JAMES DEWAR : la voix des voix

Le chanteur et bassiste des premiers albums de Robin Trower.
J'ai trouvé ces textes sur le net ... pas grand chose de plus à rajouter

Tragically, James Dewar, best known as bassist and vocalist for Robin Trower and Stone The Crows, passed away on May 16, 2002. Dewar had been ill since a medical mishap in 1987. He was born on October 12, 1942.

In many people's opinion, James Dewar was one of the best vocalists in rock and roll, and while there are many who are not familiar with his work, legions of fans maintain that Dewar's rich, powerful voice was among the best. His talents as a bass player were also exceptional. Most people who are reading this will be Robin Trower fans, but to those who haven't heard James sing and play, I urge you to listen to any of the many albums he has performed on. IMHO, Dewar's voice was very similar to "Paul Rodgers'", but had a beefy, soulful timbre that set him apart from others. Needless to say, he was vastly underated, but his legacy of music proves without a doubt that he was one of the greats.



From: George Ross Watt
(Singer, guitar player with Big George and the Business, and The James Dewar Band)
An Epitath To A Scottish Legend:

The man who many have called “The Pavarotti of rock ‘n’ roll” died peacefully in his sleep on Thursday 16th May 2002 after a long illness.

Strangely, Jimmy’s career was not to begin with his vocal talents, but as guitar player with Lulu and the Lovers in the early 60’s. From that point on, Jimmy’s career was to flourish beyond all his expectations. Maggie Bell took him on board with the legendary “Stone the Crows” and the shy man’s voice was soon exposed on classics like “The touch of your loving hand”. Another young singer had exploded onto the music scene, but the best was yet to come.

Living in London with his wife Martha and their young family, he was approached by Frankie Miller. The two Glasgow buddies were having a small refreshment when out of the blue Frankie told Jimmy that “there might be a job going” with some guitar player called Robin Trower, that the music industry insiders were raving about. “What kind of job?” asked Jimmy. Frankie laughed and said, “Oh, I don’t know. Maybe playing bass, maybe singing”. Jimmy applied and got both jobs.

The Robin Trower Band became the hottest thing on the planet and introduced “Stadium Rock” to the U.S.A. Frankie was right! The R.T.B. were the first band to sell tickets by the hundreds of thousands. Gold and Platinum albums were thrown at them like frizbees.

Amongst James Dewars biggest fans were Frankie Miller, Billy Connolly, Donny Hathaway, Rod Stewart, not forgetting Maggie Bell and Lulu herself.

The famous Scottish screenwriter, Peter McDougall, still talks of his first experience of meeting Jimmy. When having a drink with Frankie, Peter noticed that the man standing next to him was clothed in snakeskin trousers, cowboy boots and not much else. “Who’s that?” Peter asked. Frankie replied “That’s James Dewar”. Peter howled, “ Well, I want to be one of them!”

It says it all. Everyone from Metallica to the Stereophonics were influenced by the voice of the Scotsman. The man the music industry recognized as the voice from heaven has finally gone home. We will all miss you James.

“The little guy with the big voice”



Si ce n'est peut être cela :

Incroyable voix proche de la perfection.


Rest in peace JAMES :

Et quand, au sein de Stone the Crows, il était associé à une autre immense voix, Maggie Bell.
La puissance de Maggie, le don sans jamais forcé sa voix de James : l'extase