March 22, 2009 – Reg Isidore was born on 4 April 1949 in Aruba, Netherlands Antilles. As is quite common in the Caribbean Islands, kids are sent abroad for their formal education, which is how Reg Isidore ended up in London.
Reg’s musical career started with the 1960’s soul scene and included stints with The High Tensions, The Rick ‘ n’ Beckers, Peter Green and the late great Richard Wright (Pink Floyd). In the early days he also played with Peter Bardens (Camel) for many years, then managed by Legendary manager John Schatt, who was building up his worldwide company the Filmpow Group.
As a musician however he was a rock drummer who became best known for his work with the Robin Trower Band. The band, consisting of Robin Trower (guitar), Jimmy Dewar (bass and vocals) and drummer Reg Isidore, formed in December of 1972 and played their first show in Vienna, Austria in February of 1973.
In an interview with ‘Sounds’ magazine (Feb23, 1974) Robin was asked how he and Reg initially met…..
“Reggie was the first drummer we auditioned – just one of those things really. Me and Jimmy Dewar were working together for about six weeks on material, and ideas on what we wanted the band to be like, and we said, well, we better think about getting a drummer, and Jimmy phoned Zoot Money, and Zoot suggested Reggie. Reggie came down for a jam and we played together for about ten minutes, and I said right, that’s it, you’re in , like it or not!”.
Reg Isidore played drums on the first two albums Twice Removed From Yesterday 1973 and the incredible Bridge of Sighs 1974, featuring Robin Trower and then left the band because of musical differences it was said. Reg, himself, felt restricted with the band and the direction it was heading. Robin made statements that Reg and Jimmy were “at odds” with each other on stage and it was becoming difficult for them to play together. Weighting the two players against each other the logical move was to get a new drummer, rather than finding a new bass player/vocalist.
Yet that’s exactly what happened eight years later when Reg joined forces with Robin to record ‘Truce’ with Jack Bruce. In 1997, Reg reunited with Robin for the ‘Someday Blues’ sessions in recordings, which were subsequently reissued, in part, on ‘Another Days Blues’.
His discography further shows following collaborations:
Peter Green – Blues for Dhyana (1998) – White Sky (1982) – Blue Guitar (1981) – In the Skies (1979)
Richard Wright (Pink Floyd) – Wet Dream (1978)
Jimmy Witherspoon – Love is a Five Letter Word (1975)
Peter Bardens – Vintage 69 (1976) – Write My Name In Dust (1971) – The Answer (1970)
Joe Jammer – Bad News (1973)
Snowy White – sessions 74-94 – Goldtop
In the years before his death, he jammed with his younger brother Guy, an accomplished guitarist in his own right, in local clubs and other venues.
Reg Isidore died from a heart attack in the morning of March 22, 2009. He was 59.
