Showing posts with label Procol Harum. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Procol Harum. Show all posts

Saturday, April 23, 2011

Robin Trower coming to Jannus Live



By Ray Shasho

Robin Trower is a good illustration for the debate on why classic rock artist maintain their staying power. Since joining Procol Harum (“Whiter Shade of Pale”) in 1967 and then forming the Robin Trower band in 1973, Trower has released twenty nine albums and continues to tour worldwide. He doesn’t worry if his songs will be played on the radio and won’t worry about the music industry, he just likes playing music.

In an interview with Classic Rock Revisited for the promotion and release of “What Lies Beneath” Trower said,
“I feel like I was born with a gift. I’m blessed because ideas still keep on coming and the creativity is still there and of course my love for playing the guitar.”
What I found really interesting about that 2009 interview was when Trower revealed his spiritual side. He said ideas for his music were formed from,
“Christianity and the spiritual side of mans nature.”
So many classic rock artists are reluctant to reveal a spiritual side. They prefer to keep their views agnostic. I applaud Trower for breaking tradition. It may be one of the reasons why he’s been around so long.    
Trower gives a lot of credit to his longtime manager Derek Sutton. With his own record label V-12 records in play Trower remarked about Sutton,
“Whatever I want, he makes it all work.”
Referring to his freedom to musically create what he wants.

Music critics nicknamed Robin Trower back in the 70’s as “The White Hendrix.” When asked about the guitarist’s comparable style to Jimi Hendrix, Trower’s moderate response was
“I’ll be the first to admit that Jimi Hendrix created a whole new vocabulary for the electric guitar and I picked up on it.”
Robin Trower is a constant reminder that you can still hold on to your past and still rock out in the present. Trower has collaborated musically with James Dewar, lead singer and bassist for the British rock power trio Robin Trower band. Perhaps the most acclaimed album being the 1974 release, Bridge of Sighs. Trower stated that it took him months and months to write the lyrics for the Bridge of Sighs track. Trower said,
“I didn’t want to write a cliché blues song.”
In the early 1980’s, Trower collaborated with Cream bassist Jack Bruce, releasing two more albums. In 2007 he released a third album with Bruce, and in 2009 added a fourth called, Seven Moons Live recorded in Nijmejen, Holland. Trower has also produced several Bryan Ferry (Roxy Music) albums.
Robin Trower continues to rock with a brand new CD called, Playful Heart and the return of the power- trio.
For the first time, Trower included his current road band in the studio. Trower said about recording Playful Heart,
“I wanted to achieve something more raw and live feeling.”
Robin Trower will be performing live in concert on Saturday, January 29th at 8pm at the new Jannus Live in St. Petersburg.
It’s a great chance to watch one of classic rocks legendary guitarist at Tampa Bay’s best small concert venue.



Contact me at rockraymond.shasho@gmail.com to share your classic rock stories or provide suggestions.