Robin Trower – Live 50th Anniversary

What does it sound like?:

It’s not as if I need reminding that I’m getting old (I sent off my bus pass application last Friday in anticipation of unlimited free use of the park and ride) but just in case I’d forgotten, here’s the 50th anniversary release of the first Trower album I ever purchased and played so often it started to skip.

This is the 4th Trower album to get a 50th buff up, and more a restoration than an enhanced re-release. Richard Whittaker has once again overseen a remix but the main event here is the resequencing of the tracks back to the order they were originally played and inclusion of the songs edited out of the original.

This bumps the track list from 7 to 12. “Gonna Be More Suspicious”, “Fine Day” and “Confessin’ Midnight” are added back, all played on the night ahead of their release on the “For Eart Below” album and (most likely) removed to give a bit more exposure to the older back catalogue. “Day Of The Eagle” is restored as the opener followed by “Bridge of Sighs” giving the album a totally new first half and returning “Rock Me Baby” to it’s encore slot rather than closing side 1 on the original.

The re mix is a little brighter than the original and Whittaker restores a few edits and some stage chat. Dewar re-recorded all his vocals for the original release, something Whittaker thinks was done because of drum bleed into the vocal track on the original tape. For this release the original vocal tracks have been restored, partly because Whittaker says the re-tracked versions were almost identical and partly because Dewar didn’t record any for the songs edited out. It’s a masterful vocal performance.

In full flight the band are the very definition of a power trio. The pace at which the songs are played is noticeably faster than the studio versions, and whilst Trower stretches out on “Daydream” and “Too Rolling Stoned” elsewhere on tracks like “Lady Love” and “Day of The Eagle” there’s a punchy economy. Bill Lordan’s propulsive, muscular drumming style is certainly a factor here as well as the band’s evident enthusiasm so early in the tour – their first night in fact, at the Stockholm Concert Hall, where the gig was recorded for Swedish radio. “Gonna Be More Suspicious” sounds like the start of World War III, whilst “I Can’t Wait Much Longer” is darkly menacing with squalls of feedback. It’s hard to imagine how this would have worked with co-writer Frankie Miller, written when he and Trower hoped to launch a band called Jude. The album has an authentically raw sound rarely found on a live set and the richness of Jimmy Dewar’s vocals underlines what a sublime singer he was.

The restoration of the performance is something I think Trower fans will really appreciate. I’m honestly not sure what value there is in coupling it with the original 7 song release as the restored version will now be my go to album here on in.

What does it all *mean*?

All live albums should sound as good as this one

Goes well with…

Just turn it up

Release Date:

April 3rd 2026

Might suit people who like…

Power trios or more.

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