One of a continuing series in regards to the myriad variety of Trevor’s discography.
Driven by a need to know things…I can understand the impetus of this obsession all too well. And one would assume the simplest avenue to actual answers is to seek the source, right? The answer is: not always; which is why attention to detail and the examination of various accounts and sources is just as – if not more – valuable every time in the pursuit of research.
Back in 2008, Trevor’s official bio was updated and made mention of him as a sideman/collaborator with Bob Dylan, and such a legendary namecheck is a notable inclusion for certain. My reaction was thus: “Dylan, huh? Wow, really?!” Because having been a Rabinite for nearly three decades now means I’ve uncovered all sorts of surprising credits and you’d think such a one would have been in the forefront of fandom knowledge. As it did not appear to be cited elsewhere I began a search years ago, but the actual evidence eluded the net of my research and thus I turned to other tangents.
And then a direct attempt to elicit further information proved to be rather anticlimactic…recently Trevor stated when questioned in an interview that he couldn’t recall the actual project or the circumstances which led to him being asked to participate. As there appears to be no actual credit in the whole of Dylan’s discography it is now a matter of conjecture beyond the confines of Trevor’s (extremely limited) memory of events.
However, in regards to the timeframe stated by Trevor in his response, the answer is likely the following based on the research I’ve conducted thus far:
In the first half of 1987 Dylan was in Los Angeles working – among other things - on the album Down In The Groove. As with its predecessor, Dylan collaborated with producer Beau Hill (whom at the time was working with bands like Ratt, Winger and Warrant) on this effort, and thanks to the exhaustive efforts of various Dylanologists, the studios involved are documented and one of them was Sunset Sound, where the members of Yes were also working on Big Generator.
Down In the Groove features a veritable laundry list of collaborators – and so it’s not a stretch to imagine a summons based on the aims of the recording, which seemed to employ a modus operandi of employing various and sundry for a day or two. A scenario involving Beau Hill suggesting bringing Trevor in for a session upon learning he was in the building is not out of the realm of possibility. But again, this is only speculation (albeit of the informed kind). It does make for an interesting consideration, to realize that Trevor was apt to be called upon by anyone, and often was; hence my ongoing series regarding an examination of his recording credits. Over a decade of session work by that point made Trevor the facile choice to step into any situation and perform to expectation.
However this release was nearly universally panned by critics upon release and this methodology of Too Many Cooks might have very well contributed to the consensus. The release of the album was delayed and at least three different running orders considered, with about thirty songs recorded, only ten of which made the final cut.
But this is where detail and recollection part ways, in that Trevor claims the two tracks he played on actually made the running order of an album (if not Down In The Groove then some other, one presumes). This is not the first time such a statement has been made (in future I’ll discuss his contribution to the Best Classical Guitar Album Which Never Happened, which Trevor seems to think was actually released). It is possible that his performance is uncredited on the aforementioned and thus we may never know. It seems more likely that he played on two of the songs which were not actually used. At this time, there’s no direct substantiation of his contributions. So anyone who thinks they’re going to conclusively find those tracks, well…good luck with that. No, seriously…because I’d certainly like to know what they are, I have a collection to maintain!
On the other hand, such a quest is the kind of thing which fans live for: the constant search for new (to them) and interesting information to learn about the admired personage…in Trevor’s case there is always something new to learn, some aural discovery to happen upon, and that – yet again – is why I’m a fan.
