Robin Trower first gained fame as the guitarist for Procol Harum, playing on their classic late 1960s and early ’70s prog-tinged albums. When he left after 1971’s Broken Barricades, he followed the direction hinted at on that album’s “Song for a Dreamer” and his earlier Procol Harum song “Whisky Train,” namely Jimi Hendrix-inspired blues-based rock.
He has gone on to release more than 20 albums in this vein, including 1974ʼs acclaimed Bridge of Sighs — with songs like “Too Rolling Stoned,” “Day of the Eagle” and the title track — and the brand-new album Time and Emotion.
A true guitar hero, Trower will be rocking the Lobero Theatre on Wednesday. Fans of guitar won’t want to miss this one! Tickets are available online by clicking here.
What to look forward to? Trower told Noozhawk, “I like to play the most popular songs from the ’70s, or some of them anyway, and then get a few in from the last few years.” He also talked about his new album and some of his rich musical history.
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Jeff Moehlis: I’ve been enjoying listening to your new album, Time and Emotion. How did that come together?
Robin Trower: As I was just finishing off mixing the previous album, I started to come up with material for this new album. I knew I wanted to write some music that was a little bit more complex than the previous album. All the ideas started to flow, and I came up with the material and started recording more or less straight away.
JM: The first Procol Harum album turns 50 years old this year. It probably seems like a different lifetime to you.
RT: Yeah.
JM: What are your reflections on that album?
RT: I always think about that first album as having fantastic material. The band was really, really strong. It came together very quickly in the studio. We rehearsed the songs up in the studio and put them down straight away, so it all had a lovely freshness to it.
JM: One other Procol Harum question. I always loved your song “Song for a Dreamer,” from your last album with them. Can you tell me a little bit about what you were going for with that song, and how that pointed you in the direction that you went in for your solo career?
RT: Well, it was Keith Reid, the lyricist’s idea. He came to me with this lyric, and he said he wanted to do a tribute track to Jimi Hendrix, because he had just died recently at that time. So I came up with that piece of music. As you say, it was so successful that I think it started me off in my writing. It gave me confidence to go on and write more music, really.
JM: You’ve been doing this for a while. The first Procol Harum album turns 50 this year, and your solo career has been going for 45 years or so. Do you think you’ll ever get tired of plugging the Strat into a Marshall amp and cranking it up?
RT: Will I ever get tired of it? Well, I haven’t yet [laughs]. You know, I feel like I’m always striving, reaching forward as it were, striving to do better music. That’s what all the fun is — moving forward, really.
JM: That leads into my next question. What are your plans for the near future? Have you thought about some new songs, do you want to record another album, or are you more focused on touring right now?
RT: Well, I am starting to write new material for my next album. But in the last few months I’ve been working on a project with a singer called Maxi Priest and a producer called Livingstone Brown. We’re doing a thing together. We’ve been writing songs together and recording.
JM: What are your reflections on the Bridge of Sighs album?
RT: I still think there are parts of it that are incredibly strong, even today, that stand up. Then there are parts of it I’m sort of disappointed with. But, you know, that’s always going to be the case.
JM: Geoff Emerick was the engineer for that album, and of course he worked on so many great albums over the years. What did he bring to that album?
RT: Well, I think the actual sound of it is due to Geoff. He came up with a way of recording loud guitar, and I don’t think it had been done before. I think it was quite a big thing Geoff added there. He was a great engineer, really great.
JM: It’s amazing how cool the guitar sound is. If I try to get that sound, even nowadays with all the new technology, I don’t know how to do it.
RT: We were playing in a big room in London. It was a big room. He may have been the first to do it, but he placed three different mics different distances away from my amps. So that’s how he got the size that he got. I think he may have been the first guy to do that.
Click here for the full interview with Robin Trower.
— Jeff Moehlis is a Noozhawk contributing writer and a professor of mechanical engineering at UC Santa Barbara. Upcoming show recommendations, advice from musicians, interviews and more are available on his web site, music-illuminati.com. The opinions expressed are his own.