On 21st May 2013, legendary rock bassist Mr. Trevor Bolder lost his battle with pancreatic cancer at the age of 62.
To many people, Bolder will be best remembered as a member of David Bowie’s Ziggy era band The Spiders From Mars, playing on 1972’s ‘Ziggy Stardust’ and ‘Aladdin Sane’ and 1973’s covers album, ‘Pin Ups’. His presence on such classic albums would be enough to secure him a place in the rock history books, but to hard rock fans, Bolder is equally known for bringing his powerful musicianship to Uriah Heep, appearing on twelve of the seminal band’s studio albums between 1977-2013, stepping out for a brief stint as bassist for Wishbone Ash in 1982.
Although casual listeners are only seemingly aware of Heep’s 1970-74 output, in the years which followed, the band churned out a string of great albums, despite shifting line-ups. The band’s 2011 studio recording ‘Into The Wild’ ranks among the veteran band’s very best, with Bolder contributing several meaty bottom end riffs.
The man who once sported giant silver sideburns will be missed from Heep’s ranks, having served the band well for longer than most. Real Gone remembers Trevor with two live sets – the first recorded in 1990 and released on VHS (but sadly missing from the DVD catalogue) and a second fan filmed gig capturing the band in 2012 at a show in Lviv, Ukraine during the ‘Into The Wild’ tour. Although the quality of the latter is wobbly, the power of Trevor’s bass sound comes across well in places.