In 1967, a respected British band in the midst of enjoying its first hit single came to guitarist Robin Trower and asked if he’d like to join up.

He said, “Yes,” of course.

From the point of view of an American fan of British Invasion rock, this proposition might seem like one with no discernable downside.

A perusal of that aforementioned single, “A Whiter Shade of Pale,” might change your perspective, however. There are many impressive things about the song, but one of them is not the prominence of the guitar.

Procol Harum was a piano-and-organ-based band, not that there’s anything wrong with that. But if Trower was going to get widely described as a “guitar god,” as eventually occurred, it wasn’t going to be as a member of Procol Harum.

Trower performs at C2G Music Hall on May 5.

In a phone interview, Trower characterized the songwriting of Procol Harum founders, Gary Brooker and Keith Reid, as “very forward-thinking.”

“It was Gary and Keith who wrote those songs and I just added my bit on the guitar,” he said.

Trower was writing a lot of guitar-driven songs on the side that he knew would never be played by the band. Eventually, he decided to take his leave in 1971.

“I needed more room,” he said. “I had a lot to say I wanted to get on and say it.”

But the parting was amicable, Trower said, and he left with no regrets over how he’d spent the previous four years.

“I learned a lot from Procol Harum,” he said. “The band gave me tools I absolutely needed to move forward.”

In 1974, Trower achieved his first monster success as a solo artist: the album, “Bridge of Sighs.”

Critics compared his sound to that of the late Jimi Hendrix.

Trower said he didn’t really discover Hendrix’ music until after he died. Reid wanted to find a way to pay tribute to Hendrix on the band’s “Broken Barricades” album and Trower listened to all of his music in preparation.

Trower became an enormous fan, of course, but he said he didn’t consciously try to incorporate Hendrix’ musicianship into his own style of play – it just happened naturally.

“I can revisit songs now and think ‘Oh, yeah. There’s the Hendrix influence,’” he said. “But at the time, I was just writing songs. I wasn’t stopping to think about what might have influenced them.”

Some critics were less than enamored with the Hendrix echoes in Trower’s music, but Trower said it would be silly for any serious electric guitarist to try to ignore Hendrix.

The guitar god label is one that Trower shares with such countrymen and contemporaries as Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck.

Some so-called guitar gods might feel ambivalent about that tag, but not Trower.

“I think it is flattering,” he said, “because the people who describe you in this way tend to place you alongside your own heroes.”

It is rare in the 21^st century for a young axman to be granted this designation. Trower said he believes the guitar god era has come and gone.

“I can’t see younger musicians having the same inspiration as perhaps those of my generation had,” he said. “We were inspired by extremely gifted people. It may be that what musicians are being inspired by now is more second and third-hand.”

Guitar gods may have divinity in their playing, but many of them are known for deviltry in other areas of their life.

Trower is a relatively straight arrow. He doesn’t drink and has been married to the same woman for almost 50 years.

“We were married in ’68,” he said. “She was a very special lady. We both lived in the same town and we would run into each other in the sort of places where young people ran into each other back then.”

Trower, 71, is touring on extravagant praise for his latest album, “Where You Are Going To.”

Strong reviews are nice, Trower said, but he doesn’t count on them and never has.

“I’m making the records really for my own personal gratification,” he said. “If people like it, it’s great. It’s really great. But the most important thing to me is that I am happy with it.”