Walter Trout Bassist Jimmy Trapp Passes Away

[HARD ROCK UNIVERSE]

Jimmy Trapp, bassist with Walter Trout and the Radicals, died on August 24. On May 29 he had had emergency open-heart surgery; in August he had a stroke.

Trapp was born October 24, 1952 in Newport Beach, California, and began playing bass as a teenager, but he grew up and left music. In Chuck Berry's words, "...Want me to marry/Settle down/Get a home/Write a book," but instead of writing a book, after four years off the road Trapp answered a call for a weekend job. Walter Trout said, "Can you play the Blues?" "I played a few notes," said Trapp, "and he said 'You're hired.' Hey, I'm only here for the weekend..." That was about 1978. The relationship lasted the rest of his life.

Walter's wife Marie Trout wrote, "Jimmy was there the night I met Walter...looking down as he always would do on stage, but you knew that nothing escaped his attention...Jimmy and Walter had a telepathic connection that allowed them to change the song or the chord progression by just making eye contact...As steady and solid as Jimmy was musically, he had a 'mad man' inside of him off stage...a ride in the band van [was] an adventure of wacky jokes, a journey into the beautiful and twisted mind of a genuine comedian.

[nightrocker]

That is to Young to pass away, RIP..

[Walter fan]

Jimmy was a rock solid bass player and geuinely funny guy

[Sierra]

I met Jimmy in a bar one afternoon in Costa Mesa. We had drinks and shared stories. He got me into the show in Huntington Beach the next night and it was great.
I'll never forget my chance encounter with him and what a fun time we had. He made me feel like a long lost friend in a matter of minutes. That's the kind of person he was.

[Wilfred]

I met Jimmy in De Melkweg in Amsterdam in 1990, after the show we spoke and had a few drinks.

Great bass player and a very nice man.

[Simon]

I knew Jimmy when I lived in Costa Mesa. Watched him and Walter dozens of times. Wonderful guys. When I moved back to the UK in 2000, I had the pleasure of watching them at two different gigs while they were on tour here, in the early 2000's. To my delight, they called me out in the crowd both times. Jimmy was a wonderful soul, human being and buddy. RIP Jimmy, in your own words on that telephone answering machine, 'the bassist formerly known as Jimmy Trapp'.