On another thread here, I admitted that I heard Soft Machine's "Bundles" for the first time last week. Some of my PE buddies were shocked, knowing that I'm a Holdsworth fanboy. In my defense, I've never been the completist type; my list of albums I've never heard would be full of surprises to many members here. The very first time I heard "Holdsy" was on Tony Williams' Lifetime's "Believe It" and the only earlier album I've heard that he was on is Tempest, which I got several years ago and only listened to once... until yesterday. That one still strikes me as an odd album as far as the material goes and Allan doesn't get to stretch out much on it (though when he does take a solo, it's worth the wait). But he's all over "Bundles" and that's a fascinating listen, at least for me.
I think it has helped me to understand why there's a faction of folks here who like/love his early work as a sideman more than his own solo work; to put it as simply as possible, there was more ROCK in his playing. He bent notes (with his fingers, as opposed to whammy bar "swoops") and actually played some pentatonic blues/rock licks. And though he was still technically amazing early on, there was a certain appealing rawness to his playing. By the time he played with Tony Williams (about a year later, I think), he had already weeded some of those things out of his style. I believe he continued to evolve, but sometimes when a great player keeps moving forward, certain favorable things get lost. John Coltrane (Holdsy's idol) is a perfect example of that; he completely reinvented his style... and though I love much of what he evolved into, I missed some of the aspects of his playing he eschewed in the process.
Anyway, though I'll always prefer Holdsworth's solo albums to most of his work as a sideman (probably because I generally listen to more jazz than rock), I'm really enjoying his early work with Soft Machine too. He was a fantastic player then (as he still is), but like Coltrane, his style changed so much over the years that it's almost like listening to another (great) player!
What else have I missed from pre-'74 Holdsworth? Recommendations are most welcome!
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