Tonight I went to the Wiltern Theater to see Robin Trower, guitarist extraordinaire. Grimsley had won free tickets to this show in a call-in contest on KLOS. The question had to do with Prudence Farrow (Mia's sister, of "Dear Prudence" fame) and her career as a teacher of Transcendental Meditation, the technique of which she learned when she accompanied Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and The Beatles on their trip to India in 1968. KLOS had asked, "which famous comedian did Prudence Farrow instruct in TM"? Grim knew the answer : Andy Kaufman. He called the station, won the Robin Trower tickets, and there we were tonight.
Trower's albums were some of the first I ever bought when I began hanging out at College Records in the early 1970s. I had "Twice Removed From Yesterday", and then in 1974 I got "Bridge Of Sighs", which is one of the greatest records ever made. I loved those albums but I think that at the time, because so much incredible new music was being released by dozens of bands, that Robin Trower's music got lost in the shuffle for me, perhaps because it was blues based and I was going in a more progressive direction in my listening habits.
His songs were always unforgettable, though, and his guitar sound was monolithic. He often played as slow as molasses, but his technique incorporated emotive bends and a vibrato that allowed him to sustain the tension in his solos and gave his songs a mesmeric quality. He was also very musical, a gift not every instrumentalist has, meaning that when he plays it is not just a lot of notes, i.e "shredding", but something lyrical conveying indescribable emotion. To be musical is to be able to express the language of music, and to have it flow effortlessly from your soul and through your fingers, and to know how to phrase your playing to make make your instrument "speak" so that you don't sound mechanical. Technique is just a means to an end. Musicality is all in the expression and the ability to tap into a zone of spontaneity so that you are playing in the moment. Music should flow through the player like a river.
Though I'd never forgotten his classic songs, of which there are many, I had not listened to Robin Trower's albums in many years, until about 2015, when my brother Chris began posting songs on Facebook. I think he posted the entire album "For Earth Below", which I used to own as a fifteen year old but hadn't heard in eons. I remember checking it out the day Chris posted it, and thinking "Wow what a guitar sound".
And that's what the deal is with Robin Trower. His sound is his artistry, and he has tapped the potential of the Fender Stratocaster in a way that only a handful of guitarists have ever been able to do. His songs from the classic Chrysalis Records period still hold up, but what is highlighted in concert is his capacity to stretch the bluesy frameworks of some of those songs to their limits of musical color. Trower and his trio only played twelve songs total for the evening, but some were elongated to eighteen minutes, most of which was Trower just soloing, and he did so without ever breaking the elasticity of the song or it's dreamlike hold on the audience.
That is so freaking hard to do that it's no wonder that only Trower and David Gilmour can play that slow and not only get away with it but use that type of playing to it's greatest effect.
Many players can play fast. Try playing really slow and still holding your audience, while creating new phrases and colors all the while during a ten minute guitar solo.
You'd have to be a master guitarist to do all of this and not only refrain from boring people but on the contrary blow their minds.
Robin Trower just turned 74 in March and Grim remarked that he may be the oldest major guitarist that we have seen in concert. I've gotta say, even though I had never seen him before tonight, that he must be playing as great as ever, if not even greater than in his youth.
Again, it is about the sound of the guitar. The playing is just what gets you to where he wants you to go, but the sound is creating the landscape and the colors, and it was spellbinding in many places tonight. Bassist/vocalist Richard Watts did a superb job in recreating the style of original singer James Dewar, and even more than that he locked in precisely with drummer Chris Taggart to create a rock solid rhythmic foundation for Trower to play over. They supplied the canvas, he painted it. ////
I am super tired, so I hope this review made even a tiny bit of sense. I have church in the morning so I will see you there. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):) with love as always.
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