Robbie McIntosh
Guitar
‘He plays guitar as well? I thought he was dead!” was Simon Wood Harris’ first answer when Robbie McIntosh’s name was mentioned. You have to remember, Simon is OLD and he was thinking about the Average White Band drummer of the same name. But he was right. AWB Robbie had passed away in 1974 (aged only 24) but as far as we were aware, he did not play the guitar.
The Robbie McIntosh that everyone was talking about was of course the driving groove behind so many of the world’s top bands and artists - Talk Talk, Paul McCartney, John Mayer, Pretenders (you will know his Telecaster solo on “Middle of the Road”), Roger Daltrey, Norah Jones, Eric Bibb, Joe Cocker, Daryl Hall, Nine Below Zero, Tears for Fears, Paul Carrack, Paul Young, Heather Small, Chuck Berry, Sinead O’Connor, Tom Jones, Mark Knopfler & Tori Amos.
Like Spencer Cozens, Robbie has been present on several of the Unidentified Flying Project’s tracks including ‘There Is A Dream’, ‘Weather & Time’ & ‘Kiss the Sun’. Robbie is quite simply the nicest, friendly and most humble person you could ever choose to meet. At every session, he gives absolutely everything, absorbing, giving, guiding, immersing and most importantly, really getting inside the bones of each track and fellow musicians to drag out a whole world of surprises. He really gets it.
Robbie states his influences include Chet Atkins and was grounded by the likes of Freddie King & Stevie Ray Vaughn. His blues & R&B influences come out in much that he does but at the same time, moves seamlessly into so many genres - and he completely owns the space he moves into. ‘Robbie has been a real anchor for me during so many of the sessions. Sometimes, I would be wondering where the magic was going to come from and time and time again, Robbie always has an idea, a vision and an input which surges the whole process forward. When it comes to choosing which take I want to keep that Robbie has done, my answer is usually wanting to have 6 versions of the track rather than having to choose one of Robbie’s takes’ says Simon.
Robbie plays on ‘There Is A Dream’, ‘Because They Say So’, ‘Weather & Time’ & ’Kiss The Sun’
The Unidentified Artist Tapes: Robbie McIntosh
In this interview, Robbie McIntosh gives an insight into the Unidentified Flying Project sessions. Recording as a band like that, is one of the most enjoyable things being in this business, Robbie says.