I'd agonised over this choice. I had it down to three and then another selection helped me decide.
Not many know of Robin Trower. Still fewer have probably heard of James Dewar who sings and plays bass on this song.
it's difficult to know why some incredibly talented people can slip through the net of fame and recognition, whilst so many that are mediocre at best go on to have glittering careers.
Fender Guitars know his worth. He's one of those players that's been honoured with his own custom model. I think seeing one in their shop in Tokyo also played a part in this choice.
Trower was a contemporary of some of the guitar 'greats' like Eric Clapton. I'd happily argue that he's far more worthy of that title than 'slow hand' and many others.
He almost formed a band with local-ish lad Wilko Johnson, but his academic ambitions took him to university, leaving Trower to form his first band,The Paramounts. He got his break when another Southend resident and Paramounts member, Gary Brooker, invited him to join Procul Harum.
Trower felt constrained by the group and left to plough his own furrow with the trio we have here.
He's been the victim of Hendrix-copyist jibes for years. They're unfair.
I know I'm about to lapse into muso-speak, but there's something beautiful about the sound Trower produced and how he plays. It's thick and rich. Loads of sustain, always on the edge of overdriving into feedback and distortion.
It's a 'big' sound.
Dewar is another that is criminally unknown. He's been described as having the best 'blues rock' voice ever. He died at 59 and the world had to wait two decades for his solo LP, Stumbledown Romancer, to be released. Trower described the day he met Dewar as 'probably the luckiest day of my life'. He wasn't wrong.
Reg Isadore, who plays drums on this, ticks every box a drummer should. One of those who knows it's not what you play sometimes, but what you don't. Trower gets that too.
I've posted the studio version, but the real gem that brought me to the song and then to Trower was the OGWT performance. It's one of those that I watch again and again and again. It never gets old.
It takes it time as a song. Put on some headphones and let it all wash over you.

Trower is still making albums and still touring at 80 years of age. More power to him.