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Trevor Rabin (born Trevor Charles Rabinowitz on January 13, 1954) is a South African guitarist and film composer, best known for his contributions to 90125 era Yes albums.
Early years
He is from a respected family of classical musicians in Johannesburg, South Africa. Educated in a Reform Jewish school, Trevor took formal piano training before discovering the guitar at age 12. His parents encouraged his talents toward rock music, although Rabin would continue to demonstrate a certain level of classical virtuosity throughout his career.
Trevor Rabin's early rock influences included Cliff Richard and the Shadows, the Beatles, and Jimi Hendrix. However, he dabbled with progressive and heavy rock, as evidenced by his first bands, The Conglomeration and Freedom's Children. The latter were older musicians whose songs questioned the South African government, especially its racial policy of Apartheid.
Although it would be overstatement to portray Trevor Rabin as an activist musician, he seems to have had strong sympathies with civil rights. His cousin, the late Donald Woods, was a newspaper editor and political activist who became close friends with Black Consciousness leader Steven Biko. Some of Rabin's more mature songs have expressed concerns for his home country. However, success in South Africa's music scene meant leaving the political message in the background. And so it was, with Trevor Rabin's first major recording group, Rabbitt (1974-1978).
Rabbitt began just prior to Rabin's term of military conscription in 1974. The group's first single, a bowdlerised cover of Jethro Tull's "Locomotive Breath," was a centerpiece of their hugely successful debut album, "Boys Will Be Boys," in 1975-76.
The band could be characterised as South Africa's answer to the Beatles. Others have made similar comparisons to Badfinger and The Bay City Rollers, which keyboardist Duncan Faure later joined. The four members of Rabbitt were considered handsome, and were often followed by teenage girls, in a "Rabbitt-mania," of sorts.
"A Croak and a Grunt in the Night" (1977) revealed slightly more ambitious compositions. Trevor Rabin also co-produced "Croak," winning a South African counterpart to the Grammy for his efforts. Unable to tour abroad because of continuing international disapproval of South Africa's Apartheid policies, Rabbitt disbanded in 1978.
Subsequently, Rabin recorded a solo album, "Beginnings," (1978) released in England as "Trevor Rabin".
The UK
By 1979, Rabin emigrated to Britain, where he began his career as producer and session player. Some of his prominent work included South African vocalist Margaret Singana ("Where Is The Love") and fellow expatriate, Manfred Mann and his Earth Band. Rabin still found time to record "Face to Face," touring England in support of Steve Hillage in early 1980.
Neither "Trevor Rabin," nor its follow-up succeeded commercially, although they enhanced his reputation for versatile songwriting and tasteful guitar melodies. With the advent of punk in the late '70s, Trevor Rabin began looking for more fertile ground for what would be characterised in the U.S. as AOR, album-oriented rock music.
With 1981's "Wolf," Rabin severed ties with Chrysalis Records. His third album featured some of his best guitar performances, and it benefited from the co-producer, Ray Davies of The Kinks. "Wolf" marked Rabin's collaboration with bassist Jack Bruce and drummer Simon Phillips, whose presence underscored Rabin's potential within a band format. However, Rabin would try out for several unsatisfactory permutations in England and America, including the the supergroup, Asia, featuring former Yes members Steve Howe and Geoffrey Downes.
Yes
However, Trevor Rabin met with bassist Chris Squire and drummer Alan White, who had experienced their own difficulties following the apparent demise of Yes. They began recording as Cinema in 1982, enlisting original Yes keyboardist Tony Kaye to complement their live performances. Producer Trevor Horn, lead vocalist on the last Yes album, Drama, took charge of the principal recording.
During his searching period, Trevor Rabin had written a catchy riff-oriented song that might have stood out anywhere. Trevor Horn seized upon "Owner of a Lonely Heart" as a potential single, but questioned whether Rabin should sing it. Rabin's voice, although very pleasant, never possessed dynamic qualities such as those of Jon Anderson, who was invited to rejoin Yes in 1983. Even so, Rabin's vocal harmonies remained an asset to the band's history, and he would share lead vocals with Anderson on several songs.
90125, taken from the Atlantic Records catalog number, sold more copies than any previous Yes album. This success was helped by the number-one smash, "Owner of a Lonely Heart," a melancholy reading by Jon Anderson, backed by Rabin's Kinks-inspired guitar riffs. MTV rotation of "Owner" and its tuneful follow-up "Leave It", carried 90125 to six million sales between 1983-85. Yes also received a Grammy for the instrumental "Cinema", which proved their sterling musicianship also remained a priority.
The band also toured behind the album, in a series of well-received concerts. In England and North America, some die-hard fans expressed their dislike of Trevor Rabin, now just 30, as a replacement for the more traditional Steve Howe. But, for Rabin's part, he had been reluctant to reform Yes. Moreover, many younger fans were introduced to the earlier Yes catalog because of the accessible 90125 album. Finally, it can be argued that Yes would never have made a comeback in the 1980s without Trevor Rabin.
In 1986, Yes began recording their next album with Trevor Horn, but the production became bogged down with artistic differences. Eventually, the "Big Generator" album debuted in 1987, with Trevor Rabin assuming studio control. But the album suffered from uneven production, and the singles "Love Will Find a Way" and "Rhythm of Love" were modest chart hits compared to 90125. Still, this album is considered more 'progressive' by Yes standards, and did sell two million copies, in what would be the band's last commercial success in the rapidly changing musical climate.
While Yes members, old and new, quarreled over the Yes name in the Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe controversy, Trevor Rabin completed his fourth and last to date solo album, "Can't Look Away", released in 1989. It featured lead single "Something to Hold On To," which garnered a Grammy for Best Music Video. But, apart from sporadic airplay, neither "Something to Hold on To", nor the anti-apartheid ballad "Sorrow (Your Heart)" managed to crack the fickle American charts. However, Trevor Rabin toured in 1989 with keyboardist Mark Mancina, marking their first collaboration in professional music. This tour, one of Rabin's favorites, has since been documented by the 2003 "Live in L.A." album.
In 1991, Yes reformed with a short-lived eight-man lineup under the "Union" album. However, Atlantic Records dropped Yes in favor of Canadian prog-rock band Rush. Arista, the label responsible for ABWH, took on the project. During the prosperous tour, Trevor Rabin shared the stage with Steve Howe, albeit with some tensions between the two guitarists. "Union" had only four songs with Trevor Rabin's credits, including the failed hit singles "Lift Me Up" and "Saving My Heart". However, Rabin's best work is represented by the lyrical composition "Miracle of Life", which sounded as if it could have been included with "Big Generator".
1992-93 marked a series of negotiations between the short-lived Victory label and the so-called Yes West. Phil Carson, responsible for Emerson, Lake & Palmer's comeback in 1992, invited the Yes 90125 lineup to record a third album. Because an outside producer fell outside of budget, Trevor Rabin took over production of "Talk", which used an innovative hard-disk recording method now in common use in many recording studios.
"Talk" featured the collaboration between Rabin and Jon Anderson, who had hitherto completed the last few albums after the principal writing. With the exception of a couple filler tracks, the album represents a fusion between old and new Yes. Despite the lineup's best performance on tour, the "Talk" album failed to sell as expected, because the AOR radio format had become moribund. "The Calling" failed to catch interest as single material, despite its vintage Yes stamp. No videos were made to promote the new album. Moreover, with the advent of on-line Yes fan networks, a strong anti-Rabin faction materialized in 1994-95.
Post-Yes
Following the 1995 tour, Trevor Rabin resigned from Yes to become a soundtrack composer. Billy Sherwood, a session guitarist and songwriter, replaced Rabin with his blessing. Thereafter, Steve Howe became the principal guitarist of Yes once again.
Trevor Rabin had served as guitarist-composer for one of progressive rock's flagship bands. Yet, after 13 years of recording, he only appeared on three and one half albums. This is indicative of the internal conflicts within the Yes camp, which did not go away with Rabin's departure. Within ten years, the band changed its keyboardists four times. Significantly, none of the later Yes albums have enjoyed much success, despite the return of the "classic" line-up. Their worldwide fan-base remains quite vital, however.
Significantly, Trevor Rabin has been a U.S. citizen since 1991. In 1996, he visited his native South Africa and performed Yes and Rabbitt songs during the Prince's Trust Concert. More recently, Trevor Rabin released demo versions of pre-90125 Yes compositions and solo work, entitled "90124."
Trevor Rabin's film work includes work with Mark Mancina, notably, the soundtracks for "Speed" and "Con Air." On his own, Trevor Rabin has scored several Jerry Bruckheimer action vehicles. His best scores to date remain "Armageddon" and "Remember the Titans". He has been married for two decades to Shelley Rabin, with one son, Ryan Rabin, who recently began his own promising career as a rock drummer in Los Angeles.
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