From a marketing standpoint, Blues Bureau International could have come up with a much better title for this 2009 release than simply
Travelin' Blues. Ideally, the title should have been something along the lines of Travelin' Blues: The Best of the Blues Bureau Years, Vol. 1, because this 61-minute CD is, in fact, a best-of collection focusing on hard rock and blues-rock that
Pat Travers recorded for Blue Bureau in the 1990s and 2000s. Many of
Travers' longtime fans will agree that the Canadian singer/guitarist recorded his most essential work in the 1970s and early '80s, but his Blues Bureau discs are nothing to be ashamed of -- and this collection finds him in fine form on solid originals (including "Time Out," "Too Cool Woman Blues," and the title track) as well as ballsy performances of
Willie Dixon's "Built for Comfort" (a Chess Records gem closely identified with
Howlin' Wolf),
Muddy Waters' "Rock Me, Baby,"
the Allman Brothers' "Whipping Post," and
Buddy Miles' "Them Changes."
Travers turned 40 in 1994, 50 in 2004, and 55 in 2009, but thankfully, these recordings demonstrate that he hasn't mellowed at all since the 1970s;
Travers hasn't lost his grit as a singer, and his guitar playing is as aggressive as ever. Why Blues Bureau simply called this collection
Travelin' Blues instead of coming up with a title drawing attention to the fact that it is a best-of collection is anyone's guess, but that doesn't make these 1990s and 2000s performances any less exciting.
Travelin' Blues is an appropriate starting point if one is exploring
Travers' Blues Bureau output for the first time.