WALTER TROUT 20^th Anniversary

Twenty years! What an incredible journey it has been so far. On this CD we decided to take a look back at the beginning and also have a few brand new songs. We start with my most recent studio recording, They Call Us the Working Class. This track features my current band, Sammy Avila on Hammond B3, Rick Knapp on bass, and Michael Leasure on drums and is my musical commentary on what's been going on in our country and around the world.

Track 2 Going Down is my oldest unreleased studio track recorded in August of 1991. It was done as part of a BBC session and played on Bob Harris' show back then. The BBC were kind enough to give us access to the legendary Maida Vale Recording Studio where acts like the Beatles and Jimi Hendrix had done their radio sessions. We were given 24 hours free time to do what we could. This explains the two guitar parts on each song... I overdubbed the rhythm. I include two tracks here from that session.

In choosing these tracks I had to sometimes weigh the recording quality against the performance, and I have tried to find tracks with a good balance of both.

Tracks 3 and 4, Life in the Jungle and Long Tall Sally are from my very first appearance with my own band at the Paradiso in Amsterdam in 1991. Life in the Jungle was the title track of my first record. Long Tall Sally is the encore from that night. We were pretty excited about playing one of the greatest clubs in the world and the overwhelming response we received from the Dutch audience pushed us to new heights.

The story of my career can't be written without a chapter on Perq's Niteclub in Huntington Beach. For almost twelve years I had the house band there. Whenever I was not on tour I played between four to six nights a week, five hours a night at Perq's! When I was first offered a record deal, I just called my band buddies at Perq's and they became the first Walter Trout Band. On track six, Somebody's Acting Like a Child, we happened to have the great drummer from Little Feat, Richie Hayward jamming with us. This cut was recorded in 1989 by my friend George Lyons on one of many crazy nights and we are really going for it! This is the oldest track on this CD and the song written by my ex-boss and mentor John Mayall is a good example of an uninhibited Perq's jam session.
The atmosphere at Perq's was always more of a party - a gathering of local Huntington Beach people, friends and musicians - than that of a concert! There was a lot of joking over the microphone. I've included a couple of examples such as Track 5 and 7.

The contribution made by Jimmy Trapp to my music and to my life is immense and can't be overstated!  Track eight, Sweet as a Flower was recorded, again by George Lyons, at Jimmy's final show in Las Vegas. This is a song he and I wrote together in 1990 and this recording represents the last time he ever played the bass. He was hospitalized two days later and passed away on August 24^th, 2005. Since his death many people have said to me that they considered him the finest bass player in this genre. I agree! Not a day goes by that I don't think of him and the memories are deeply cherished. Once in Norway someone told him: "You are too big a man for your personality - your personality is busting out of your body". I couldn't have said it better myself!

I love you and miss you, Jim.

Track 9 Two Sides To Every Story - another new studio recording featuring my current band. I wrote this one day after a few hours of listening to Lightnin' Hopkins.

Track 10 and 11 are from the Bonn Blues festival, December of 1991. Track 10 - Finally Gotten over You - is a slow blues jam. Back then I would occasionally play harmonica on stage. At the end of my harp solo I would throw the harmonica to my road manager Dave Brown and whip into a guitar solo. On this particular evening I threw the harmonica with a little extra gusto and accidentally hit Dave in the head. You can hear me apologize to him over the mic right before the guitar solo. This festival was shortly before Christmas which accounts for the Christmas carol references in my guitar solo. Track 11 - Goin' Back Home ' is an up-tempo rather frantic version of a song written by my friend and mentor Finis Tasby. I include it here because it features one of the few bass solos ever by Jimmy Trapp.  It also features an incredible drum solo by my then brand new drummer - the great Bernard Pershey. Bernard was with me almost 10 years and I consider him one of the finest drummers there is.

Track 12 - Marie's Mood - is from the Leverkusen Blues Festival in 1997. This is a number I wrote for my wife, Marie as she was experiencing the very difficult pregnancy that resulted in our son Michael.

Track 13 - She's Out There Somewhere - another cut from that Bob Harris BBC session from 1991. I include this track for the listening pleasure of my good friend - the very immodest  Mr. Chris McGlade from England. So Chris, now you can quit your bitchin' and shut up. Remember next time you sing on stage in America: "Keep your clothes on!!"

Track 14- So Afraid of the Darkness- another brand new studio recording. A song I wrote for a young man who felt he had to leave the lights on at night.

So there it is! I hope you enjoy it. It has been my privilege and pleasure to get to play my music for you for all these years. You have made this possible for me and I hope to continue for many more years. I am one of the lucky people, who love what I do for a living, and having you all in my life to share this passion with, is truly a gift.  Walter Trout

In support of the new album Walter will be touring the UK in October.

WALTER TROUT  -  "Unspoiled by Progress"  www.waltertrout.com

Provogue  -  Cat. No: PRD 7285

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