A look into the musical world of Trevor Rabin: composer, performer, and a man of many careers.
Introduction:
A series of essays wherein I explore the numerous musical identities of my favorite musician: from child prodigy to teen idol to guitar hero to singer/songwriter to award-winning in-demand film composer.
Featuring news/updates and commentary/analysis of Trevor's career and associated projects. Comments are disabled but please feel free to contact me at rabinesque.blog@gmail.com.
Showing posts with label the man of a thousand credits. Show all posts
Showing posts with label the man of a thousand credits. Show all posts
One of a series which examines Trevor’s musical career in South Africa.
(Author's note: this essay was originally written in 2020.)
For those collectors who are constantly on the lookout for uncommon items, the four early Rabbitt singles are among the rarest of finds. Even my South African connection hasn't been able to track any of them down for me, although fans have been treated to a couple uploads on YouTube: the original version of "Locomotive Breath" as well as "Backdoor of My Heart."
However, with one of those - "Hallelujah Sunshine" - we can at least listen to a version which half of Rabbitt also performed on, and it appears on Margaret Singana's 1977 album Tribal Fence.
You probably want to stop me at this point to note: "But those songs have two different titles!" This is true, but I believe that Rabbitt's version may have been retitled thanks to government censorship. And if it sounds like too much of a stretch for credulity's sake, I will state that two songs which contain hallelujah as the first word of a two-word title both credited as being written by someone with the surname of Campbell? What are the odds?!
Continuing with my assertion, the song is actually titled "Hallelujah Freedom" - written and originally performed by Junior Campbell, a Scottish singer/songwriter who had a hit in the UK and Europe with the song in 1972. Rabbitt's version was recorded and released in 1973. Viewing the production credit, I'd say it's a fair assumption that Mutt Lange produced the session.
Margaret's version was recorded for Tribal Fence featuring Trevor on guitar, bass, keyboards and backing vocals, Neil Cloud on drums, with additional guitar and percussion by Julian Laxton and additional backing vocals by Rene Veldsman with Avril and Miriam Stockley. Trevor arranged and co-produced the track.
And why would the South African government censor such a song? In 1973 it was standard practice for anything which could be considered remotely objectionable, just as they censored Rabbitt's first version of "Locomotive Breath." Specifically, when you consider the song's lyrics - which portray an oppressive situation - well, I would say it's fairly obvious that they would seek to suppress anything which could possibly be construed as political.
Oh, they took away the love inside me
that memory will always ride me.
They broke my heart and I could not stand the pain.
Oh, they tried to make me crawl behind them
they even tried to break my mind in
they grabbed my pride and they threw it in my face.
But seriously, listen to the song and when you get to the chorus, substitute "sunshine" for "freedom" and it works just fine. I don't believe it's out of the realm of possibility to posit that the government considered freedom a dirty word at the time.
It's a perfect fit for Margaret's proud and powerful voice, and from the arrangement I would say it's probably rather close to Rabbitt's version, though perhaps a bit more on the pop side of things. The way all the voices sing out the closing refrain of just gimme freedom is an inspiring message of protest to conclude this album with, a work which acknowledged there were two worlds in South Africa, and one of them was on "the other side of the fence."
But the significance of the song - how it can speak to any situation of struggle - means it's easy to understand why Trevor performed it more than once in the course of his career, and directed it at a nation which needed to hear its' message as many times as it could be expressed.
Announced today is the release date for Joe Bonamassa's new Live at the Hollywood Bowl, presenting the show from 2023 which featured orchestral arrangements from Trevor as well as David Campbell and Jeff Bova.
The release will encompass the following formats: CD/DVD, CD/BR, 2 LP Vinyl (180-gram), and digital streaming/purchase and is on sale May 17th.
The Queen of Rock n'Roll, Tina Turner, has passed away at the age of 83. From her beginnings as the frontwoman of the Ike and Tina Turner Review, to her worldwide enduring fame as a solo artist (which enabled her to be the second woman inducted twice into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame), to all of the ways in which pop culture has made her an icon...Tina was a singular phenomenon and the world is less brightly bombastic without her and her fabulous legs.
Long-time fans are aware Trevor contributed to her 1996 album Wildest Dreams, playing and singing on the majority of the songs produced by Trevor Horn. On her cover of John Waite's hit "Missing You" both Trevors are providing backing vocals and are even credited as "(The Two Trevors)."
"Dancing in My Dreams" which closes the album, has a bit of the ZA sound to it, and Trevor's presence definitely adds to the authenticity of that mood.
This adds the show to the "one and done" list of Trevor's television work, which also includes the limited-run series Zero Hour and the action drama Agent X. But it is gratifying to know that Trevor's contract included a release of the score's major themes and cues via a soundtrack album.
Speaking of albums, Outlanders (the duo of singer Tarja Turunen and musician-producer Torsten Stenzel) has announced they will be releasing a full-length album of their project on June 23rd, which will contain the previous eight singles released over a three-year period, including the lead single "Closer To The Sky" featuring Trevor on guitar. So anyone who desired to have that track in physical media form is now in luck!
And lastly, Captain Cuts is busy as usual, but I was excited to see that Ryan and Ben co-wrote a song with Italian pop-rock sensations Måneskin for their international debut album Rush! released earlier this year.
As I reported on back in May of 2021, Trevor was involved in a collaboration with guitar legend Joe Bonamassa which he had hinted at in previous interviews. It looks like that project will finally hit the stage on August 9th, and received a mention in an interview published yesterday on cleveland.com.
Bonamassa’s seemingly always busy. After the spring tour wraps up, he’s off to his Keeping The Blues Alive at Sea VIII cruise and then another live recording, this one at the Hollywood Bowl. That will be with a full orchestra with string arrangements by veteran arranger and composer David Campbell (also known as Beck’s dad) and producer-guitarist Trevor Rabin (Yes).
“That will be fun. You’ve got to be very selective about the songs because you go from seven pieces to 70,” Bonamassa said of expanding his band to include orchestral instruments.
The listing for the show on the venue website enthuses: Be there for his Hollywood Bowl debut, when he’ll team up with an orchestra for a special concert unlike anything he’s done before.
I suppose we could speculate that Trevor might make a guest appearance of some kind but at the very least it will be interesting to hear his string arrangements once again, as long-time fans are familiar with his efforts in that area during the South African years of Trevor's career.
One of a continuing series in regards to the myriad variety of Trevor’s discography.
It appears Ryan finally pulled his dad into the Captain Cuts cinematic universe (as the saying goes these days)...last month a new single debuted by Canadian pop princess Carly Rae Jepsen, produced and co-written by Ryan and Ben Berger (Ryan McMahon has departed, though no official announcement was made that I'm aware of) and "Talking To Yourself" features a very brief guitar solo from Our Trev.
It's a catchy tune, as are all of Captain Cuts' productions. The now duo has been very busy of late, both with production for other artists and a few for themselves, and also working in that part of The Jacaranda Room where GROUPLOVE's Never Trust A Happy Song was recorded, as this recent photoset on Instagram courtesy of princedcf illustrates: https://www.instagram.com/p/CjrGu9itAby/
Premiering today, the official visualizer for Outlanders' "Closer To The Sky" featuring the lovely Tarja Turunen, the serene scenery of Antigua, some interesting artwork...and of course that beautiful song.
From a recent interview with Tarja Turunen, regarding Trevor's appearance on "Closer To The Sky."
The first single to be released from this project, "Closer to the Sky," was released on 26th November 2021 and features the guitar playing of Yes’ Trevor Rabin. Speaking of the track, the singer tells us to expect a catchy song, with plenty of earworm qualities (which instantly shot it to “first single” status):
“Trevor [Rabin], as a guitar player – I’m a huge fan, not only from Yes, but from his movie soundtracks too. I’d been following his career, so it’s astonishing for me to have him on one of my songs – it’s like “Whoa!” – but the song is beautiful! We have a visualiser filmed – I wouldn’t call it a music video, but a visualiser, since there’s no video production on it, but it shows the beautiful island of Antigua, or starts the process of showing where we’ve been working; what we’ve been doing; what a beautiful island it is. That’s about all I can tell!" [chuckles].
Spotted on Twitter: this post from earMUSIC which offers a preview (including Trevor's contribution) of Outlanders' upcoming single "Closer To The Sky." It sounds like maybe Trevor's stems have been isolated in the playback we are hearing.
As published on the PROG website today, the first single from the Outlanders project (which I reported on last week), will be released on November 26th. The song "Closer To The Sky" features Trevor on guitar (engineering and producing his own work on the track). It appears, however, instead of an album release there will be a series of eight singles released over the next year-and-a-half.
On the Outlanders website, Tarja explains the creation of the track.
This song was meant for one of my rock releases one day, when I sat down to write the first ideas with Erik Nyholm in Finland many years ago. Erik had been involved on my rock albums as a song writer before and after, but here was something in this particular song that made me think I must leave it for other time. The song changed name at least 3 times during its creative process and had different lyrics and moods.
Only recently I finished writing the dark, but hopeful lyrics and rest of the music for it. It fits perfectly as an opener for Outlanders, because of its catchy melody, wishful lyrics and the mood it captures. We knew that we needed an extraordinary guitar player. A rock soul with a progressive mind that could imagine the song being part of a movie soundtrack. We had only one name in mind: Trevor Rabin did just an outstanding job with his edgy, incredible guitar sound. He made the song reach another level and for that I am deeply grateful. It only happens when the players soul is involved and that really was the case here. Trevor is unique and truly a gentleman.
Spotted on Twitter: it appears Trevor has guested on a new project from former Nightwish vocalist Tarja Turunen and musician/producer Torsten Stenzel (one half of the EDM duo York) called Outlanders, due to release their debut album in a little over a month. It looks to be a classical/EDM/rock crossover.
According to the duo's socials this release has quite the cast of musicians. Besides Trevor, also featured are guitarist greats Al DiMeola, Vernon Reid, Joe Satriani, Bumblefoot, Walter Giardino, Steve Rothery, Marty Friedman, and Jennifer Batten, as well as New Age/progressive rock legend Mike Oldfield.
The release is slated for the last full week of November, so look out for it around the 24th or 25th.
Spotted on YouTube: with eternal thanks to the tireless efforts of fandom archivist Yes Source, who this week posted a super-cut video of all available clips from the Imagine a Cure tribute concert which took place on April 18, 2009. As long-time fans are aware, this was one of only five times in which a partial reunion of the YesWest lineup has taken place in the last twenty years. The show was the brainchild of Yes drummer Alan White and featured an all-star plethora of rock n'rollers paying tribute to the music and memory of John Lennon with proceeds benefitting Susan G. Komen for the Cure. As the compilation doesn't feature any full performances you'll only see snippets of Trevor here and there, but luckily there are a few precious seconds of him singing "Gimme Some Truth" and sharing quips with Chris Squire.
At the time, a sighting of Trevor actually publicly performing was delicious manna in our fandom desert!
Found a very interesting tidbit courtesy of an article on The South African website regarding the latest release from South African singer/songwriter/guitarist Steve Louw, whose latest album Headlight Dreams was produced by fellow countryman and acclaimed producer Kevin Shirley.
First, as context let's recall this mention from the 2020 PROG interview/profile with Malcolm Dome:
There's every chance that Trevor will have at least two opportunities to work live with orchestras in the next year or so. Although nothing is yet confirmed, these possibilities clearly excite him.
"One performance would concentrate on my own work, while the other would give me the chance to get involved with a very big name from the rock world. I can't say more about either concert right now. However, I feel confident both will happen, with at least one in London."
As my readers are already aware, Lee Pomeroy commented on one of these opportunities in an interview he gave to Yes Music Podcast that same year, and Trevor elaborated on it to me when I interviewed him in July; it involved appearing with an orchestra to perform what would presumably be a variety of his scoring compositions and perhaps some other songs as well.
Back to the aforementioned article, it appears that this is the other project which was planned while the world was still in the pre-pandemic state of things. Having completed work with Shirley on his latest album in Nashville, Louw and his producer then go their separate ways:
I flew to New York on the 3rd of March, en route back to South Africa, and Kevin headed to LA to film with Trevor Rabin who was scoring Joe Bonamassa songs with a full orchestra for a live concert film they were going to film last August at Red Rock in Colorado.
Hence the "very big name from the rock world" descriptor. I'm assuming the filming referred to had to do with creating bonus material for what would likely have been a home video/streaming release of the proposed show. Alas, the best laid plans of...well, everybody, at that point.
Besides being fellow expats, Kevin and Trevor do have a long acquaintance, and it's very easy to imagine Kevin turning to Trevor when this particular opportunity presented itself in regards to one of his long-running clients, Shirley having produced or co-produced all of Bonamassa's albums since 2006.
Hopefully, as our live music landscape here in the US begins to slowly but surely return to normal, this project will be revived for a potential late 2021 or '22 release.
As much as we all may be relieved that 2020 is finally coming to an end, it's perhaps a bit difficult to get into the seasonal spirit in our pandemic environs. So I thought I'd try to remedy that with some Christmas music, and a wish for all my readers everywhere to be safe and well this holiday season.
I've previously blogged regarding holiday music which Trevor has been associated with, and I wanted to take a closer look at Jon Anderson's 1985 holiday-themed album 3 Ships, which has Trevor guesting on guitar along with Elliot Easton of The Cars. And I will also note that I was inspired by the most recent episode of Yes Music Podcast, wherein Kevin and Mark discussed their impressions of the album as relevant to the season. But my primary curiosity beyond how it sounds and how well it has aged has to do with how much Trevor content there is.
There are two versions of the album: the original, and then a 2007 reissue by Voiceprint which includes five bonus tracks from other existing releases. It might be difficult to recognize the release as a Christmas album from the cover...but can we talk about how Jon looks like he's 14 on the (original) back cover? Give that art director a Grammy already!
The album is a mix of traditional songs and originals, both religious and secular. I would say based on the character of those bonus tracks included in the reissue that the original release was definitely aiming for more of a popular demographic rather than a traditional holiday vibe. Although some of the songs don't seem particularly Christmas-y, as there is more of a World music spin on a few such as "Forest of Fire" and "Day of Days," it's easy to apprehend the overall sentiment. This is Jon at Peak Twee, supported by a youthful choir on many of the tracks and lots of airy crystalline synths everywhere. It's a pop album, but Jon's voice is expansive enough to embrace pop in as supple a fashion as any other genre he has encountered.
Of the traditional songs, I would say my favorite is "O Holy Night" as it's been a favorite of mine since I first heard Nat "King" Cole perform it on The Christmas Song as a child, but it's particularly inspired here, featuring a lovely solo from gospel star Sandra Crouch. There are a couple of strong pop songs in "Easier Said Than Done" and "How It Hits You" but I'm more in favor of "Forest of Fire" with its' atmospheric jungle ambiance.
As for Trevor, I would say he definitely plays the solo on "Where Were You?" but that's it. And it's a cool solo, rather bombastic, suitable for the anthemic vibe of the song.
There may be other parts throughout the album but certainly nothing particularly recognizable. For example, I would be much more likely to credit the guitar on "Easier Said Than Done" to Elliot, as it sounds more like his style. This is despite what we see in the video for the song, which features footage from the sessions at Crystal Sound and so they are both spotted therein (and a funny thing to notice is Trevor getting his makeup touched-up at the two-minute mark, because he's barely in the video and we only see him from the side or the back). It's also nice to see Frankie Banali, but again, just briefly.
It's all '80s all the time, thanks to Roy Thomas Baker's sparkly production, but in a tasteful way. It's very polished, Jon is sounding great, very fun and upbeat and is a solid inclusion on any holiday playlist.
And since the album is an artifact of the 1980s, for those of us feeling not only nostalgic for the holidays but for that particular heyday, here's a (somewhat silly) MTV tie-in video for the title track. Jon's outfit is...wow. I'm trying to imagine what the legacy of 9012Live would have been if he'd worn something like that in Edmonton.
One of a continuing series in regards to the myriad variety of Trevor’s discography.
You might have seen the news that Rick is reissuing his 1999 concept album Return to the Centre of the Earth as Super Deluxe and Deluxe boxsets featuring all kinds of bits and bobs as well as a vinyl release, and so on his YouTube channel has been sharing archival video related to the making of. Today's post is regarding the guest singers, one of whom is someone we know and love...Rick discusses "the Yes connection" at the 2:18 mark in this video.
And here is the song, featuring Trevor on lead vocals and guitar solos, which occurs in the narrative at the point that the intrepid explorers are crossing the Bridge of Time before finding themselves dropped into the River of Hope.
I've written about this release previously in 2013 but now comes the good news that boutique label Music On Vinyl will be reissuing Paul Rodgers' Muddy Waters Blues tribute album in a limited edition colored vinyl next month.
I came across this one while engaged in one of my never-ending trawls of the Internet and it's an interview I don't think I've read before, although I imagine there are fans who have. It's originally from 1998 and so focuses on Trevor's scoring work, but with some nice insights as regards his process at the time, working relationships with various directors and, as always, The Bruck.
There's an interesting detail regarding the soundtrack for Days of Thunder - as I had noted in a previous entry, Trevor played guitar on the David Coverdale track "The Last Note of Freedom" but it seems from his comments he might have also played on the Terry Reid track, a cover of "Gimme Some Lovin'" (and a song we know he's quite familiar with). That's my guess as it's the only other song produced by Trevor Horn on the soundtrack.
I had originally blogged about this interview when it was published, it's from the December 2016 issue of Record Collector. There's some really interesting anecdotes in this one, including Trevor's admission that he did desire to work on a Broadway show (just not the one he was offered, at least according to what he told me), meeting Paul McCartney in London during the sessions for Big Generator, and revealing that "I Miss You Now" is specifically about Trevor longing to see his parents.
Note: the next entry in my Changes review series - disc three: Wolf - will be published next Friday. This entry is another component in my overall contribution to the promotional cycle for the boxset.
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It's been over a decade all-told that I've had various encounters with Trevor and I'm pleased to relate to you now our latest meeting of the minds: an interview specifically for Rabin-esque.
I was given the opportunity to phone Trevor at The Jacaranda Room and this past Tuesday we had a 90-minute chat regarding Changes and other related subjects. Due to technical limitations on my end I wasn't able to record the conversation but I'm going to cover the highlights, as I believe we had an interesting and enlightening exchange (but admittedly I'm biased).
As always, Trevor is one of the nicest guys to interview, incredibly gracious and generous with his time (and patient with my various tangents) and wholly engaging as a conversationalist. I am entirely grateful he agreed to talk to me about the boxset's contents and topics regarding his career overall. He was once again very complementary regarding my encyclopedic recall and remarked that I should write a book. I told him I was very busy writing all the essays for this blog but I appreciated the vote of confidence!
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The new normal.
We began the interview with a discussion of what is going on in the world right now, and I said I knew he had another layer of worry along with all the things everyone is worrying about because of the associated strife in South Africa. Trevor acknowledged his homeland is always on his mind and believes the next six months aren't going to be an easy time for anyone in the world.
A giant in his field.
I also brought up the passing of esteemed film composer Ennio Morricone, and we discussed Trevor's favorite Morricone score, for the 1986 film The Mission. I posited that I felt it was rather influential on later composers, such as the work of James Horner. He then related to me that he had an "encounter" with Horner regarding his score for the 2003 film Radio, elements of which strongly resembled themes from Remember the Titans. This was not the only time Trevor would see his work borrowed by others (more on that later), but he attributed this kind of thing to what he refers to as "temp-itis" meaning the director's reliance on the use of a temporary score during the editing process. Another example was Teddy Castellucci's score for the 2005 remake of The Longest Yard, which contained elements resembling the scores of Remember the Titans and National Treasure. The composer paid Trevor a visit and confessed that director Peter Segal really wanted more of that type of music in the film, and he cracked under the pressure, "borrowing" quite obviously (to the point of The Bruck considering litigation, according to Trevor). Not surprisingly did Segal then select Trevor to score his next film, 2008's Get Smart.
Trevor remarked he believed Morricone had been highly influenced by classical composer Edward Elgar, quipping: "If you're going to steal, it might as well be from the best."
Working man.
He related to me the work he performed for Renny Harlin, whom he said called him with a request to "fix" the score of his latest project. I asked Trevor which of the films currently listed on IMDb he had worked on, and he confirmed to me it was The Misfits, which is currently in post-production. When discussing the progress on his new solo album, he stated that he's still at about 60% completed but he believes he knows the essence and the overall shape of the work now, and has 3-4 pieces he's really happy with, so the direction is set and he can devote himself fully for the rest of the year. When I asked him about considerations of remote recording for guest players due to ongoing logistical limitations caused by the pandemic, he replied that such a process is "cumbersome" and one he does not willingly wish to engage in.
In regards to other projects, Trevor said he had been approached by producers for a Broadway show but was ultimately not interested. As far as appearing with the L.A. Philharmonic he stated that originally Brian Lane and Larry Magid were willing to organize and finance the event but whatever plans and negotiations were thus far accomplished have been stalled by the pandemic.
(tenuous)
I asked Trevor, now that ARW is concluded as a project, if "Fragile" would see any kind of official release and he said he had no desire to release it and didn't think it had any particular relevance in hindsight given that the band is over. He wasn't even certain it should have been recorded in the first place but thought it would at least serve as a starting point in their endeavors even as they ultimately couldn't manage to record an album due to logistical issues. He confirmed to me that it was realized strictly between the three of them: with Rick recording his piano parts in England, Jon recording his vocals at The Jacaranda Room, and Trevor providing all other instrumentation and vocals. Jon contributed lyrics to the bridge (because, as Trevor noted, Jon likes the "freedom" to add things into an existing structure), but Trevor had already written the melody (and had different lyrics originally), so the ARW version of the song would be credited to both Trevor and Jon. I asked about the origin of "Fragile" and Trevor replied he wrote it as a favor for the showrunner of Agent X; it was composed after the scoring was completed because Herron wanted a song but Trevor was not specifically compensated for writing it, thus he retained the copyright.
The arduous journey from reluctance to cooperation.
By his own admission, Trevor did not make it easy for Rob Ayling to put together Changes, it took much cajoling (as it did with the 90124 project); Ayling paid him a visit in Los Angeles and Trevor gave him access to all his ephemera just to get the man off his back, so to speak, and indicated what he has in storage is quite a jumble. Shelley assisted with the process of looking through everything. So all of the inclusions were suggested by Ayling, and we can appreciate that Trevor finally overcame his reluctance to be his own archivist after a fashion and acquiesced. The photos for The Making of Wolf booklet were among those items he had saved and were thus discovered by Ayling, and luckily must have been safely stored away for the past 40 years. Trevor noted that at first he couldn't understand the appeal of something like 90124, but agreed in part because he knew there was an ongoing evolving narrative regarding the origins of 90125 and his part in it, and so wanted to produce the originals to prove his point.
What could have been.
This led me to ask about something from the original press release for Changes and that was allegedly the inclusion of demos recorded with Roger Hodgson (which took place in 1990). Trevor stated he couldn't quite remember how many songs they worked up but it was probably "almost an album's worth" and "The More I Look" was also one of those songs (which later appeared on Roger's 2000 album Open The Door). I remarked that as a fan I was happy the demo version of "Walls" was included on 90124 because one of the things I love about the song is the beautiful close harmony Trevor and Roger perform on it, and the thought of an entire album like that would have been a wonderful thing to hear. He agreed, stating he believes the project to be one of the real missed opportunities of his career and considers Roger to be like a brother, noting how happy he was to see Roger again during touring in 2016 and 2018.
Soft focus.
I expressed my appreciation for the film music composed by Trevor Rabin promo disc being included in the boxset and for general sale, revealing to Trevor what I paid for an original copy in years prior. I asked if he had chosen the track listing and he said he did, stating that in some cases he was working from earlier versions of the themes and that's why some of them have different titles. He also noted a lot of editing was involved in putting the tracks together and I replied because of that my research into their origins took me quite a while! When I stated my theory regarding why it was created, to position Trevor away from being considered as the Action Guy in the industry, he agreed, noting that he seemingly moved from genre to genre - from Action Guy to Sports Guy, for example - in terms of the scoring projects which came his way, but was ultimately desiring to score all kinds of films. He expressed that he had a previous interest in scoring a fully-animated feature (and I reminded him that the first time we spoke in 2009 I made a plea for him to do just that) but said that now it would likely be too complex a project for him to undertake.
An early innovator.
We talked a bit about Trevor's penchant for being on the cutting edge of music technology - I noted that it was pretty amazing he predicted the rise of bedroom recordings a couple decades before they became the norm - discussing the recording of Talk and Trevor stated he would like to perform a remix of the album but because the multitracks exist on more than one type of media (both analog and digital), such a project would be very difficult if not impossible at this point. He acknowledged he would have done some things differently, especially in regards to the drum sounds. I brought up the seeming disclaimer included as a "PS" in the credits: "Caution" Extreme Digital Dynamic Range and he replied that Victory (perhaps Phil Carson himself) included that without his knowledge and if he'd seen the liner notes prior to release he would have insisted it be removed. Trevor recalled that when he first moved to Los Angeles in 1981, living in a house he rented from Manfred Mann's Earth Band vocalist Chris Thompson, he set up a studio in the garage to write and record demos and there were other musicians he knew who also had home studios at the time. But the recording industry at large had mounted a seeming war against such endeavors, threatening suits and other legal action against artists working from home...which all seems rather ironic in our present-day circumstances.
All the way live.
I wanted to discuss the inclusion of the '89 performance at Boston's Paradise Theater, expressing to Trevor that he has a different perspective on concerts than fans do. His fans - whether they attended one of the shows on the club tour or not - desire the total experience of a performance. We don't think of it as "a very long performance that takes a lot of listening" (as he stated in the PROG interview) but rather listen to it as if we were there. I noted that I have audience recordings of two other shows in addition to Boston and L.A. and even though it's the same setlist, I appreciate the subtle differences between each show. I enthused that he created a great setlist and had a great band. Trevor said that once he was convinced to include the bootleg of the radio broadcast he was happy with the decision, noting the broadcast recording is more "raw" and has a "completely different vibe" to the Los Angeles show. I asked him about whether it was possible to release the full recording of the L.A. show and he replied the multitracks no longer exist, but seemed to indicate that there might be soundboard recordings of some of the dates still in his archives.
Facing up to Face To Face.
Having just recently composed a ginormous essay about the making of said album, I proffered my theory about how having to record three albums at the same time, but two in particular, may have contributed to Face's overall lack, shall we say. Trevor allowed that it might have had something to do with it but it was primarily that he had never felt the kind of pressure in making an album which he experienced during the writing and recording of Face To Face. So suffice to say he didn't perform well overall, in his estimation. He agreed with me that Rene's Call Me is a great album, and we talked about "Paying My Dues" and reached a consensus that its' similarity to "Owner" was not purposeful but likely just a type of experimentation Trevor was desiring to pursue at the time as regards arrangements.
Van Rabin...?
I brought up to Trevor the oft-discussed similarity of the opening for "Hot For Teacher" to "Looking For A Lady - (Wolfman)" and this prompted a story about another "borrow" - the opening riff from "Eyes Of Love" which you can hear in the track "Baluchitherium" from the 1995 Van Halen album Balance. Trevor happened to hear the song during a televised football game and contacted Eddie Van Halen about it, recalling that back in 1989 he had gone out to see Steve Stevens performing at The Roxy with Eddie and Steve Lukather and Eddie had told him he enjoyed Can't Look Away, seemingly joking that Trevor shouldn't be surprised to hear something from it on the next Van Halen record. And so, two albums later...Trevor remarked to me that he was shocked I wasn't familiar with that story. "I can't believe I'm telling you something you don't already know!" he exclaimed.
Trevor stated that once he and Eddie talked about the "borrow" they worked out an agreement for Trevor to be compensated. Trevor stated that he didn't actually mind being borrowed from as long as there was some acknowledgment involved. Later, when relating the sequence of events to Paul Linford, his assistant remarked on the other seeming borrow and once Trevor listened to "Hot For Teacher" he realized that it was a far more obvious lift. So he has no doubt in his mind where the intro to "Hot For Teacher" originated.
Besides a long acquaintance with Eddie, Trevor had other encounters with the band, such as when he was invited to see Van Halen perform in London at the Hammersmith Odeon in 1978, and spent time backstage being "talked at" by notorious motormouth David Lee Roth. As long-time fans are aware, Trevor was considered as an opening act for the band, but for various reasons it never came to pass. He also told me he had been approached at least twice about producing an album for the band during the Hagar years, noting that Sammy is "a really nice guy."
More boxes?
I asked about the purported plans for another boxset of his film music and Trevor explained that while it's a good idea, it's also a very difficult project to accomplish from a logistical standpoint, especially when it comes to licensing. I told him about the essay I wrote for the blog in 2016, stating that a score anthology/compilation in celebration of his 20th anniversary as a film composer would be a wonderful idea. I laid out the whole concept, and Trevor thought it was interesting, but likely ultimately remains unconvinced...probably.
Encounter with The Purple One and other adventures.
I am one of those people possessed of an irrepressible curiosity regarding certain ventures, and having touched on the making of Big Generator, I then said: "And while you were there at Sunset Sound mixing the album, so was...Bob Dylan!" I confirmed to Trevor that whatever he recorded with Dylan at one of the sessions for Down in the Groove, it never made the album. He appreciated me telling him this because he had no idea himself. I explained to him that according to my research the making of that album was also quite fraught with contention, is not regarded too highly overall, and so it's not necessarily a bad thing that he didn't make the cut. But contrary to my speculation, he said Elliot Roberts had originally contacted him regarding Dylan's request, he never had any interaction with the album's producer Beau Hill. And also during those months of mixing one day he crossed paths with a member of Prince's entourage, who summoned Trevor for a (brief) encounter. Apparently His Royal Badness didn't think much of "Owner of a Lonely Heart" - shooting hoops out back while wearing his custom-made Andre No. 1 4-inch heel boots.
"It was very weird," Trevor said. "Yep, that's Prince alright," I replied.
(With eternal thanks to Dearest Friend of the blog Cee for visual assistance with the physical media. And also many thanks to everyone who has helped spread the word of my review series, such as Yes fandom leading light Henry Potts of Bondegezou. I truly appreciate everyone who has taken the time to read the blog and also provide engagement via links and other comments on social media.)
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I will start out this next review by stating that Face To Face is my least favorite of Trevor's solo work overall, and thus I haven't been in a particular hurry over the near-decade of this blog's existence to write about it. But now there's a box set and so here we are. Trevor held much the same opinion, so at least we are in agreement.
Trevor offered this explanation for Face To Face lacking focus and overall quality in his liner notes for the 2002 reissue:
Around the time of this album I produced a number of albums in London, however, I was strongarmed by some "suits" to record my album in South Africa to save money. This was a mistake as I was really on a creative roll in London, which was broken by going back to South Africa for this project.
So by his own admission, Trevor was engaging in parallel careers much as he did in South Africa. However - I put it to you, dear reader, that in fact what happened with Face To Face is Trevor literally overbooked himself, and there is journalistic evidence of this very thing. But before we get into that, let's go back to the original Chrysalis press release (an excerpt of which is included in the CD booklet) to see how the process was explained at the time.
The production of Rabin's second album Face To Face differs from his debut insofar as instead of laying down a rhythm track and creating over it, this time our man first recorded the whole LP in the studio with a band, Rabin on bass and various musicians handling the other instruments. A "live feel" having been obtained, the perfectionist Rabin then wiped the tape clean apart from his bass work and began all over again, little-by-little adding his own virtuoso interpretations. Rather like stepping backwards to move forwards you might think, but this approach has added extra impetus and has resulted in several steaming heavy rock tracks - notably "The Wanderer."
Uh...okay. So does this mean that Trevor actually wasted time and money by recording the entire album at a fairly costly facility with a band and then declared he was going to do it all over again himself? Because I can imagine the answer to that would be: "Okay, you want to re-record everything? Then let your production company pay for it this time." And how would they do that, you ask? Well, Blue Chip Music owned the studio, after all.
So now we can set the stage for Face To Face...
As reported in various trade publications such as the UK music industry magazine Music Week: in June of 1978, Trevor signed a non-exclusive production deal with Chrysalis Records in his capacity as Head of A&R for Blue Chip Music. Most if not all of the production assignments Trevor obtained during the London years were under the auspices of Blue Chip, the production company formed by RPM co-founder Matt Mann and his business partner Ivor Scholosberg.
One of Rabin's first productions for the company is the House of the Rising Sun disco album by Hot R.S. which has already been a chart hit in France. A single will be rush-released, "reflecting Chrysalis' bid to break into the disco market in a major fashion," said a spokesman.
I don't want to go into this too much because I do have another entire essay in the works regarding Trevor's foray into disco in South Africa and the like, but this deal is the basis for the Disco Rock Machine 2 release which was to come the following year. Trevor played on TheHouse of the Rising Sun but it was produced by Kevin Kruger, a long-time friend and fellow session musician in South Africa. As most fans know, Kevin played drums on Beginnings (and thus Trevor Rabin) as well as Face To Face. And I would assume that Trevor's A&R acumen helped to obtain his studio singer cohort Rene Arnell distribution for her solo debut, though it turned out to be a singular occurrence. Call Me appears not to have had a UK release, however, only European distribution for any territories not covered by RPM.
I bring this up because many long-time fans have viewed a scan of the article which appeared in Music Maker chronicling a behind-the-scenes look at the conclusion of Trevor's months-long sessions at RPM, and the revelation that he had produced three albums simultaneously: Face To Face, Rene's album Call Me, and Disco Rock Machine 2 featuring his mainstays - vocalist Rene Arnell, RPM's house drummer Kevin Kruger, and engineer Hennie Hartmann.
So if we were to imagine Trevor's story is true, if in fact the "suits" at Chrysalis ordered him to cease his work at AIR Studios (where he had recorded with famed engineer Geoff Emerick and Dave Mattacks on percussion duties as well as other alleged individuals who will apparently remain forever unnamed) and relocate to cheaper digs, it would certainly make sense to return home to a studio he was already thoroughly familiar with. I'm not entirely certain how relocating outside the UK would have been cheaper unless there was a tax dodge involved, maybe? It's not like there weren't budget studios in London, after all. However, if Trevor had multiple projects he was contractually obligated to complete for the year and two of them were going to have be recorded in South Africa anyway...and that's not even taking into account the whole "starting from scratch" scenario. Or, if the insistence on saving money was supported by using the studio which was owned by the production company he already worked for, well, there wasn't much Trevor could do to counter that argument.
Because we have some verification of the actual situation courtesy of Jon Ossher's article, I think it's fairly easy to posit an entirely different scenario than the explanation Trevor offers in hindsight. Of course given the caprices of Time that's likely how he actually remembers it.
Let's back up the timeline - Trevor recorded in part at AIR Studios, which was co-owned by George Martin. There was an anecdote in the press regarding Martin making an offer to produce Face To Face but Trevor turned him down. I asked Trevor about this claim when I interviewed him in 2012 but he could not recall it and didn't believe it was true. I could believe it and yet also not believe it because who would turn down George Martin? Well...Trevor might, the very picture of self-determination that he was and is. But would George Martin offer to produce him? Sure, anyone could see how talented Trevor was. Now here's a wrinkle for you - Chrysalis and AIR were affiliated companies. Chrysalis was a co-owner of the studio's Lyndhurst location (opened in 1992) and likely served in the same capacity for the Oxford Circus location (the original facility, opened in 1970), where those Face To Face sessions took place. So how can it be perceived as too expensive when the record company co-owns the studio?
Trevor is quoted in Ossher's article as stating he was planning to complete the mix of the album in London; the preview he offered the writer and the "suits" at RPM was only four songs. Mixing sessions, and mastering the vinyl cut, those things cost money too, but money he was apparently going to spend in London regardless. All of these details aren't doing Trevor's excuse any favors.
Returning to my central point, I believe that perhaps - for better or worse - the reason why Face To Face displays a lack of focus and songwriting craft is because the greater part of that effort went into Call Me. I think that the story of one album is actually two albums - but only one of them is wholly successful in terms of ambition and execution, and it's not Face To Face.
Trevor and Rene at RPM Studios
Was this an act of artistic sacrifice? Perhaps, though I would characterize it as unwitting rather than intentional. But there's not a bad track on Call Me, and I can't say the same for Face To Face.
The primary strength of Call Me is Rene's songwriting (on her own and in partnership with Cynthia Schumacher), proving to an international audience she is far more than a mere girl singer (as she already possessed a measure of fame in South Africa), but Trevor's playing, arrangements and production skills provide a beautiful framework for the material, a variety of moods and textures on offer. Rene's powerful and soulful voice is entirely compelling, and there's an overall sophistication and touches of grandeur which elevate the songs above the usual pop-rock fray. And when you compare the two versions of Rene's "Hold On" (aka "Hold On I'm Coming") - Trevor as producer/arranger versus Rene and Ernest Schroder as producers and Eric Norgate as arranger - I think the results speak for themselves (although Trevor might have played guitar on the original version).
There are also elements which directly link this album to Trevor's own work. For example, "Sooner Or Later" and "Running Away" could have, should have been recorded for Face To Face as well. Listen to those tracks and tell me you can't imagine them on that album. Go ahead, I'll wait. And as I've previously opined on the blog, then there's "Paying My Dues" and how the arrangement prefigures "Owner of a Lonely Heart" so thoroughly it's like Trevor plagiarized himself (not that I'm actually suggesting he did, of course). And in that context - on somebody else's record - he could be far more adventurous than he would have been allowed to be on his own.
So I consider it rather a missed opportunity that Trevor didn't write songs with Rene, although that wasn't his style or his identity. He was the wunderkind who did just about everything himself. But I think it could have made for a better album if he had. I like to imagine it was all a shared project and have combined my favorite tracks from both into what I consider to be a great "what if" release. I actually recommend listening to both albums to appreciate the full picture of where Trevor was at from a musical perspective in 1979 - because he didn't invest his own work with everything he was capable of, just sayin.'
And Rene's harmonies are a integral part of Face To Face for certain, providing a particular emotional intensity which Trevor, for all his stacked layering wizardry, can't quite access on his own.
Some reviews of the time appear to be in favor of the more "gritty" Trevor in terms of his rock n'roll reductionism, while others criticize Trevor for continuing on as a one-man band. But it seems everyone agrees that this album is attempting to establish a different identity for him as more of a hard rocker/guitar hero. It was my belief that Chrysalis was trying to make Trevor into yet another pub rocker but he's just too melodically-oriented for that kind of thing. And Trevor has acknowledged the pressure to evolve into something which didn't feel authentic to him, as he notes in a 2004 interview:
I think Face To Face suffered from some of the issues we talked about in terms of making contrived music. When I made that album I thought “I’ve got to do something like this,” rather than letting the process happen.
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Side One
"I'll Take The Weight"
I'll say that whatever faults this album can be said to have, the music is well-composed overall. I love the way this one lopes along, with some appealing layers introduced along the way. But only the chorus is interesting to me from a lyrical standpoint, and as with many of the choruses Trevor comes up with, it's catchy. I like the I'll take the weight off your shoulders. I'll take the load off your life. Trevor's vocal is attempting some kind of effect, but whatever it is, I don't know that it works. The middle eight is also really strong, with that driving riff framing a solid solo.
"Don't You Ever Lose"
As with more than a few tracks on the album, Trevor and Rene's harmonies are so perfectly layered. The lyrics on this one aren't so cringe-worthy, but again - what the actual fuck is up with his delivery? It's like he's trying to sing more as a hard rocker, I suppose, but doesn't really know how. I might attribute it partly to the change in his register, as Trevor is now singing as more of a mid-range tenor, so he sounds like he's straining at times. But musically this fits in with the overall mission statement. The organ on the bridge kind of derails that mood, though, just briefly. There's a lot of keyboard elements throughout the album which I do appreciate.
"I'm Old Enough (To Make You A Woman)"
This song could reasonably be considered a "low moment" of the album (in Trevor's words) but you know what? It's equally awful and wonderful. There, I said it. It's been said no pleasure is a guilty pleasure, but...yeah, I'll cop to this one. Trevor is really better suited to pop themes as a vocalist and the yearning he infuses these...cheesy...lyrics with? It's delicious. And somewhat interestingly an inversion of the expected subject matter when it comes to age difference in relationships.
I often wonder if because he was compared to Queen so many times in reviews of Trevor Rabin he decided to actually sound like Queen, and in terms of his guitar tone he absolutely recreates the Red Special as if he had borrowed it from Brian May (and we know that would never happen, so it's an impressive achievement). I'm also betting Dave Mattacks played on this song. I have no basis for this opinion save that I've listened to a lot of Kevin Kruger's drumming and this strikes me as somewhat different.
"The Wanderer"
I have no idea what this song is actually about - Trevor's then-manager Pete Smith wrote the lyrics. It's about a girl who's a pirate, maybe? I've tended to imagine it that way because I do think about such things. But without knowing the actual lyrics, well - especially these which aren't particularly clear. Trevor's delivery doesn't sound so awkward, finally. There's some kind of chorusing or delay effect used on his voice in the chorus that's really interesting.
But the bridge between the verses and chorus? It rocks so hard, especially that bass! It's really engaging as a track, musically-speaking. It's definitely the most "hard rock" which strikes me as authentic in terms of genre expression.
"You"
This is, arguably, Trevor's worst ballad (though I also feel that way about "Would You Feel My Love" which apparently he likes? So what I do know, right?) and the best part about it is that it's brief. I feel like maybe he wrote the lyrics in 10 minutes after struggling to come up with something for many days prior. I get why it's generic but that same quality is not particularly attractive in terms of the sentiment it's meant to convey. The track itself isn't that inspiring either, to be honest. For me, this is the lowest moment on the album.
Side Two
"Now"
Speaking of borrowing guitars, Trevor has claimed he did borrow one of David Gilmour's for this track. In my "Five from five" essay I have opined why I feel this is the best track on the album, and I've read various commentary over the years which shares that opinion so I'm gratified. It's the track with the most ambition, and I think it delivers overall - a melding of Trevor's musicality and his production prowess. The emotion he means to convey is absolutely realized, both musically and vocally. The song is dramatic, but in a wholly appropriate way. The solo is perhaps the first of Trevor's sonic experiments particularly in that vein and the various layering Trevor incorporates in the fade-out, panning between the channels, is an interesting use of textures.
"The Ripper"
I have discussed this track previously in my Halloween Special essay from 2012, the song is about the Yorkshire Ripper, and is one of the UK-specific references on the album, as Peter Sutcliffe had been terrorizing the countryside for nearly a decade (and thus, was news during the period of this album's creation and recording). Pete Smith wrote these lyrics as well, and the tone of the words along with the music is...inappropriately playful? As it is written in first-person narrative, so from the POV of the killer. But that is a UK thing, a sardonic sort of memorializing and part of a tradition, as I also note in the aforementioned entry. I do like Trevor's vocal on this track, further cementing my whole ambivalence about this song in general. The outro solo is certainly masterful but it's a little much for my tastes.
"Candy's Bar"
This song has a particular lighthearted mood to it which I enjoy. It strikes me as the most English song Trevor has ever written, and I don't just mean because it's about a quaint little place down in Yorkshire. There's a bit of humor in his vocal at times and touches of whimsy, such as his use of a concertina in the second verse. It's a blink-and-you'll-miss-it kind of inclusion but when you do finally catch it, it's just...funny. But in a way which makes one smile.
"Always The Last One"
Although I believe "Now" is the best track on the album, the closer is a very close second. It's a perfect summation of Trevor's talents: a well-composed song which is expertly performed, arranged and produced, infused with the appropriate emotional heft. It has a certain kind of grandeur to it even as it is also a hard-driving rock song, with an appropriately shredding solo in the middle eight. From what I can surmise from the lyrics, it's about a relationship of some kind (more platonic than romantic, I would say) which has faded away due to time and distance, and the narrator is attempting, if not to revive it, then at least assure the other person they remain connected because their bond is just that deep. I have a theory as to who it's about but I don't actually know. The bridge before the chorus even borrows from "Now" in terms of the backing vocals included (or maybe it's the other way around). And there's a kind of metallic "echo" at the very end which is a really fascinating detail to me.
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Weirdly, it seems like the two covers for Face To Face are expressing different concepts for Trevor's image: the UK cover an extreme close-up of that beautiful face and a guitar headstock emblazoned with his name, melding the two things in the minds of the public - but wait! You can see seemingly reflected images inside the tuning pegs: a bass headstock, a keyboard, and a vocal microphone. This guy does it all! The back cover is wholly staged and maybe a little cheesy but what warms my fangirl heart is the vintage outfit (because Trevor never gets rid of anything) - those silver pants and striped tank top actual Rabbitt-era togs and kinda rock n'roll, I guess? The choice of the Les Paul he wields goes along with the cover photo, and I suppose it's rather more Guitar Hero. But I continue to be mystified that Trevor was never photographed for album covers or publicity photos with his Strat - which is his guitar, as integral to his image as a player as Eric Clapton's Blackie was for him. But the UK variant truly is the best album cover of the Chrysalis releases: attractive and clever and graphically interesting. And best experienced as an actual album cover: to hold in your hands and appreciate the immediacy of the images. (Yes I have several copies of the vinyl, but I'm a collector, I collect things, okay?! It's not a problem or anything.)
As I noted prior, the CD booklet contains some of the text of the original press release (which was indeed also included in the programme for Steve Hillage's 1979 UK tour on pages 14 and 15; long-time fans are aware Trevor was the opening act). And I will say that instead of reprising the UK cover art for the album three times in the booklet, why not include a live performance shot from that tour? They're out there, after all. Trevor's even promoting his own album, wearing one of the t-shirts fans could purchase (Oh wait, now that would have been an actually interesting idea for new merch!).
Like this one.
Or even this one.
And no image of the alternate cover? Why?! However, it is a good thing the UK cover has become the prevailing image of the album because the US cover is just...what?! Trevor as a member of the skinny tie-and-vest set does not compute, although the leather pants prefigure the true glory days to come. There was another setup featuring Trevor wearing a black blazer and I think I like that better? But those shots are rare to find. I get the whole photo positive-negative thing but I'm not sure what that has to do with the notion of being "face to face" with...anything? At least with the UK version the close-up of Trevor's face is conceptually appropriate.
Why are there two covers? I don't know but it is interesting that Rick Derringer released an album with the same title and a very similar photo to the UK version a year later.
There is a single edit of "Don't You Ever Lose" (which was originally released on a "maxi-single" with tracks from Trevor Rabin) listed as a bonus cut on the back cover and the disc itself, however it is not actually included. And I know I'm not the only one who has asked about this, but I honestly don't expect to receive a response, nor should anyone else who inquires. It's just a fuck-up, I guess - oh well! I assume it would have been a needledrop like the single edits on Trevor Rabin. It's not that I feel particularly cheated or anything but I think when you're asking people to pay over a hundred dollars for a deluxe box set, then you should strive to ensure there aren't any issues with it.
This is my speculation of course, but since long-time fans know of the existence of at least one track which didn't make the album ("Big Money") it would have been nice to have a real bonus in the form of something truly rare - but perhaps such a thing is no longer possible.
