Review - The Complete Trix Recordings

Electric blues can be tricky, due mainly to the fact that the sound is typically limited to one of two versions: plugged-in country blues or raunchy roadhouse blues. Few artists vary their sound far beyond these two approaches, usually taking to them with varying degrees of slickness. These early '70s sessions from Lockwood are the exception that proves the rule. Firmly rooted in Delta traditions, but with a gutsy, barrelhouse swing, Lockwood's nasty guitar sound and full-bodied singing brings several different aspects of the blues diaspora to bear on his electrified sound. Occasional saxophone lines and 12-string guitar bits beef up the raw attack, and though certainly in the tradition, Lockwood's approach is diverse enough to avoid the clichés so rampant in the genre.