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WALTER TROUT
UNSPOILED BY PROGRESS

They Call Us The Working Class leads off here with Walter singing “They call us the working class but we ain’t workin’ no more.” This is a new track done with his current band. It is Walter’s take on what is going on around us. This CD is Walter’s look back on twenty years with a few new tracks thrown in. On this newest release Walter dug back through his collection of live recordings from this twenty year span.

Walter’s oldest unreleased studio track is Goin' Down. It came from a BBC session. This thing is pure Walter. It rips like it was a live version.

A song we have all heard before is Life In The Jungle but this live version recorded at the Paradiso in Amsterdam is special. It has that live vibe but with the warmth of being played in a club. Long Tall Sally was recorded that same night.

Somebody's Acting Like A Child is a typical Trout live tune. The organ fills up the canvas while the guitar work tears your head off. This is a John Mayall penned song that was recorded in 1989 and is the oldest one on the CD.

Sweet As A Flower is a song that was written by Walter and his former bass player Jimmy Trapp. This recording was the last time Jimmy ever played bass. He became ill and later passed away in 2005. This shows a little softer side to Walter’s playing and Jimmy’s bass is always right there in the pocket.

Another new track is Two Sides To Every Story. Walter says he wrote this after listening to Lightnin’ Hopkins for a few hours one day. It is a nice change to hear some acoustic guitar from Walter.

On Finally Gotten Over You the guitar shredding has returned but just for a while. Then the song turns into a slow Blues burner. Walter plays some harp on this song and you can hear him apologize to his road manager Dave Brown. This was for hitting him in the head when he tossed him the harp. Then it is back to the guitar solo and as you listen to the guitar solo you are thinking that it must have taken place around Christmas. (A little Jingle Bells) Ah, more shredding and then (Oh Christmas Tree) before shifting right into Goin' Back Home. This is an all out rocker. Here we get what Walter says was a rare bass solo by Jimmy Trapp, followed by a drum solo by Walter’s then new drummer Bernard Pershey. Just try to keep your foot from tapping.

We definitely shift gears on Marie's Mood. This is an instrumental love song written for Walter’s wife who was going though a difficult pregnancy at the time. This is a beautiful song. You can really feel the pain and the love here.

She's Out There Somewhere is another song from the BBC session. It moves, it swings, it bounces and it put a smile on my face. The song that wraps up this project is So Afraid Of The Darkness. It is also one of the new tracks. The song title pretty much tells you the story. This is another slower tune with more of Walter’s inspired guitar playing. Walter’s inspired guitar playing, wow is that a redundant statement. Walter never disappoints, what else is there to say.

Ron Hoerter

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