If like myself you were brought up on the ‘70s/’80s guitar rock of Sammy Hagar, Eddie Van Halen, Ted Nugent, Ronnie Montrose and Robin Trower, then the name of Canadian guitarist Pat Travers will be no stranger to you. Makin’ Magic, Heat On The Street, Crash And Burn, and the classic Live! Go For What You Know would have been regular visitors to your hard working stereo’s turntable. However, maybe like myself, by the beginning of the 90’s, and following the rather fine but largely ignored School Of Hard Knocks album, you may have thought that Travers had disappeared into the rock ‘n’ roll ether. But no, you would be wrong. During the 1990’s he returned to his roots with a more bluesy take on his traditional hard rock, releasing albums like Blues Tracks (1 & 2), Just A Touch, Lookin’ Up, and Blues Magnet via US label Blues Bureau International, before moving on and adopting a power trio approach as he headed into the new millennium, releasing albums through a variety of different independent outfits. This new Cherry Red release picks him up in 2009 with the release of Black Betty, his first album on the Los Angeles based Cleopatra label. To say that this latest 4CD set is diverse would be an understatement with Travers covering many bases in more ways than one.
First up, on the aforementioned Black Betty the Toronto born six stringer tackles an assortment of epic rock tracks, along with a sprinkling from his own extensive back catalogue. He injects some mighty fine riffage into well known classics by Lynyrd Skynyrd (‘Gimme Back My Bullets’), ZZ Top (‘Waiting For The Bus’ and ‘Jesus Just Left Chicago’) and Aerosmith (‘Last Child’), where he is joined by Toto’s Bobby Kimball on vocals, and Steve Lukather on additional guitars, as well as the track which gives the album its title, Lead Belly’s ‘Black Betty’, made famous by American rockers Ram Jam in 1977. He does (unsurprisingly) seem to struggle a little matching the vocal challenges of AC/DC’s ‘Whole Lotta Rosie’ but he more than redeems himself on a rollocking take of Stevie Wonder’s ‘Superstition’ from his collaboration with Carmine Appice, Bazooka, which also provides two of the three originals (alongside ‘Two Hundred Five Degrees’). As well as his Stevie W.’s cover, the Bazooka sessions add an authentic live feel to the ever popular crowd pleasing ‘Boom, Boom (Out Go The Lights)’ originally by Little Walter and ‘Snortin’ Whiskey (Drinkin’ Cocaine)’ concert favourites which are both included here.
For Blues On Fire (2012) Travers takes the covers route once more, this time with a selection of 1920-30’s blues standards. This album should be subtitled “Blind Man Blues” and I just hope that Pat was wearing a blindfold when he recorded the included rootsy guitar licks, as he tackles a dirty version of “Blind” Blake’s ‘Black Dog Blues’, pumping boogie woogie of “Blind” Boy Fuller’s ‘Meat Shakin’ Woman’, “Blind” Lemon Jefferson’s ‘Easy Rider Blues’, “Blind” Willie McTell’s deep ‘Dark Night Blues’, and the resonator picking “Blind” Willie Johnson staple ‘Nobody’s Fault But Mine’, which was introduced to a wider audience by Led Zeppelin. The mature huskiness of Pat’s voice works well on all of the twelve vintage tracks which also include Son House’s bleak ‘Death Letter’, Lightnin’ Hopkins’s bottle neck heavy ‘Jailhouse Blues’ and a couple of Bettie Smith tunes, the rustic ‘Back Water Blues’ and Clapton inspiring vaudeville of, ‘Nobody Knows You When You’re Down And Out’, on an album that appropriates to great effect the laid back style of the originals which then act as a launching pad to Travers brand of heavy blues guitar based hard rock. Whether on resonator, slide (‘Bulldozer Blues’) or full throttle electric geetar (‘You Can’t Get That Stuff No More’ and ‘Rock Island Blues’), Pat pulls no punches. So far this set is building nicely and there really is a lot to like on the first two discs, but this is a mere aperitif to the main course contained within Disc Three, Retro Rocket.
There is no doubt that Pat Travers made some seriously fine noise during his heyday, but don’t be fooled by the rather naff artwork on Retro Rocket, this is a real return to form and the rocket is ready to blast off with nine scorching original tracks (plus a couple of bonuses). ‘I Always Run’ and ‘Searching For A Clue’ get things moving with their galloping, “Lizzy” layered guitar onslaught before ‘Who Can You Turn To’ eases of the pedal with the depth of double “Cream”. The raw sound of these tracks may come from the co-production credit of guitarist/vocalist Jürgen Engler from German industrial punks Die Krupps, but however it came about, it is a blessing with the main man’s vocal never sounding more aggressive than on ‘Up Is Down’ or his guitar as raw as on ‘Mystery At The Wrecking Yard’. But Pat Travers is a guitar hero at heart and it is always a treat to hear his bare talent shine through when he jumps in head first with an instrumental display like ‘You Can’t Get Their From Hare’, four minutes that would give Vai or Satriani sleepless nights and harks back to ‘Hammerhead’ from Heat in The Street circa 1978. As the album (proper) comes to a close the microphone is shared with Brian Kinsey for ‘I Am Alive’ and ‘I Wanna Be Free’ which sound like very passable stadium rock anthems, where Kinsey’s AOR tones mix well with Pat’s vocal edgy maturity to bring back nostalgic memories of ‘Rock ‘N’ Roll Suzie’. ‘Hellbound Train’ closes out Retro Rocket in a more straight ahead rock frame of mind with bass, drums and searing guitar building to an effortless but explosive finale. Although the extras are not really necessary on such a strong offering, a live ‘Looking Up’, from the album of the same name, does offer the listener a glimpse into the PTB concert experience (including a good live disc would have been a nice touch) and the short but sweet, ‘Lead Me Home (Theme From Walking Dead)’ returns us to a curious ‘Black Betty’ vibe. I don’t know about a Retro Rocket, this album is more like an exocet missile homing in on your ears.
As they say “all good things must come to an end” and if you’re not a big band fan, you can stop reading/listening here, because the final disc is called Swing! and it does exactly what it says on the sleeve. This is the sound of a man scratching an itch to pay homage to some of his earliest influences. Opening a set of 40’s/50’s tracks, ‘Sing Sing Sing’ and this collection’s titular track, ‘Opus One’ lay out his brassy, sax filled stall as Travers takes on Benny Goodman and Tommy Dorsey at their own game. Don’t get me wrong there is absolutely nothing wrong with the musicianship and if big, ballsy, bold, band orchestration is your thing then I’m sure you’ll find plenty to like within. PT’s voice doesn’t manage to match the character of Ira Woods “Tom & Jerry” or Louis Jordan’s original vocal on ‘Is You Or Is You Ain’t My Baby’, the first of only two vocal tracks included (the second being a rather acceptably bluesy rendition of, ‘Let The Good Times Roll’). Glen Miller’s, ‘In The Mood’, a lounge lizard version of, Duke Ellington’s, ‘Take The “A” Train’ and Woody Herman’s, ‘Apple Honey’ continue this dance hall collective, before a pretty cool guitar and harmonica over piano instrumental, ‘Tenderly’, originally made famous by Rosemary Clooney, brings things to a close. Sorry… I don’t mind a bit of Glen Miller and there is plenty of Pat Travers guitar glitter sprinkled across this release… but if I’m perfectly honest Swing! just ain’t my thang!
Opus One 2009-2019 is a wonderful place to catch-up with the maple-leafed maestro, the main downside being the omission of the other two studio albums from the period, Fidelis (2010) and Can Do (2015), presumably due to publishing rights issues. Recent history has resulted in just one more studio album following Swing!, The Art Of Time Travel released in 2022 which found Travers back rocking with a set of ten hot to trot tracks, ready to reclaim his place in the blues rock world once more. On the live front The Pat Travers Band continue to tour the US and Canada including boarding the “On The Blues Cruise” once more in August 2025. Hopefully he will make his way back to these shores at some point, for the first time since 2013 (I believe?). But for now you can satisfy your appetite with Opus One 2009-2019. Just maybe give disc four a wide birth? Boom, Boom…
- Reviewed By Peter Brockwell.
- Opus One 2009-2019 is released via Cherry Red Records on 28th February 2025.
- Official Website | Facebook
Track List:
Disc One – Black Betty (2009)
1. Black Betty
2. Whole Lotta Rosie
3. Two Hundred Five Degrees
4. Boom, Boom (Out Go The Lights)
5. Gimme Back My Bullets
6. Snortin’ Whiskey (Drinkin’ Cocaine)
7. Last Child
8. Superstition
9. Waiting For The Bus
10. Jesus Just Left Chicago
Disc Two – Blues On Fire (2012)
1. Black Dog Blues
2. Nobody’s Fault But Mine
3. Back Water Blues
4. Meat Shakin’ Woman
5. Easy Rider Blues
6. Nobody Knows You When You’re Down And Out
7. Bulldozer Blues
8. You Can’t Get That Stuff No More
9. Dark Night Blues
10. Rock Island Blues
11. Jailhouse Blues
12. Death Letter
Disc Three – Retro Rocket (2015)
1. I Always Run
2. Searching For A Clue
3. Who Can You Turn To
4. Up Is Down
5. Mystery At The Wrecking Yard
6. You Can’t Get Their From Hare
7. I Am Alive
8. I Wanna Be Free
9. Hellbound Train
10. Looking Up (Live)
11. Lead Me Home (Theme From Walking Dead)
Disc Four – Swing! (2019)
1. Sing Sing Sing
2. Opus One
3. Is You Or Is You Ain’t My Baby
4. In The Mood
5. Take The “A” Train
6. Let The Good Times Roll
7. Apple Honey
8. Tenderly
