Robin Trower – In Concert at Golders Green, London – 1975 – BBC Radio 1 In Concert –
Robin Trower in concert, recorded at Golders Green Hippodrome in London in 1975 for the BBC Radio 1 In Concert series. Robin Trower was a founding member of Procol Harum, a band which was the very model for what eventually became Prog, although they were considered to be Classical Rock at the time, because of a reference to Bach in A Whiter Shade of Pale. I remember seeing Trower with Procol Harum many times prior to his leaving the band in 1971, eventually forming a Power Trio and, to me, something completely out of left field. Well, maybe not completely out of left field, considering one of his last songs with Procol Harum, Song For A Dreamer off the Broken Barricades album offered a few clues as it was a tribute to Jimi Hendrix.
The first time I saw Robin Trower in 1974, I wasn’t alone in thinking “ah, Robin Hendrix” – as many of my colleagues felt the same way. And it was probably hard to shake that comparison. But in the long-run, I don’t think it hurt his reputation one bit. Audiences stopped coming to see Robin Trower, hoping for either a mashup of Procol Harum or an homage to Jimi Hendrix. Instead, they got Robin Trower, an eloquent guitarist whose blues leanings carried his own imprint – and from that he emerged as a force in his own right and it carried over to a successful streak that has gone on for some 22 Studio albums, a slew of live albums and numerous collaborations, among them with Bryan Ferry and Jack Bruce.
This concert comes around the time of the release of For Earth Below, his third album and the first to crack the top-10 on the Album charts in the U.S.
And although his band has gone through several lineup changes over the years, he is still touring, spending a lot of time in the U.S. where he has a large and loyal following. His latest album, Time and Emotion came out in April of this year and he’s been doing a lot of YouTube videos featuring interviews and a few tricks for guitarists.
Check him out if you get the chance – he’s an institution and you need to know about him if you profess to knowing anything about Rock.
As you know, we’ve suspended indefinitely our ads in order to make Past Daily a better experience for you without all the distractions and pop-ups. Because of that, we’re relying more on your support through Patreon to keep us up and running every day. For as little as $5.00 a month you can make a huge difference as well as be able to download all of our posts for free (news, history, music). You’ll see a banner just below. Click on that and become a subscriber – it’s easy, painless and does a world of good.
