I spent untold hours circa 1974-75 playing Robin Trower’s Bridge of Sighs over and over again on my funky BSR turntable (you know, the kind where you stacked three or four LPs on the spindle and let ‘em rip!). Although I was a fan of Trower’s work with Procol Harum, his skills were often overshadowed by that band’s keyboard-dominated sound. I dug Trower’s debut, 1973’s Twice Removed From Yesterday, but the quantum leap the guitarist underwent for Bridge of Sighs was unparalleled. The ‘Master of the Stratocaster’ might have taken influence and inspiration from Jimi Hendrix, but he took his spacey, jagged, ethereal six-string experimentation into another realm with songs like “Little Bit of Sympathy,” “Too Rolling Stoned,” “Day of the Eagle,” and the title track, a classic stoner jam if there ever was one.
As amazing as Bridge of Sighs was and is, subsequent efforts like 1974’s For Earth Below and 1975’s Long Misty Days – while featuring fine craftsmanship – lacked the spark of Trower’s sophomore effort. Trower doesn’t get much love these days from classic rock radio, but the recently-reissued 50th anniversary edition of Bridge of Sighs is befitting the guitarist’s royal stature. Available as a two-LP vinyl set or four-CD box with demos and alternative takes, I opted for the vinyl set and was quite chuffed…the remastered sound adds depth and resonance to the recordings, and the classic songs really leap out of your speakers.
The second LP offers a May 1974 live show from The Record Plant in Sausalito, the band playing Bridge of Sighs in its entirety along with a pair of other songs – “Alethea,” which would appear on For Earth Below and “Rock Me Baby,” from the debut. The sound on the live disc isn’t as good, but the performance is fire, and special mention should be made of bassist/vocalist James Dewar, who brought a grounded confidence and immense soulfulness to balance Trower’s otherworldly instrumental trips. (Chrysalis Records, released March 7th, 2024)
Buy the vinyl from Amazon: Robin Trower’s Bridge of Sighs [50th Anniversary Edition]
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