Meet the Band June 1974

robintrowerlive.co.uk homepage   News archive   Meet the band
Fans photo gallery Spring 2006 UK Tour   Autumn 2005 UK Tour
   Spring 2005 UK Tour   Albums   Songs   Press / Interview archive
What the fans say Useful links   Steve Shail’s Trower Site

One of the most eagerly awaited events of the week for young music fans in the 70s was the publication of the UK music press.

In those days, readers had a wide choice of ‘weeklies’ to choose from. There was ‘Record Mirror’, ‘NME’ and ‘Sounds’.

Definitely the preferred organ of budding musicians with its extensive ‘instruments for sale’ / ‘musicians wanted’ classifieds section, ‘Melody Maker’ featured an essential guide to facts and fancies of the great and the good.

Here’s the answers secured from one such new band sweeping the country at that time (and as featured in the paper’s 1 June 1974 edition).

ROBIN TROWER Guitar

BORN
London, 9 March 1945

EDUCATED
Southend High School

MUSICAL TRAINING
Self-taught

MUSICAL CAREER
The Paramounts and Procol Harum

MUSICAL INFLUENCES
Muddy Waters, BB King, Jimi Hendrix and much of the popular black music from the early sixties.

COMPOSITIONS
Numerous with Procol Harum and with James Dewar on both of his own albums

FAVOURITE SINGLES
‘Still a fool’ by Muddy Waters; ‘Heard it through the grapevine’ by Marvin Gaye

FAVOURITE ALBUMS
‘Extension of a man’ by Donny Hathaway and the film score of ‘Snow White’

FAVOURITE SONGWRITERS
Willie Dixon, Sly Stone, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards

FAVOURITE MUSICIANS
Donny Hathaway and Pink Floyd

FAVOURITE SINGERS
Donny Hathaway, James Brown and very early Bing Crosby (1930s).

RESIDENCE
Is married and lives at Southend-on-Sea

INSTRUMENTS
Fender Stratocaster, three Marshall 100-watt amps with two Fender Dual Showman 2 x 15 inch cabinets and two Marshall 4 x 12 cabinets. Volume booster, wah-wah and Univibe.

REG ISIDORE Drums

BORN
Aruba, Oranjestad, West Indies, 8 April 1949

EDUCATED
Issac Newton Secondary School, London

MUSICAL TRAINING
Self-taught

MUSICAL CAREER
High Tensions, Skaterlites, Rick ‘n’ Beckers plus session work

MUSICAL INFLUENCES
Herbie Hancock, Kool and the Gang, Earth Wind and Fire

FAVOURITE SINGLES
‘Knock on Wood’ by Eddie Floyd

FAVOURITE ALBUMS
’Head Hunter’ by Herbie Hancock; ‘Jazz Crusaders’ and ‘Earth Wind and Fire’.

FAVOURITE SONGWRITERS
Stevie Wonder, Donny Hathaway, Bill Withers

FAVOURITE MUSICIANS
Kool and the Gang, Earth Wind and Fire, and Billy Cobham

FAVOURITE SINGERS
Bobby Womack, Stevie Wonder, Donny Hathaway

RESIDENCE
Is single and has a self-contained flat in Bayswater

INSTRUMENTS
Ludwig drum kit with 22 x 28 inch bass drum, two 14 x 14, two 16 x 16 and two 18 x 16 tom-toms, two 14 inch snare drums. Avedis Zildjian cymbals, 26 inch ride, 18 and 22 inch crash, 15 inch splash and 14 inch hi-hats. Hickory wood sticks specially made for him by someone in Glasgow.

JAMES DEWAR Bass guitar and vocals

BORN
Glasgow, 12 October 1946

EDUCATED
St Gerards Senior Secondary School, Glasgow

MUSICAL TRAINING
Self-taught

MUSICAL CAREER
Stone the Crows and The Robin Trower Band

MUSICAL INFLUENCES
Rhythm and blues, blues and gospel.

COMPOSITIONS
Numerous with Stone the Crows and Robin Trower on both his albums.

FAVOURITE SINGLES
‘Heartbreak Hotel’ by Elvis Presley; ‘Lucille’ by Little Richards

FAVOURITE ALBUMS
’Ray Charles in concert’; ‘Astral Weeks’ by Van Morrison

FAVOURITE SONGWRITERS
Lieber and Stoller, Van Morrison

FAVOURITE MUSICIANS
Robin Trower, Jimi Hendrix, Donny Hathaway, Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin

FAVOURITE SINGERS
Ben E King, Sam Cooke, Otis Redding, Van Morrison, Ray Charles

RESIDENCE
Is single and has a flat in Leytonstone.

INSTRUMENTS
Gibson violin Bass and Martin acoustic guitar, two Ampeg 400-watt amps and four Ampeg cabinets

ABOUT THE BAND

EVOLUTION
Robin Trower left Procol Harum after ‘Broken Barricades’ was released. He started working with Frankie Miller who introduced him to his old Glaswegian friend, Jimmy Dewar. The three of them formed ‘Jude’ which broke up after a short while. Jimmy stayed with Robin and Reg Isidore came in on drums to make up the Robin Trower Band, which was formed in December 1972.

FIRST PUBLIC APPEARANCE
Vienna, Austria, February 1973

FIRST BROADCAST
BBC’s John Peel Show, April 1973

FIRST TELEVISION
Old Grey Whistle Test, 17 April 1973

MANAGEMENT
Chrysalis Artistes Ltd, Oxford Street, LONDON. Personal Manager: Wilf Wright

AGENT
Chrysalis Agency Ltd

RECORDING COMPANY
Chrysalis Records Ltd

PUBLICIST
Chris Briggs, Chrysalis Records Ltd

MUSIC PUBLISHERS
Chrysalis Music Ltd

BRITISH TOURS
Mostly college work in the past but major tour scheduled for October 1974

AMERICAN TOURS
July-August 1973; October-November 1973; April-July 1974

TRANSPORT
XJ6 Jaguar for the group and Ford D300 truck for equipment

ROADIES
Kenny Ballantine, Willie McLeod, Mick Boggis

SINGLES
‘Man of the World’ c/w ‘Take a fast train’ (Chrysalis, March 1973)

ALBUMS
‘Twice removed from yesterday’ (Chrysalis, March 1973)
’Bridge of Sighs’ (Chrysalis, April 1974)

P.A. SYSTEM
Contract rental from Marshall Equipment Hire as required. 16 channel stereo mixer, 6 JBL 1 x 15 boom stands, 6 JBL mid-range 2482 horn units, 2 2420 high range horns, 4 JBL 075 high frequency Transducers, 4 Crown DC300A amps, 2 2x12 wedge monitors with 2 JBL 2470 horns, 2 side monitor full range cabinets, Shure mini-mixer, 2 Marshall 4 x 12 horn cabinets, AKG mikes.

This site is a howardtowers.com production realised in the UK, March 2005.
Published by Alan Howard. Contributions and comments welcome by email