Expansive commemorative reissue of 70s guitar legend’s masterwork.

Release Date:  17^th May 2024

Label: Chrysalis

Formats: 3CD/1 BluRay set, Vinyl 2LP set, Digital

By the early 1970s, Procol Harum guitarist, Robin Trower was starting to think it was time for him to make a change.  He’d been feeling constrained for some time, within the keyboard-favouring confines of Procol and ready to stretch out and, in 1971, after contributing to five Procol albums, he went his own way, picking up bassist/vocalist James Dewar and powerhouse drummer Reg Isidore, en-route.

The trio’s 1973 debut album, Twice Removed From Yesterday, revealed exactly how much six-string expression had been building up inside Trower’s head and within his dexterous fingers.  It was impossible to ignore the influence of Hendrix in Trower’s guitar style, but the way that guitar blended with Isidore’s driving drum rhythms and Dewar’s soulful vocals was a beautiful – and thoroughly unexpected – revelation.

When the trio hit the road, they started pretty well at the bottom, playing small venues and colleges (a June 1973 gig at Bolton’s Institute of Technology [B.I.T.] stands out particularly in this writer’s mind) but those gigs drew heaps of attention from all the right sources and paved the way for what was, very rapidly, to come.

Recorded in just two weeks, under the auspices of former Procol bandmate Matthew Fisher and ex-Beatles’ engineer, Geoff Emerick, the trio’s second album, Bridge of Sighs became the catalyst for Trower’s seismic breakthrough into the big time, initially in the USA and, subsequently, in the UK and Europe.  Just months after that memorable low-key appearance at B.I.T., Trower and his band were headlining US tours and topping the bill at Reading Festival.  Bridge Of Sighs (the catalyst, remember) ultimately became a multi-platinum seller.

Trower definitely had a lot more excellent music in his locker; follow up albums For Earth Below (1975) and Long Misty Days (1976) were both excellent and his 1975 Live album sits up there alongside the very best of its genre but, for me at least, Bridge Of Sighs is Robin’s masterwork.  Maybe some of my reasons for taking that view are personal ones – it marked the point at which I ceased to regard Trower’s music a refuge for someone seeking reassurance against the ever-encroaching spectre of sophistication into mid-seventies rock.  It represented, instead, the blossoming of Trower’s innate melodicism, and maybe that’s it: Bridge of Sighs was the album that made the world realise that Robin Trower was much, much more than a mere Hendrix copyist.

This 50th anniversary edition of the album contains rich-pickings for Robin’s host of still-fervent followers.  In no particular order, the various formats of the package feature:

• A brand-new remix of the original album;
• An unedited 2024 remix of the album, conducted by Richard Whittaker and overseen by Robin himself, with previous edits, originally applied to fit the limitations of a two-sided vinyl album, all fully restored;
• Copious out-takes and rareities, the vast majority of them previously unreleased;
• A 1974 live set, recorded at The Record Plant, Sausalito, that features material  from the first two albums, plus a short preview of the pleasures to come on album #3;
• A BluRay disc of 2024 Dolby Atmos and 5.1 surround sound mixes.

For many years, I’ve been enjoying the periodic rediscovery of Robin Trower’s work.  My last prolonged session in his virtual (and actual) company was sparked by his appearance at the Leamington Assembly in October 2016, when Robin took a deep dive into all corners of his illustrious past and initiated a period in which I worked my way, once again through his back-catalogue.  Eight years later, the time is ripe for a further submersion into the Trower depths and Bridge of Sighs is just the album to start with.  It’s a fine piece of work, of that there’s no doubt, including, as it does, a string of certified Trower classics. 

The album’s title track is probably my all-time Trower favourite.  Melodic and spine-chilling, it features one of James Dewars best-ever vocal performances and, whenever I hear it, I can’t help but recall that landmark 1975 Reading bill-topping performance, when he held the festival field entranced with this very number.  Day of the Eagle, the album’s opening track is Trower under his strongest Hendrix influence.  His guitar work on the track would have fitted comfortably on albums like The Cry Of Love or Rainbow Bridge, yet the blue-eyed soul delivery of Dewar’s vocals mark the track as Robin Trower; and I’ve always loved the mellowness of the song’s coda as Robin’s smooth solo blends with Reg’s disciplined drums and James’s solid bass.

And, sticking with the solid-gold classics, Too Rolling Stoned is instantly engaging, right from the opening bars of Dewar’s galloping bass intro.  In many ways, the song is the epitome of the mid-70s rock template and, as a result, it’s timeless.  The vocals are great, the guitar solos are sublime, and just listen to the way in which Reg Isidore flits between tight control and high-flying wizardry.

But Bridge Of Sighs is not just about the enduring ‘hits.’  Many of the album’s mellowest and most memorable moments occur during some of the lesser-known tracks.  In This Place is quiet and soulful and a marked departure from the Hendrix-inspired histrionics – it’s reminiscent more of the mellow face of Free than it is of Electric Ladyland, and, if ‘mellow’ is what you’re after, then cock an ear to About To Begin.

The pair of Trower/Dewar co-writes, The Fool And Me and Lady Love are both solid rockers with soulful and melodic edges, whilst Little Bit of Sympathy, the track that closed the original album is a solid rocker that was destined to become another live favourite.

Back in 1973-4-5-6, Robin Trower breathed new life into blues-rock.  Punk was just around the corner, so his time at the very pinnacle was, unfortunately, limited, but Bridge Of Sighs is a timely reminder of just how melodic and enduringly enjoyable the music of Robin Trower genuinely was.  Sit back and enjoy.

And – Robin Trower will be touring the UK during what’s left of May 2024. You can find details here.

Watch Robin and the band’s 1974 Old Grey Whistle Test performance of Bridge of Sighs – the album’s title track – here:

Robin Trower online: Official Website / Facebook / Instagram / X (formerly Twitter) / TikTok / YouTube / Spotify

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