Paisley in 2010

 

Yours truly with the beautiful and charming Lisa Dewar.

Looking back on 2010, I can honestly say that coolest thing I did was fly to Glasgow and spend some time with Jimmy's daughters Wendy, Laura and Lisa (and their extended families). It was great fun having a few drinks, swapping stories and feasting on a nice home-cooked meal at Laura's house in Paisley. Lisa and her fiance David were gracious hosts and I got a first rate tour of Glasgow before sitting down to a fantastic dinner at one of several great downtown restaurants. 

There is not really a lot that I can pass on from this experience other than these are all great folks and I am privileged to know them. Jimmy loved his family and it's easy to see why. CK

Signs of intelligent life......

Many of us in this tiny group of holdouts [who love great rock from the Trower era] wonder "aren't there any more of us?". No matter how strong your convictions for these musicians and their music, you would not be human if you did not feel like a scientists staring into space, wondering if there was intelligent life out there. In this case however, the great unknown is earth and the prognosis is bleak. In a sea of contrived, vocorder-laden, computer garbage, one can feel very alone with his/her precious Trower collection.

Like a scientists scouring space through a telescope, I search the Internet through Google, Bing, and any other web tool I can find, in hopes of discovering a photo, a story or a recording and it can be discouraging. Recently, when I was wondering if that is all there is, "Ian" posted a tip in the Guest Forum for me to check out www.britrockbythebay.com. What a tip it was.

Four guys named Michael Collins Morton, David Miller, Gary Hodges and Dan Curry have a blog-style website paying homage to their favorite '70s rock bands. Low and behold, there we find stories and photos of two different San Francisco concerts played by RTB at Winterland on November 3, 1973 and May 25, 1974 respectively. David, Dan, Gary and Michael reminisce and, do a pretty decent job of taking us back to that experience so many years ago. As enjoyable as their stories may be, the photos are the greatest treasure as they are previously unreleased shots of Jimmy (and maybe Robin although I have not inquired). The shots are mostly black and white with a few color shots and most are good resolution and nicely captured.

I urge anyone who loves '70s rock and especially the Robin Trower Band to visit this site. David has been kind enough to grant me permission to post his shots of Jimmy on this website and, just to wet your appetite, you will find one below.

Look for many more of David's photos to come but for now please enjoy this one and stop by "Brit Rock By The Bay"

I will post more Jimmy photos from David's archive as time allows. CK

John Platania remembers the making of "Stumbledown Romancer"

John Platania on stage.

Our dear friend Richard Devlin pulls through once again getting the very talented guitar wizard John Platania to reminisce about his brief encounter with Jimmy during the making of Stumbledown Romancer. Normally John is recording and performing with Van Morrison but his resume also includes other world-class recording artists including Randy Newman, Bonnie Raitt, Judy Collins and Natalie Merchant. Many thanks to both Richard and Mr. Platania.

CK

I flipped over Jimmy's voice the moment I first heard him. I think it was on Robin Trower's first solo album -"Twice Removed From Yesterday". His voice affected me as much as Robin's playing & that's saying a lot.
 
Man what is it about Glasgow? Besides Jimmy, some other really soulful mothers came out of that tough city - like Davey Pattison & Frankie Miller to name just a couple. Maybe the water?....probably the scotch. But for me, Jimmy was at the top of that mountain.
 
Bottomline, there's only one way to describe his voice.....soulful.....effortlessly soulful. Jimmy was a completely unaffected & natural soul singer.
 
Almost as tragic as his untimely passing is how underated he was & sadly still is. As far as I'm concerned he's right up there with best & I've played guitar for a couple of the best.
 
Speaking of which, it was at the end of a Van Morrison tour back in '80 or '81 - I think - when Wullie Roche -  part of Van's stage production team back then - approached Daoud Shaw, David Hayes & myself and asked if we'd be interested in cutting a few tracks for James' solo album. I for one didn't have to think twice.
 

So every night for the next few nights or so we grabbed a taxi from Central London to Matthew Fisher's studio in Croydon to record some songs that ultimately became part of, what I believe, Jimmy's only solo album - "Stumbledown Romancer". 

The sessions, as I recall, were fun & truly relaxed. What a great great time we had! What, with the quiet genius of Matthew Fisher producing & engineering, a constant flow of tea, great songs and of course with Jimmy's voice delivering them - how could it not be?`
 
So, God bless you Jimmy....may you rest in peace. It was a honor to have known you for that short while & a privilege to have played guitar for you all those years ago.
 
   

John Platania

The 8th anniversary of his passing.

Eight years ago today on May 16, 2002 the world lost a man who's contributions to rock music may never fully be realized. Jimmy was the King of the art during the peak of the genre. It would seem that most top professionals admit that he was the best of the best. James Dewar and his music are with me always in my ears and in my heart. Running this website, hearing from the fans and knowing Jimmy's remaining family members are a great privilege for me. Thanks to all. Carl

How about some new photos?

Above you can see some new vector art that I have created from a stunning photo taken by Jim Summaria. Jim is one of several generous people to donate photos for use on this site. Please help keep jimmydewar.com vital by checking your old concert shots for any images of Jimmy. They have to be out there, we just need to find them. Thanks for your support! Carl