Robin Trower, Maxi Priest, Livingstone Brown
Biography Robin Trower, Maxi Priest, Livingstone Brown
Robin Trower
has been heralded as one of the most influential Guitar players to come out of the British Blues Rock scene. Though other names may come to mind, none have the "signature sound and style" of the man who was tagged by the press with the nickname of "The White Hendrix" back in the 70's. Robin was in the audience during a performance by Jimi Hendrix those many years back, and he readily admits that the Experience changed his approach to the guitar. It is obvious to anyone who ever listened to Robin's music that he has taken the ethereal sound that Jimi first introduced to the world, and created his own unique way of expressing himself through the guitar. The result is a unique style of music all his own - NOT an imitation of Jimi at all, and a career of considerable merit.
Robin is known for his incredible talent as a guitar player and his inspirational style of soloing, coaxing sounds from his Strat that seem to emanate from beyond this world. To be among those who have experienced Robin performing live is to be forever changed by this masterful Artist as he takes you along with him on one musical masterpiece after another.
Born March 9, 1945, Robin has played guitar professionally since his teen years. During the early stages of his career, he was part of another famous "Supergroup" called Procol Harum. Robin left Procol Harum after the release of their 5th Album, "Broken Barricades" and struck out on his own with James Dewar (formerly of Stone The Crows) on Bass & Vocals and Reg Isadore on Drums. The release of his debut Album in 1973, Twice Removed From Yesterday on Chrysalis Records, heralded the beginning of a career that has spanned four decades and continues vibrantly to this day.
The "Robin Trower Band" lineup changed drummers between the 1st and 2nd albums. For "Bridge Of Sighs", the second release and the one that shot Robin's career into the stratosphere, Reg Isadore was replaced by ex Sly & The Family Stone drummer Bill Lordan, who himself once played with Jimi Hendrix! This line-up remained basically unchanged through 6 more albums, with the addition of Rustee Allen on Bass (also from Sly Stone's band) for "In City Dreams", "Caravan To Midnight" and "Victims Of The Fury", Robin's 6th, 7th and 8th Albums respectively.
All total, Robin has released more than 23 albums during his career, and shows no signs of slowing down. The latest addition to Robin's impressive body of work is "Another Days Blues" released on V-12 Records in 2005 (Robin Trower's own label) It is a stellar addition to his prolific and impressive catalogue and continues the legacy of this unique Artist.
Around the time of the release of one of his most critically acclaimed albums, "Bridge Of Sighs", and for many years following, Robin was touring arenas around the world! Often described as a "... shy and refined gentleman..." off-stage, Robin's presence on-stage is remarkably powerful. Not given to "stage theatrics", his virtuoso ability to impart emotions through song lyrics and highly charged guitar playing is hypnotic. Robin's body and facial expressions display clearly where his heart and soul are during the performance - deeply intertwined with his instrument of choice, the Fender Stratocaster (Registered Tradename/Trademark of Fender). His chording and soloing style have mesmerized fans and confounded guitar players for years, and will continue to be a source of inspiration for anyone who wants to play the guitar.
While Robin plays his Signature Strat with passionate abandon, Davey Pattison, formerly of GAMMA, SUMMIT and 2 great solo albums; "Mississippi Nights" and "Pictures", adds his considerable vocal talents and energetically fronts the band interacting with the audience, bringing the songs to life and interpreting the lyrics better than anyone since the late great James Dewar, who will be forever missed. Davey has been part of many of Robin's albums and performances since the mid 1980's. Robin and Davey, along with Dave Bronze on Bass & Backing Vocals and Pete Thompson on Drums, comprise a band of true power and vibrant musicianship! This current line-up has contributed to more than a few of Robin's BEST Albums to date, including Passion, Take What You Need, Go My Way and Living Out Of Time, among others! What we have here is a band of highly talented musicians, each incredibly accomplished in their own right, surrounding a musical legend who has been instrumental in creating and perpetuating a musical genre that has touched many lives. Robin Trower, the performer and musical Artist, has made each of his recorded works an incredibly fulfilling and satisfying experience! ...
Maxi Priest
rose up through the late '80s and '90s to become one of the most internationally popular reggae singers since Bob Marley. His lovers rock vocal chops and flirtations with pop and R&B styles scored him multiple worldwide hits, including the trans-Atlantic chart-topper "Close to You," and a sunny cover of Cat Stevens' "Wild World." Priest's silky-smooth voice was ideally suited for light, romantic material that fused reggae backbeats with R&B's romanticism, and his most popular work was as sensual as it was soulful.
Priest was born Max Elliott on June 10, 1962 in the Lewisham area of London. He was the eighth of nine children, born to parents who had emigrated from Jamaica several years before his birth. His mother was active in the Pentecostal church, and the family grew up singing gospel music together; Elliott would later convert to Rastafarianism, at which point he changed his name to Maxi Priest. He was working as a carpenter when he was invited to build speaker boxes for the prominent Saxon International sound system. It wasn't long before his contacts there discovered that he could sing as well, and soon he was participating in live dancehall shows; in 1984, he and Paul "Barry Boom" Robinson also co-produced Phillip Levi's "Mi God Mi King," the first U.K.-born reggae single to hit number one in Jamaica.
Priest signed with Virgin Records and released his debut album, You're Safe, in 1985. A more traditional reggae set than his subsequent releases, it featured production by Robinson and live instrumental backing from the band Caution, and spun off the U.K. hit "In the Springtime." His 1986 follow-up, Intentions, featured two more U.K. successes in "Strollin' On" and the Van Morrison cover "Crazy Love." However, it was 1988's Sly & Robbie-produced Maxi Priest that ranked as his true breakthrough; his Top 30 cover of Cat Stevens' "Wild World" gave him his first American hit, and another cover, Robert Palmer's "Some Guys Have All the Luck," kept his hit streak alive in the U.K. Elsewhere, he embraced slinky lovers rock grooves to a greater extent than ever before, and even made a rare detour into social consciousness with the Beres Hammond duet "How Can We Ease the Pain?"
Now hugely popular in the U.K., and on his way in the U.S., Priest recorded what would become his biggest-selling album, Bonafide. Released in 1990, it climbed up the charts by virtue of the steamy, Soul II Soul-influenced single "Close to You," which went all the way to number one on the American pop charts. Follow-ups "Just a Little Bit Longer" and "Space in My Heart" failed to duplicate its success Stateside, although "Peace Throughout the World" and "Human Work of Art" were both popular in Britain. The hits collection Best of Me was rushed out in 1991, not long after Priest teamed with Shabba Ranks for the dance-club hit "House Call," and not long before another Priest duet, the Roberta Flack collaboration "Set the Night to Music," climbed into the U.S. Top Ten. Nonetheless, Priest's next album, 1992's Fe Real, was a solid outing but a commercial disappointment; neither of the American singles, "Groovin' in the Midnight" or the Shaggy duet "One More Chance," made much of an impact either. After a supporting role in the movie Scam, Priest took a sabbatical from recording for a few years to concentrate on launching his own U.K. label, Dugout.
Priest returned in 1996 with Man with the Fun, the most crossover-oriented album in his catalog to date. It spun off a Shaggy duet, "That Girl," which hit the U.K. Top 20. Despite its dancehall flavor, much of the album found Priest moving away from the lovers rock that had made his name. That trend continued on 1999's CombiNation, which focused predominantly on hip-hop and smooth soul balladry. Duet singles, guest appearances, and a 2003 U.S. tour with Joan Osborne, Bootsy Collins, and Motown's the Funk Brothers took the singer to his 2004 album 2 the Max. It was followed in 2007 by the album Refused, while 2008 saw him hit the road with UB40 and collaborate with the band on the single "Dance Until the Morning Light." In 2012 the Maximum Collection set rounded up both his global and Jamaican singles, and two years later, the album Easy to Love arrived on the VP label with Sly & Robbie and Beres Hammond among its guests.
