Luther's Blues: A Tribute to Luther Allison

Tributee: Luther Allison.
Tributee: Luther Allison.
Audio Mixer: Eric Corne.
Recording information: Entourage Studios, Hollywood, CA (01/2013).
Photographers: Jef Jaisun; Brittany Fay.
Walter Trout pays tribute to blues icon Luther Allison on his 23rd solo release Luther's Blues. 12 of the 13 tracks on the CD are associated with Allison except for the Trout original, "When Luther Played the Blues." Trout first met Luther in Switzerland at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1986, which provided the location shot for the CD cover. Trout maintains he had the idea for this album since that first meeting. The songs Trout chose to cover are taken from Allison's albums Songs from the Road, Bad Love, Blue Streak, Reckless, and Soul Fixin' Man. As usual, Trout's guitar dexterity is undisputed, but his top-notch vocal work deserves equal attention, especially on the heart-wrenching tracks "Freedom," and "Pain in the Streets." In an era where blues tribute albums are abundant, and in some cases the tribute is anything but, Luther's Blues rises to the top with the best of them. ~ Al Campbell