Walter Trout: Luther’s Blues Review

Hard-hitting Chicago blues complete with swirling B3, gritty vocal performances, and in-your-face guitar.  This is the best way to describe Luther’s Blues, the latest album from Walter Trout.  This is the first cover album that Trout has attempted, and he does as well as can be expected, given that he has made a tribute album.

It is not easy to put together a good album of Luther Allison covers, but if there is one man who can do his work justice, it is Walter Trout.  A brilliant guitarist in his own right who knows Allison’s music, Trout captures Allison’s classic Chicago sound while adding bits and pieces of his own musical innovation to the project.

“Cherry Red Wine” is one of the greatest blues songs ever written, and Trout’s version proves it.  It is one of a handful of truly magical tracks, the others being “Chicago,” “Just as I Am,” and “Freedom.”  Being a tribute album, there isn’t a great deal of variety, but all of the songs are compelling.

It is rare that there is a cover or tribute album that is really good, but, as Trout himself admits, the goal of this album is to lead the listener to Allison’s original recordings, and this album will most certainly do that.  Allison’s stellar recordings set a very high bar for Trout to meet, perhaps an unfairly high bar, but a bar that Trout meets, and even exceeds it on a few songs.  Trout does about as good of a job as possible on a tribute album, and should be recognized as having done so.  Nevertheless, Luther Allison is Luther Allison and there is no substitute for the original recordings of these songs.

The Review: 7.5/10

Can’t Miss Tracks

– Cherry Red Wine
– Chicago
– Just as I Am
– Freedom

The Big Hit

– Cherry Red Wine

Review by Nik Rodewald

Buy the album: Amazon | iTunes