I'm happy to see more Allan Holdsworth related videos on RU-vid this man was a genius and very underappreciated he should have been bigger famous huge star
@@SamoSalamonMusic His tunes on the self titled album just kill me! Dense Dance, and Got Tuh B. I'm still blasting this stuff in the car thirty years later!
That was probably the most in depth description by Gary I heard about his time with Allan. Thanks to Samo for bringing this out, and thanks to Gary for sharing his memories, and for the wonderful playing he brought to Allan's music. For the record, Gary plays on three separate Holdsworth releases: 1.) "The Un-Merry-Go-Round" from the Metal Fatigue album, which is half that record, as Gary states. It really is several tunes baked into one, and Allan called it a suite, which he dedicated to his father Sam, who used to be a professional pianist at some point, and who was his first music teacher. 2.) "None Too Soon", which is an album of jazz standards. Gordon Beck really has a big part in making that record happen, as he suggested several of the tunes, and even helped provide some of the arrangements. The entire album features Gary and Kirk, with that lovely bass feature on "Very Early". 3.) A lesser known track by the same lineup was released on the album "Guitar Tribute To The Beatles", an album produced by Mike Mainieri if I recall correctly. It's Gordon's arrangement of the Beatles tune "Michelle", and Allan plays ripping solo on that one. It could easily have been included on "None Too Soon". (Trivia: Gordon actually also recorded an arrangement of that tune way back in 1968 on his album "Experiment With Pops" which featured John McLaughlin on guitar.)
There is still a Beatles tune on None Too Soon, Norwegian Wood. I once interviewed Gary and we talked a lot about the NTS album, but somehow he never mentioned the musicians hadn't recorded together. That's quite a shocking news since the band seem to gel together like crazy, like in a live situation.
There's a marked difference between Allan's sublimely developed studio solos and the hit and miss results of his live improvising. He tended to overplay live and definitely knew it. However technically amazing his live playing was, it almost always lacked the careful focus and delicate lyricism that he could deploy in the controlled atmosphere of The Brewery. Live was not an easy environment for him. Always uneasy and unnecessarily apologetic. He probably cared too much about other people's opinions. Even positive comments were too intense to him. I had the good luck of visiting him at his place in 98. We listened in awe to Joe Pass' "Catch Me" and he seemed most comfortable dissecting other musicians. And boy... did he have an opinion about everybody! Very funny and charming after a few pints! One of a kind playing always comes from one of a kind brains....
There isn't miss results in his live improvising, i mean that maybe he had bad nights, but everyone has one of them. He was a great visionary, a brilliant virtuoso, a great composer (some of his songs are beautiful), and a great improviser. I read in an interview that he didn't like too much the life on tour at some career point, maybe this could be one of the reasons of some difficulties (with financial problems and maybe other). In some live (there are many videos here) he play with such inspiration. I mean that your opinion can't be considered like a thing that happened always, there isn't difference in his solo development between live and studio
I don’t think Allan was often comfortable playing live e wasn’t a show off frontman and nerves had an affect on him I love some of his more emotional solos house of mirrors Joshua Allan qui etc and the precision of point of no return tullio etc difficult for him to achieve live
My band was setting up to play the Swallows Inn in San Juan Capistrano and Allen Holdsworth was at the bar with someone and my other guitarist made me go say hi. He was very kind and we talked about his Carvin endorsement and I had played his namesake guitar there but just bought a different model. I was glad I got to meet him. I'm glad I didn't try complementing his guitar playing but he did turn down an invitation to sit in with us.
Gary Willis is the Bruce Willis of music - An action star ! Imagine the STRESS of being the sub for THE Jimmy Johnson, the BEST friggen' bass player on the planet. That being said, Gary Willis's playing on METAL FATIGUE is legendary.
I loved Alan’s music. He was one in a trillion. And I get Gary’s description about Alan RESPONDING to recorded tracks while recording his own soloing. And that does take once e-bike talent. However, IMO, that is LESS than what it could have been. The actual human interaction in REAL TIME, for me, is the very deepest aspect of true improvisation. And I mean NO disrespect to Alan. He was unbelievable. I worked with Wayne Shorter for over 25yrs and know that the deepest shit, happens in the moment. Just my opinion. Would have loved to have had Alan record with Wayne. Both on to higher levels.
@@SamoSalamonMusic and I had the privilege of being one of his students back at BIT in the late 80s. My three finger right hand style has no relationship with his. He's a virtuoso pariah.
He is so unique. I must confess I learned absolutely nothing from him concerning the right hand technique. But I do remember him throwing a few candy bars at me as a reward for getting intervals correct during ear training class. Great memories...
Thank you for putting this, Samo. It’s nice to hear about Gary speaking like that, you know, you found information about Allan found Kirk's drum style a little bit noisy, lol. Allan was so incredible.
Clearly Allan was VERY concerned about how he would come across to his critics (real & imagined) playing jazz standards. He wanted complete control of that shit and how he came across. You can believe that easily, if you knew how Allan was about this "jazz or rock" problem that plagued him til his dying day. I love his music...
I saw Allan for the first time on that tour. With Gary Husband on drums and Paul (not John) Williams on vocals. The music was mostly compositions from I.O.U. and the Road Games EP.
You put notes, math formulation, and also statistics, then it would be Allan's music. Amazing legend. Glad to ever witness his music and career. RIP Allan.
..........that was a great Allan Holdsworth story.......very accurate about Allan sensitivity about his playing......he hated complements on his playing.........you better not do it...he was his biggest critic........even though he's playing the greatest solo's of all times song after song....but as member of the band you had to pretend he didn't just play a solo from outer space ...he wanted you to concentrate on your own playing..........
Always enjoy your work, Gary. But Mr. Williams first name was Paul Williams, the same as the Pop singer/songwriter…, but very different talented individuals of vastly differing styles. We ALL do make those name mistakes as our years pass. But Paul Williams of Tempest/Holdsworth band fame deserves a correction acknowledgment. RIP Paul.♥️🎶🎙️
I had a few pints with Allan back in the '90s. Same story. Me: You played great man! Allan: No I didn't - it was horrible. I couldn't hear meself... He didn't get angry or anything but the tone of his voice and body language indicated to me that this wasn't just polite modesty - he was genuinely stressing about it. I'm sure there wasn't much of a budget for "None Too Soon" but some benefactor should have stepped up and provided a better facility with a real piano and it would have been great if Allan could have calmed down enough to play live with the band - solos and all. It ended up being little better than Allan blowing over an Aebersold play-along. Not putting down any of the fine musicians that played on it but that record needed interaction with the rhythm section. I'm sure Allan's fans would be forgiving of a couple of clams.
Since Allan didn't like compliments, it would've been interesting to see his reaction if one of his long-time sidemen had told him after a concert, "Oh, man, your playing wasn't that great tonight. You definitely need to work on it some more."
@@garrytodd4712 hey garry...sure - available on these three releases: samosalamon.bandcamp.com/album/punk-you samosalamon.bandcamp.com/album/keis-secret samosalamon.bandcamp.com/album/free-sessions-vol-1-planets-of-kei
I saw Alan only once, an experience I will never forget. I was about 6 feet away in a small club where Chad Wackerman was playing drums and the bassist who's name I cannot recall was absolutely stellar. I was thunderstruck by all three musicians. Alan was beyond brilliant. When I went up to the bar to talk to him Alan was so neurotically self deprecating, I could not believe that someone who had just performed at the absolute pinnacle of world class virtuosity was wallowing is self hating inferiority. I told him to get a grip, that he was great and needed to seed himself as he truly was.
I believe it was a psychological coping mechanism for him. I mean, in his early days he was still getting it together and indeed did make clams and be a little sloppy here and there. But then later (1990s) his playing got so clean and amazing, and he was getting so many accolades that I think he reacted by having "impostor syndrome" and didn't really believe he was very good. And once he was stuck in that psychological place with regard to his own playing, he couldn't get out of it.
Interesting to hear that he had tension w/ Paul (not John) Williams. When I listened to the 1st Tempest album (which came out in 73) with Holdsworth and Williams on vocals, I hated his singing and viewed it as the foulest kind of pollution possible. I was surprised (and disappointed) that A.H. used him on his early solo albums several years later. I don't hate the Paul Williams vocals as much as I used to, but figured Holdsworth must have really liked what Williams had to offer since he went back to using him in a whole new band for at least a couple of albums years after Tempest disbanded.
Yeah, I get the Paul Williams vocal thing you’re talking about. I did notlike it very much in the beginning. But then, when I heard some of from the vault recordings with other singers, it sure made me appreciate Paul’s skills. his timing and dynamics were spot on. I have a whole new appreciation for what he did. Jack Bruce too.
Hey Samo. It's really annoying that you constantly interject the words "yeah", "sure", "right", every 5 to 10 seconds while your guests talk. Please be silent, just let the guest speak. Don't you notice this is disturbing to the guest, and also disturbing to your viewers? I'm sure you do this all the time, even during your conversations with your friends etc. You must address this problem if you continue to do interviews on camera. Please respond to my suggestion, okay?
hey victor, may i please say that your message does not mark the high peak of respect either. in fact, it's almost a bit bossy. it sounds a bit like you're applying some kind of rick beato benchmark. but i think we owe samo the utmost respect for his achievement in doing so many interviews here in the pandemic especially with very independent, lesser known artists (gary is a star by comparison). i am a trained interviewer in the corporate sector, in neurosurgery etc. and i have interviewed everywhere. and i understand your point. but much more important is a point from the perspective of professionalisation theory. samo speaks as a peer with a lot of passion at eye level. in a world dominated by SOPs, marketing and technocracy, i find this very important and worth preserving. dear samo, please continue your great work! best, jj
