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.
As I posted back in November, it's been announced that Duncan, Ronnie and Neil are reuniting for a Rabbitt reunion tour of South Africa, which will begin in October of this year.
Archival footage of the band has begun popping up on the new Facebook page for the band (launched last year), portions of which fans have seen over the years in various documentaries and interviews. Most importantly they have begun posting full performances of various songs such as "Charlie," "Hard Ride," and "Baby's Leaving." And even more astonishing, a portion of Rabbitt's actual appearance on Dingley's Bookshop. I had been under the impression that the clip we knew of was from the opening credits of the show (as Duncan composed the theme and the band performed it) but it is actually from the episode in which they appeared, playing along to "Working For The People." And proving that Trevor did have an actual speaking part (though this is not enough to judge his acting).
It had seemed fairly obvious to me that Duncan has had all this in his possession - as his brother Bill was employed with the SABC for many years - and I appreciate that he's allowing these videos to be enjoyed by everyone now.
For anyone wishing to view the footage from the band's televised appearances be sure to visit the new Rabbitt Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/rockrabbitt/
Another year, another birthday...and so on our favorite day I extend - as always - well wishes to Trevor on this 68th trip around the Sun. And to add to that polymath personality...a new role, that of grandpa, and we love to see it! I hope everyone plays at least one of the many Maestro masterworks today and feels as grateful as I do for the gift of his creativity and talent. All the best, all the time, though the years...
Here is a fan tweet with a very nice accompanying gif, displaying that signature headshake over several years.
I hope all my readers are safe and cozy during this holiday season, however you observe. Here are some recent finds...
The first one is from last year, I hadn't seen any mention of it on social media previously. Trevor's brother Derek appeared on the Where Are They Now program hosted by Cindy Alter. Alter is herself a well-known figure in the history of South African pop/rock as she was the leader of the all-girl band Clout who had a big hit in 1978 with their cover of "Substitute" (not The Who song, but rather by The Righteous Brothers) as well as overseas success in the UK. Cindy ended up working with Trevor later on in Los Angeles, though I don't believe anything from their collaboration was ever officially released.
This is a very interesting discussion regarding the Rabin family as well as Derek's explorations as a musician and then his shift into entertainment-related law as well as serving as Trevor's legal council, in addition to Cindy's own recollections of the time. I was amazed how alike Derek and Trevor sound in terms of their inflections, and they share a similar sense of humor as well.
Derek also provides yet another version of Trevor's development deal with Geffin, which adds a bit of specific chronology to the story in that the Asia proposition comes first (which he ultimately turned down although Geoff Downes has intimated they weren't interested either), and then the move to Los Angeles and period of songwriting for a possible album, which could be said to be the source of most of the material he then brought to Chris and Alan. So in Derek's version Trevor was dropped due to Geffin's lack of interest in the material he demo'ed at the time rather than refusing to join Asia. Derek does verify that Trevor was in talks with RCA for a deal when the call came from Chris.
For those craving even more Rabbitt tales, Duncan and Patric have also been guests on the program (which is a veritable cavalcade of ZA's popular music past) and so here are their episodes as well.
This year another Yes-related podcast debuted - Yesshifts - hosted by a father-son duo of Yes enthusiasts, and one of their episodes is specifically a discussion of what might have happened to YesWest if they had actually continued as Yes without Jon Anderson.
Uploaded to YouTube this month, Yes' appearance on Rockline in October of 1987 to promote Big Generator - all of the band is present for this interview.
And for anyone who might be interested, if you are a patron of the Have You SEEN This? podcast, I made two appearances recently with co-host Jen - to discuss the lesser-known 1987 films Siesta and Gothic (episodes 119 and 122). Those episodes are only available for Patreon members, and joining for only $2.00 a month is a great way to support an entertaining and insightful podcast about odd and obscure films! We are working on recording another Trevor-related episode for next year.
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].
With thanks to John Vehadija at The New Yesfans forum for calling my attention to this.
Spotted on YouTube: a truly unexpected find, newly uploaded on the YesLegacy channel...a version of "Would You Feel My Love" with lead vocal by Jon Anderson.
As I noted in my essay on 90124, Trevor had stated previously that Jon wanted to record this song during the period of time in which he came to join the project. As there is no provenance provided it is unknown if it was actually developed during the recording process, but Jon's participation meant that he wasn't merely adding on to existing songs but changing the character of the album at a fundamental level (his contributions to "Our Song" is another indicator). It would appear that Jon is singing to a band run-through (it is slightly longer than the version on 90124) as there are some subtle differences, although it could be that the version of the song included on 90124 is either genuinely a demo or an unused take. For example, Trevor's backing vocals can be heard although buried under the rest of the instrumentation, and Jon changes the phrasing just a bit, also repeating the first verse whereas Trevor does not.
However, it did not appear that even Jon was helpful in getting "Would You Feel My Love" to the final round.
