Allan Holdsworth. RIP. One of a Kind.

simeon said:
wow, that's a blast from the past, stef...i remember that tune and i remember being very impressed with your interpretation at the time. i think i might of had a go as well (can't remember now). it was on the old holdsworth forum, yes?
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thanks simeon , i don't remember , but i think that yes it was in the Holdsworth forum... i couldn't play like that now.music is my full time job, but i play 99% of the time pop/rock/funk, you don't play these kind of line there...

one thing i did'nt undertood is why Allan Holdsworth didn't used a vg88/8/99 , the sound in there was a bit closed of what he used for "synth" sound but without the midi pb/latency that he even had with the synthaxe..
BTW saw him play live , it was incredible
:-((
 
ah, but he did use the VG88! in fact the synth melody line on Downside Up, from the 16 Men of Tain album is that very sound! and there's quite a few clips on youtube from that period of him using it (look for Warsaw 1998 and Frankfurt 1997). when i saw him play in london in the late 90's, he was using then, too. some of the sounds from the 16 men album feaure harmonised chordal parts, where the harmony (parallel 5ths etc) was added by the VG
 
I listened to "The Un-Merry-Go-Round" and the Atavachron album yesterday.

I remember I first learned about Allan by reading Van Halen interviews. Eddie was one of my guitar idols when I was a teenager so I thought that if he was praising someone else in an interview they must really be something. He melted my mind, of course.
 
PumpkinKing86 said:
I listened to "The Un-Merry-Go-Round" and the Atavachron album yesterday.

I remember I first learned about Allan by reading Van Halen interviews. Eddie was one of my guitar idols when I was a teenager so I thought that if he was praising someone else in an interview they must really be something. He melted my mind, of course.
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Similar situation with me. A buddy (rock drummer) turned me onto Road Games and stated "Ed freaks out over this guy. Prepare to have your mind melted.". I've never missed an album since.

Speaking of Road Games, I found some old interviews about that period and learned a few things.

http://www.straight.com/blogra/5282...an-holdsworth-plays-vancouvers-soft-rock-cafe

http://www.jpost.com/Arts-and-Culture/Music/Fusion-rock-and-something-else
 
It's heartwarming to see the positive comments all over the internet, Holdsworth had such an influence on so many musicians, many more than realize it I'm sure.

It's even more meaningful, to me at least, that so many people talk about how he was such a humble person and his extraordinary gift didn't go to his head, and that it means so much to the people who admired him as a guitarist but were impacted by him as a person.
 
With a raised beer and a tear. RIP Allan.
Your notes will delightfully baffle guitarists forever!

I gave a small amount at 25k. But wow 100k. Glad his family won't have to worry about expenses.
 
Desperately sad news ... on multiple levels.

By all accounts a humble man who humbled legends. I hope his family come through this ok and 'the business' does something to honour his memory in a way that doesn't exploit him in death as it did when he was alive. I gladly contributed a small donation.

It was a keyboardist friend who first introduced me to the phenomenon that was Allan Holdsworth. This was way way back when I was just about able to play some early Whitesnake (as long as I wasn't standing) usually in the totally wrong neck areas and feeling very proud of myself.

My friend kept playing this weird stuff on his keyboard that he said took him months to get 'nearly' right after slowing the track down after recording it to an old Teac reel to reel 4 track at full speed and then clicking the half speed when playing it back to pick out the notes (an octave down). He said it was an Eddie Jobson solo and then told me I should listen to the LP as there was guitar in it too and we could learn some of the tracks .... the band being U.K.

60 seconds into listening to the album I was able to tell my friend I would not be even attempting to try learning the guitar parts! 30 or more years later that statement is still true too! (Though I can play standing up now) :)
 
Interesting and true story: I went to a show of Alan's at the Roxy in LA in mid 87? I was so excited to see him and to be in LA as I was going to GIT at the time. When we arrived, there were flyers on all the tables advertising for a band I never heard of that was having an album release party at the Roxy the following weekend. Well, the band that was on the flyers came into the AH show and sat right next to me. The one guy in particular from the band had this top hat on and BIG curly hair. Can you guess who the band is? Haha. Yes, it was Guns and Roses. I was talking to Slash! I asked him what style of music they were (because I never heard of them) and he told me they were into rock like Zeplin, etc.. well, I wished him and his band "Good Luck!" and the rest of the night was the most fantastic show ever. Amazing! Well, I think my "Good Luck" helped out that band Guns and Roses! At least I take credit for it :) lol. True story!
 
I also wanted to add that I find it interesting to hear how many of us felt this real connection to him on a personal level that isn't like other famous people passing. Maybe it's because music is such a spiritual and intimate experience and sharing in the experience of music is almost spiritual connection. Maybe it's because he was truly one of the most innovative and masterful guitarists on the planet and because we are guitarists, we feel an even deeper connection. Who knows why but I find it interesting indeed.

Simeon also mentioned something I've thought a lot about lately. In Africa, if an old man dies, they say "A library burnt to the ground.". If you think about the shear amount of knowledge and unique understanding of music and the guitar that Alan had, I can see that being true. A wealth of knowledge truly is gone with him.

Alan, I thank you for all your inspiration and unending beauty of expression that you've given me and my fellow guitarist/musicians throughout your life. RIP.
 
Dusted off Reaching for the Uncommon Chord tonight. I've owned this book since I was 14. It's still filled with the impossible for my tiny hands but I love the detail and background on each transcription.
 
iaresee said:
Dusted off Reaching for the Uncommon Chord tonight. I've owned this book since I was 14. It's still filled with the impossible for my tiny hands but I love the detail and background on each transcription.
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I still have my copy, stained from the day I spilled an entire cup of tea on it :(
 
Aside from UK, I confess I never got around to listening to his stuff. I actually first knew his name because when I got my Roctron Pro Gap (anyone remember that?) he had made some of the presets for it along with Steve Lukather.

What would be a good first essential album to start with?
 
grandinq said:
Aside from UK, I confess I never got around to listening to his stuff. I actually first knew his name because when I got my Roctron Pro Gap (anyone remember that?) he had made some of the presets for it along with Steve Lukather.

What would be a good first essential album to start with?
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Hmm... My "intro" album was Secrets. Metal Fatigue was pretty popular.
 
grandinq said:
Aside from UK, I confess I never got around to listening to his stuff. I actually first knew his name because when I got my Roctron Pro Gap (anyone remember that?) he had made some of the presets for it along with Steve Lukather.

What would be a good first essential album to start with?
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Depends on how far outside the box your tastes are already.

As unix-guy said, Metal Fatigue is a good introduction. It actually contains two tunes that, by AH standards, are pop/rock (Panic Station and In the Mystery). It is his most rock-oriented album, although songs such as Home are hard to categorize.

IOU is is first real album, and is very raw. It is essentially live three-piece jazz/fusion with few overdubs. I'm not sure if it is a good one to start with. Not having chord structure beneath the solos can make it a difficult listen for those who are new to him.

Road Games is also a good choice for starters. It's short and sweet, and has a bit more production value than IOU. Tokyo Dream alone is worth the price.

Atavachron was his first record to use the Synthaxe. The highlights guitar-wise for me would be Funnels, Looking Glass and Mr. Berwell. These solos blew my mind. The chords in the song Atavachron are like nothing I ever heard before.

Sand would be my choice for his use of Synthaxe. He used a breath controller to play it like a horn. And the solo on The 4.15 Bradford Executive is one of his best solos, and my personal favorite.

FWIW, Holdsworth "detested" UK. He thought that album was "crap". He said he absolutely hated the music and playing in that band. He didn't care much for his work in Bruford either. When you hear his solo work, you can understand why. It is a world apart from his work with those bands.
 
good suggestions, steady. pretty much everything is on youtube, so you could have a listen to some stuff before you commit to buy. there is a brand new best of album out right now, which is a double cd of tunes selected by allan himself. it's called "eidolon" and has a very nice tracklisting, imo. making suggestions is difficult, because as steady says, each album really has a different feel...and some of them may jive with you and some may not.
 
steadystate said:
Depends on how far outside the box your tastes are already.

As unix-guy said, Metal Fatigue is a good introduction. It actually contains two tunes that, by AH standards, are pop/rock (Panic Station and In the Mystery). It is his most rock-oriented album, although songs such as Home are hard to categorize.

IOU is is first real album, and is very raw. It is essentially live three-piece jazz/fusion with few overdubs. I'm not sure if it is a good one to start with. Not having chord structure beneath the solos can make it a difficult listen for those who are new to him.

Road Games is also a good choice for starters. It's short and sweet, and has a bit more production value than IOU. Tokyo Dream alone is worth the price.

Atavachron was his first record to use the Synthaxe. The highlights guitar-wise for me would be Funnels, Looking Glass and Mr. Berwell. These solos blew my mind. The chords in the song Atavachron are like nothing I ever heard before.

Sand would be my choice for his use of Synthaxe. He used a breath controller to play it like a horn. And the solo on The 4.15 Bradford Executive is one of his best solos, and my personal favorite.

FWIW, Holdsworth "detested" UK. He thought that album was "crap". He said he absolutely hated the music and playing in that band. He didn't care much for his work in Bruford either. When you hear his solo work, you can understand why. It is a world apart from his work with those bands.
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Thanks for the suggestions. My tastes can get a little out there, as I like a lot of prog rock like King Crimson, Gentle Giant and even some Area and Thinking Plague.

I read about Holdsworth hating UK (who I found because of the Crimson connection with Bruford and Wetton). Artists are often hard on their own work and Holdsworth from what I've read was particularly so.
 
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