Robin Trower
's debut solo album was the first evidence that the Fender Stratocaster sound of
Jimi Hendrix
could be effectively replicated and even refabricated. And like
Hendrix
,
Trower
had paid his dues as a more-or-less backup musician, his former band
Procol Harum
having emphasized stately organ and piano rather than guitar. After leaving his old group,
experimented with different musicians and ideas for several years, which paid off when he finally released
Twice Removed From Yesterday
, a record that displayed the characteristics that would make him a guitar hero and stadium attraction of the mid-'70s. He de-emphasized the
fuzz, feedback, and distortion, and let the reverb from his Strat become his dominant tonal device. He wasn't as flamboyant as
, as earthy as
Eric Clapton
, or as unpredictable as
Jeff Beck
, but he played cleanly, emphasizing singular, effective notes, and he brought a melodicism and creativity to the
electric blues
. His style is best suited for the slow, somber
blues
of songs like
"Daydream"
and
"I Can't Wait Much Longer,"
where his solos are both carefully structured and melodic. The most intriguing tune on the album is the title track, a nugget of '70s-style
psychedelic rock
that showed
to be a pretty good songwriter. The best aspects of
Twice Removed
would come to full flowering on his next album,
Bridge of Sighs
, but this debut showed
to be an effective interpreter of the
sound, and not just what numerous others who came in his wake would prove to be: mere imitators. ~ Peter Kurtz