe these days but that doesn’t mean he isn’t a 21st century hero. If you go back to the Class of 1980 in Los Angeles, when the streets and sidewalks were shaking with mind-blowing sounds, not everyone would have bet on Stan Ridgway to be at the front of the line 30 years later. It’s a solid bet Neon Mirage won’t be bested by many for album of the year in 2010, and the world it describes and lessons it imparts are the kind that are downright prophetic. Not only would William Burroughs be proud, but so would Captain Kangaroo. And if that ain’t a reason to ring the bells then what is?

Bentley’s Bandstand: Eli “Paperboy” Reed, Come and Get It

BY BILL BENTLEY

Eli “Paperboy” Reed, Come and Get It

Soul music cannot be contained by time. It is all about expressing emotions that transcend the moment, those feelings which flood the heart and last forever. The music was born in the church, really, when the secular concerns of love and sex overtook the confines of God and possessed the body and mind. There was no way to stop them, obviously, and why should there be?

Try to imagine a world where those powerful ways of man and woman didn’t exist and there isn’t much to fuel our daily fires. Sure, the spiritual is where we all ended up anyway, but getting there needs hope and faith. What better way to find that than in the arms of others. A church pew can get extremely uncomfortable without some dreams of a future with others driving us on. Once rhythm & blues and church co-mingled in the hands of the early soul masters like Ray Charles and other heroes, it was all over but the shouting. But like all musical styles, the attention of the masses come and go, and by the late ’70s there wasn’t much call for those mighty sounds anymore.

The circle is coming back around, thanks to people like Eli “Paperboy” Reed and the unrelenting assault on the senses through pure soul and the invigorating emotions of songs that light our fire. Reed’s first major label release is a barn burner, the kind of album that gives cause to believe there is no stopping this wave of funky feelings and righteous raucousness. He can sing like he was born to this world. His circuitous route from the Northeast to Mississippi to Chicago and back shows the dedication of a true believers. But this ain’t no thrift shop journey. Eli Reed is in it for real, with a band that knows when to blow and when to breeze. His momentous voice is all there, and it would be hard-pressed to think of anyone out there know who could jumpy his pony.

And like Michael Buble started with a Frank Sinatra-fixation and opened the door to a new world for himself, Eli Reed is dipping down to Memphis for inspiration, but jacking up his attack to include the cosmos. The true test comes on ballads, and “Pick Your Battles” proves this young man deserves a medal and then some. The next time you’re looking for the promise of Saturday night, when everything seems possible if you could only find the key to open the door, try “Paperboy” out. He’s got a money-back guarantee to turn on your love light and then some.

Bill Bentley is a writer, musician, publicist, record producer and A&R director. He once played drums with Lightnin’ Hopkins.

Bentley’s Bandstand: Brian Wilson Reimagines Gershwin

BY BILL BENTLEY

Brian Wilson, Reimagines Gershwin, Walt Disney Records

Winnie the Pooh, another proud member of the Walt Disney stable, would surely be smiling about Brian Wilson’s new album, if for no other reason that it takes a minute to make sense of how the head Beach Boy ended up singing “I Loves You Porgy.”

Pooh Bear was used to being slightly confused. And you have to admit that Wilson’s wasn’t a move anyone could have really seen coming. But once it sinks in, along with all the other George and Ira Gershwin classics rendered here, it wouldn’t be surprising if the two Gershwin brothers had an inspirational hand in composing “In My Room,” “God Only Knows” or “Caroline No.” Music is nothing if not a long line of connected notes and feelings, and Brian Wilson surely ranks right up there with the greatest composers in history. So why shouldn’t California’s favorite son look back in glory at his earliest inspiration and find a way to make a home there?

Wilson has said “Rhapsody in Blue” is his earliest musical memory, and what a way to start. No wonder he was able to record Pet Sounds in his early 20s, and all the other mind-blowing songs he’s created. The man has deep roots. What he does with “It Ain’t Necessarily So,” “‘S Wonderful,” “Love Is Here to Stay,” “Someone to Watch Over Me” and others on this tingling album is of a perfect piece with the Beach Boys recordings, really, and feels just fine. In fact, it’s how he turns a few of these gems into modern wonders, especially “I Got Rhythm,” that shows what a true genius Brian Wilson is. He knows better than anyone alive that it’s all just music, and when the heart is open and the soul is free there is no stopping what can happen. His voice has never sounded better, and the way he and collaborator Scott Bennett actually complete two unfinished George Gershwin originals makes the mind reel with what could have been if time machines actually existed.

It must be a great day in the Hundred Acre Wood for Owl, Eeyore, Pooh Bear, Christopher Robin and the rest of those fine fellows. Forever must feel just fine.

Bill Bentley is a writer, musician, publicist, record producer and A&R director. He once played drums with Lightnin’ Hopkins.

Bentley’s Bandstand: Carlou D’s Muzikr

BY BILL BENTLEY

Carlou D, Muzikr, World Village Records

So often the best music sounds like nursery rhymes for adults. No matter what language they use, some singers are able to go immediately deep inside us without hardly trying. They have instant access to the soul, whether through a connection of their own or possibly a belief system that taps them in. They way they get there, and take us with them, borders on the mystical.

Carlou D definitely is riding a spiritual bullet train. He began in Senegal’s hip-hop world in the ’90s, and steadily found himself under the pull of the Sufi Islamic chants of Cheikh Ibra Fall’s followers. What a glorious sound it is too, with the feeling of a rising tide coming from the vocalists and musicians, sweeping listeners up in the glory of belief.

Recorded in Dakar, Carlou D is the perfect person to open a door into songs that offer hope and happiness. He is aware of modern rhythmic methods, and is not shy about using them in a traditional setting. But that’s only the beginning. Where he goes from there on songs like “Nanioul,” “Yaay Fall” and “Goree,” featuring special guest Youssou N’Dour, is where the wonder lives.

One listen and it’s obvious this is a young man who has found the secret of sound. There are people who purify the soul with their music, and consider anything less a distraction at best. World music is a never-ending gift, and when a new classic like Muzikr comes along it is cause for celebration. Carlou D is a man without boundaries offering a unique and exciting path to a new land. Follow his light.

Bentley’s Bandstand: Los Lobos, Tin Can Trust

BY BILL BENTLEY

Los Lobos, Tin Can Trust, Shout! Factory Records

Los Lobos has always been about borders, and the way they have to be navigated. Whether you internalize them, cross them or even blow them apart, this East L.A. band has never been one to stay content with the status quo. That’s their strength: how they invented themselves in the 1970s as an acoustic aggregation playing the traditional music of their Mexican-American culture and then went on to tear it to pieces. It has been a transfixing trip listening to Lobos’ progression in becoming one of America’s greatest groups, and Tin Can Trust is another exciting step in an unstoppable journey.

This time out, the songs feel like the band’s borders are those of the mind and heart, and the way the music deals with the search for freedom is both chilling and cathartic. The secret in the sauce, as if the world didn’t already know, is David Hidalgo’s guitar. In the big man’s hands, those six strings sound like they’re ready to take on anything. They can go loud or soft, happy or sad, but always push in the direction of freedom of expression. Even better, his playing cannot be tagged. Blues-based to be sure, but the feeling is so far beyond that style it can only be called original. Hidalgo’s voice is also a wonder, capturing a brown-eyed essence of soul deeply moving.

Whether it’s “On Main Street,” “Jupiter on the Moon” or the title song, the Los Lobos live songbook takes on another fine chapter with these additions. Vocalist-guitarist Cesar Rosas is all over the new album too, with “Yo Canto,” “Mujer Ingrata” and an intriguing collaboration with Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter on  “All My Bridges Burning.”

At this stage of their distinguished run, Los Lobos is still thriving on an embarrassment of riches, and always play with the fire of those for who holding back is simply not an option. Remembering the stops along the way of where the band has been can be breathtaking. Even better is trying to guess where Los Lobos will go. That’s the real thriller.

Bill Bentley is a writer, musician, publicist, record producer and A&R director. He once played drums with Lightnin’ Hopkins.

Bentley’s Bandstand: Marc Cohn Listening Booth: 1970

BY BILL BENTLEY

Marc Cohn, Listening Booth: 1970, Saguaro Road Records

Turning a song by Bread into something so soulful it sounds just this side of Al Green is no easy feat. But that’s exactly what Marc Cohn does on this intriguing concept album of songs which were originally hits in 1970. A lot of the kudos should also go to producer John Leventhal, because the music stays in such a backtown groove it’s almost impossible to resist.

But Cohn’s voice carries the load, from the opening track, Cat Stevens’ “Wild World” to the closer from Creedence Clearwater Revival, “Long as I Can See the Light.” Marc Cohn’s biggest hit, “Walking in Memphis,” should have let us know he is capable of finding a groove to work the mojo on these songs. The way the tempos are slowed down into a near-languid strut, with the electric guitars left in the closet in favor of acoustics, is an instant tip we’re in the presence of deep feelers.

All involved must have known that instead of a heavy hand,  luring us into submission is going to make these songs saturate our spirits. And they do, never mind most of them come from the pens of the masters, including John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Paul Simon and Smokey Robinson. Still, Listening Booth could easily have been a wash if it weren’t for the room the music is given to glow. Blue-eyed soul is in short supply these days. Maybe it’s that the style is just written-out, or possibly perfection is the true culprit, when studio expertise has made singing from the inside a pursuit of the past. Let’s hope not, because listening to “Tears of a Clown” reminds us what a voice and lyric are capable of.

The one slight misstep, a cover of the Grateful Dead’s “New Speedway Boogie,” is more about subject matter than talent. Instead of romance, Robert Hunter’s lyrics artfully deal with the aftermath of the tragic Altamont concert, and just feel out of place. No matter, really, because the following track, Van Morrison’s “Into the Mystic,” turns the goosebumps back up full tilt.

The question now is whether Marc Cohn’s follow-up is 1969 or 1971, because he’s definitely onto something.

Bill Bentley is a writer, musician, publicist, record producer and A&R director. He once played drums with Lightnin’ Hopkins.

Bentley’s Bandstand: Robert Randolph and the Family Band’s We Walk This Road

BY BILL BENTLEY

Robert Randolph and the Family Band, We Walk This Road, Warner Bros. Records

Arriving fully-formed and ready to burn, almost like he’d been transported from another planet and sent to save our souls, pedal steel guitarist Robert Randolph and his Family Band have been circling the Earth for the past decade. When he stops in sanctified churches and on concert stages, the man’s music is incendiary. He has taken an instrument that is most closely associated with country music and turned it into a weapon of raging sonic power.

At first,  Randolph and his two cousins terrorized the jam band scene with hours-long sets where his pedal steel invented a language all its own. No one had seen an instrument of a dozen strings played with a small steel slide bar head for the stratosphere like that. Maybe because the style had been born in the Church of God, or possibly because Randolph really does have some Martian in him, but it didn’t take long for a major record label to throw in and try to educate the world about the possibilities present.

Two Warner Bros. albums came and went, and while they most assuredly had their righteous moments, something was missing: God. Producer T Bone Burnett must have smelled that absence, because he’s zeroed in on the songs here to convey a divine scent, whether they’re by Bob Dylan, Blind Willie Johnson, John Lennon, Prince, Peter Case or a handful of originals. Each reflects a longing of the human soul to find its way past the ordinary dimensions of secular life, and soar into the land of the spiritual.

Naturally, Robert Randolph’s pedal steel is the fuel they use to get there. It’s a sound that can’t be duplicated or even, really, described, probably because no one else outside the church is doing it. And interwoven between the lucky 11 songs are six segues of old gospel recordings, by Mitchell’s Christian Singers and his honor himself Blind Willie Johnson, to show where this sound was born and convey that no matter when the next world comes calling, we’re all going to go there someday.

What We Walk This Road offers is a joyful noise until we get there. All doubters are directed to the last song, “Salvation.” Sung by bassist Danyel Morgan and sister Lenesha Randolph and featuring the piano of Leon Russell,” it’s a slice of heaven that shows what awaits the true believers at the end. Amen.

Bill Bentley is a writer, musician, publicist, record producer and A&R director. He once played drums with Lightnin’ Hopkins.

Bentley’s Bandstand: Various Artists: The Psychedelic Sounds of the Sonic Cathedral: A Tribute to Roky Erickson and the 13th Floor Elevators

BY BILL BENTLEY

Various Artists: The Psychedelic Sounds of the Sonic Cathedral: A Tribute to Roky Erickson and the 13th Floor Elevators Sonic Cathedral Records

In so many ways, much of modern music is a tribute to the 13th Floor Elevators. They were a largely unknown 1960s band  in Austin, Texas who based their sound and words on the idea that better living through chemistry was the ticket. The group, fronted by a teen-aged Roky Erickson, poured massive amounts of LSD into their cerebral cortexes and hallucinated to the heavens, taking willing listeners with them on a trip to the outer edges. Naturally, not everyone made it back.

Visionary mastermind Tommy Hall, who happened to write most of the outfit’s lyrics and play jug while he jiggled with the very essence of the cosmos, believed that through the reshaping of reality, man could evolve and find pure sanity in a reconfigured consciousness. His songs were so grand that he convinced many who took the time to listen, most of them being musicians then and now, so the influence of the Elevators is still on a rising curve.

Hence,  this tribute album, which is such a rush of remembered brilliance and psychedelic power that it makes the past 45 years feel like a minor blip on the mobius strip of time. Bands like the Strange Attractors, All the Saints, Darker My Love and others, even if they’re largely unknown, tear into songs like “Reverberation (Doubt),” “Don’t Fall Down” and “She Lives (In a Time of Her Own)” intent on proving to the world that the object of their extreme affection, namely the 13th Floor Elevators, deserve to be in the front ranks of proven pioneers. Those players who take chances with pushing the blotter paper to the limit are the ones who reach levitation levels, and are able to inspire longtime fans to heightened states of ecstasy.

This is serious mojo being messed with, and novices need not apply. When the walls start melting and faces under fluourescent lights turn into puddles of plasma, you’ll know the job is being done. And it is then that label host Sonic Cathedral seems like the final destination for seekers trying to find the kingdom of heaven. And, right on time, it’s still where Roky Erickson and the 13th Floor Elevators said it was all those years: within you. Going up?

Bill Bentley is a writer, musician, publicist, record producer and A&R director. He once played drums with Lightnin’ Hopkins.

Bentley’s Bandstand: An unforgettable album by Mary Gauthier

BY BILL BENTLEY

Mary Gauthier, The Foundling, Razor & Tie Records

Concept albums can be deadly. Some seem inspired by the angels and can bring listeners to their knees. Others will make you run for the hills holding your ears and screaming “Liberace in lace underwear” at the top of your lungs to help drown out the sound. Of course, there is no telling in advance what works and each is a giant gamble.

Mary Gauthier, one of the best singer-songwriters alive and someone who can put your heart in a vice grip tighter than a tourniquet, goes all the way on The Foundling. Put up for adoption when she was born in New Orleans, Gauthier spent a large portion of her early life seeing how much trouble she could locate — and succeeded admirably. The woman has dedicated many of her adult years making amends for that misadventure, and recorded a handful of albums that shine like diamonds.

Unfortunately, not that many actual citizens know about her music and its infinite charm, but that doesn’t stop Mary Gauthier from dreaming big and acting brave. These thirteen songs take sadness to a new level, without ever making them hard to hear. Maybe that’s because the music communicates a level of uncomfortable truth the record business now would rather commit mass suicide than have to acknowledge.

Ultimately that’s irrelevant because one thing is for certain: the Louisiana lady won’t back down. She has the resolve of a suspension bridge and an eye for emotional detail beyond uncanny. So even while the songs are swinging and swaying, the daggers are out and the laser beams doing their dirty work. The words dig into the earth to help her come to terms with a part of life way beyond her control: a childhood which began by being discarded. Not an easy fact to ignore. Okay, maybe The Foundling isn’t the perfect play to get a Valentine’s Day party started, but it’s an album you will never forget. And how many are there of those these days? Liberace please phone home.

Bill Bentley is a writer, musician, publicist, record producer and A&R director. He once played drums with Lightnin’ Hopkins.

Bentley’s Bandstand: Cyndi Lauper’s Memphis Blues

BY BILL BENTLEY

Cyndi Lauper, Memphis Blues, Mercer Street Records

Good God, ya’ll. The Queen of Sheen has traveled a long and dusty road to get to Memphis, Tennessee — home of the blues and all kinds of other sonic shenanigans.

Cyndi Lauper got her nose opened, no doubt, regarding these succulent sounds and decided she wanted to do something about it. Being a vocal master–who can listen to “Time after Time” even today and not go a little weak in the knees? The woman enlisted some of Bluff City’s best musicians, including Hi Records’ rhythm section Howard Grimes on drums and bassist Leroy Hodges, and swept up a lucky eleven songs to make her play for posterity. Surprisingly, Lauper gets mighty close, choosing songs that allow her voice to turn totally seductive. Big Bill Broonzy’s “Romance in the Dark” can melt the coldest heart, while Albert King’s “Down Don’t Bother Me” gets in the gutter and stays there. The other nine selections are just as moving, but special mention should be made of Memphis Slim’s “Mother Earth.” Allen Toussaint’s piano sounds downright heroic before Cyndi Lauper’s voice even enters. But when she does, she owns the song, scooting right up there with Memphis Slim and Tracy Nelson’s versions. Only Lauper knows if she had any trepidation jumping into the blues pool, but one listen to this album proves she was born to do it. The lady has always been fearless, and there is surely no reason to stop now. She might reconsider before crawling into a birdcage to be photographed again, but like she once sang: girls just want to have fun.

Bill Bentley is a writer, musician, publicist, record producer and A&R director. He once played drums with Lightnin’ Hopkins.

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