This Saturday night, Walter Trout is scheduled to bring his blazing guitar style to the Heritage Music BluesFest in Wheeling.
Today (and what a coincidence this is!), Trout releases an album of mostly older and unreleased material from the past 20 years, plus three new songs, all wrapped up in a blistering blues-rock CD called "Unspoiled by Progress" (Provogue Records).
The cuts include old studio recordings as well as some roaring club performances, all of which prove that he could keep up that pace for 20-plus years, and still be going strong.
Trout, as his fans well know, is a New Jersey native, and has workd with John Mayall and Coca Montoya and Canned Heat, plus a lot of blues bands over the years. He worked out of LA for a while, then spent considerable time touring and working in Europe. His blues resume is long and illustrious. (See his bio.)
He's usually played on the rock edge of blues, with fiery guitar and attitude to match, and this collection of tunes that he's culled from his past highlight the eclectic quality of his work. As much as it might be blues heresy, one of my favorite cuts here is a steaming, foot-pounding fiive-plus minute version of "Long Tall Sally," maybe the best I've ever heard, except for the Bronze Liberace himself. It was an encore for a 1991 show at the Paradiso in Amsterdam. A tremendous driving organ solo and Trout's guitar flash hot and burn bright (don't stare at it too long) where Richard took rollicking piano solos. Little Richard taken to the next level. I love it!
The liner notes by Trout talk a little about the history of each track, giving the whole thing a very personal touch. It's a nice trip through Troutland. The three originals here are very fine -- "They Call Us The Working Class," a very contemporary look at a very old blues theme -- tough times; "Two Sides To Every Story," a delicate acoustic effort; and the ' and the slow-burning "So Afraid Of The Darkness."
The album offers a nice look back at one of the best contemporary blues-rock guys around.
Here's YouTube version of "Working Class." It doesn't actually show Trout, but I thought it was a good way to present the song:
Posted
Aug 04 2009, 01:00 AM
by
Jim White