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Conference napalm::guitar

Title:GUITARnotes - Where Every Note has Emotion
Notice:Discussion of the finer stringed instruments
Moderator:KDX200::COOPER
Created:Thu Aug 14 1986
Last Modified:Fri Jun 06 1997
Last Successful Update:Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:3280
Total number of notes:61432

2189.0. "Robin Trower" by ESKIMO::AUSTIN () Sat May 04 1991 14:08

    Haven't been able to find anything in here about Robin Trower...
    Do any of you play any of his stuff?  He's one of my all-time 
    favorite guitarists.  I got to see him play in a club down in
    Norfolk, Va. a couple years ago after he released "Take What You
    Need".  Whatta show, sheer energy and emotion.  I think he's done
    as much for the guitar as EVH ever did...
    
    It would've been great to have seen him and Stevie Ray Vaughn get
    together.  I see alot of similarities in their chops, tone, etc.
    
    Alan
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2189.1PELKEY::PELKEYYOIKES and AWAY!!!Mon May 06 1991 13:362
Day of the Eagle -- one of the coolest Trower songs..

2189.2The glass is half empty/fullWHELIN::OMALLEYDo not taunt Happy Fun BallMon May 06 1991 13:506
    re: .0 
    
    They both 'owe a lot to' or 'rip off', depending on how you look at it, 
    Jimi Hendrix.
    
    Peter
2189.3MILNER::WSC100::COLLUMOscar's only ostrich oiled an orange owl todayMon May 06 1991 14:043
Big deal.  Everybody in rock since about '69 does.

Will
2189.4WHELIN::OMALLEYDo not taunt Happy Fun BallMon May 06 1991 14:566
    I didn't mean that quite as negatively as it came out.  You're right
    that Hendrix has become part of the standard rock guitar vocabulary.
    But both SRV and Trower use the Hendrix sound as a starting point.
    IMO.
    
    Peter
2189.5MILNER::WSC100::COLLUMOscar's only ostrich oiled an orange owl todayMon May 06 1991 15:403
Fair enough.  I'll buy that.  :)

Will
2189.6PELKEY::PELKEYYOIKES and AWAY!!!Mon May 06 1991 16:501
Immitation is the highest form of flattery ???!!
2189.7WHELIN::OMALLEYDo not taunt Happy Fun BallMon May 06 1991 17:221
    Sincerest.
2189.8Trower PowerTRUCKS::LITTENTue May 07 1991 10:0528
>
>    Haven't been able to find anything in here about Robin Trower...
>    Do any of you play any of his stuff?      
    

This is a bit off track from your request...but may throw up some replies. 

It's strange you should mention this guy Alan, I lost track of him some years 
ago, but wandered into my local guitar shop on saturday to buy a video...ended 
up getting Eric Johnson  (brilliant)......and started to listen to Robin's
latest instruction video. I only saw the first five minutes and was a bit 
put off. He seemed to be either high or very nervous, but I am wondering what 
the remaining part is like. Anyone seen/bought the video ? How much blues info 
is in it ? Because I like the stuff he does, I will probably go back and give 
it a second listen.

He certainly is an excellent but not world class player...hope that does not 
sound too negative..he would probably be in the top forty "Hall of Fame" !!

He does however, have great feel and is an emotive player, but one who has 
not put enough of his own identity in his music, but he does interpret well.

I have not been an avid collector of his stuff, but going back about five 
years plus, I well remember him recording some excellent live albums/tracks,
and I was very impressed with the power of his playing.

Dave

2189.9FREEBE::REAUMEGTR/KHTR/CSTR/RR33Tue May 07 1991 14:1326
    
    
      I am quite a fan of Trower's old material as well as the new stuff.
    I've seen him play in a club a couple year's back and thought he did
    a great job. His Hendrix influence really comes through on those
    "spacey" phased bluesy songs. The most recent Trower release -
    "In the Line of Fire" is excellent and features ex Gamma vocalist
    Davey Pattison. You might be able to find it in the cheapie bins!
    Check it out, nice guitar work.
      Here's a listing of Trower releases I have that are close to the
    order they were released:
    
    		Twice Removed from Yesterday
    		Bridge of Sighs (his biggest seller)
    		For Earth Below
    		Long Misty Days
    		Caravan to Midnight
    		In City Dreams
    		BLT - Bruce, Lordan, and Trower (Jack Bruce)
    		Take What you Need
    		In the Line of Fire
    
      There was a release on an independant label called "Passion" that I
    don't have. It was just before "Take What..."
    
    							-B()()M-
2189.10BLTIXION::ROSTMake my foam pre-CBSTue May 07 1991 15:5910
    Re: .9
    
    There were two Bruce/Trowers, "BLT" and "Truce", both out of print.  A
    CD-only compilation from the two (must have most of the stuff, it's 16
    tracks) is available called "No Stopping".  Not as good as you would
    expect but it has its moments.
    
    						Brian
    
    					Jack Bruce wannabe
2189.11What about Procol?USRCV1::LEFFLERMI'd buy that for a dollarThu Aug 15 1991 19:3812
    You're all negelecting the man's ROOTS, and I mean as lead guitar for
    Procol Harum on albums 1-5 (last album with Procol was "Broken
    barricades", and the first one to feature his new, "Hendrix-like" sound
    on "Song for a Dreamer".)
    
    Before he developed his hendrix emulator he sounded a bit like Clapton
    on some cuts, but most of his work with Procol was limited to
    Les-Paul-through-Marshall-everything-on-10 lead breaks in the midst of
    pseudo-classical bach-like chord changes (wasn't it?)
    
    I still like it.
    -Mark
2189.12I heard Trower's back in the Harum,EZ2GET::STEWARTBalanced on the biggest waveThu Aug 15 1991 20:223
    
    
    and they're planning a tour!
2189.13DECWIN::KMCDONOUGHSet Kids/NosickThu Aug 15 1991 20:226
    
    
    Was that Robin on "Bringing Home the Bacon"?  That sure wasn't
    pseudo-classical bach-like chord changes!
    
    Kevin
2189.14Conquistador?DEMING::CLARKare we not men?Fri Aug 16 1991 12:014
    Did he play the solo on "conquistador"? I always loved the way
    that one built up.
    
    - Dave
2189.15Studio OnlyRGB::ROSTIf you don't C#, you might BbFri Aug 16 1991 12:265
    The studio version of "Conquistador" (from the first LP) is Robin, the
    live version is someone else.
    
    
    						Brian
2189.16HNDMTH::TUTAKNananana...nananana...JOSE...goodbye...!Mon Sep 16 1991 19:145
    
    The live version is with David Ball (ex-Bedlam) on guitar....
    
    Peter
    
2189.17Robin Trower articlePAVONE::TURNERFri May 14 1993 14:389
    
    There's a 3-page article on Robin Trower in this month's edition of the
    UK publication "The Guitar Magazine".
    
    One of the more interesting "insights" that he revealed is his habit of
    tuning the guitar down by a tone to allow the use of heavy gauge strings 
    without any compromise on the string-bending front.
    
    Dom
2189.18RICKS::CALCAGNIsubmit to FredFri May 14 1993 15:568
    I think this is actually a pretty common practice, primarily for
    Strat players as the 25.5" scale makes for higher string tension
    than on the slightly shorter Gibson scale.  Hendrix and SRV did this
    fer sure; that's why the tunes on the records often seem to be in
    E-flat, etc. when you try to play along.
    
    It's a drag for bass players, as you either have to turn down too or
    play in weird keys all night.
2189.19LEDS::BURATIpurple haze is in my mindSat May 15 1993 01:184
    If I playd bass, I think E flat would be the worst key to play in. No
    picnic on guitar, either.

    rjb
2189.20:-)SSDEVO::LAMBERTI made life easy just by laughingSat May 15 1993 15:565
   re: .19

   Not a problem on the 5 string...  :-)

   -- Sam
2189.21TECRUS::ROSTI need air freshener under the drumsMon May 17 1993 10:1913
    Re: .19
    
    What's the hassle with Eb?  If you ever get in to a band with horn
    players you'll spend a lot of time in keys like Bb, Eb and F and
    they're simple enough to deal with.  Yes, you can't get the Eb below
    open E but that's hardly a fatal problem.  Heck, get a five string and
    you can start complaining about songs in Bb  8^)  8^) 
    
    In my band's current repertoire, we have songs in all twelve keys. It's
    been a healthy experience...before this band I was only used to the
    usual guitar keys.  
    
    						Brian
2189.22LUNER::KELLYJsubmit to BarneyMon May 17 1993 12:113
    To second what Brian sez, I love to play in flat keys.  F sounds so
    much better than E to my ears.  Besides, if'n you spend all night
    hanging out E,A, and G, it sounds monotonous.
2189.23RICKS::CALCAGNIsubmit to FredMon May 17 1993 12:254
    sure, playing tasty F and B-flat tunes is cool.  But this tune down thing
    is typically a blues/rock guitarist trick.  It's more like you end up playing
    E-flat, A-flat, and G-flat all night instead of E, A, G.  I still say it's
    a drag.
2189.24Listening To Robin Twenty Years OnTECRUS::ROSTI need air freshener under the drumsMon May 17 1993 12:4434
    Getting back onto the original subject  8^)
    
    A month or two back, I rented a movie about narcs ("Rush" I think?)
    that had "Bridge of Sighs" on the soundtrack.  That got me to drag out
    my Trower elpees and tape 'em.  After listening to the tapes more than
    a few times, I'm starting to remember how samey Robin's material could
    get  8;(   Particularly the way the followup LP "For Earth Below" seems
    to clone almost every song on the previous album! 
    
    I think James Dewar, who sang and held down the bass for Trower in
    those days, was vastly underrated as a vocalist.  He was in the mold of
    Paul Rodgers, sure, but it's easy to see why he left Stone the Crows
    (where he had to deal with Maggie Bell who was such a dynamite vocalist
    that he was never going to get much room to sing).  I wonder what
    happened to him after he left the Trower band...in his last days with
    them he was singing only and someone else was playing bass.  I also
    really dug Robin's original drummer Reg Isadore.  His feel on the
    slow-drag tunes was absolutely hypnotic.  
    
    Around 1981, Robin did two albums with Jack Bruce (a compilation pulled
    from  them is on a Chrysalis CD as "No Stopping") and while it's not
    quite as good as you might have hoped, it's not as bad as West, Bruce
    and Laing turned out, either. It's as close as we're gonna get to
    hearing Jimi jam with Cream  8^)  
    
    I have to admit that once he stepped into Jimi-isms Robin never seemed
    to figure out how to get out of the trap!  At least SRV had other
    angles to his playing, namely the Texas blues thing, so he wasn't stuck
    with being a Jimi clone.
    
    I've heard that Robin is leaning back in to the blues again these days,
    I'd like to hear that for sure.  
    
    							Brian
2189.25In the Line of FireOTOOA::ELLACOTTQuick Snarf bring my AxeTue May 18 1993 15:198
    	The latest that I've heard from him is called "In The Line of
    Fire". Its more varied than earlier efforts and and the vocalist could
    pass as a clone of James Dewar. Funny thing though all most all the
    tunes are in D. Maybe he's tuned down further......
    
    BTW It's a great disc..
    
    FJE
2189.26have imagination,will wailPOLAR::KFICZERESun Feb 26 1995 11:4511
    	So what is Robin trower up to these days? anybody know? 
    I was listening to 'Bridge of Signs' last night and really homed
    in on his sound/tone for a few tracks. Obviously a Marshall-Strat
    combo, but it sounds to me (listening VERY closely) that he is
    using a Delay set super short,with a pretty good amount of effect.
    tThis produces a doubling of his final signal,like two guitars.I 
    played with my delay for a little while (plugged in the ROTOVIBE)
    and the it was! Very cool and very unmistakably Trower.
    
    	-kev
    
2189.27you never know....POLAR::KFICZEREFri Mar 10 1995 15:499
    Picked up a copy of Robin Trower 'Live' yesterday...WOW!
    Quite a amazing player (imo).I am looking for a copy of 'Twice Removed
    From Yesterday' (his 1st release) on CD.It has just been disco'd,and
    may be still kicking around.Any help would be appreciated,or may be
    someone may even have a copy they might be willing to part with for a
    small sum?
    
    -kev
    
2189.28POLAR::KFICZEREFri Mar 10 1995 18:558
    OK,just one more Trower note.I'm wondering if anyone has or has seen
    his instructional video.It's goin' for about $70 at the local and i'm
    considering it,but a little scared.
    
    I love'm thank you,
    
    -kev
    
2189.29BUSY::BUSY::SLABOUNTYTrouble with a capital 'T'Fri Mar 10 1995 19:299
    
    >From Yesterday' (his 1st release) on CD.It has just been disco'd,and
    
    
    	It's been disco'd?  ALRIGHT!!
    
    	I love Santa Esmeralda's cover of the Animals' "Please Don't Let
    	Me Be Misunderstood" ... wonder if this one would be as good?
    
2189.30VARESE::SACHA::IDC_BSTROh no! NOT Milan Kundera again!Mon Mar 13 1995 08:3219
    I kinda lost track of Robin Trower after the first couple of albums.
    However, I thought he was pretty talented and the band's material
    wasn't bad either.
    
    One story sticks in my mind about the early days of the band. Eric
    Clapton was driving down the motorway one night listening to his car
    radio, and the DJ played a track from Trower's recently released first
    album. Clapton, thinking that he was the proud owner of literally
    everything that Hendrix had ever recorded, was so astonished that he
    pulled the car over to the side of the road to listen better. On
    hearing that it was indeed Robin Trower and not Hendrix, he vowed to 
    contact Trower as soon as possible.
    
    Maybe this had something to do with Gary Brooker playing in Clapton's
    band at the beginning of the eighties; both Brooker and Trower were
    menmbers of Procul Harem.
    
    Dom 
                                        
2189.31*still* blasting that live album...wowPOLAR::KFICZEREWed Mar 15 1995 09:464
    SO THAT'S WHERE ALL THOSE HENDRIX BOOTS CAME FROM!!
    ERIC....YOU DOG!!
    
    -kev
2189.32DaydreamGAVEL::DAGGWed Dec 27 1995 12:2710
    
    Did Trower have a "hit" called "Daydream"? 
    
    If so what album?  And, if you know, is the
    rest of that album any good? 
    
    Also, did he tune down to D or Eb?
    
    Dave
    
2189.33FREEBE::REAUMEvintage rackerWed Dec 27 1995 14:596
    
      "Daydream" was off one of the first two Trower albums. It really
    wasn't a hit per say. My guess is that it was on "Bridge of Sighs" and 
    I remember playing it years ago using standard tuning.  Crack out your 
    MXR phaser to play this one!
    
2189.34One of my fav'sPOLAR::KFICZEREFri Dec 29 1995 10:176
    If your thinking of picking up some RT, try and find his first live
    release (not the recent BBC release).It's awesome!
    Speaking of Trower, anyone ever see any bootlegs of his floating
    around?
    
    -kev