This has been around awhile but it's still cool seeing Holdsy tearing up a Gibson SG.
This has been around awhile but it's still cool seeing Holdsy tearing up a Gibson SG.
no tunes, no dynamics, no nosebone
Saw this band live in 1974. Did not really know who Holdsworth was, but he was killer!
I'm not lazy. I just work so fast I'm always done.
Listening now, hell yeah, man, that's how to blow on a vamp!
just in case this goes to PM land
(will watch & listen later)
my music collection increased tenfolds when I switched from drug-addicts to complete nutcases.
Watching that, I kept thinking what the hell happened to Jenkins between Nucleus and this?, but then he really gets going on oboe about 2/3 of the way in. I still wonder why he dropped the woodwinds altogether in the later years. I wonder if working with Boyle in the NDR Jazz Workshop session was what made them decide to add a guitarist for the rest of the band's lifetime?
Did anyone on that stage (apart from maybe Babbington and Marshall) look like they wanted to be there?
That's the Canterbury "matter of fact" manner.Originally Posted by Dave (in MA)
It's interesting to hear how much Holdsy evolved from the previous year when he was in Tempest.
Never got into the album of his I had, but those albums he did with others in this period- 'Bundles', 'Believe It', 'Feels Good To Me', 'One Of A Kind' etc.- are all great.
The Wyatt and Etheridge era SMs (incl. Legacy) seemed to be having a pleasant time on stage from what I've seen, not to mention other groups like NH & H&tN.
Speaking of Tempest, that first Tempest album is unbelievably good IMO. I guess Holdsworth is happier playing on his own, but my favorite stuff from him is within bands like Tempest or Bruford or UK.
[Yikes]
I don't really hear what I consider his signature sound until his stint with Tony Williams.
Tempest is probably my favorite of his work. With a harder edge and no other harmonic instruments surrounding him, I think you hear his overall best.
Great stuff. I love that Bundles album.
The first Tempest album is OK, but no more.... except for that amazing closing track (and Holdsy's violin)... However, I really don't find much interesting with the following LIF
Last edited by Trane; 03-13-2014 at 08:47 AM.
my music collection increased tenfolds when I switched from drug-addicts to complete nutcases.
Really? He sounds unmistakably like Allan Holdsworth to me on that Soft Machine video. And he made his first album with Tony Williams Lifetime the following year.
His sound is cleaner (less distorted) here than with TW.
Its the same guitar, but he changed amp to a Marshall plexi and got a much more overdriven sound that could perhaps make him sound more fluid & faster with TW.
But no, I actually think he improved tremendously in those years. A steep curve.
I loved his work with Bruford and UK, but I didn't care much for Tempest. The only thing I really like about that first album is the novelty of hearing Holdsy use a wah wah pedal.
I know it's not a popular opinion around here, but as much as I love most of his work as a sideman, I think his best work is on his own albums.
I think he continued to evolve over the decades, as amazing as he was in the '70s. But his overall concept was fully formed way back then.
For me, the solo material I am familiar with is 'music for other musicians'. Too complex for me.
The Tempest debut is terrific IMHO...it almost follows on from where Cream left off, I think.
Well being a musician myself, I guess I'm not qualified to dispute that. I don't think you have to be a musician to enjoy his (or anybody's) music, but I suppose it doesn't hurt.
I'm not a musician and I've been a fan of Holdsworth since the first UK album came out.
It wasn't meant critically, just that I think you get much more out of the complexity of his music if you understand where he's coming from.Well being a musician myself, I guess I'm not qualified to dispute that. I don't think you have to be a musician to enjoy his (or anybody's) music, but I suppose it doesn't hurt.
Well, being a musician myself, I guess I'll go against the curve that seems to be trending and say that I prefer his work within a band context.
I also think his "sound" was established very early. The fact that he dialed it in a bit more or used a bit more distortion with NTWL doesn't change the fact that certainly by '72 his sound was in place with Nucleus. Tempest brought out a more hard rock component which I think suits him well. He sounds more inspired when riffing in Tempest. And he was using quite a bit more distortion with Tempest than he did later with Soft Machine. To me, Tempest is the blueprint for his best overall work.
As a soloist, he's basically peerless. Only Ollie Halsall was in similar territory and I suppose preceded him. Still, even on the Iginbottom album from 1969, Holdsworth's signature sound is brewing. In fact, his sound is so unique that whatever band he is in, that approach arguably defines a good deal of the group's sound while he is there. Whether this is good or bad, well ... I suppose that is up to the individual listener. Overall, I'm more of a Halsall guy myself, but Holdsworth is just a brilliant, brilliant lead player.
Always prefer his stuff as a sideman with bands, particularly the older stuff. Exception: the album he did of standards with Gordon Beck. (How Deep is the Ocean? et al).
Is his synth axe dead yet? Please let there be no more repair parts for that monstrosity any more, pretty please. Time to give it a proper burial by unceremoniously chucking it over the boat and into the drink.
I also think he's better in a band context.... Never had any kind of "wow factor" on his solo stuff...
my music collection increased tenfolds when I switched from drug-addicts to complete nutcases.
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