Steve's Place

Song Writing

One of the things that amazes me is the number of great songs Robin Trower has written or co-wrote.  It is the thing that in my mind makes him a great musician.  In my personal opinion he is one of the most gifted guitar players out there ....BUT,  there are other great guitarists. I don't compare, or at least try not to, because how can you compare them? Each has his own way of showing expression through the guitar. Trower's style is my favourite but Robin doesn't play like Jimmy Page or Jimi Hendrix or Carlos Santana ........so to me each is the best at what they do.  But his writing ability is what keeps me coming back to hear more.  Weather on his own or working with others, Robin shows his strength in the songs he puts out. The songs that we like to listen to over and over!!

  While the Robin Trower Band has gone through enormous changes over the almost thirty years since Robin started his solo act, the song writing chores have been done mostly by Robin by himself and three others, Jimmy Dewar, Keith Reid and Dave Bronze.
  Now I could be wrong but by my calculations Robin has released a total of 151 songs.

                            13 of these were were written by others

Rock Me Baby (King/JOnes)
Sailing (Sutherland)
Further On Up The Road ( Robey/ Veasey)
Life On Earth( Jack Bruce)
Thin Ice (Bruce/Brown)
Fat Gut ( Bruce/ Brown)
Shadows Touching (Bruce/Brown)
Under The Gun (Noble/ Reid)
Isn't It Time (Conrad/ Kennedy)
Reconsider Baby (Lowell Fulson)
Feel So Bad (Chuck Willis)
Crossroads (Robert Johnson)
Sweet Little Angel (Riley B. King)
 

42 were co-written with Jimmy Dewar
From Twice Removed From Yesterday through Back It Up

19 were co-written with Keith Reid
Mainly the BLT/ Truce era

15 were co-written  with Dave Bronze
Passion and Take What You Need era

 9 were co-written with a variety of people

This leaves 53 songs Robin wrote solo

( Click on the album link for details)

It was the Trower/ Dewar team mainly on Twice Removed From Yesterday

But the next two albums were almost all the writing of Trower as he wrote
   six of eight on Bridge Of Sighs ( Day Of The Eagle/  Bridge Of Sighs/ In This Place/
                                               Too Rolling Stoned/ About To Begin /
                         Little Bit Of Sympathy)

and  6 of 8 on  For Earth Below  (Shame The Devil / It's Only Money /
                                                              Confessin Midnight/ Alethea/ A Tale Untold/
                        and For Earth Below )

 Long Misty Days  /  In City Dreams   and  Caravan To Midnight
were mostly Trower/ Dewar (one song by Trower ,Caravan To Midnight)

Started working with Keith Reid for Victims Of The Fury
(  two songs by Trower Jack And Jill / Only Time)

One on  B.L.T.  ( Into Money)      mainly with Reid on  Truce (no songs just by Trower)

then wrote 3 of the 9 songs on Back It Up  ( Black To Red/ Time Is Short/ Islands)

(The Voice and Beyond The Mist)  from  Beyond The Mist

Collaborating mainly with Dave Bronze over the next period he wrote one solo ( Night)
from the  Passion  album and from Take What You Need he wrote three songs
(Love Attack/ I Want You Home/ Shattered)

 In The Line Of Fire  had just about everyone collaborating on it with Robin.

For  20th Century Blues  Robin wrote 11 of the 12 songs ( 20th Century Blues/  Prisoner of Love/
Precious Gift /  Whisper Up a Storm /   Extermination Blues / Step Into the Dark
                                    Rise Up Like the Sun/  Secret Place / Chase the Bone / Promise You the Stars
                              Don't Lose Your Faith In Tomorrow

and continued writing 7 of the 10 songs on Someday Blues  ( Next In Line / Someday Blues /
 I Want You To Love Me / Inside Out  / Shining Through / Looking For A True Love/
Extermination Blues

which brings us to  Go My Way   that Robin wrote 10 of 11 tracks
( Go My Way/   Breathless / Into Dust /  Run With The Wolves / Too Much Joy
                                       Blue For Soul /  This Old World / Take This River /  Long Hard Game
                                       In My Dream)

and in 2003 Robin releases  Living Out Of Time with 11 tracks that Robin wrote 8 of
(What's Your Name/ another Time,Another Place/Sweet Angel/ Please Tell Me/ One Less Victory/
ain't Gonna Wait/ You Still Came Back / I Want To Take You With Me)


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