In my notes for Victims of the Fury - written late last year mind you - I stated: "If there's an artist I need an "Original Album Series" CD set of, it's Robin Trower. He's just one of those guys I pretty much ignored throughout my life. And for no good reason, especially considering how much I love Bridge of Sighs, and have so for over 30 years." As if reissue labels read my blog, lo and behold that event happened earlier this year! And I have now secured said box set, and licking my chops as to what I will discover. It will be a slow process, but it has begun. And where to begin? At the beginning of course.
Twice Removed from Yesterday is of course that album, and it's my loss that I hadn't heard it until I'm in my mid 50s, yet I was completely familiar with the artist going back to when I was 15 years of age. James Dewar has one of the all-time great smooth blues rock voices, and of course Trower brings with him the ghost of Jimi Hendrix, one of the rare guitarists to continue down that path as late as 1973. Every track here is a gem and a joy to listen to. I look forward to the rest of the set!
Ownership: LP: 1973 Chrysalis (USA); CD: 2019 Chrysalis (box set titled The Studio Albums 1973-1983). The box set is pretty basic, with no liner notes - a big missed opportunity right there. However you get 10 studio albums of Trower, the last two with different line-ups. They all come in simple slip covers with original artwork. I paid less than $25 for the box sealed (incl shipping), so at $2 and change for each album, it's the perfect bargain for a dope like me who missed out on most of his work. For the record, I've owned Bridge of Sighs for nearly 35 years. Victims of the Fury was a recent garage sale find and is what triggered my reawakening. Not long after Bridge of Sighs, I had purchased For Earth Below and didn't care for it then (I suspect that will be rectified soon enough), and thus I stopped there. Had it all figured out when I was 20 - yessir!
In March of 2021 I picked up the US single sleeve original LP at an estate sale.
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