Chrysalis Records continues their superb series of catalog reissues from legendary guitarist Robin Trower, with an expanded edition of his 1976 live album, Robin Trower Live! The new release has arrived as Robin Trower Live! 50th Anniversary Edition, and it documents a spectacular 1975 concert from Stockholm, Sweden, for the first time in its entirety. Robin Trower Live! was recorded while the band toured Europe in support of their third studio album, For Earth Below, and the Stockholm recordings were ultimately chosen as the tour's high water mark. Robin Trower Live! was issued on a single LP that cherry-picked the concert's most essential tracks; for Robin Trower Live! 50th Anniversary Edition, it was decided to officially release the entire concert. Which is now presented on expanded and deluxe 2-LP and 2-CD sets.
The 180 gram, 2-LP set presents the Stockholm concert in its entirety, with a new stereo mix created from the original recordings by Richard Whittaker of FX Mastering, with assistance from Robin Trower. Lacquers for the LPs were cut by Phil Kinrade at AIR Mastering in London, and the LPs were pressed by GZ in the Czech Republic. The heavy matte-finish gatefold jacket features crisp original artwork sourced from Chrysalis' vaults, iconic band photos from Jim Marshall and Brian Cooke, and a custom OBI strip highlights artist and technical information. Each LP is inserted in heavy printed inner sleeves; the first LP's sleeve includes a really cool, large-format photo of Robin Trower from photographer Ron Draper, and is backed with an entertaining and informative essay from British music journalist, author, and musician David Sinclair. Sinclair's essay continues on the second inner sleeve, which highlights an interview segment with Robin Trower and also features a reminisce about the concert and recordings from drummer Bill Lordan. The 2-Compact Disc set features the new, 2026 stereo mix for both discs, with the first disc featuring the complete concert, and the second disc replicating the original album track list.
Both LP and CD versions of Robin Trower Live! 50th Anniversary Edition are available for order from Chrysalis Records webstore HERE; both can also be found at many brick and mortar locations like your favorite independent record store. Digital files are available for streaming and download on most popular online platforms.
Robin Trower, Robin Trower Live! 50th Anniversary Edition, (2) 180 gram LPs, $46.99 MSRP, or (2) Compact Discs, $42.99 MSRP
The aftermath of the studio albums Bridge of Sighs and For Earth Below presented multiple opportunities for Chrysalis Records and Robin Trower to capitalize on the band's momentum. Trower felt the group was firing on all cylinders, and he wanted greater exposure to their exceptional concert performances in the form of a live album. Chrysalis Records also felt a live album was a very cost-effective way to further fuel interest in the group, while also increasing their record sales. Unbeknownst to Robin Trower, the first date on their European Tour in support of For Earth Below was chosen by Chrysalis for the live recordings, and the band thought the Stockholm concert was only being broadcast on Swedish radio. That relieved them of any pressure to deliver perfect performances; the band was very loose that night, and the audience was riotously receptive to the show. The classically wooden interior of the Stockholm Concert Hall yielded excellent acoustics for both the band and the engineers recording the show, and Chrysalis quickly decided those tapes were perfect for the new live album.
The set list from the full concert covered a broad swath of Robin Trower's recorded output, including "I Can't Wait Much Longer," "Daydream" (it's the album's longest track at nine-plus minutes, and could go on another nine as far as I'm concerned!), and "Rock Me Baby," all from the band's debut album, Twice Removed from Yesterday. Their breakthrough album Bridge of Sighs is also heavily represented by "Day of the Eagle," "Bridge of Sighs," "Lady Love," "Too Rolling Stoned," and "A Little Bit of Sympathy." The record the tour was mostly in support of, For Earth Below, is highlighted by the tracks "Gonna Be More Suspicious," "Fine Day," and extended versions of their hit "Alethea" and "Confessin' Midnight." While all the performances on this excellent concert album are of the highest order, Robin Trower's guitar playing is astonishingly next-level, and is alone worth the price of admission.
However, when the band convened in the studio to oversee the remixing of the live recordings, there was a bit of a problem. James Dewar felt the microphone feed from Bill Lordan's drum kit bled too much into his vocal tracks, and he insisted on re-recording his vocals on the seven tracks chosen for the live album. The resulting studio remixes of the 8-track tapes from the concert with the new vocal tracks were perfectly seamless; Jimmy Dewar was happy, Robin Trower was happy. And when Robin Trower Live! debuted upon its March 1976 release at Number 10 on the US Billboard charts and Number 15 on the UK charts—Robin Trower's highest UK charting album yet—Chrysalis Records was exceptionally happy!
Robin Trower Live! 50th Anniversary Edition presents the ne plus ultra version of an already excellent concert recording!
Click on my name in the header above to see the full complement of audio system components I used to evaluate Robin Trower Live! 50th Anniversary Edition. For my review, I received the 2-LP set along with digital downloads for the CD version; the sonics of both were uniformly excellent. The GZ-pressed LPs were superb, with glossy surfaces and virtually zero groove noise during playback—once again, I'm really stoked by the impressive recent quality of the LPs coming out of the Czech Republic pressing plant, which for years was the doormat of the industry. Both LPs were perfectly flat and among the quietest I've recently encountered from just about any record label—they literally shocked me with their goodness! And while I didn't have an original LP or CD for comparison here, I found Richard Whittaker's remixes to be seamlessly superb.
David Sinclair's essay touches on the remix process, where Whittaker encountered a bit of a conundrum with the original album tapes that featured James Dewar's re-recorded vocal tracks. The unreleased tracks from the concert performances—the ones with the drums bleeding into the vocal feed—only included Dewar's original live vocals. Whittaker felt that Dewar's re-recorded vocals in the studio were mostly spot-on matches for the originals, and his new mixes used both sets of tapes as necessary to create the 50th anniversary edition. I was exceptionally impressed with the remix job, which I understand from fellow Positive Feedback scribe Norman Varney has greater clarity, openness, and better instrumental separation than the original LP. Robin Trower Live! 50th Anniversary Edition may be one of the best live rock recordings from this era I've ever heard! Fans of Robin Trower will be greatly impressed—I know I was. And I would never have guessed that some of the vocals had been re-recorded for the album release—Whittaker's remix really shines here, and there's no inconsistency between the vocals on any of the tracks, which is a pretty remarkable engineering feat!
Don't hesitate to grab this excellent expanded reissue!
For whatever reason, I've never owned an LP or CD copy of this superb concert recording, and for the life of me, I can't understand any hesitation on my part to acquire one. I'm beyond impressed by this album (especially the LPs!); it's been in heavy rotation since arriving here a few weeks ago, and my love for Robin Trower (the man, and the band) has only been elevated by this excellent new reissue. I can't recommend Robin Trower Live! 50th Anniversary Edition highly enough; fans will revel in the goodness of the superb new remixes, and will find the previously unreleased tracks essential listening. Many thanks to Maria Malta for keeping me in the loop with this excellent series of reissues from Robin Trower and Chrysalis!
Robin Trower
Chrysalis Records
All images courtesy of Chrysalis Records, robintrower.com, and the author.
