Travelogue: Blues Traveler Classics

Performer: Blues Traveler
Engineer: Dave Swanson; Gene Foster; Jeff Lippay; Justin Niebank; Michael Fossenkemper; Trina Shoemaker
Distributor: Universal Distribution

Notes: Blues Traveler: John Popper (vocals, harmonica); Chan Kinchla (guitar); Bobby Sheehan (bass); Brendan Hill (drums). Producers includes: Steve Thompson, Jim Gaines, Blues Traveler, David Swanson, Michael Barbiero. Compilation producer: Mike Ragogna. All tracks have been digitally remastered. Personnel: John Popper (vocals, whistling, acoustic 12-string guitar, electric guitar, harmonica, kalimba); Gregg Allman (vocals); Chan Kinchla (guitar, acoustic guitar, acoustic 12-string guitar, electric guitar); Warren Hayes (guitar); Joe Flood (mandolin); Arnie Lawrence (soprano saxophone); Chuck Leavell, Ben Wilson (piano, keyboards); Larry Hoppen (organ); Bobby Sheehan (electric bass, 5-string bass, fretless bass); Brendan Hill (drums, percussion); Sammy Figueroa, Bashiri Johnson (percussion); Joan Osborne (background vocals). Audio Mixers: Joe Blaney; Justin Niebank; Michael Barbiero; Steve Thompson ; Trina Shoemaker. Recording information: Bearsville Sound Studios, Bearsville, NY; Electric Lady, New York, NY; Master Sound, Queens, NY; RPM Studios, New York, NY; Studio In The Country, Bogalusa, LA; The Hit Factory, New York, NY; The Record Plant, Sausalito, CA; Third Stone Recording, Los Angeles, CA. Photographers: Dennis Keeley; Jay Blakesberg; Paul Aresu. With the release of Travelogue: Blues Traveler Classics, Blues Traveler completes its major-label trajectory. Signed to A&M Records in 1990, the group achieved modest but increasing sales with its first three albums, Blues Traveler, Travelers & Thieves, and Save His Soul, then hit the big time with the six-times-platinum Four and its Top Ten single "Run-Around." A concert album, Live from the Fall, and a studio follow-up, Straight on Till Morning, each went platinum, but then during a four-year break bassist Bob Sheehan died of a drug overdose and morbidly obese singer/harmonica player John Popper solved his chronic health problems by having his stomach stapled. When Blues Traveler returned to action in 2001 with Bridge, the disappointing sales led to a parting of ways with A&M. And here, as sure as death and taxes, is the "greatest hits" album. Blues Traveler didn't really have many hits in the conventional sense; in addition to "Run-Around," only "Hook" made the Top 40, while the band achieved significant airplay with "Conquer Me," a live version of "But Anyway" (the studio version is included here), "Carolina Blues," and "Most Precarious" (the most notable omission here). Compilation producer Mike Ragogna fills up the nearly 80-minute running time with such album tracks as "Mountain Cry," on which Popper duets with Gregg Allman, and "The Mountains Win Again," which features slide guitar work from Warren Haynes. The only rarity is the non-LP B-side "Regarding Steven." Blues Traveler fans may miss personal favorites, but this is a good one-disc summation of the band's A&M catalog. ~ William Ruhlmann

Blues Traveler personified the second wave of jam bands that arose in the late '80s and early '90s. It was the Grateful Dead that turned the idea of playing a different, heavily improvised set of its tunes every night into a fine art. Like the Dead, Blues Traveler employs a hybrid of a number of classic American styles, from country to folk and blues, delivered in an idiosyncratic style. Led by the mighty singer/harp player John Popper, Blues Traveler had personality and appeal, but it wasn't until their hit "Runaround" that the group was catapulted into the public eye.

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