Robin Trower and me

I first became aware of legendary blues-rock guitarist Robin Trower in 1974, when his album Bridge of Sighs was released. It was summer, and I was at a kegger in a big field, listening to Portland band Morning After (while maybe quaffing a beer or two). One of the songs they played was Trower's "Day of the Eagle," which I liked—a lot.

Portland band Morning After (1973-78; image courtesy of
Bob Stull, GuitarCrazy.com)

The next year, I found myself playing drums in a Portland band called PowerPlay, and one of the tunes we covered was "Day of the Eagle." It was as much fun to play as it was to listen to. We also covered Trower's "Daydream" and one or two others.

Flash forward three decades, and my wife and I are dancing to Robin Trower live, on a stage right next to the dance floor, in a small venue in Albany, Oregon. It was a Sunday in May—Mother's Day, in fact—and I believe we had paid $14 each for our tickets. Trower played all his greatest hits, including "Day of the Eagle," "Daydream," "Too Rolling Stoned," and "Bridge of Sighs," and we had the best Mother's Day ever (speaking strictly for myself, of course).

A few years later, in February of 2008, I attended another Trower concert, with my brother and a friend, at the Roseland Theater in Portland. Trower again played all my faves, and my socks were again knocked totally off. Trower was in his 60s at the time, and he could still rock like the 20-something arena rocker he became after the release of Bridge of Sighs.

My brother had to head home right after the concert, but my friend, a guitarist who had previously spoken with Trower following other concerts, wanted to chat with Trower again about some sound-effects pedal setup or something. There happened to be a meet-and-greet happening downstairs after the show, so we headed down there and got in line.

Trower was there within minutes after the show ended, and started enthusiastically signing albums, CDs, T-shirts, and all other manner of concert and tour memorabilia, while chatting cordially with his fans. We finally made it to the front of the line, and I had Trower sign my wife's ticket stub from a Trower-Tull concert she had attended in LA back in the mid-70s. I told him Jules had been wanting to get it signed ever since that concert, and Trower replied, "Well, tell her thanks for waiting so long!"

I thought that would be the end of it, but after my friend was done talking to Trower, Trower's manager invited my friend and me to pose with Trower for a photo. Nobody had a camera, so the manager guy borrowed my cheap little flip phone to take the shot. Unfortunately, the picture is too fuzzy to be recognizable, even if you squint really hard and use your imagination, so I won't bother sharing it here. I will, however, share a YouTube video of Trower performing "Day of the Eagle" and "Bridge of Sighs" back to back at a 2005 concert in Germany. Enjoy!