Pat Travers: Under the radar


hunter60
Humble student
Joined: 06/12/05
Posts: 1,579
hunter60
Humble student
Joined: 06/12/05
Posts: 1,579
01/03/2013 12:30 am

Travers (3rd from left), with the group Azmyth


So how is it when one of the most noted metal guitarists to ever come down the pike, namely Kirk Hammett, says that you are one of his favorite guitarists ever and yet so many music fans barely recognize your name? That’s a question that only Pat Travers can truly answer. For a time in the 70’s Pat Travers was considered by many to be one of the best rock / blues rock guitarists around and it was a space in music that he held for a number of years before his star, at least on a national stage began to fade.

Born on April 12th 1954 in Toronto, Canada, Patrick Henry Travers was not particularly interested in music at least until he saw the Beatles on Ed Sullivan. In an interview with TVD, Travers said that after seeing the performance he said “Man, that’s what I want to do!”. He picked up the guitar at the age of 12 but he became obsessed with mastering the instrument after seeing Jimi Hendrix play at an Ottawa festival in 1968. It was a mind-blowing experience and one that set him off a course that he would follow through out his life. He studied the chops of Hendrix (of course), Clapton, Beck and Page and took to it naturally. Within a year he began to pay his dues in local Quebec bar bands like Music Machine, Red Hot and Merge.

While playing in Merge Travers was noticed by Canadian rockabilly and 50’s rock and roll purveyor named Ronnie Hawkins. (You may remember Ronnie Hawkins as the man who more or less loosely assembled the pieces of The Band together). During his time with Hawkins, Travers spent a great deal of time working on is rhythm playing and developing his unique style for always seeming to find the right ‘groove’. Travers continued to hone his skills while on the road with Hawkins but by May 1975 he decided that if he was going to conquer the world with his music, he needed to do it from London. With basically nothing more than his guitar and a change of clothes, the young Travers took off for London (following the path of his idol Hendrix).

Shortly after arriving in London Travers secured some studio time and recorded his demo that found its way to Polydor Records. Polydor jumped at the chance and signed Travers to a recording deal. In 1976 they released the debut album (which Pat had recorded with Peter ‘Mars’ Cowling on bass and Ray Dyke on drums- talented musicians that would appear over and over again with Travers for various projects). The album did well as it revealed the range of the young Travers from the brutal ‘Makes No Difference’ to his showy cover of the J.J. Cale tune ‘Magnolia’ to what has become his signature tune, the old blues standard ‘Boom Boom (Out Goes The Lights)”.

Looking to capitalize on the debut, Polydor and Travers released two albums in 1977, ‘Making Music’ and ‘Putting It Straight’. The former being a blues-rock power plant that dovetailed nicely with the debut. However the latter was more subdued with Travers spending more time on the keyboards and vocals (and, much to his growing fan bases chagrin – some saxophone). By the early part of 1978, punk rock had gained some serious momentum in Europe and was beginning to bleed over to the American markets. Travers knew that it was time to head for the U.S. shores to continue his assault on the record business so he packed up and headed to Florida. By the time he hit the Florida shores in 1978 he added drummer Tommy Aldridge and guitarist Pat Thrall.

The first release back in the US was 1978’s ‘Heat In The Street’. Travers and bands star was still burning bright and in 1979 they took off back to Europe to open for Journey on a tour of the U.K. and Europe. A live recording from this tour was released as ‘Go For What You Know’. An immediate studio follow up was released under the name of ‘Crash and Burn’. It was a different sound as Pat took more of front man approach doing vocals and keyboards and letting Pat Thrall perform the guitar pyro techniques. Sadly the album failed to strike with his growing fan base. By 1980 Thrall and Aldridge had left the band to pursue other avenues so the Pat Travers band was back to a three-piece outfit. But even scaled back they continued to record and tour. In 1984 Polydor dropped Travers from their label citing poor sales numbers for his latest recordings. Travers, not one to shy from a fight with the labels, filed suit and won forcing Polydor to allow him to record one more record for their label. The result was ‘Pearl’, which many fans consider being his strongest studio effort, but it too failed to sell. Travers blamed Polydor for sour grapes and poor studio support for the album’s weak numbers.

The experience was enough to keep Pat from recording for the next six years although he and the band wore holes in the shoes from a near constant touring schedule. He didn’t record again until the 90’s when he released ‘School Of Hard Knocks’ and the live disc (and accompanying video) of ‘Boom Boom; Live At The Diamond Club’.

In 1992 Travers returned to his blues-rock roots by signing with Mike Varney and Blues Bureau International label. His first release was titled ‘Blues Tracks’, covers of blues tracks done with the Pat Travers straight down the pike blues-rock treatment. Over the next six years Travers released four blues tinged discs for the label. 1998 saw the release of ‘Blues Tracks 2’.

The new millennium saw Travers form up a new 4-piece band with guitarist Kirk McKim, bassist Rodney O’Quinn and Sean Shannon and drums. The new outfit recorded ‘Fidelis’ for Alexus Records showing that time and a career on the fringe has not dampened his skills for screaming rock and roll.

Travers has not stopped. Hell, he hasn’t even slowed down. In 2001 he toured with Jeff Watson (Night Ranger), Tom Keifer (Cinderella) and Rick Derringer as part of the Voices of Classic Rock Tour and in 2003 recorded under the name of P.T. Power Trio and has ben touring since.

So despite the fact that Pat Travers has been flying under the radar for the last thirty years, he IS still flying. Going back to the question I was thinking about at the start of this, how does this happen? Well this quote from Pat himself may answer it better than anything else. “I’m just gonna be doing the stuff that I really enjoy doing. I’m not gonna attempt to be current in any way other than the fact that people will like what I’m currently doing”. Some times being true to yourself can be costly but for some it’s price they don’t mind paying.
[FONT=Tahoma]"All I can do is be me ... whoever that is". Bob Dylan [/FONT]
# 1
RAMZ-47
Registered User
Joined: 05/19/10
Posts: 3
RAMZ-47
Registered User
Joined: 05/19/10
Posts: 3
03/21/2013 5:54 pm
1978/79 I was 15years old, at the L.A. Forum CA.
Pat opened for Richie Blackmores Rainbow...
They were a three piece band and they ROCKED THE HOUSE!!!!
Pat came onstage with a white Gibson Double Neck and never put it down..
He played the hole gig with that guitar. WOW, I had a new respect for this guy.
Pat did his job that night, he worked the crowd into a frenzy with his riffs and dancing and when Richie came out we were ready to rock!!
He never hit the big time but for this 15 year old kid "who would go on to see
many concerts his life time" he set the bar and he put it high..
I am old enough too say "I got to see Richie Blackmores Rainbow".
I can also say that "I got to see Pat Travers at the top of his game" and he left a mark in my spirit and on my soul.
ROCK ON PAT.. RAMZ.
# 2

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