{"id":1794,"date":"2011-05-21T03:16:05","date_gmt":"2011-05-21T03:16:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/shadowplays.com\/blog\/?p=1794"},"modified":"2011-05-24T13:24:05","modified_gmt":"2011-05-24T13:24:05","slug":"rory-days-an-interview-with-robin-sylvester-part-5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shadowplays.com\/blog\/?p=1794","title":{"rendered":"Rory Days: An interview with Robin Sylvester — Part 5"},"content":{"rendered":"Tweet<\/a>

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Robin Sylvester © Soundpress.net<\/a><\/center><\/div>\n

Robin Sylvester, bass player for Bob Weir’s RatDog, has been a fixture of the San Francisco music scene for so many years that one might understandably forget his substantial musical accomplishments in his own native England. In the late sixties, as the British Blues explosion rocked the pubs, clubs and concert halls of London Town, Robin was one of those lucky sods who witnessed it all, and much like his American counterparts who descended upon Yasgur’s farm in the summer of ’69, he can legitimately point to those heady times and say, “Yes, I was there!”<\/p>\n

Born in 1950 Post War London, Robin spent much of his youth singing with the London Boy Singers, a professional boys’ choir patronized by distinguished composer Benjamin Britten. The choir performed regularly at Covent Gardens, and even made an album of Christmas music at famed Abbey Road Studios. Although now primarily known as a bass player, Robin also plays keyboard and guitar. By the time he turned 15 he was playing double bass in a Jazz band called, the David Lund Trio, and then later, the folk-rock band ORA. In 1969 he started working as chief engineer at London’s Tangerine Studios, and for the next 5 years worked closely with some of the finest up and coming Jazz, Progressive Rock, and Blues bands of Great Britain — none finer, at least in this writer’s view, than Ireland’s favorite son, Rory Gallagher.<\/p>\n

Recently, I had a chance to ask Robin about those heady times in London where he witnessed first hand the great British Blues & Rock explosion \u2014 attending incredible shows at famed nightspots like the London Marquee, and recording aspiring musicians at Tangerine Studios. On the Fifth and final part of this interview, Robin talks about working on Rory Gallagher’s ill-fated San Francisco Sessions, and some final remarks on Rory’s legacy. You can read the previous parts of the interview here: Part 1<\/a> | Part 2<\/a> | Part 3<\/a> | Part 4<\/a><\/p>\n

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Part Five: San Francisco Sessions<\/h3>\n

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Shadowplays:<\/strong> After the album, Against the Grain, there was a big push by Chrysalis to have Rory produced by someone other than Rory himself, something that hadn’t been done since his Taste days.\u00a0 For his next album, “Calling Card” he chose Roger Glover of Deep Purple to produce, and that proved problematical, eventually remixing first with Elliot Mazer and when that didn’t work out, Chris Kimsey lent a hand. You weren’t involved with this album I don’t think, but you did get involved in the next album of Rory’s, at least the next attempt at an album, the ill-fated San Francisco sessions.\u00a0 Elliot Mazer was slated to produce this album. How did you get involved with this project?\u00a0 What were you doing at the time?\u00a0 Were you still in New York? <\/p>\n