'Someday Blues' Album Review

Although all of his music is blues-rooted, Someday Blues is the first album Robin Trower has made that focuses exclusively on the blues in its pure, 12-bar, three-chord form. This record, consisting of seven Trower originals and three classics, sets other precedents too, as the veteran guitarist discards his plectrum in favor of a finger-picking style and finally gives himself the job of vocalist.

The finger approach results in a richly nuanced sound that is no less assertive for the greater intimacy it affords between player and instrument. The tone Trower favors for soloing is a rounded one of laserlike clarity that arcs over and through the settings like spun gold. The idea-forming may be familiar to the guitarist's devotees, but the feel is subtly different from anything he's recorded up to now. Not only that, but on Extermination Blues (the original version of which appeared on his most recent album, 20th Century Blues), Trower debuts his slide guitar sound, and waddaya know? The muscular, downshifting approach he employs recalls that of the late, great Lowell George of Little Feat.

Not only is this consummate player still capable of making discoveries on his instrument, however he's also unafraid to try out his long-dormant pipes. The voice of the mature Trower bears little resemblance to the parched rasp of his youth, exemplified by "Crucifiction Lane," the otherworldly blues from Procol Harum's 1969 classic, A Salty Dog. In fact, Trower's singing on Someday Blues bears a closer resemblance to that of Eric Clapton on his 70s solo recordings; a sort of unforced, almost conversational approach of whiskey-throated warmth and remarkable humanity. Who knew Trower could sing this effectively? He may not even have known himself, given the underlying delight he seems to take in these seemingly effortless performances. The pleasure principle isn't limited to Trower, either. Bassist Paul Page (who also coproduced), drummer Reg Isadore (last heard on 1990s In the Line of Fire) and organist Nicky Brown comprise a combo that swings with ebullience as well as precision. This is one of those records that clearly communicates the joy that went into its making.

For the outside songs, Trower has chosen three of his all-time favorites: the archetypal "Crossroads," performed as a shuffle a la Homesick James; Little Milton's pleading "Feel So Bad"; and the closing Sweet Little Angel,a slow blues from Trower's initial inspiration, B.B. King. It's the original songs, however, that make the stronger impression, probably because Trower has no standard to measure his own performance against, and thus can simply wail.

The opening "Next in Line" rocks with authority, powered by Trower's tactile riffing and nimble vocal. On the crunching "Inside Out," he thickens his voice in the signature B.B. manner on the title refrain while his Strat snaps like a hungry pit bull. At the other extreme, the hushed singing and delicate fretwork of "Shining Through" conjure a compelling post-midnight melancholy. And on the deeply atmospheric title song, enriched by a Hammond part from Brown that alternately suggests a symphony and a honky-tonk, Trower delivers a solo of almost metaphysical resonance.

They say you can't teach an old dog new tricks, but nobody ever said he can't teach them to himself. Three decades into his career, Robin Trower has delivered an album that turns out to be no less than a revelation.

Bud Scoppa

Veteran rockcrit Bud Scoppa doubles as a Los Angeles-based VP of A & R for the Sire Records Group. His first two signings were the bands Jolene and Parlor James. He was formerly head of A & R at Zoo Entertainment, where he signed and worked with Matthew Sweet, the Odds and Neal Casal.

'Someday Blues' Promo Bio

Someday Blues, Robin Trower's 18th album under his own name, sets a pair of precedents in the legendary guitarist's extensive body of work. Not only is it the first pure blues album Trower has ever recorded, its also the first disc on which Robin has chosen to function as lead vocalist. Thanks in large part to these crucial decisions, Someday Blues is the warmest and most natural record of Trower's entire career.

That he continues to find new challenges as a musician is a testament not only to Trower's professionalism but also to the undiminished pleasure this veteran takes in making music. Trower first came into view in 1967 as the guitarist in Procol Harum, appearing on the seminal art-rock band's first four albums and touring incessantly. In 1972 he broke away to form his own trio with Jimmy Dewar (bass, vocals) and Reg Isadore (drums). That band, featuring Trower's Hendrix-inspired fretwork, went on to great success in the 70s with such hit albums as Bridge of Sighs (74, just reissued as a gold audiophile CD by EMI Records), For Earth Below (75, with Bill Lordan replacing Isadore), In City Dreams (77, with Rusty Allen joining on bass) and Caravan to Midnight (78).

In 1981, Trower and ex-Cream bassist/singer Jack Bruce collaborated on a pair of albums before the guitarist re-formed his own band. Though his records since then haven't been major commercial successes, Trower's lofty status among guitar aficionados continues to increase with the passing years. During this decade, Trower has contributed to a pair of Procol Harum projects while coproducing and playing on three albums by Bryan Ferry, the last of which is in its final stages of production. Someday Blues is Trower's fifth album to be released in the 90s (including the Essential compilation) and the second on V-12 Records, the label he co-owns with longtime manager Derek Sutton.

Composed of three blues standards and seven originals, Someday Blues floats like a butterfly and stings like a bee. Trower's Strat snaps with tactile authority and his unexpectedly engaging voice oozes with unforced soulfulness. The album is at once such a masterful and appealing evocation of the blues that it begs the question of why he waited so long to make it.

"For years, when I'd doodle on the guitar, it'd be around the blues; but I'd always put it off to one side, Trower confesses. I'd say to myself, Nobody wants to hear that. It won't get played on the radio. To be released from those restrictions was just wonderful."

"I must admit I do find it very comfortable," he says of his belated decision to cut an all-blues album, "mainly because I know what I'm supposed to be doing with this sort of music. Basically, if it doesn't sound like blues, you're not doing it right. It gives you a lot of freedom in a way; freedom to just do that which you set yourself to do. The more comfortable and the more natural it is, the better its gonna be."

The comfort zone was geographic as well as stylistic: Trower chose to record at Trackside, an eight-minute drive from his home outside London. The basic tracks were cut in a trio setting, with Trower playing rhythm guitar, Isadore (who last teamed with the guitarist on 1990s In the Line of Fire) drumming and Paul Page (the albums coproducer and engineer) on ass. "It was a very tight little unit, just the three of us in the studio," Trower recalls. "We rehearsed each song, and when we thought it was near, we'd roll the tape. I didn't want it to be ironed out; I wanted it to be pretty rough and raw. On most of the songs, I re-recorded the vocal and the lead guitar work is mostly overdubbed." Also joining in the overdubbing process was Nicky Brown, whose subtly swinging Hammond organ adds depth and drama to the tracks.

Initially, Trower planned to bring in a vocalist, as he has throughout his career as a band leader. "Eventually it dawned on me that very few blues artists are just singers or guitarists. It's always about one guy who plays an instrument and sings. I've always wanted to get that dynamic between the voice and the guitar right. This time we went into the studio to do a couple of demos to see if I could actually pull it off."

Of his vocal performances, Trower acknowledges that there's something heartfelt about them but downplays the issue of craft . "It's just musical talking for me I don't feel like its actual singing", he says." I'm not trying to hit any notes or do anything spectacular just get across the idea and feeling of the song, the words. Just trying not to spoil it, you know."

"To begin this project," Trower explains," I had to put a lot of thought and practice into establishing what I wanted to do with the lead guitar." He decided to play finger-style to make it more personal and earthy and old-time. "I found I could express more using the finger style, especially the upper strings by snapping them. Its just more expressive than with a pick."

"So this album is really fresh for me; singing it, different guitar style, actually trying to make a blues album," Trower says with unabashed enthusiasm. "I feel like its a brave attempt."

The presence of self-written blues material wasn't in Trower's original plan for the album, either. "It really came about because I was determined to come up with my own arrangements for my favorite old songs, come up with something fresh," he explains. "So I just tried to come up with backings -- a guitar riff or something. Then I would look for an old song that I could put to it. But once I'd come up with the guitar groove that I liked, I found it was a lot easier to just write my own lyrics and melody to it."

"I've never been a great one for playing other peoples stuff at all. I've done a couple of covers over the years, but I always tend to be writing whenever I pick up a guitar, that's the big thrill. That's why I'm so happy with the album, because I did come up with some good ideas myself. Going through that process helped me define what I actually wanted to do with this record that would feel that it was real, feel like I actually had something to say. I quite surprised myself that I actually did have something to say."

"Its been a long time coming," Trower acknowledges." I've always felt that one day I would do it, but I never felt I had enough to say, mostly on the guitar, to make it valid. I was a little frightened of it. All my great heroes are blues players, and to even step into that company is scary. I kept putting it off and finally got down to the realization that I had to do it. I've done everything else from the rock & roll thing to the experimental, quite a wide range of stuff. Seems like the time is right for me to do this now."

When he tours this year with bassist/singer Livingstone Brown (who appeared on 20th Century Blues) and American drummer Alvino Bennett, Trower figures he'll do some singing, perhaps four songs off the new album.

Don't expect this all-out embrace of the music he loves most to be an isolated moment in Trower's career. "I'd like to think that if the record was popular enough, I'd do another blues album, he says. I've got ideas for the next batch of songs already. I'm comfortable there. Blues is easy for me to do and I really love it. It feels right, so it must be right."