You can read a bit of history on the covers thru the link here

And................

1) Twice Removed From Yesterday

I met Procol Harum on their first tour of America to promote AWSoP in 1967,
that magical year. I had a poster company in the Haight-Ashbury called Funky
Features, and the band stayed with us in our huge Victorian house, and I
became life-long friends with all of them. Robin was the guitarist, of
course. At the end of 1969, I moved to London and lived in a lovely village
in southwest London, just over the Thames, called 'Barnes."
Robin left Procol in 1971 and began work on his first album, "Twice Removed
>From Yesterday." He had no idea I had moved to England.
Sundays at that time in England, were REAL Sundays---everything was closed
except the newsagents and the dairy shop, and they were only open between 8
and 10 am. One quiet Sunday morning in 1972 I walked around the corner to
get the Sunday Times and a pint of milk. A car screeched up behind me
honking the horn. I turned to see who was making all this racket, and it was
Robin and his manager at the time, Ronnie Lyons. They had recognized me from
the BACK! I hadn't seen Robin for over two years. Robin said, "Paul, what
are YOU doing here!!??" I told him I had lived here for two years...he was
mixing his first album, and as I was about to ask him about doing the cover,
Robin said, "Paul, would you like to do the cover?"
I asked Robin if he had a title yet. He gave me the great title and I went
home and got out my sketch book. After two hours of thumbnail pencil
sketches, I went back to Olympic and showed him what I had done....he picked
one and I asked Robin what his favorite color was. "Blue," he said. I did a
color comp for him, he liked it, and that was that. I painted the cover in
oils on canvas in the little basement studio I rented at 72 Castelnau Road,
Barnes. I gave the painting to Lesley, the delightfully wacky girl I was
living with at the time, who had supported us whilst I was looking for art
work, which was always a patchy business.
This guitar will have a galaxy on the back.
 
 

 Bridge of Sighs

Arguably Robin's best album, and certainly the best thing I have ever done.
A perfect marriage for this classic album. I was contacted by Chrysalis to
do the second cover, went through the same thumbnail and comp process with
Robin, and had to paint this oil on canvas piece all in one go, as the
constant blending thickened up the oils after about twelve hours of work. It
took three goes to get it right. This painting was painted in 1973 in our
garden flat at 13 Elm Grove Road, Barnes. Chris Wright, the president of
Chrysalis  bought the painting, and it currently hangs in
Chrysalis' offices in London. The painting is so much better than what was
done with it for the cover. Lesley has the reverse painting of this cover.
Michael Indelicato owns the color comp and will soon own this painting.
This guitar will either have a plain back or possibly the rear cover artwork
from this album...which will bump up the price.

 For Earth Below

 Again, I went through the thumbnail and comp process, presenting
Robin with a color comp at Air Studios in Oxford Circus,
central London. This painting was a bitch to do in oils. I had to make two
attempts at it because the first one looked "wonky." I had painted a perfect
circle, but because I tried to make the thing look dimensional, a perfect
circle didn't look perfect, and in fact the "circle" is really a subtle
lozenge shape to make it look like a perfect circle! Also, painting to a
point in the middle of it was a nightmare. Easy to do in a Caran d'Ashe
crayon comp, almost impossible to paint. this painting was done in late
1974. Chrysalis also bought this painting and it hangs in their offices.
Michael Indelicato owns the color comp. Six months after
I finished this painting, I moved to Hollywood.
This guitar will have a plain red back
 
 

 Long Misty Days

After I finished For Earth Below, I realized I needed to learn to use an
airbrush...an impossible instrument to learn on your own, but I didn't know
that yet. I bought a DeVilbiss airbrush in London and tried it out using a
foot-pump operated compressor I borrowed from a friend. I wasn't happy with
the results...I felt a bit lost with it all. I then moved to Hollywood and
lived in a lovely apartment above the Hollywood Bowl at 6941 Camrose Drive
where I painted this painting. I met Peter Lloyd, Ed Scarisbrick (both
English), and Bob Hickson, three of the top airbrush illustrators in the
world. Working with them, but mainly with Peter, I learned ALL the tricks
and techniques in using an airbrush. Chrysalis had just opened offices in
West Hollywood on Sunset Strip, bang up against Beverly Hills, and Robin's
manager at Chrysalis asked me to do the Long Misty Days cover in the early
fall of 1976. Again the same sketch/comp procedure, only THIS time I
airbrushed the cover with acrylics on canvas, borrowing two Paasche
airbrushes from Peter. As I was traveling back and forth to Peter's house
and studio in North Hollywood, I noticed some lovely autumn leaves that had
fallen from the huge Sycamore tree in front of his house on Kling street. I
picked one up and used it as the model for the leaf on the painting. It adds
the perfect touch. Robin bought this painting and brought it back to
England. He better have it hung in his new house, because the last time I
saw him it was stored away in his attic!! I had a real go at him about that.
The reverse of this painting was done on illustration board, which I have.
This guitar will have a galaxy painted on the back.
 
 

 In City Dreams

In 1977 I was again asked by Chrysalis to do the cover for In City
Dreams.....the title evoked a totally different approach than the previous
four covers, which were all of a certain style. Also, I had been learning a
lot of illustration tricks from Bob, Peter, and Ed and wanted to stretch my
wings a bit. This cover was done in acrylics on illustration board in the
same apartment on Camrose....only with my new Paasche airbrushes this time.
I was beginning to acquire all the necessary art tools for my developing
airbrush skills, thanks mainly to Peter, who guided me in what to buy and
where. Peter's famous album covers are Rod Stewart's "Atlantic Crossing,"
Jefferson Starship's "Dragonfly," and all the great Kansas covers, among
many others. When I was partially done with the cover, I got a call from
Robin. He was staying at the famous Hotel Del Coronado in San Diego and
wanted to see my progress. "I'll arrange for someone to pick it up,
Paul...he'll be there tomorrow."
The following day there was a knock at the door. I opened it to find not a
delivery guy, but a limo driver with a huge stretch limo filling up my
narrow, private driveway. "I'm here to take you and your artwork to Mr.
Trower," he said. Well! I grabbed the art, popped into the luxurious back of
the limo and sat back...the drive to San Diego would take over two hours.
This was really snappy! But instead of taking me to San Diego, the driver
took me to LAX and everything was arranged for me to board a plane first
class and fly to San Diego where another limo driver was waiting to take me
to Robin's hotel! When I knocked on the door, Robin swung it open with a
flourish and a huge smile on his face. "Have a nice trip?" he asked,
beaming. "I'm going to have to walk home, huh?" I said. "Paul! You ruined my
surprise!" he said and we laughed. What a lovely thing to do. Robin owns
this artwork as well, and I have the rear cover art, which is pretty basic
background stuff. This guitar will have a plain red back framed in blue.
 
 

 20th Century Blues

After completing the main title sequence for Terminator 2 in 1991, I moved
back to England. In 1994 I bought a Mac Quadra computer and was learning to
use Photoshop and Painter when I got a call from Derek Sutton in Hollywood,
Robin's manager. Robin wanted me to do the cover for 20th Century Blues. As
it turned out, I was living in Surrey, and Robin was living just a ways from
me right near the Hundred Acre Wood of Pooh fame. I took some slides of
paintings I had done in LA to show him, and he chose one straight away. I
had only wanted him to see what I was doing, then we could work out what to
do for this cover. But Robin had made his decision. The painting he chose
was developed from a comp I did for the Australian singer friend of mine
(Ron Charles) I shared the house with in Battersea 20 years earlier where I
painted For Earth Below. I went back home and dug up the comp and was hit
with 50,000 volts. It wasn't a comp for Ron at all! It was an alternate comp
I had done for Robin 18 years earlier for Long Misty Days! I never showed it
to him because I preferred the comp with the leaf which I used for the
final. When I told Robin this earth-shattering news, he replied, "I guess I
was really meant to have that cover, huh?" Magic. But it's always been that
way with us. So this is the very first digital image I ever produced.
This guitar will have a galaxy painted on the back.
 
 

 Go My Way

Back in LA (don7't ask) in 2000, I got a call from Derek about doing the
cover for Go My Way. Robin had an idea, emailed Derek his pencil sketch of
the two machine heads with lightning sparking between them and wanted me to
do that. I made many digital finish comps of various treatments, sending
them back and forth to Robin (how things had changed!) and he chose what he
wanted, I then put together the booklet and chose photos Derek had supplied.
I burned the CD and sent it off to the record company. Easy-peasey.
This guitar will have a deep blue back with a lightning strike
hitting the backplate.
 
 

The compilation guitar

A touch ofall the albums Paul has done for Robin...

And more from Paul............
Many of you may not know that Paul also was responsible for painting the Starship Enterprise for the first full length movie.  Paul wants to add this work to a guitar body..
A little bit of history..............

 The Star Trek guitar

In 1978, while I was living in the Camrose apartment where I did Long Misty
Days and In City Dreams, I received a phone call from Ed Scarisbrick, who
shared a studio with Charlie White, the great "chrome look" illustrator.
Charlie had received a call from a collegemate of his named Jim Dow, who ran
a miniature facility (model-making for movies) called "Magicam" on Las
Palmas avenue in Hollywood. Jim wanted to know if Charlie knew anyone who
might want to paint the Starship Enterprise for the first Star Trek movie.
Charlie knew all the top airbrush guys in LA, but they all had freelance
businesses and could not take on such a lengthy project---it would ruin
their freelance business and in any case wouldn't pay them the phenomenal
amounts of money they were earning. Charlie asked Ed about me and Ed called.
"Paul, how would you like to paint the Starship Enterprise?" What do you
think I said???? One of the best phone calls I have ever received in my life
and I will forever be indebted to Ed for making it.

I nervously made my way into Hollywood from my Richie Valens house in
Silverlake, walked into Magicam and sat down in front of the affable and
aptly-named Jim. He looked at my work and said, "I think you'll do fine,
Paul," and followed that up with, "Come with me." Jim rose, walked down the
hallway to the large spray booth on the right and opened the door,
ushering me in.

I've never been a Trekkie, but I was looking forward to what I was about to
see, the Starship Enterprise in the flesh. I followed Jim down the hall and
into the large spray booth which was completely taken up by the Enterprise.
She had no clothes on and looked like a virgin, beautifully sprawled out in
her private suite with her wings spread, ready for me to have my way with
her. I was excited, but I was also just a little apprehensive; it was up to
me and me alone to design and make a ball gown for this lady that would
knock the spots off anything in the Galaxy.

I began to wish I had airbrushed a few racing cars, crash helmets or
motorcycle gas tanks to be familiar with painting a dimensional 'thing'
rather than a piece of illustration board specifically made for the purpose
of receiving inks. I could do this (couldn't I?). It was too late now, I was
'in'. My artwork has always been 'dimensional'---trying to fool the eye on a
two-dimensional surface...now I was confronted with the real thing and it
was a very expensive, one-off, custom-built Real Thing worth 350 grand that
was the centerpiece of the whole movie in the bargain.
So it was really worth millions.
Gulp.

Every inch of my handiwork was going to be scrutinized by camera shots just
inches away from the surface and then blown up on huge screens all over the
world to be further scrutinized by thousands of meticulous Trekkies all over
that world. Since the director, the very charming and dauntingly talented
Doug Trumbull, had not yet worked out his sequence of shots and camera
angles with Tom Cranham, the illustrator, every inch of the Enterprise had
to be perfect. PER-R-R-R-FECT.
Painting the Starship Enterprise was pure pleasure and I
worked with exceptionally skilled people who were making the
craziest things for the film.

A Czech girl named Zuzana Swansea who had escaped just in front of the
Russians (and I mean JUST in front) when they invaded Prague in the spring
of 1968 had made a clever start on the design of the surface of the "dish"
of the Enterprise (she divided it into panels which had an Aztec-inspired
motif), but who lacked the airbrush skills necessary to pull it off,
graciously handed over the keys to the Queen of the Galaxy, and I spent days
sitting in the room with the Enterprise trying to figure out the best way to
paint her.....what sorts of paint to use, and where to start. It was just a
little daunting. The modelmakers helped me a bit on the last one because
they were still working on the main hull of the Enterprise, so I was limited
to the dish for openers.

I decided to use the new pearlescent lacquers that were just being made
available, and this turned out to be the perfect choice...especially for an
essentially "white" ship. The Enterprise was eight feet long, with a skin
made up of five different types of plastic molded and formed around a
skeleton chassis which was made by a custom-aircraft fabrication facility
using aircraft-grade aluminum struts which were heli-arc welded together.

Because the Enterprise was such a goofy shape for Earth-bound engineering
and physics (the huge dish suspended out in front of the fuselage by only a
thin vertical wing, with large engine nacelles also supported by thin wings)
this baby had to be put together with the strongest materials and methods
available. It was just as well it was over-designed, because I banged into
the dish with my head many times in the course of the eight months I worked
on her. When this happened, the whole ungainly ship would twang from end to
end, the engine pods would twist back and forth and I would freeze, waiting
for something to crash to the floor (like an engine pod or the dish
itself...in which case Plan B would take effect immediately:
a run for the border!).

We moved the half-finished Enterprise from Hollywood to the new effects
facility Doug Trumbull had just taken over in Marina Del Rey. I remember
thinking, as we followed the Enterprise being transported across town in a
specially-rigged truck for transporting fragile machinery, that we knew what
was inside that truck, but to anyone on the street it was just a truck.
Little did they know the Enterprise was cruising past them on a cushion of
air. The new facility was buzzing with creative juices and was a great place
to work. I worked seven days a week, 14 to 16 hours a day along with
everyone else to get this monstrous project finished (all the principal live
action photography had already been shot on the Enterprise stage at
Paramount).

When I finished the ship and all the decals were applied over my painstaking
paint job (very nerve wracking), it was wheeled onto the shooting stage
which was cloaked with black velvet everywhere to be completely
non-reflective and drop out any background when it was shot. It took the
lighting wizards three days to set up the lights on the closed set and when
they had everything just the way they wanted it, Doug invited us onto the
stage and had the model lit on his command.

Everyone gasped...including me....she was beautiful.

The Starship Enterprise looked as if she was made entirely of gleaming opal.
I had been pleased with the progress of my work, but I had no idea the
result would be so spectacular. Dear old Doug drew me aside with one of his
big grins and said, "Paul, it's terrific, but we may have problems shooting
it because I think we'll get light kicks off the edges of the model."

The model was so bright and so colorful that light flare against the black
background she would be shot against would make it impossible to isolate the
edges of the model from the background so a star field or planetfall or
other effect could be photographically dropped (matted) in cleanly. They
would have to shoot the model with low light, which would cool the
reflections and all the model detail as well. There are still some shots
where the opalescence can be seen, but the real thing looked so much better
than can be seen in the movie. Pity.

This guitar will really sparkle with various colors of pearl that
will change color as the guitar is moved about...it will look
stunning...especially as a spotlight hits it.

I saved the extra decal sheets used for all the numbers and letters on the
Enterprise model that were going to be thrown away and have sold them and
auctioned them off for charity over the years. I have ONLY ONE left and I
don't want to part with it...but everything has its price. If you wish to
advance purchase this guitar and would like the "NGC 1701" or anything else
from this very last decal sheet adhered to the finished paintjob on the
guitar, then I will be happy to do it for an additional $5,000. Sorry, but I
wish to keep the sheet and have it framed....but for $5,000, I'll sell it.
You can keep what's left of the sheet and have it framed...it will make a
great display with the guitar. This is the very last surviving "piece" of
the original Enterprise that exists...the original paintjob and model have
been modified for subsequent movies....so this it IT.

More to come

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