When you see footage of David Bowie in the early years all
eyes follow him and the musicians are often lost in the background. One was Mick
Ronson (gone at 46 from liver cancer). The other was the bass guitarist Trevor
Bolder and on a long weekend in Scarborough I went to visit him. Here I am at
his headstone which is in the grounds of a country hotel (I had to walk through
wedding celebrations to reach it.)
He was a
respected musician, songwriter and record producer. He is best known for his
long association with David Bowie and Uriah Heep but worked with many
professional musicians for forty years.
Trevor was
born near his final resting place in Hull and was absorbed by music as a boy,
first playing cornet in the school band. Aged 14 he was inspired by The Beatles,
formed a band with his brother and learnt to play the bass guitar. Soon he
joined The Rats which featured fellow Hull musician Mick Ronson on lead guitar.
Aged 21 he was asked to replace Tony Visconti in David Bowie's backing band. At
the time David Bowie was quite well-known however after the seminal albums The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the
Spiders from Mars, Aladdin Sane and
Pin Ups he became a cult. Though
Trevor worked on all these albums playing both bass guitar and trumpet he was
never comfortable with the glittery Ziggy Stardust persona and left the band.
Aged 26 he
joined Uriah Heep and then aged 31 he joined Wishbone Ash before playing again
for Uriah Heep. He played, toured and produced albums for decades and was
working until a year before his death. Word that Trevor was near the end of his
life spread and David Bowie called his old buddy on the Sunday shortly before
he died of pancreatic cancer. (they hadn’t spoken for years.) He died at 7:30pm
in the evening aged 62 at Castle Hill Hospital in Cottingham leaving a wife,
son and daughter.
The grave was
easy to find but was in an odd location – a church next to a country hotel. I
could tell there was a wedding party on when I crawled up the crunchy drive and
parked by the church: ladies in hats, men in formal suits, music. Being a
leader of fashion and always immaculately dressed I knew I would fit in and
walked up the side of the hotel with guests, crossed a croquet lawn then went down
a path to access the graveyard. From here I could see the wedding guests at the
rear of the hotel. It looked like the wedding service was over and the more
enjoyable part of a day was ensuing. Some chap was singing romantic slop on a
terrace and the grape was flowing. Strangely a man in red tractor was working
in one of the fields.
After I’d
finished in the churchyard I had to pass down the side of the lawn to return to
the car. The bride and groom were looking out across the scene they’d probably
spent months planning. I was going to strip naked and spin a 50m cartwheel
across the lawns just to make their day memorable but I didn’t want to mess up
my 14 hairs or lose my £2.99 hat.
________________________________________________________________________________________
Trevor is buried up this drive near
The Rowley Manor Hotel…
There was a wedding at the hotel
near the church…
Looking for Trevor…
The lady on the right could have
been my mum…
If you see a war memorial you’ve
just got to salute…