Born in South London in 1945, Robin Trower announced his molten-soul guitar touch on Procol Harum’s first five albums, then vindicated his split for a solo career with his second solo album, 1974’s gold-selling Bridge Of Sighs. For many, that album remains his career peak.
Trower has kept reaching in his late period, releasing 14 post-millennial albums (including this year’s Come And Find Me) and is plainly still as passionate about music as ever.
The first music I remember hearing
I must have been about six, because it was when we lived in New Zealand. I distinctly remember hearing Blue Skies by Irving Berlin on the radio – it might have been sung by Bing Crosby – and thinking: “Ooh, I like that”. That song was the start of me really ‘hearing’ music.
The first guitar riff I mastered
I remember working out Apache by The Shadows. My first guitar was cheap and cheerful, a Rosetti acoustic, but it didn’t take me long to try and electrify it – get a pickup on it and plug it into the back of the radio. It’s a miracle I didn’t kill myself with an electric shock!
The first song I performed live
My early band, The Paramounts, started off doing Chuck Berry and we covered Sweet Little Sixteen. I’m not sure how well I played the licks, but the stage was definitely a natural environment for me.
The greatest album of all time
As a guitar player, BB King’s Live At The Regal changed my course. The thing with BB is that he was actually playing vocal melodies, completely different to the guitarists prior to that. I met him when Procol Harum was on the same bill at the Miami Pop Festival. He was very friendly, there was no side to him.
The guitar hero
Obviously Jimi Hendrix was a big influence; my favourite track is Stone Free. But I think Albert King is the main man. After I saw him live I wanted to give up playing the guitar. It took me about a year to get over that. I loved the whole Born Under A Bad Sign album, but Crosscut Saw just floored me. What he’s doing is really advanced for the time. He’s not only got this fabulous tone and it’s incredibly soulful, but everything he plays is a melody.
The singer
Dinah Washington is probably my favourite singer. Her early stuff is more bluesy and funky, but she’s had a lot of pop hits with strings and everything – you know, Mad About The Boy, What A Diff’rence A Day Makes. It’s about something deeper than just hitting the notes. How soulful is it? How much of your own personality is put into it? That’s what the great singers bring.
The songwriter
There’s one or two John Lennon songs – I’m thinking about Strawberry Fields Forever, for instance – that are transcendent. But in the rock’n’roll era Leiber and Stoller have to be right up there. Ben E King’s Spanish Harlem, Elvis’s Hound Dog… they must’ve had more hits than anyone. But they had no ‘fame’ in that way.
The best live act I've seen
Definitely James Brown. We went to see him at Walthamstow Granada in the mid-sixties. I was so familiar with his album Live At The Apollo, but to see it visually was another thing altogether – talk about ‘Mr Dynamite’. You’ve never seen anything like it.
The best cover version
Hound Dog by Elvis Presley. The original was by Big Mama Thornton. The lyric doesn’t really make sense coming from a man but it still works. I remember watching Leiber and Stoller being interviewed and they were asked what they thought of Elvis’s version, and one of them said: “Well, when we first heard it, we thought it wasn’t very good… but when it sold over a million we started to see its attributes.”
The best record I've made
Overall it might be In City Dreams [1977]. It has more of an R&B flavour, which was where my head was at at the time. We had a great producer, Don Davis, and Rustee Allen and Bill Lordan from Sly & The Family Stone on bass and drums, which added another dimension. I understand why people like Bridge Of Sighs [1974], though.
The worst record I've made
On In The Line Of Fire [1990] I think I allowed myself to be dragged off course trying to make a more commercial album. I mean, there’s good stuff on it, but I don’t feel like there’s enough of me there.
The song that makes me cry
A Cottage For Sale by Billy Eckstine. It’s such a beautiful piece and the subject is so moving. He’s singing about how, you know, we used to live here, this was our wonderful place we shared together, but it is no longer.
My favourite air-guitar track
I don’t think I’ve ever played air guitar, but it would probably be Personal Manager by Albert King.
The song I wanted played at my funeral
Yikes! How about St. James Infirmary by Bobby Bland? It’s very fitting. I’m hoping my funeral is just going to be: “Let’s bury him and move on.”
Come And Find Me is out now via Provogue.
