Walter Trout (born March 6, 1951, Ocean City, New Jersey) is an American bl… Read Full Bio ↴Walter Trout (born March 6, 1951, Ocean City, New Jersey) is an American blues guitarist, singer and songwriter.
Troutโs backstory is a page-turner you wonโt want to put down. Five decades in the making; it is equal parts thriller, romance, suspense and horror. There are musical fireworks, critical acclaim and fists-aloft triumph, offset by wilderness years and brushes with the jaws of narcotic oblivion. There are feted early stints as gunslinger in bands from John Mayallโs Bluesbreakers to Canned Heat, and the solo career thatโs still blazing a quarter-century later. โจThe veteran bluesman has seen and done it all, with just one omission: heโs never made a covers album, until now. โจโLuther Allisonโs Blues is my first,โ Trout notes. โIโve thought about doing this album for years. It was just time.โ
Of all the peaks in Troutโs trajectory, his abiding memory of the late Chicago bluesman is perhaps the most literal. Itโs 1986, and high above Lake Geneva, at the palatial Alpine chalet of late Montreux Jazz Festival Svengali Claude Nobs, lunch is being served. โSo weโre up at the top of the Alps,โ Trout recalls, โin this big room with John Mayall, Buddy Guy, Junior Wells, Robert Cray, Otis Rush, and as weโre eating, Dr. John is serenading us on acoustic piano. I was sat there with Luther Allison, and we had a great talk.
โLuther was one of the all-time greats,โ Trout continues, โand it was just an unbelievably potent thing to watch him perform. Just the energy and commitment that guy had, he was one of a kind. We played together once, at the Jazz Fest that year, and just as we walked offstage, somebody pointed a camera and we hugged and smiled. And that photo is on the cover of the CD.โWhen he died [in 1997], the idea of this album was planted in my brain.
Released June 10, 2013 on Provogue Records, this latest collection was bottled at Hollywoodโs Entourage Studios alongside producer Eric Corne: the same combination that birthed 2012โs acclaimed solo release, Blues For The Modern Daze. The atmosphere, remembers Trout, was one of spit, grit and seat-of-the-pants energy: โSpontaneity is so important with this sort of music. Everybody was saying, โWell, arenโt you gonna get together and rehearse?โ, but you donโt want to over-analyse or get too sterile. This album was all pretty much first or second takes. Itโs gotta have warts on it. Itโs gotta have a bit of grease in it.โ
None of which should imply Luther Allisonโs Blues was a throwaway project. โAt times, it was, like, have I taken on too much here?โ admits Trout. โLike, am I actually capable of doing justice to this? To me, Cherry Red Wine is one of the all-time greatest blues songs ever written, and Lutherโs original version is so unbelievably passionate and emotional that even to sing it was a daunting task. If I had my way with this album, it would reignite interest in the man and his work, make people go back and check out the originals.โ
Trout knows all about the life-shaping power of a great record. Rewind to the mid-Sixties, and he was put on his path by an older brother with a habit of blasting the family home in New Jersey with seminal blues-rock platters from Paul Butterfieldโs 1965 debut to John Mayallโs seismic Bluesbreakers with Eric Clapton. โHe brought home John Mayall, and told me, โYou gotta hear this guy!โโ reflects the 62-year-old guitarist, who was soon inspired to buy his first Gibson Les Paul while on a day trip to Philadelphia. โI have fond memories of all those records. I still listen to them.โ
Local bands never got the breaks, and in 1973, Trout made the death-or-glory move to LA, where he slept on couches and scrabbled for work. โI came out here and it was a overwhelming thing,โ he says, โbecause I didnโt know anybody. I just started going around to clubs where there were bands playing and asked if I could sit in. My first gig, I was stand-up lead singer in a country band, singing Merle Haggard tunes. And with my third paycheque, I went and bought that Strat thatโs still on the cover of all my CDs.โ
In a city of Hicksville hopefuls, Troutโs ferocious talent on lead guitar and gift-of-the-gab soon marked him out. โI went to a party and thatโs where I met Jesse Ed Davis, who was the first really famous guy I played with,โ he remembers, of the sideman era that also saw him work alongside Big Mama Thornton, Lowell Fulson and Joe Tex. โI just weasled my way into his band, and I was with Jessie for two years.
By 1981, Trout had switched to West Coast boogie-blues titans Canned Heat for a period he diplomatically recalls as โturbulentโ, but even this gig was topped three years later by a fantastical phone call from John Mayall, dangling the revered guitar slot in his iconic Bluesbreakers outfit. โAs far as being a blues-guitar sideman, that gig is the pinnacle,โ states Trout. โThatโs Mount Everest. You could play with B.B. King or Buddy Guy, but youโre just gonna play chords all night. This guy features you. You get to play solos. He yells your name after every song, brings you to the front of the stage, and lets you sing. He creates a place for you in the world. Where do you go from thereโฆ?โ
Trout would answer that question in emphatic style on March 6, 1989. As guitarist, his tenure had brought thrilling flammability to the Breakersโ sound and produced stone-cold classics including One Life To Live, but as the newly sober guitarist played a lavish show at a Gothenburg symphony hall on his 38th birthday, he sensed the hand of destiny. โTo walk away from the Bluesbreakers,โ he admits, โa lot of people thought was completely crazy, because I could have stayed with John as long as I wanted. I mean, John to this day is like a dad to me. He was behind me when I was all screwed up, kept me in the band, believed in me, and gave me the opportunity to progress and grow up in a certain way. So that was a huge decision, and it was scary, but I had to do it, because I knew I had more, yโknow?โ
Quarter of a century later, what seemed like career suicide has been vindicated by a thrilling catalogue of 22 solo albums, a still-growing army of fans and accolades including a nod as โthe worldโs greatest rock guitaristโ in legendary DJ Bob Harrisโs autobiography The Whispering Years, and a #6 placing on BBC Radio Oneโs countdown of the Top 20 Guitarists of All Time. Meanwhile, Troutโs most recent original album, Blues For The Modern Daze, was heralded by titles like Classic Rock Blues as perhaps his finest to date. โI feel like with Modern Daze,โ he nods, โI found the style Iโve been searching for over 20 albums. Itโs working, it comes out good, and I can play it well.โ
A lesser artist might rest on such laurels. As Walter Trout powers into his 25th year as a solo star, thereโs no whiff of the ennui or creative autopilot that hobbles the later output of most veterans. On the contrary, thereโs a sense of growing momentum, perhaps even of a little surprise. โItโs hard to believe Iโm still alive, to be honest,โ he smiles. โI should have been dead by 30, with the life I was leading. But I still have a career, and at 62, Iโm still climbing the ladder, which keeps it exciting, instead of trying to rekindle past glories. I feel like I play with more fire than when I was 25. Iโm still reaching, yโknowโฆ?โ
Walter Trout Battles Liver Disease - Update
Great News
July 19, 2014
Great news: Yesterday, we managed to get the financial aspects handled and Walter was immediately transferred to the state-of-the-art Rehabilitation Center here in Omaha, NE. It is on a hospital campus, so in case he needs it, the hospital services are available to him. However, their focus is to work on strengthening and rehabilitating exclusively! So Walter will be working with occupational and physical therapists all day, and will be able to progress more efficiently.
As we were waiting for the financial aspects of the transfer to come together, Walter got up and took a walk with me. He boogied down the hospital hall faster than he has been able to walk previously. He has a new leg brace that is helping correct some temporary issues with his right foot. I could barely keep up as I clung, at times almost horizontally, to his gate belt while he sprinted past supply carts and rounding doctors! Then he actually ate half of an ice cream sandwich! Both very encouraging events! Other than that he is continuing the tube feeding at the rehabilitation center. But the ability and willingness to actually put food in his mouthโฆ. Awesome!
Thank you to all of you who continue to support us and surround us with your positive energy and love. We really feel it! And it makes a big difference.
I have Skyped and been on the phone with our sons, and they are doing well at home. The neighbors hear themโฆ. I have confirmation of that too, as they are in the garage practicing, jamming, and playing music to their heartโs content from early to lateโฆ. Thank you patient, awesome neighbors!!! If all continues to go well, I may even be able to get home to them next week for a little while to partake in the festivitiesโฆ. Weโll see.
The ebb and flow of life continues to pulsate through our lives. The rollercoaster ride continues. The intensity of the ups and downs is mind-altering! Literally! And I find that as I move through it all, pain and fear are not as scary as my fear of them. I think of the emotions as colors. Is there a bad color? No just different ones that all contribute to the rainbow of potentiality of experience. The trick for me is to keep moving through them and not get stuck. Writing here helps, as do your comments and love, and my morning walks. All of it helps me gain perspective to keep moving and seeing clearly.
As I was contemplating this analogy of emotions being like colors and the importance of moving through them and not get stuck, the universe provided me a beautiful synchronistic affirmation. On my morning walk, I altered my route slightly from my normal one. Suddenly, I saw people in work-out attire coming towards me, one more colorful than the other. When I got close enough, I saw that they were all going to attend the โThe Color Runโ. A 5K run here in Omaha that celebrates โhealthiness, happiness, and individuality.โ
Yesterday another affirmation: I had just finished writing about emotional lock-down in my journal, and I got up feeling I had moved through it, and I found a key to the front door that I had missed for a long time. It was hidden in my glasses case in the cloths I use to clean my lenses. Seeing clearly and wiping off my lenses of interpretation unlocks emotions to just be what they are: colors of the emotional rainbow.
The trek continues. We keep moving. And Walter is exactly where he needs to be now. What joy!
Marie
Troutโs backstory is a page-turner you wonโt want to put down. Five decades in the making; it is equal parts thriller, romance, suspense and horror. There are musical fireworks, critical acclaim and fists-aloft triumph, offset by wilderness years and brushes with the jaws of narcotic oblivion. There are feted early stints as gunslinger in bands from John Mayallโs Bluesbreakers to Canned Heat, and the solo career thatโs still blazing a quarter-century later. โจThe veteran bluesman has seen and done it all, with just one omission: heโs never made a covers album, until now. โจโLuther Allisonโs Blues is my first,โ Trout notes. โIโve thought about doing this album for years. It was just time.โ
Of all the peaks in Troutโs trajectory, his abiding memory of the late Chicago bluesman is perhaps the most literal. Itโs 1986, and high above Lake Geneva, at the palatial Alpine chalet of late Montreux Jazz Festival Svengali Claude Nobs, lunch is being served. โSo weโre up at the top of the Alps,โ Trout recalls, โin this big room with John Mayall, Buddy Guy, Junior Wells, Robert Cray, Otis Rush, and as weโre eating, Dr. John is serenading us on acoustic piano. I was sat there with Luther Allison, and we had a great talk.
โLuther was one of the all-time greats,โ Trout continues, โand it was just an unbelievably potent thing to watch him perform. Just the energy and commitment that guy had, he was one of a kind. We played together once, at the Jazz Fest that year, and just as we walked offstage, somebody pointed a camera and we hugged and smiled. And that photo is on the cover of the CD.โWhen he died [in 1997], the idea of this album was planted in my brain.
Released June 10, 2013 on Provogue Records, this latest collection was bottled at Hollywoodโs Entourage Studios alongside producer Eric Corne: the same combination that birthed 2012โs acclaimed solo release, Blues For The Modern Daze. The atmosphere, remembers Trout, was one of spit, grit and seat-of-the-pants energy: โSpontaneity is so important with this sort of music. Everybody was saying, โWell, arenโt you gonna get together and rehearse?โ, but you donโt want to over-analyse or get too sterile. This album was all pretty much first or second takes. Itโs gotta have warts on it. Itโs gotta have a bit of grease in it.โ
None of which should imply Luther Allisonโs Blues was a throwaway project. โAt times, it was, like, have I taken on too much here?โ admits Trout. โLike, am I actually capable of doing justice to this? To me, Cherry Red Wine is one of the all-time greatest blues songs ever written, and Lutherโs original version is so unbelievably passionate and emotional that even to sing it was a daunting task. If I had my way with this album, it would reignite interest in the man and his work, make people go back and check out the originals.โ
Trout knows all about the life-shaping power of a great record. Rewind to the mid-Sixties, and he was put on his path by an older brother with a habit of blasting the family home in New Jersey with seminal blues-rock platters from Paul Butterfieldโs 1965 debut to John Mayallโs seismic Bluesbreakers with Eric Clapton. โHe brought home John Mayall, and told me, โYou gotta hear this guy!โโ reflects the 62-year-old guitarist, who was soon inspired to buy his first Gibson Les Paul while on a day trip to Philadelphia. โI have fond memories of all those records. I still listen to them.โ
Local bands never got the breaks, and in 1973, Trout made the death-or-glory move to LA, where he slept on couches and scrabbled for work. โI came out here and it was a overwhelming thing,โ he says, โbecause I didnโt know anybody. I just started going around to clubs where there were bands playing and asked if I could sit in. My first gig, I was stand-up lead singer in a country band, singing Merle Haggard tunes. And with my third paycheque, I went and bought that Strat thatโs still on the cover of all my CDs.โ
In a city of Hicksville hopefuls, Troutโs ferocious talent on lead guitar and gift-of-the-gab soon marked him out. โI went to a party and thatโs where I met Jesse Ed Davis, who was the first really famous guy I played with,โ he remembers, of the sideman era that also saw him work alongside Big Mama Thornton, Lowell Fulson and Joe Tex. โI just weasled my way into his band, and I was with Jessie for two years.
By 1981, Trout had switched to West Coast boogie-blues titans Canned Heat for a period he diplomatically recalls as โturbulentโ, but even this gig was topped three years later by a fantastical phone call from John Mayall, dangling the revered guitar slot in his iconic Bluesbreakers outfit. โAs far as being a blues-guitar sideman, that gig is the pinnacle,โ states Trout. โThatโs Mount Everest. You could play with B.B. King or Buddy Guy, but youโre just gonna play chords all night. This guy features you. You get to play solos. He yells your name after every song, brings you to the front of the stage, and lets you sing. He creates a place for you in the world. Where do you go from thereโฆ?โ
Trout would answer that question in emphatic style on March 6, 1989. As guitarist, his tenure had brought thrilling flammability to the Breakersโ sound and produced stone-cold classics including One Life To Live, but as the newly sober guitarist played a lavish show at a Gothenburg symphony hall on his 38th birthday, he sensed the hand of destiny. โTo walk away from the Bluesbreakers,โ he admits, โa lot of people thought was completely crazy, because I could have stayed with John as long as I wanted. I mean, John to this day is like a dad to me. He was behind me when I was all screwed up, kept me in the band, believed in me, and gave me the opportunity to progress and grow up in a certain way. So that was a huge decision, and it was scary, but I had to do it, because I knew I had more, yโknow?โ
Quarter of a century later, what seemed like career suicide has been vindicated by a thrilling catalogue of 22 solo albums, a still-growing army of fans and accolades including a nod as โthe worldโs greatest rock guitaristโ in legendary DJ Bob Harrisโs autobiography The Whispering Years, and a #6 placing on BBC Radio Oneโs countdown of the Top 20 Guitarists of All Time. Meanwhile, Troutโs most recent original album, Blues For The Modern Daze, was heralded by titles like Classic Rock Blues as perhaps his finest to date. โI feel like with Modern Daze,โ he nods, โI found the style Iโve been searching for over 20 albums. Itโs working, it comes out good, and I can play it well.โ
A lesser artist might rest on such laurels. As Walter Trout powers into his 25th year as a solo star, thereโs no whiff of the ennui or creative autopilot that hobbles the later output of most veterans. On the contrary, thereโs a sense of growing momentum, perhaps even of a little surprise. โItโs hard to believe Iโm still alive, to be honest,โ he smiles. โI should have been dead by 30, with the life I was leading. But I still have a career, and at 62, Iโm still climbing the ladder, which keeps it exciting, instead of trying to rekindle past glories. I feel like I play with more fire than when I was 25. Iโm still reaching, yโknowโฆ?โ
Walter Trout Battles Liver Disease - Update
Great News
July 19, 2014
Great news: Yesterday, we managed to get the financial aspects handled and Walter was immediately transferred to the state-of-the-art Rehabilitation Center here in Omaha, NE. It is on a hospital campus, so in case he needs it, the hospital services are available to him. However, their focus is to work on strengthening and rehabilitating exclusively! So Walter will be working with occupational and physical therapists all day, and will be able to progress more efficiently.
As we were waiting for the financial aspects of the transfer to come together, Walter got up and took a walk with me. He boogied down the hospital hall faster than he has been able to walk previously. He has a new leg brace that is helping correct some temporary issues with his right foot. I could barely keep up as I clung, at times almost horizontally, to his gate belt while he sprinted past supply carts and rounding doctors! Then he actually ate half of an ice cream sandwich! Both very encouraging events! Other than that he is continuing the tube feeding at the rehabilitation center. But the ability and willingness to actually put food in his mouthโฆ. Awesome!
Thank you to all of you who continue to support us and surround us with your positive energy and love. We really feel it! And it makes a big difference.
I have Skyped and been on the phone with our sons, and they are doing well at home. The neighbors hear themโฆ. I have confirmation of that too, as they are in the garage practicing, jamming, and playing music to their heartโs content from early to lateโฆ. Thank you patient, awesome neighbors!!! If all continues to go well, I may even be able to get home to them next week for a little while to partake in the festivitiesโฆ. Weโll see.
The ebb and flow of life continues to pulsate through our lives. The rollercoaster ride continues. The intensity of the ups and downs is mind-altering! Literally! And I find that as I move through it all, pain and fear are not as scary as my fear of them. I think of the emotions as colors. Is there a bad color? No just different ones that all contribute to the rainbow of potentiality of experience. The trick for me is to keep moving through them and not get stuck. Writing here helps, as do your comments and love, and my morning walks. All of it helps me gain perspective to keep moving and seeing clearly.
As I was contemplating this analogy of emotions being like colors and the importance of moving through them and not get stuck, the universe provided me a beautiful synchronistic affirmation. On my morning walk, I altered my route slightly from my normal one. Suddenly, I saw people in work-out attire coming towards me, one more colorful than the other. When I got close enough, I saw that they were all going to attend the โThe Color Runโ. A 5K run here in Omaha that celebrates โhealthiness, happiness, and individuality.โ
Yesterday another affirmation: I had just finished writing about emotional lock-down in my journal, and I got up feeling I had moved through it, and I found a key to the front door that I had missed for a long time. It was hidden in my glasses case in the cloths I use to clean my lenses. Seeing clearly and wiping off my lenses of interpretation unlocks emotions to just be what they are: colors of the emotional rainbow.
The trek continues. We keep moving. And Walter is exactly where he needs to be now. What joy!
Marie
Blues For My Baby
Walter Trout Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I got the blues for my baby...
and I wish that she'd come back home
Got the blues for my baby...
and I wish that she'd come back home
(It) seems like such a long time...
since my little girl
since my little girls been gone...
I call my baby on the telephone
and I tell her that I feel so bad
And she said Listen to me Walter
I'm sorry that you feel so sad
I got the blues for my baby...
and I wish that she'd come back home
I feel so lonesome without her, ayeah-et...
since my little girls been gone, been gone...
I'ma play a little bit now...
keep it in the alley fellas...
I call my baby last night
and I asked her what was wrong
And I told her that I feel so bad
wha-af, since she been gone
And I got the blues for my baby...
Lord I wish she'd come back home
'Cause I feel so bad, feel so bad...
since my girl, since she been gone...
Take it home fellas...
and I wish that she'd come back home
Got the blues for my baby...
and I wish that she'd come back home
(It) seems like such a long time...
since my little girl
since my little girls been gone...
and I tell her that I feel so bad
And she said Listen to me Walter
I'm sorry that you feel so sad
I got the blues for my baby...
and I wish that she'd come back home
I feel so lonesome without her, ayeah-et...
since my little girls been gone, been gone...
I'ma play a little bit now...
keep it in the alley fellas...
I call my baby last night
and I asked her what was wrong
And I told her that I feel so bad
wha-af, since she been gone
And I got the blues for my baby...
Lord I wish she'd come back home
'Cause I feel so bad, feel so bad...
since my girl, since she been gone...
Take it home fellas...
The lyrics to Walter Trout's song "Blues For My Baby" is a classic blues song that is about missing someone you love. The singer of the song is feeling blue because his baby has been gone for a long time, and he wishes she would come back home. The lyrics are simple, but they convey a deep sense of sadness and longing for the missing person. The singer describes how he feels so lonesome without her and how he has been feeling so bad since she has been gone. The song captures the essence of the blues genre by using simple, yet powerful words to express the emotions of the singer.
The second half of the song has the singer calling his baby on the telephone and telling her how he feels. She responds with sympathy and understanding, but the singer still cannot shake the feeling of missing her. He plays some guitar, and the song ends with a heartfelt plea for her to come back home. Through the lyrics and the music, the song encapsulates the universal experience of missing someone you love and the emotional roller coaster that comes with that feeling.
Line by Line Meaning
I got the blues for my baby...
I am feeling very down and depressed about my girlfriend's absence
and I wish that she'd come back home
I wish my girlfriend would return home and be with me
Got the blues for my baby...
I am feeling deeply sad about my girlfriend's departure
seems like such a long time...
It feels like a very long while since my girlfriend left me
since my little girl
It has been a while since my girlfriend left
since my little girls been gone...
It has been a while since my girlfriend left me
I call my baby on the telephone
I made a phone call to my girlfriend
and I tell her that I feel so bad
I informed my girlfriend that I am feeling very sad
And she said Listen to me Walter
My girlfriend requested my attention and called me by my name
I'm sorry that you feel so sad
She expressed her sorrow that I was feeling sad
I feel so lonesome without her, ayeah-et...
I am experiencing a great deal of loneliness in the absence of my girlfriend
I'ma play a little bit now...
I'm going to play music now
keep it in the alley fellas...
Play the music with depth and feeling
I call my baby last night
I made a phone call to my girlfriend last night
and I asked her what was wrong
I inquired about what was bothering her
And I told her that I feel so bad
I informed her that I am feeling very sad
wha-af, since she been gone
I have been sad since my girlfriend left
Lord I wish she'd come back home
I pray that my girlfriend will return home to me
feel so bad, feel so bad...
I am feeling very badly and I want my girlfriend to return
Take it home fellas...
Bring the music to a strong, emotional conclusion
Contributed by Brooklyn Y. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
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BLUUZYDUDE
Yes, there is a GOD and he loves Walter Trout's blues too. My prayers are answered. Thanks for keeping him right here on earth a while longer.
elc1960
Walter plays with tremendous speed, but a lot of people miss the tremendous feeling he has in his playing. It's like they have to have the traditional Muddy Waters or Son House styles, or Hubert Sumlin or someone like them in order to receive their accolades. Gary Moore got that kind of treatment from blues fanatics during his lifetime too. But remember, when Muddy and Wolf were out they were dissed by traditionalists too.
Mike T.
Walter pulls out ALL the stops for this one. How could there be any more?
Jon Woodard
This man is an icon! Those who know, know. Bring it ALL back to Nashville ASAP! Been a minute since that city winery show. Blew the roof off that night as always. Some jams with Warren Haynes would be stellar I'm betting!!! #longlivewaltertrout
Thierry C
my favorite, probably one of the best in my own opinion ๐ธ
green323turbo
He's got the chops and a good voice , im going to check out his other stuff,. I never seen a double guitar strap like that .
Mike Hayden
One amazing musician. Tha\nk you Walter for sharing God's gift.
Boyko Kutriansky
The one and only! My favorite guitarist since 1999! National tresure!
Dixie Pena
Wow! I love it!!
Rodrigo Girotto Matheus
Esse cara manja