As 2025 rolls on, we continue our backward glance at Texas-tied albums celebrating significant birthdays in the next 12 months.
For this batch, we’ve arranged, chronologically by release date, an array of mostly North Texas-rooted records which will hit 40 years over the course of 2025. (In case you missed it, here are the albums celebrating their 50th anniversaries this year.)
Boz Scaggs, Middle Man (released April 1980)
The Plano-raised singer-songwriter enlisted a murderer’s row of talent to help realize his ninth studio album — David Foster co-wrote every song save one, and the backing musicians for Scaggs included the entirety of Toto, James Newton Howard, Carlos Santana and Ray Parker Jr.
Willie Nelson & Ray Price, San Antonio Rose (released May 1980)
History repeated — a little — with this collaboration between Nelson and the man whom he considered country music’s Sinatra, Ray Price. Price had cut an album in 1961 paying tribute to Bob Wills (whose “San Antonio Rose” gives the record its title), upon which a then-fledgling singer-songwriter named Willie Nelson had played guitar.
Willie Nelson, Honeysuckle Rose (released July 18, 1980)
The second Willie album of 1980, and the one which gave the world “On the Road Again.” Doubling as a soundtrack for the film of the same name (which, yes, also starred Willie), the record features guest appearances by actress Amy Irving, Emmylou Harris, Johnny Gimble, Hank Cochran and Jeannie Seely.
The Fabulous Thunderbirds, What’s the Word (released Aug. 4, 1980)
A scorching slice of Texas blues, produced by Denny Bruce at Sumet-Bernet Sound Studios in Dallas, this second album from the Austin-based Fabulous Thunderbirds, which counted the Oak Cliff-born Jimmie Vaughan among its ranks, has aged like a fine wine.
Asleep at the Wheel, Framed (released Aug. 5, 1980)
Another record cut at Dallas’ Sumet-Bernet Sound Studios and released in 1980, this one was the seventh studio record for Asleep at the Wheel, and the first for which front man Ray Benson wrote the bulk of the material. The band also expanded its sonic palette beyond strictly Western swing — straight-ahead rock and jazz turn up here — but five years would elapse before its follow-up.
Delbert McClinton, The Jealous Kind (released 1980)
Fort Worth-raised singer-songwriter was eight albums into his career — and had tasted chart success when Emmylou Harris covered his “Two More Bottles of Wine” two years prior — when he released The Jealous Kind, a record which give McClinton his only solo Top 40 hit single, “Giving It Up for Your Love,” which topped out at number eight.
T Bone Burnett, Truth Decay (released Oct. 22, 1980)
For his first studio album in eight years, the man born Joseph Henry Burnett and raised in Fort Worth embraced his childhood nickname — T Bone — which he’s continued to use for every musical project since. This sophomore solo effort came on the heels of his remarkable 1970s run as a member of Bob Dylan’s Rolling Thunder Revue and a three-album stint with the Alpha Band.
Preston Jones is a North Texas freelance writer and regular contributor to KXT. Email him at [email protected] or find him on X (@prestonjones). Our work is made possible by our generous, music-loving members. If you like how we lift up local music, consider becoming a KXT sustaining member right here.
