Another Robin Files Solo

Pug faced Robin Trower does not look like a rock and roll star until he gets up on stage. There, joined by bassist-vocalist James Dewar and drummer Reg Isidore, he grips his battlescarred guitar, squints his equally battle-scarred face and lets loose with some of the densest, distorted licks heard since Jimi Hendrix first set the world (and his guitar) on fire in Monterrey during psychedelia’s embryonic years. Standing almost awkwardly in the middle of New York’s Felt Forum, former Procol Harum member Trower sends his newfound audience into throes of soulful ecstasy as he launches into tunes from his two existing LPs, Bridge of Sighs and Twice Removed From Yesterday. The set ends with a thunderous chord, the audience goes bonkers and Robin and company slip off into the night.

Later, slumped in a hotel room, the decidedly un-foppish Britisher marvels over his newly acquired popularity. “It wasn’t always like this,” he muses.

It all started coming together when I saw Jimi play. W

“When I first started talking about leaving Procol everyone told me I was mad. The group was a success and I was making money. Certain ‘friends’ really worried about my sanity at the time. They thought that whatever it was that was bothering me would pass, subside. They were wrong.”

Robin’s restlessness with the Procol setup arose from the fact that the band didn’t allow too much room for experimentation. “It wasn’t as bad as I make it sound sometimes,” Robin grins. “But I was getting bored. We were so tied down to a format, it was hard to get into the music.” When Robin was still nursing his future plans, Procol found themselves opening to Jimi Hendrix on a tour of Berlin. The time was shortly before Jimi’s death. “It all started coming together when I saw Jimi play. I was deeply impressed with him as a musician. After I saw and heard him, I knew what I wanted to do ... something different to widen my scope as a guitarist. ‘Song For A Dreamer’ (dedicated to Jimi and appearing on Procol’s Broken Barricades album) was the first song I wrote that I was proud of. It was the beginning of the type of music I play now, in fact. A lot of the Procol fans complained that it didn’t sound like ‘THE group.’ Well, in truth, it didn’t. But it DID sound like ME.”

Robin left the band shortly thereafter and started an ill-fated ensemble called Jude. While the band died a mercifully quick death, Robin managed to stick With Judite James Dewar who, in turn, led him to drummer Isidore. A first LP of semi-Hendrix denseness entitled Twice Removed From Yesterday was released in 1973 and the trio began I to tour. Less than twelve months later, ^ the band’s newest effort, Bridge of Sighs, is a top twenty album and the group is now a favorite of heavy metal cultists.

“It’s a joy playing before enthusiastic, audiences,” Robin beams. “I have so much more confidence now. I’m happy that things are going favorably. In the beginning, no one was interested in what I was doing, you know. Everyone said that I was just imitating Hendrix. Well, I have been influenced by him as well as a host of others. Why not be influenced by the best? It’s funny, though, none of the critics who have put me down for sounding a bit like Jimi have ever mentioned that to my face. I guess they get paid to criticize.”

While Robin admits musical kinship to the late Hendrix, he cites the unique quality of his brand of electric rock.

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“I’m coming from a different source point than Jimi was. I want to create a rock and roll blues feel. Cerebral. Moody. I rely heavily on the vocals. On the melodies. It’s all energy, but tasteful. The songs are the important goals, my guitar playing simply helps them achieve their final effect.”

“I think our fans know the difference between the two musical styles. I get letters from old Hendrix fans who say they like my music but they make sure to distinguish MY music from JIMI’s.~ft’s funny, though. None of my old Procol following seems to have gotten into my present group. I guess it’s because I’m at the opposite end of the musical spectrum now. Free and uninhibited.”

Robin, realizing that he has been earmarked a musician to keep your eyes on by press on both sides of the Atlantic, feels the responsibility of a star-on-the-horizon. “After this tour,” he sighs, “We have to go home and write and record the next album. We have to get it out by the end of the year. This is an important period for us, when we have to keep our fans satisfied. It would be nice to take it easy now, but...” he finishes the sentence with a flick of the wrist. “Now is not the time.”

Getting up to leave, Robin pauses for a moment when asked to describe his music in terms yet unused by either fans or critics..He pushes his rugged face into an impish smile. “Oh shit, you’re kidding. You’re not? Hmmmm, Well, the whole idea behind my music is communication from the heart. A direct contact with the audience on a soul to soul basis. None of the stagey bullshit. I’d love someone to say that rock and roll can be a SOULFUL experience.”

Less than twenty four hours later, on a stage miles away from his New York hotel room, Robin Trower and band tell another screaming audience just that via an hour long set which earns three encores.

“He was good,” admits one older fan leaving the auditorium after the show. “But he’s not as creative as he was when he was with Procol Harum.”

A pre-adolescent rock devotee looks up at his elder, puzzled. “Who?”