© Bluestronomical Publishing Inc. 2009

Walter Trout
Unspoiled by Progress (20 Years of Hardcore Blues)
Provogue Music PRD 72852

Provogue’s U.S. release of this 14-track commemorative to Trout’s successful 20-year solo career is a well-rounded collection of rare and previously unreleased recordings and live performances. Included in the ensemble are three new Trout compositions, each one individually unique, but together their collective variety becomes a testament to Trout’s enduring talent and career longevity.

The New Jersey native’s semi-autobiographical, “They Call Us The Working Class,” has an anthem-like quality slightly akin to a Mellancamp creation, but Trout’s guitar segments are tight, blues-fueled and solid. The Lightnin’ Hopkins-inspired “Two Sides For Every Story” is pure Delta blues, so rich I smell magnolias.

Known for his stylistic variety, Trout sustains this reputation on the 3rd of the CD’s new releases, “So Afraid Of The Darkness,” a soulful inspirational ballad Trout wrote for a close friend. The audio quality of this CD is excellent. And since blues music is timeless, Trout’s performances sound like he performed them yesterday!

ALL the songs on this CD are terrific, but some of them command an elaboration....you should know: On the August 1991 BBC recordings of Buddy Guy’s “She’s Out There Somewhere” and Don Nix’s classic “Goin’ Down,” Trout’s rhythm overdubbing and the resulting two-guitar sound are quite dynamic, perhaps the finest rendition of these classics as you will ever hear. Trout’s instrumental ode to his wife, the 1997 Leverkusen Blues Festival recording of “Marie’s Mood,” is hauntingly beautiful...simply pure musicianship. (With several re-releases since its original debut, this one has become a reliable standard in the Trout discography.) “Sweet As A Flower” with its Carlos Santana-influenced guitar licks and Latin-flavored tempo is the perfect homage to the guitar virtuoso, whom Trout considers one of his closest friends. A mid-1980s post-concert comment Santana made to Trout concerning his escalating alcohol abuse affected him deeply, yet it proved to be the catalytic event needed to propel Trout into a successful recovery from his addiction.

Regrettably, this May 2005 Las Vegas recording of “...Flower” would be the last performance Trout would enjoy with his long-time friend, the prolific bass player Jimmy Trapp, who was hospitalized two days after the session, and subsequently passed away in August. Trout honors Trapp’s memory and musical influence by including “Going Back Home” and “Finally Gotten Over You” on this disc. These two notable entries from the 1991 Bonn Blues Festival recordings not only include a randomly scheduled Trout harmonica solo, but the pleasingly frantic “Going Back Home” finds Trapp and drummer Bernard Pershey in pure synchronicity, truly in their element. Despite being recorded in mono, the jam is on! Pure energy on this one!

Unspoiled by Progress is good stuff. I want to hear more Walter Trout. Why no 2-CD set?

- Bev Wilson -


Southwest Blues CD Review - August 2009

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