Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Pat Travers

A friend of mine summarized Pat Travers best when he said, “Somewhere during the ’80s, ‘Boom Boom’ replaced ‘Louie Louie’ as the party song.” He was speaking of “Boom Boom (Out Go the Lights),” a Little Walter tune from 1955 that Travers reworked from a forgotten R&B hit into an arena-sized rock classic some 20 years later. That same friend owns one of Travers’s old guitars, a flame-red Gibson electric that Travers had retired and sold at auction. Its once-gleaming hide is checkered with scars.

Sponsored
Sponsored

“Looks pretty worked over,” I tell Travers. “Absolutely,” he says. “You know, they don’t play themselves.” He’s on the phone from his home in Florida. “You can see where there’s quite a bit of effort put into it,” he laughs. “It’s kind of fun. Actually, it’s kind of cathartic. It’s a way to get out a lot of stress, to beat the crap out of a really expensive guitar for about 90 minutes.”

Called one of the more influential blues rockers of the ’70s, Pat Travers has the lock on the testosterone-and-big-amps sound, but it’s done with taste and without the ego that accompanies much of big guitar. At the peak of his fame, he told a writer, “If we could set up a Stratocaster and a nice little fuzzy amp in here…you could pull anyone into this office and get them in the right mood, and they could probably make something that would sound reasonable.”

Travers has a new live album out called Stick with What You Know. It’s full of old chestnuts such as “Snortin’ Whiskey” and “Life in London.” He’s excited about an upcoming appearance on Rockline, and he says that he has an album of all-new material ready to be released.

“I love the fact that I’m a pretty good guitar player. I’m lucky to have the aptitude to be able to do it…and the fact that I really just enjoy it, you know?”

PAT TRAVERS, The Jumping Turtle, Monday, February 23, 7:30 p.m. 760-471-7778. $20.

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

How Much Time Do I Get With My BetterHelp Therapist?

Next Article

Live Five: Andrew Peña, Frankie J, Beat Farmers, Jesse LaMonaca, Puddles Pity Party

Latin, roots rock, and pity parties in Mission Beach, Little Italy, El Cajon

A friend of mine summarized Pat Travers best when he said, “Somewhere during the ’80s, ‘Boom Boom’ replaced ‘Louie Louie’ as the party song.” He was speaking of “Boom Boom (Out Go the Lights),” a Little Walter tune from 1955 that Travers reworked from a forgotten R&B hit into an arena-sized rock classic some 20 years later. That same friend owns one of Travers’s old guitars, a flame-red Gibson electric that Travers had retired and sold at auction. Its once-gleaming hide is checkered with scars.

Sponsored
Sponsored

“Looks pretty worked over,” I tell Travers. “Absolutely,” he says. “You know, they don’t play themselves.” He’s on the phone from his home in Florida. “You can see where there’s quite a bit of effort put into it,” he laughs. “It’s kind of fun. Actually, it’s kind of cathartic. It’s a way to get out a lot of stress, to beat the crap out of a really expensive guitar for about 90 minutes.”

Called one of the more influential blues rockers of the ’70s, Pat Travers has the lock on the testosterone-and-big-amps sound, but it’s done with taste and without the ego that accompanies much of big guitar. At the peak of his fame, he told a writer, “If we could set up a Stratocaster and a nice little fuzzy amp in here…you could pull anyone into this office and get them in the right mood, and they could probably make something that would sound reasonable.”

Travers has a new live album out called Stick with What You Know. It’s full of old chestnuts such as “Snortin’ Whiskey” and “Life in London.” He’s excited about an upcoming appearance on Rockline, and he says that he has an album of all-new material ready to be released.

“I love the fact that I’m a pretty good guitar player. I’m lucky to have the aptitude to be able to do it…and the fact that I really just enjoy it, you know?”

PAT TRAVERS, The Jumping Turtle, Monday, February 23, 7:30 p.m. 760-471-7778. $20.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

94th Aero Squadron – French farmhouse still works

Try the antinoise –tomatoes with olive oil dressing plus capers, garlic, toasted coriander seeds, basil, spring onions, salted anchovies
Next Article

Rapper Wax wishes his name looked like an email password

“You gotta be search-engine optimized these days”
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader