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Walter Trout was born in 1951 in Atlantic City, New Jersey. He has played with great bands and singers such as Canned Heat, John Lee Hooker, Big Mama Thornton, and was a member of the legendary John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, before starting his own band in 1989. His music is a mix between blues and rock. If you are a fan of blues, blues/rock or rock music, you HAVE TO check out his work. He is quite an amazing talent. On his studio recordings, expect to hear more than just blues/rock. His style ranges from almost pop music to some very hard rock, but always offered up with a blues feeling. For Trout's recording of "Prisoner Of A Dream", the talented Swedish drummer Klas Anderhell and a horn section were added. This CD includes my personal favorite of Walter's songs "Prisoner Of A Dream". (which was re-recorded later on his "Livin' Every Day" CD) It also includes a cover of Bob Dylan's "Girl From The North Country" and Robert Johnson's "Love In Vain".

"No More Fish Jokes" is a tremendous live recording. The recording starts with great version of Robert Johnson's "Dust My Broom" and was recorded at the Skanderborg Festival in Denmark. "Transition" is a more pop/rock oriented recording, which includes the great rocker "Kill The Monkey", which is a song about pollution which contains a killer guitar solo. Another song with some fabulous guitar work is "Fast Moving Traffic". "Tellin' Stories" is a move more into the harder rockin' direction, but it also includes some slower songs like "I Need To Belong". It is Trout's only recording on the Silvertone label. "Breaking The Rules" saw Trout return to the Provogue label and away from the style of "Tellin' Stories". The recording includes some pop/rock material such as "Under My Skin", but also strong blues/rocking songs like the title track.

My favorite recording came next, with the release of "Walter Trout" (a.k.a. "Positively Beale Street"). It features the beautiful instrumental "Marie's Mood", dedicated to Walter's wife Marie. Another great song is the rocker "Don't Worry About It" along with "Temptation", which is one of his best songs. The song is in ways connected to the song "Life In The Jungle", which he had recorded earlier on both "Life In the Jungle" and "No More Fish Jokes". Also, on the song "Let Me Be The One", Walter sings accompanied only by piano/keyboards. It is one of the most beautiful songs he has ever written. Next came "Livin' Every Day", which saw the band change its name from the Walter Trout Band to Walter Trout and the Free Radicals and move to the RUF label. The great keyboard player Paul Kallestad joined the band on this set and would add much to their sound for the next few recordings. Highlights on "Livin' Every Day" include "I Thought I Heard The Devil" and "Apparitions", an almost country sounding song that is also very funny (the part about J. Edgar Hoover is a great kick against hypocrisy).

A recording not mentioned in Trout's discography is the 4 track single "Breaking The Rules". Along with the title track from the full blown CD, there are 3 unreleased acoustic tracks "Death Letter Blues", "Life In The Jungle", and "Lady Luck". Trout appears with Omar Dykes, Popa Chubby, and Michael Lee Firkins on the Provogue release "The Jimi Hendrix Music Festival". He also appears on Aynsley Lister's self-titled release, playing with the young Lister on a cover of Gary Moore's "Since I Met You Baby". The Walter Trout Band has also released a concert video titled "Live and Kickin'", available on DVD only. The year 2000 saw Trout release 2 live recordings "Face The Music" for Provogue and "Live Trout" for RUF. These are each world class recordings and showcase Trout and band in their greatest environment: in front of a live audience. Walter Trout, simply put, has to be seen in order for his intense passion and energy to be fully appreciated. Recently, he has released his latest studio recording "Go The Distance", which includes some of his best studio work to date. On this recording, Bill Mason joined the band as keyboard player. Sammy Avila has joined the band as their new keyboard player and Kenny Soule has taken over the drums. Joey Pafumi joined the band as the new drummer in April 2002. Walter and the band have released a spectacular new live album on CD and DVD called "Relentless". Follow the link below to read our review and visit the bands official website for more information.