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Atavachron Digest - The Allan Holdsworth Discussion Digest
Volume 2, Number 65
Monday, 1 November 1993
TODAY'S TOPICS:
==============
RE: Atavachron Digest Number 63
newly acquired recordings feat. AH
new Chad Wackerman
Re: newly acquired recordings feat. AH
RE: meeting AH
Carl Verheyen
Review: Wackerman's THE VIEW
Re: newly acquired recordings feat. AH
RE: IGGINBOTTOM'S WRENCH
Re: Why people listen to Allan
Women who like Allan Holdsworth.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: 29 Oct 93 22:57:00 PST
From: "Chris King"
Subject: RE: Atavachron Digest Number 63
I have the fortune to occasionally hang out at the coffeehouse
in Tustin, CA, where AH sometimes shows after one of his bicycle
rides on the weekend. My friend, John, and I were sharing a cup
of java one Sunday morning when Allan walked in. Darcy, the manager
at that time had been chatting at our table with us. John pointed
at Holdsworth and said, "Darcy, that is Allan Holdsworth." Darcy looked
completely blank and said, "I don't know that name . . . Should I?"
John pursued, "He's one of the greatest guitarists in the world."
Darcy, obviously unenlightened, said, "Gee, who ever he is, I wonder
if he'd like to play for our Saturday Night Local Talent Night."
I shook my head at John and we gave up on Darcy.. . .
That morning I introduced myself to Mr. Holdsworth and chatted briefly.
Later, I came home to my wife. I told her, "I'm never going to wash
my hand again! You can't believe who I talked to this morning!
It was Allan Holdsworth!" My wife kept on washing the dishes and
said, "I don't know that name . . . Should I?" I just wanted to scream.
Best Wishes,
Chris King
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Sat, 30 Oct 93 09:19:09 -0400
From: rardin%cygnus.dnet@auriga (R. Lynn Rardin)
Subject: newly acquired recordings feat. AH
>I have the fortune to occasionally hang out at the coffeehouse
>in Tustin, CA, where AH sometimes shows after one of his bicycle
>rides on the weekend...
>...Darcy, obviously unenlightened, said, "Gee, who ever he is, I wonder
>if he'd like to play for our Saturday Night Local Talent Night."
>
>That morning I introduced myself to Mr. Holdsworth and chatted briefly.
>Later, I came home to my wife. I told her, "I'm never going to wash
>my hand again! You can't believe who I talked to this morning!
>It was Allan Holdsworth!" My wife kept on washing the dishes and
>said, "I don't know that name . . . Should I?" I just wanted to scream.
Great story, Chris. My wife and I both got a real chuckle from this.
Where'd all this Atavachron traffic come from?? :) This is great!
I received a couple of CDs featuring Holdsworth this week. The first is
IGGINBOTTOM'S WRENCH. It carries a copyright date of 1969, so I assume it
was recorded in '68 or '69. It's got sort of a jazz-ish feel at times, but
is more toward dark, mellow rock of that period. Holdsworth penned or
co-penned 7 of the 10 tunes on the album. I enjoyed it quite a bit.
Also got a copy of RE-TOUCH & QUARTET (Konnex KCD 5027) by "John Stevens
Works". This is the third in the series of Konnex CD issues (reissues??)
featuring Holdsworth with drummer Stevens (CONVERSATION PIECE, Konnex KCD 5025,
and TOUCHING ON, Konnex KCD 5023, are the other two). The tracks on which
Holdsworth plays (1-2, totalling about 41 min.) are entitled "No Fear" and
"Re-Touch" and also include Barry Guy or Ron Mathewson on bass and Jeff Young
on keys. It's fairly free feeling fusion in the same vein as the other
recordings from the other sessions in 1977. The third track is a 25 minute
live recording of Stevens with Ron Herman (b), Trevor Watts (ss) and Julie
Tippetts (voc, g) that some Holdsworth fans might not be into at all. :) I
found Tippetts odd vocals to be quite interesting. I think I recall someone
(Jeff?) telling me that there's some controversy regarding Stevens' recordings
as far as Allan is concerned. But I'm certainly glad I got ahold of a copy
of this one.
-Lynn (rardin@auriga.rose.brandeis.edu)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: jtkung@netcom.com (Joseph T. Kung)
Subject: new Chad Wackerman
Date: Sat, 30 Oct 1993 10:44:02 -0700 (PDT)
Can anybody give a review of his new CD? The guitarists are listed as
Allan Holdsworth and Carl Verheyen, two of my favorite guitarists. I'd
just like to know how guitar-oriented the tracks are, and if it's
worth getting. Also, any word on a Carl Verheyen solo CD? His last one
is hard to find, but it's a great CD, much in the style of Holdsworth
but more rock-oriented rather than jazz-oriented. Any info would be
appreciated. Thanks!
- Joe
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Jeff Preston
Subject: Re: newly acquired recordings feat. AH
Date: Sat, 30 Oct 93 10:42:20 EDT
> From: rardin%cygnus.dnet@auriga (R. Lynn Rardin)
> Subject: newly acquired recordings feat. AH
> >That morning I introduced myself to Mr. Holdsworth and chatted briefly.
> >Later, I came home to my wife. I told her, "I'm never going to wash
> >my hand again! You can't believe who I talked to this morning!
> >It was Allan Holdsworth!" My wife kept on washing the dishes and
> >said, "I don't know that name . . . Should I?" I just wanted to scream.
> Great story, Chris. My wife and I both got a real chuckle from this.
Yeah, it was great to hear from yet *another* Atavachronista (a term
borrowed from Renato Barahona) who's met Allan. I think that puts us
at about 50% now... surely the highest such ratio of any list on the
net! :) But this women vs. men thing, hmmm... I don't know. Allan
seems equally unknown in these parts (admittedly a very culturally-
backwards area by any standard) amongst both sexes. "Whut duz he sang?"
(using my ASCII-phonetic eastern Kentucky accent; translated, that's
"What does he sing") is the usual query when they find out he has
something to do with music.
> Where'd all this Atavachron traffic come from?? :) This is great!
I'll second that! :) I like a busy list.
> Also got a copy of RE-TOUCH & QUARTET (Konnex KCD 5027) by "John Stevens
[...]
> found Tippetts odd vocals to be quite interesting. I think I recall someone
> (Jeff?) telling me that there's some controversy regarding Stevens' recordings
> as far as Allan is concerned. But I'm certainly glad I got ahold of a copy
> of this one.
Yes; in fact, I recently asked Claire about this in regards to the
discography (which she and Allan are reviewing at the moment). Actually,
the whole thing started when I began looking back through the archives
to see if I could dig up some instances of questions whose answers had
managed to elude us; now that Claire is online, it's too easy to start
thinking along these lines, y'know. So, one of the first things I saw
was a reference that Chuck Vance had run across (in our first month as
a list, btw), which mentioned the Spontaneous Music Ensemble. Doing a
grep on the entire archive directory turned up no other reference to
this group, so I asked Claire about it. She said Allan thinks this was
what Stevens' band was calling itself for a while, but that he never
did anything with them during that period. That led to her explaining
that Allan was not happy with Stevens because this _Re-Touch_ was nothing
more than studio outtakes which were not ever meant to be released.
He was also upset with the fact that his name was prominently displayed
on the album covers -- he felt that he was merely a contributor to the
material, and not a principal member of the band.
As far as the discography goes, Allan has said he would help us to
fill in any blanks, but I also stressed that I would like to remove
any illegitimate recordings from the present discography if there
are any listed there. Morehead State is very nervous about bootlegs
as I have explained before, and I have no problem with MSU's policy
regarding this. But I did ask Claire that they not be upset if we
list legitimate releases that Allan wasn't fond of, or despite bad
business dealings on his part, are still legit recordings. I suggested
that they are free to add comments to the discography, though... seems
fair, don't you think?
Jeff
--
Jeff Preston =*= Moderator of the Allan Holdsworth discussion forum
=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*= atavachron-request@msuacad.morehead-st.edu =*=*=*=
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Sat, 30 Oct 93 13:18:38 -0400
From: rardin%cygnus.dnet@auriga (R. Lynn Rardin)
Subject: RE: meeting AH
>> >That morning I introduced myself to Mr. Holdsworth and chatted briefly...
>
> Great story, Chris. My wife and I both got a real chuckle from this.
>
> Yeah, it was great to hear from yet *another* Atavachronista (a term
> borrowed from Renato Barahona) who's met Allan. I think that puts us
> at about 50% now... surely the highest such ratio of any list on the
> net! :)
Except maybe for the Tori Amos list. :) My wife makes it sound like everyone
on that list is intimate with Tori!
>> Also got a copy of RE-TOUCH & QUARTET (Konnex KCD 5027) by "John Stevens
>
> Yes; in fact, I recently asked Claire about this in regards to the
> discography...
Thanks for filling us in on that, Jeff.
> I suggested that they are free to add comments to the discography,
> though... seems fair, don't you think?
Certainly. An discography annotated by Allan? Wouldn't that be great?!
-Lynn (rardin@auriga.rose.brandeis.edu)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Sat, 30 Oct 93 13:24:06 -0400
From: rardin%cygnus.dnet@auriga (R. Lynn Rardin)
Subject: Carl Verheyen
>Can anybody give a review of his new CD? The guitarists are listed as
>Allan Holdsworth and Carl Verheyen, two of my favorite guitarists. I'd
>just like to know how guitar-oriented the tracks are, and if it's
>worth getting...
I told Jeff that the reason that I haven't listened to this yet is that I have
a stack of other new CDs that are in front of it on my "play list". Maybe
I'll bump up its priority if I get free hour this weekend. Jeff may soon have
a copy of it, too, so you may even get a second opinion. :)
> Also, any word on a Carl Verheyen solo CD? His last one
>is hard to find, but it's a great CD, much in the style of Holdsworth
>but more rock-oriented rather than jazz-oriented. Any info would be
>appreciated. Thanks!
To which Verheyen solo CD are you referring? NO BORDERS (recorded in 1988;
Chase Music Group CMD 8012)? Or is there a later solo CD? I have NB and I
think I've seen it around the Boston area a time or two since I bought my
copy.
-Lynn
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Sun, 31 Oct 93 09:31:28 -0500
From: rardin%bad.dnet@auriga (R. Lynn Rardin)
Subject: Review: Wackerman's THE VIEW
I finally got around to listening to Chad Wackerman's THE VIEW late last night
and again this morning. Some general impressions... At first, it struck me
as sounding less composed than Chad's first CD, FORTY REASONS, relying more
on grooves to carry a tune rather than melodies. However, on listening to FR
again this morning, I'm not so sure that can't be said of some of the material
on FR, too. It would seem that Chad definitely shot for a much wider range
of colors on this recording, though. Walter Fowler's trumpet or flugelhorn
appear on 7 of the 13 cuts and acoustic piano (or some synthesized version
thereof)--and even acoustic guitar--gets wider play than it did on FR. TV
may also be a bit more focussed on the Wackerman's drums and the grooves he
sets up than FR was. Although Verheyen plays on 6 of the 13 cuts, his
playing seems to be less featured than Allan's playing (seemed like fewer
solos, although I wasn't counting :). I suppose the presence of Fowler's horn
means less guitar solo space in general. Note that TV is significantly more
generous than FR as far as playing time goes, clocking in at just under 59
min.
Any Holdsworth fan will probably like the first track. It's a quartet piece
with AH on guitar and it sounds like it would fit well on one of Allan's
albums. Tracks 2-3 have Verheyen on guitar and add Walt Fowler's flugelhorn.
The more I listen to these, the more I like them. The clean bright sound of
Fowler's flugel sounds very nice flying above the roar of drums/guitar. Jimmy
Johnson's bass lines weave together very nicely with the trumpet line at times,
especially on track 2. Track 4 brings Holdsworth back in on guitar. There's
a nice contrast between the acoustic (piano/trumpet) and electric sounds
(guitar/bass) on this cut. Fowler's solos don't knock me out, in general,
but his work on track 4 is nice.
Track 5 loses Fowler and starts off with a bass head from Johnson, then heads
into a funky organ solo, back to the head and onto a nice solo by Holdsworth
(maybe his best on the album, IMVEO--the VE standing for very early :). Track
6 is a very acoustic sounding ballad. Cox and Johnson get solos on this one.
Pretty nice, but it didn't blow me away. Track 7 heads back in the vein of
tracks 2-4, with trumpet and a nice groove, but a bit less heavy on the guitar.
The trumpet melody line on this one has a nice, funky lilt to it. Fowler
gets into some distortion ala Randy Brecker (maybe chorusing is the term for
this?) on this tune, but doesn't overdo it, so it's not annoying. Actually,
his whole solo has sort of a Breckerish feel to it. Track 8 is kind of a
strange piece entitled "On the Edge". It fades in very slowly and eventually
goes into a burning Holdsworth solo--but that's it! Almost sounds like a
fragment of a song or something. Track 9 is a very brief Holdsworth/Fowler
duet. Sounds nice but doesn't go much of anywhere.
Tracks 10 and 11 [note that the liners have tracks 11 and 12 ordered
incorrectly] seem to be the Verheyen feature pieces. It's kind of interesting
to contrast his playing with Allan's. Seems Carl has a few of Allan's licks
in his bag of tricks. Every now and then I hear something that sounds like
it could have come from AH's guitar. Verheyen plays a very nice solo on
track 11.
The album finishes off with a brief and fairly interesting drum solo track,
followed by what sounds like some "compose as you play" work by the Holdsworth/
Fowler/Cox/Johnson/Wackerman quintet (all players are credited for the tune).
It starts off with some free noodling, but once Holdsworth gets the solo
signal, everything pulls together under him for some pretty interesting music.
When Holdsworth is done soloing, the tune ends--abruptly.
My overall impression is fairly positive (and seems to be improving with every
listen). The CD has its share of unfocussed and almost fragmentary pieces,
but there are some really nice tunes, too. And, of course, you get plenty of
Wackerman's brand of clean grooves. There's definitely a shift in focus with
the addition of Fowler's trumpet/flugelhorn. That's not a bad change, IMO,
but I suppose some hardcore Holdsworth fans may be disappointed. I look
forward to hearing more opinions as others obtain this CD.
-Lynn (rardin@auriga.rose.brandeis.edu)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Sun, 31 Oct 1993 13:14:41 -0600
From: Wot Gorrila?
Subject: Re: newly acquired recordings feat. AH
Let me get this straight, IGGINBOTTOM'S WRENCH is available on CD. I've
been looking for this on LP for three years now (with no luck I might add,
I've found that only about one out of every seven used store owners I talk
to knows anything about it), and now I find out its available on CD. Could
you please either post or e-mail me (at fans@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu) the CD
catalog number and where you got this so I can order a copy. Thanks in
advance for the information.
Take Care,
David
P.S. I have an old interview of AH from Guitar Player Magazine about the
Secrets album. If people want me to type this in so everyone can enjoy
this, I'd be happy to do it as soon as I can. This same issue had a
transcription for the solo to Joshua from Secrets. If you guys want to add
this to the AH transcriptions, I can send a copy (via snail mail) to someone
who knows how to enter these into the system. I'd do it myself but not being
a guitarist, I have no idea how to do it.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Sun, 31 Oct 93 16:44:09 -0500
From: rardin%cygnus.dnet@auriga (R. Lynn Rardin)
Subject: RE: IGGINBOTTOM'S WRENCH
>Let me get this straight, IGGINBOTTOM'S WRENCH is available on CD. I've
>been looking for this on LP for three years now (with no luck I might add,
>I've found that only about one out of every seven used store owners I talk
>to knows anything about it), and now I find out its available on CD. Could
>you please either post or e-mail me (at fans@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu) the CD
>catalog number and where you got this so I can order a copy. Thanks in
>advance for the information.
"Available on CD" might not be quite the way to put it. :) It's on the
Japanese Dream label (catalog number K32Y 2190), so it may not be that easy to
get ahold of a copy in the U.S. I ordered mine from Wayside Music (P.O. Box
8427; Silver Spring, MD 20907-8427; no phone number for orders) about 4-6
weeks ago. But it was on a list of stuff that they had only in short supply,
so it could be that they've sold what they had. However, if Wayside had a
copy, then if you're _really_ hot to have a copy, you could probably special
order it from Japan.
-Lynn (rardin@auriga.rose.brandeis.edu)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: 01 Nov 1993 10:07:10 EST
From: "GBest01"
Subject: Re: Why people listen to Allan
---------------------------- Forwarded with Changes ---------------------------
From: GBest01 at ISD1A
Date: 11/1/93 10:57AM
To: HARRIS.ATAVACH2 at Harris
Subject: Re: Why people listen to Allan
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
At least for me, the attraction to AH is what he says with his guitar, it's
much more than "jeez-o-pete-he's-fast". I remember seeing Return to Forever
when they were pushing Romantic Warrior. Mid-way through the show, I remember
thinking to myself "jeez-o-pete-they're-fast" followed by "jeez-o-pete-they're-
boring".
What I enjoy about AH is that he goes where you don't expect him to go. I
first heard him on "Fred" with Tony Williams Lifetime. The thing that caught
my attention is the way Allan would work his solo into a frenzy only to stop
and play a fastinating slow passage or just grab a gutural grunge chord and
smash it into the side of my head.
In a world full of soulless speed-dweebs, Allan really says something when he
plays.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Mon, 1 Nov 93 09:33:45 -0600
From: lewis@C2D2E2-2.WES.ARMY.MIL (Lewis Beard)
Subject: Women who like Allan Holdsworth.
Ok, my mail program is primitive so the subject is bart of the body.
Sorry about that. In reference to women not liking Allan's stuff, I have
to say that that doesn't seem true at all from my standpoint. My most
recent roommate, who has been like a sister to me for 5 years so please
no funny remarks, is one step short of being a super huge holdsworth fan.
She especially loves Metal Fatigue, Wardenclyffe Tower, parts of Secrets
and anything he did with Bruford (solo and UK). SHe is from the philipines,
and oddly enough another woman I know who likes Allan a lot is from the
philipines as well, tho she tends to like Secrets and Sand (I have no idea
why ... i dont like Sand, except for 4:15 bradford executive). Also, me
and my former roomie were part of a local scene at our university (Ole Miss)
which was kind of underground, and any cool music was appreciated. There were
a lot of people, men and women both, who were into Miles, Holdsworth,
McLaughlin, Yes, King Crimson, and of course lots of new weird type bands.
So I think there are lots of underground Allan fans out there! :)
Lewis Beard
lewis@c2d2e2-2.wes.army.mil
send mail to lewis@tacky.cs.olemiss.edu
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I I those of the individual contributors.
Atavachron Digest - The Allan Holdsworth Discussion Digest
Volume 2, Number 66
Monday, 8 November 1993
TODAY'S TOPICS:
==============
what other artists do you like?
Equipment on Metal Fatigue
Re: Lyrics to "All our Yesterdays"
Re: Equipment on Metal Fatigue
Re: what other artists do you like?
Equipment on Metal Fatigue..
Please subscribe me!
Re: Lyrics to "All our Yesterdays"
New CDs! / quiz too tough?
RE: Atavachron Digest Number 65
RE: Road Games
Who's better?
RE: Atavachron Digest Number 65
Holdsworth guitar setup
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Mon, 1 Nov 93 11:30:16 -0600
From: uchima@fncrd8.fnal.gov (Mike Uchima)
Subject: what other artists do you like?
OK, so this question is only related to Allan Holdsworth in an indirect sort
of way, but this seemed like a good place to ask it:
What other artists do you like/listen to, that other Holdsworth fans might
also like?
It seems likely to me that we all (as Holdsworth fans) share a certain amount
of commonality (or at least overlap) in musical tastes. Some of us might be
introduced to other artists that we are not yet familiar with...
-- Mike Uchima
-- uchima@fnal.fnal.gov
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Mr M P Hughes
Date: Mon, 1 Nov 93 20:34:15 GMT
Subject: Equipment on Metal Fatigue
I don't know if anyone can help me with this, but I'm desparately
trying to find out what equipment was used by AH on Metal Fatigue,
especially for thase lovely, clean sproingy synth-type sounds. So
any information on amps or effects (or guitars!!) would be greatly
appreciated.
Incidentally, as my Holdsworth collection is far from complete, may
I plead ignorance in asking if, other than on Metal Fatigue, Allan
has recorded any "actual songs" - you know, lyrics, verses, that sort
of thing. Not that the instrumental bits aren't good, it's just that
the songs are a lot easier to cover!
In anticipation,
Michael P. Hughes (pycraft@sees.bangor.ac.uk)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Mon, 1 Nov 93 17:10:34 -0500
From: barrett@astro.cs.umass.edu (Daniel Barrett)
Subject: Re: Lyrics to "All our Yesterdays"
I'd like to suggest corrections/additions to Richard Farrar's
interpretation of the lyrics to "All our Yesterdays", given in
Atavachron on September 21st.
>Date: Thu, 26 Aug 93 17:19:10 PDT
>From: Richard.Farrar@adaclabs.com (Richard Farrar)
>Subject: Lyrics to "All our Yesterdays"
>
>Through the trees the sunlight streaming
>The leaves of light are falling down on me
>But softly and I close my eyes
^^^^
Though softly, and I close my eyes.
>I know there is a treasure
>Here in this place
>It was left here long ago, but only last night
>Now in the morning our yesterdays
> the haze
Commuted yearning, the haze
(It could possibly also be:
Come muted yearning, the haze
or
Permuted yearning, the haze
Don't ask me what it means. :-))
>Has softened every future fear
>For all our yesterdays are near
>
>Golden leaves the light will gently find unkind
> our yesterdays
Of all our yesterdays.
Dan
//////////////////////////////////////\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
| Dan Barrett -- Dept of Computer Science, Lederle Graduate Research Center |
| University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003 -- barrett@cs.umass.edu |
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\/////////////////////////////////////
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Date: Mon, 1 Nov 93 17:45:55 -0600
From: uchima@fncrd8.fnal.gov (Mike Uchima)
Subject: Re: Equipment on Metal Fatigue
Michael P. Hughes (pycraft@sees.bangor.ac.uk) wrote:
>
> I don't know if anyone can help me with this, but I'm desparately
> trying to find out what equipment was used by AH on Metal Fatigue,
> especially for thase lovely, clean sproingy synth-type sounds. So
> any information on amps or effects (or guitars!!) would be greatly
> appreciated.
>
> Incidentally, as my Holdsworth collection is far from complete, may
> I plead ignorance in asking if, other than on Metal Fatigue, Allan
> has recorded any "actual songs" - you know, lyrics, verses, that sort
> of thing. Not that the instrumental bits aren't good, it's just that
> the songs are a lot easier to cover!
>
> In anticipation,
> Michael P. Hughes (pycraft@sees.bangor.ac.uk)
Sorry, can't help you much on the first question. He does give "Special
Thanks" to Ibanez, ADA Signal Processors, & Rockman in the liner notes,
though.
As far as the second question goes, all of his solo projects except _Sand_
have at least one track with vocals. However, if you're looking for the
tracks which are the most like "actual songs", you probably want to check out
the _Road Games_ EP (out of print, alas), and _I.O.U._ (still available on CD,
last time I looked). You may still be able to find _Road Games_ on used
vinyl... (I assume you meant his solo projects only; he's recorded with other
bands in the past that have vocals.)
-- Mike Uchima
-- uchima@fnal.fnal.gov
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Mon, 1 Nov 1993 18:22:03 -0600
From: Wot Gorrila?
Subject: Re: what other artists do you like?
Hey everybody,
Most of the other artists I like are people I would expect most other
people on this list have heard about (i.e. McLaughlin, DiMeola, Genesis,
Yes, etc.). However, the other guitarists I like which I think other
Holdsworth fans are most likely to also like are Larry Carlton, and Robin
Crow. Larry Carlton (guitarist on many Steely Dan songs) is probably
fairly well known as well. IMO, Larry has the best touch and feel of
any guitarist I have heard (sorry Allan). However, I still feel Allan
is better at creating a mood for a song (not to be confused with Mood
For A Day :) ). Robin Crow is definitely less well known. The only
reason I know anything about him is because he played a free show on
campus which I attended. It was billed as an audio and visual
experience, and for a one low cost one man show, it certainly was.
Robin likes to use a lot of effects on his guitar. It is not sythnaxe
but it certainly has many effects acting on the sound. Anyway, what
he plays is not overly complicated, however, he does a good job of
creating a mood. WARNING: AVOID ANY ROBIN CROW ALBUMS OTHER THAN THE
LAST TWO UNLESS YOU LIKE SPIRITUAL MUSIC AND IF YOU DON'T LIKE SINGING
IN YOUR MUSIC. (Yes, he used to play inspirational music, but he totally
changed his style. Don't find this out the hard way like I did :) ).
If anyone else has concenting/differing opinion on these, I'd be happy
to hear them.
Take Care,
David
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Tue, 2 Nov 93 09:14:34 GMT
From: David_Valentine-Hagart@uk.ac.nottingham.ccc.vme
Subject: Equipment on Metal Fatigue..
I think on the guitar front Allan was using either a Charvel or the Ibanez
AH10 coupled with a Jim Kelly Line Amp, but then there's all the effects !!
and you can get up to all sorts of tricks in the studio..
I seem to remember a Guitaris mag interview of the time where Allan was
into the Jim Kelly because the distortion sound was generated in the power
section ! of the amp conferring all sorts of wonderous benefits to the sound,
anyone know if Jim Kelly is still making amps ?? we all know what a mayfly
existence Allans endorsments have.
Dave VH
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: p.terrell@genie.geis.com
Date: Tue, 2 Nov 93 08:35:00 BST
Subject: Please subscribe me!
Hello-
Please subscribe me to this wonderful mailing list, loose mail version
preferred if available.
[Gotcha covered! --JP]
Who *says* there are no female Holdsworth fans?! :) I've been one since UK
and have seen him play live many times over the years (my 1st show was on
the "Sand" tour at the 9:30 Club in D.C.)...and I didn't become a fan
because I had a *boyfriend* who was into his music either! As a matter
of fact, I've turned several of my past boyfriends onto him. I must admit,
however, that I am the *only* female fan of his I know of...maybe wholetone
scales scare them all away.haha Geez, there's got to be more of us
somewhere out there - c'mon gals, 'fess up!!! ;)
Is anyone looking for a copy of Road Games? I just picked up an extra one a
couple of days ago for $3 and would like to give it a happy home for that
amount + postage. If anyone is interested, please e-mail me! :)
I'm a little out of touch. What is the status of this Jimco!/Best Of CD? I
thought production had been stopped (or *hoped* it had, anyway) long ago,
but I just saw a copy of it in a local record shop (coincidentally, it was
the same place I picked up that copy of RG). Does anyone have any info on
that? Thanks for any help!
It feels good to be amongst the few, the proud, the Holdsworth fanatics!! :)
(special thanks to Anil for his help!:) I hope to be talking with you all
extensively in the future!
Jennifer Albert
(Mailing address: p.terrell@genie.geis.com)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Tue, 2 Nov 93 10:13:15 -0600
From: uchima@fncrd8.fnal.gov (Mike Uchima)
Subject: Re: Lyrics to "All our Yesterdays"
A possible alternative to the disputed line in Richard Farrar and Dan
Barrett's version of the lyrics to All our Yesterdays:
> ...
> > the haze
>
> Commuted yearning, the haze
Don't think so -- I'm pretty sure I don't hear a 'C' in there (but I could be
wrong).
>
> (It could possibly also be:
> Come muted yearning, the haze
Ditto.
> or
> Permuted yearning, the haze
Could be, I suppose; but I don't hear a 'P', and it wouldn't be consistent
with the pronunciation of other words elsewhere in the song (she doesn't say
"yes-tah-days").
>
> Don't ask me what it means. :-))
I won't!!
> ...
How about "A muted yearning..."? This even makes a certain amount of sense
(well, maybe sort of).
Hey, Jeff -- shoulda made this one of the questions on the trivia quiz! :)
-- Mike Uchima
-- uchima@fnal.fnal.gov
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Jeff Preston
Subject: New CDs! / quiz too tough?
Date: Thu, 4 Nov 93 9:34:16 EST
Once again, thanks to Lynn Rardin, I am a proud new listener of
the latest releases available featuring Mr. Holdsworth... I'll have
to name my first-born after you, Lynn. :) I haven't had much
opportunity to listen to either the Beatles tribute CD or the new
Wackerman yet, but I will manage a review of both sometime soon,
I'm sure.
There haven't been many responses on the trivia quiz in the first
week, so I'm guessing that I made the questions too difficult. :)
If the contest ended today, the person who would receive the
autographed copy of _Reaching for the Uncommon Chord_ would have
answered only *nine* of the twenty questions correctly! Ouch!
Jeff
--
Jeff Preston =*= Moderator of the Allan Holdsworth discussion forum
=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*= atavachron-request@msuacad.morehead-st.edu =*=*=*=
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: 4 Nov 93 21:55:00 PST
From: "Chris King"
Subject: RE: Atavachron Digest Number 65
Have you guys ever discussed this one? . . . . Who's better, Allan
Holdsworth or John McLaughlin? And, 20 points off for any letter
that begins with the cliche, "It's impossible to compare two guitarists
with such different styles . . ." and 25 points off for any letter
that begins with the cliche, "It depends on how you define 'better'..."
I have my own opinion, but I'll leave it until I see if anyone takes
me up on this thread.
Best Wishes,
Chris King
p.s. Whatever happened to the "Uknown John Clark" whose Holdsworthesque
lines were on one of the old Bruford albums?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: p.terrell@genie.geis.com
Date: Fri, 5 Nov 93 04:10:00 BST
Subject: RE: Road Games
Howdy everyone!
Wow, there certainly are some friendly folks here! :) Thanks to all of you
who wrote in regards to the copy of Road Games I offered here on the list.
All of your kind words are very much appreciated! If I find any more Allan
treasures (which is *very* likely since I've found three copies of RG this
year alone! Yikes!:), including more copies of RG, I will most definitely
post here for the benefit of all my fellow Holdsworthians. Glad to be of
service. :)
To Lynn Rardin: if you are reading this note, please e-mail me again or
post your mailing address here, because I lost your note, ARGH!!!!!! :) You
know, coincidentally, my *middle* name is Lynn...tee hee
Later,
Jennifer
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Jeff Preston
Subject: Who's better?
Date: Fri, 5 Nov 93 8:37:45 EST
> From: "Chris King"
> Subject: RE: Atavachron Digest Number 65
> Have you guys ever discussed this one? . . . . Who's better, Allan
> Holdsworth or John McLaughlin? And, 20 points off for any letter
> that begins with the cliche, "It's impossible to compare two guitarists
> with such different styles . . ." and 25 points off for any letter
> that begins with the cliche, "It depends on how you define 'better'..."
You can start me out with a 45-point handicap then, Chris. :)
All you can hope for in a thread like this is two camps of opposing
opinion -- each one trying to dance about architecture, which is fairly
meaningless in of itself, IMHO. Both are highly respected players, so
once you accept that as a given, it's tough to avoid "the numbers game,"
where you try to decide how many people (and what kind of people) respect
each one... which leads you to value judgements on certain kinds of
listeners. That's not useful because if you read through this list long
enough, you will see that we are all listening to the same music (in
this case, Holdsworth's), and we sure aren't all listening to it for the
same reasons. If we weren't all individuals, each filled up with
countless variables of our own, then answering such questions would be
easy. Until that time, I think I will do a foxtrot to describe that
suspension bridge over there... ;)
But to turn the question into one which makes more sense to me, I would
ask: Twenty years from now, who will have the longer entry in Grove's
Dictionary of Music, Holdsworth or McLaughlin? And by how much will it
be longer? I think McLaughlin's entry will be longer, but by no more
than 25%. Whew, that's tiring... now I have to go rest my clairvoyancy
muscles. :)
Jeff
--
Jeff Preston =*= Moderator of the Allan Holdsworth discussion forum
=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*= atavachron-request@msuacad.morehead-st.edu =*=*=*=
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Sat, 6 Nov 1993 18:16:28 -0600
From: Wot Gorrila?
Subject: RE: Atavachron Digest Number 65
Chris,
I take the line and reply to your thread. IMO, Holdsworth is the better of
the two guitarists (the other one being McLaughlin to refresh peoples
memories). I feel this way because Holdsworth is so great at creating a
mood, while sometimes I feel McLaughlin is just playing technically difficult
lines with little thought about what kind of feeling he is creating. In my
book Holdsworth is second only to Steve Howe as far as guitarists go. The
only reason I give Steve the nod over Allan is because Steve is so versatile.
Steve can play everything from banjo to some "South American monstrosity"
called the vachalia (sp?). While Steve may not be the best in my book in
any one category, he is definitely pretty far up there in most. Thus, I
give Steve the title of my favorite guitarist with Holdsworth coming in
a close second. But then again, what the h*ll do I know (I've always wanted
to end a post that way ;^) ).
Take Care,
David
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: russ@apl.washington.edu (Russ Light)
Subject: Holdsworth guitar setup
Date: Sun, 7 Nov 93 0:17:01 PST
I'm new to this forum so bear with me if I screw up:
Anyway, I'm working through the back issues of the digest in search
of a discussion of Allan's guitar equipment and effects. For years,
I've held out hope that I could get a similar sound. I'm interesetd
in his electric guitar equipment used for Bruford, Uk, Ponty era
rather than the synth work. Is this info in the digests somewhere?
Is this forum for listeners or players, too?
--
Thanks
Russ Light
(206) 543-1304
(206) 543-1300
INTERNET: russ@apl.washington.edu
Applied Physics Laboratory (HN-10)
University of Washington
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Atavachron Digest - The Allan Holdsworth Discussion Digest
Volume 2, Number 67
Tuesday, 9 November 1993
TODAY'S TOPICS:
==============
Re: other artists
Atavachron Digest Number 66
Re: Atavachron Digest Number 66
Re: "all our yesterdays"
Re: "all our yesterdays"
THe unknown John Clark
RE: Bill Connors
Other artists (was Atavachron Digest Number 66)
Who's better? (25 points (off?) (in my favor?))
Other music; AH gear
Re: what other artists do you like?
Other music and other things
Re: Digest #66
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: Re: other artists
Date: Mon, 08 Nov 93 09:38:44 -0800
From: svasi@getafix.cs.uoregon.edu
Other musicians AH fans are likely to find appealing...My take on AH's music
may be unusual, in that I see it more in terms of the jazz/fusion elements
than the pseudo-symphonic-post-progressive-rock aspects. Accordingly, your
mileage may vary regarding what follows.
David Torn, who sounds like he's listened to _Metal Fatigue_ a lot; he's
nominally a fusion guitarist, but kind of stretches the fusion envelope in
several directions.
Sonny Sharrock, who plays less fusion and more jazz than AH, but to my taste
has the same ability to play endless phrases that are fiery, impassioned, and
still really fluid.
Also, I'd think most of us would like the John McLaughlin/Carlos Santana
album, although the recording leaves something to be desired.
Just my $.02
NT
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Mon, 8 Nov 1993 11:02:24 -0800
From: rpeck@pure.com (Ray Peck)
Subject: Atavachron Digest Number 66
>Date: Mon, 1 Nov 93 11:30:16 -0600
>From: uchima@fncrd8.fnal.gov (Mike Uchima)
>Subject: what other artists do you like?
>
>OK, so this question is only related to Allan Holdsworth in an indirect sort
>of way, but this seemed like a good place to ask it:
>
>What other artists do you like/listen to, that other Holdsworth fans might
>also like?
I once picked up a CD called "Assembler" by Bill Conners because I
heard it in a record store, and thought that it was IOU-era
Holdsworth. It isn't quite, but it's really excellent, IMO.
Conners turns out to have been the guitarist in Return to Forever
before DiMeola (I don't like his playing there). Audiophile Imports
has a couple of his other releases, but I haven't checked them out.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: 08 Nov 1993 14:10:14 EST
From: "GBest01"
Subject: Re: Atavachron Digest Number 66
What else does a Holdsworthian fan listen to? About anything not played by a
station with deep-voiced DJs. If I judge by who occupies the most space in my
CD rack the list includes: The Chameleons U.K., Bill Nelson, Bob Marley, Tony
Williams, Ali Farke Toure, Ray Price, Mulgrew Miller, The Waterboys, Miles
Davis, Howlin' Wolf, King Sunny Ade/Ebenezer Obey/I.K. Dairo (Ju-Ju music), and
The Verlaines. I also happen to think that Daniel Lanois' latest release (For
the Beauty of Wynona) is extremely cool. I heard Bill Frisell's "Before We
Were Born" the other day and that was very interesting.
Allan vs. John - Oh Jeez-o-Pete! I'll take the 45 points and let it go at
that. I'm more interested in who Allan listens to.
ALLAN? CLAIRE? What's in your record collection?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Mon, 8 Nov 93 14:47:21 EST
From: battlec@cs.rpi.edu
Subject: Re: "all our yesterdays"
Heres my interpretation:
>>Through the trees the sunlight streaming
>>The leaves of light are falling down on me
>>Though softly, and I close my eyes.
>>I know there is a treasure
>>Here in this place
>>It was left here long ago,
>>But only last night.
>>Now in the morning our yesterdays
A muted yearning, a haze
>>Has softened every future fear
>>For all our yesterdays are near.
>>
Golden leaves of light will gently fall
And cover all our yesterdays.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Mon, 8 Nov 93 14:54:50 EST
From: battlec@cs.rpi.edu
Subject: Re: "all our yesterdays"
...or even better
Through the trees the sunlight streaming,
The leaves of light are falling down on me,
Though softly, and I close my eyes.
I know there is a treasure
Here in this place
It was left here long ago,
But only last night.
Now, in the morning,
Our yesterdays are muted yearnings.
A haze has softened every future fear
For all our yesterdays are near.
Golden leaves of light will gently fall
And cover all our yesterdays.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Mon, 8 Nov 93 13:55:54 CST
From: michael@solid.mda.uth.tmc.edu (Michael Pycraft)
Subject: THe unknown John Clark
To follow up Chris King's less controvercial question, if memory serves
(which is not something to be depended on) I read in an Guitarist interview
that he now plays in (for want of a better term) ageing MOR-AOR brit
star Cliff Richards' band. How the mighty have fallen, etc.
yours as was,
Michael P. Hughes
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Mon, 8 Nov 93 16:05:32 -0500
From: rardin%cygnus.dnet@auriga (R. Lynn Rardin)
Subject: RE: Bill Connors
>I once picked up a CD called "Assembler" by Bill Conners because I
>heard it in a record store, and thought that it was IOU-era
>Holdsworth. It isn't quite, but it's really excellent, IMO.
>
>Conners turns out to have been the guitarist in Return to Forever
>before DiMeola (I don't like his playing there). Audiophile Imports
>has a couple of his other releases, but I haven't checked them out.
His other available releases (in the same vein as ASSEMBLER) are STEP IT and
DOUBLE UP. STEP IT is my favorite of the 3. All 3 are pretty nice, though.
-Lynn
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Mon, 08 Nov 1993 15:25:10 CST
From: "Alaric S. Haag - IMRlab System Manager and part-time Visigoth"
Subject: Other artists (was Atavachron Digest Number 66)
I too happened upon a Bill Connors disc in the cheapee bin. This
one is a 1986 release entitled "Double Up" on PathFinder records.
I also found it similarly derivative of AH. I happened to like to
rawness of Connors' work in RtF (Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy) but
it seemed to me that he vanished for several years and came back
with incredibly improved chops!
However, good chops do not an Allan Hodsworth make!! I've found
no one as innovative in their composition!!!
Ric
%^{)
----
[ Alaric S. Haag, Research Associate mehaag@sn01.sncc.lsu.edu ]
[ Louisiana State University, Mech. Engr. Dept. Facts: (504) 388-5990 ]
[ Baton Rouge, LA 70803 Opinions: (504) 388-5897 ]
================== This disclaimer intentionally left blank ===================
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Mon, 8 Nov 1993 18:40:08 -0800
From: jimlynch@netcom.com (Jim Lynch)
Subject: Who's better? (25 points (off?) (in my favor?))
I get 25 points off by saying that it DOES depend on what you are calling
better. However, I think it's 25 points in my favor.
Are you comparing: performance as an individual musician? performance in a
band (which one?) tone quality (when?) guitar choice? speed? or the biggie:
writing? Are you comparing some specific period? Have you heard _all_ of
both of their material on vinyl and CD and whatever else?? If not, provide
a complete list of everything you have heard by both performers. How would
you compare their writing to that of Miles Davis? Carlos Santana? The
earlier writing of Chick Corea (before unduly influenced by that sweeping
guitar player)? I like Jeff Beck too, but he can't write.
I say that if not specified, this thread could degenerate.
Of John and Allan:
They both play fast, they both know their chord structures, Allan plays
legato (I like that) and John plays staccato (I like that). They both write
well. So does Scott Henderson. I like that.
I say they're all better.
-Jim "Don't start or continue a flame war here" Lynch
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Kingsley Durant Jr
Subject: Other music; AH gear
Date: Tue, 9 Nov 93 9:30:53 EST
Greetings:
I'd like to respond to the question about who else we
Atavachronistas listen to. I seem to have fallen into a very
guitar-centric mode over the last few years, at least in the
realm of popular and jazz music. This bothers me to some
extent, but what it is, is, what it is... Some of my
recommended listening:
*Eric Johnson, _Tones_ & _Ah Via Musicom_
--tone & chops for days but not so adventurous, harmonically.
Good R&R, tho!
*Leni Stern (entire catalog)
--Mike's wife, a great person, a wonderful composer &
guitarist, and has a seriously hot band, including (until last
year):
*Wayne Krantz, _Signals_ (& a new release I haven't got yet)
--Chops to burn, a Holdsworthian fretboard approach, crisp
Stratly tone
*David Torn (entire catalog)
--More prog-rock than jazz but a real free spirit, unusual in
these conservative times. As some of you are aware, Torn is a
good friend of my brother's, but I have yet to meet him.
*The whole Boston Jazz Guitar gang, aka the Sons of Goodrick,
which includes Scofield, Stern, Metheny, Frisell, & Randy
Roos. Most of these are probably familiar; my favorite these
days is Frisell, although I enjoy his live shows more than I do
his records. Marc Johnson's Bass Desires (2 discs out in '86
and '88) featured Scofield and Frisell; these are probably my
favorite discs of the entire decade, Holdsworth's oeuvre
included. Randy Roos, for those of you who are non-Bostonians,
is a wonderfully talented and melodic player & composer who for
some reason refuses to leave Boston to seek his fortune. He's
got a couple of records you can find through Audiophile
Imports, and I highly recommend them. Mick Goodrick is also
wonderful; the old Gary Burton records with him and Pat Metheny
were the first jazz guitar records that really grabbed me. For
the guitarists in the audience, Mick's book _The Advancing
Guitarist_ is the best and most thought-provoking book about
playing guitar ever published.
*Solo acoustic guitar music by: Adrian Legg, Michael Hedges,
Leo Kottke, and Preston Reed
*If you're more into British Prog-Rock, I heartily recommend
the National Health boxed set, which reissues their entire
catalog, originally recorded in 1977-81 - they feature Dave
Stewart and Alan Gowen, both keyboardists & former AH
associates as well as Phil Miller who's an unusual and
harmonically adventurous guitarist.
RE: AH equipment discussions. In the Gong/Ponty/Bruford days,
Allan was using a Strat with a custom-built neck and which had
been routed out for the PAF humbuckers which came out of the
middle positions on Allan's old SG's; as far as I know he was
using Marshall amps then. (Does anyone else agree that Dennis
Mackay was the first engineer to really capture Allan's sound,
on the first Gong record?) On Metal Fatigue, he was using the
Jim Kelly amp, and yes, Jim Kelly still makes them; Bonnie
Raitt is an enthusiastic fan of his amps. They use 6V6 tubes,
the smaller tubes found in the old (and the new reissue) Fender
Deluxe. These are somewhat like EL-84's in that they have less
output than the usual EL-34's or 6L6's and consequently a
sweeter, more manageable distortion quality. Speaking of amps,
I'm in the process of having an old Deluxe mdoified by a guy I
met in Maine; his work sounds UNBELIEVABLE. If any of y'all
are looking for a tube amp, or if you have one you'd like
modified, let me know and I'll put you in touch with this guy.
I've played Marshalls and Boogies and Fenders and this guy
blows 'em away.
Lastly, BTW Jeff, I am working on the quiz and I'm well over
nine but not at twenty (yet) ;-)
<>
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Mon, 8 Nov 93 12:49:30 EST
From: David=Lane%HQ%Rational@Vines1.ratsys.com
Subject: Re: what other artists do you like?
A few: Terje Rypdal, Frank Zappa, David Torn, Sonny Sharrock, Ralph Towner,
Anthony Phillips, Elliot Freedman, Bela Fleck, Tangerine Dream,
Jan Akkerman, King Crimson(69-74), Oregon, Steve Tibbetts,
Robin Trower, Ponty.
> Have you guys ever discussed this one? . . . . Who's better, Allan
> Holdsworth or John McLaughlin?
Holdsworth without a doubt. McLaughlin never lets Morton Kondracke (sp?)
get a word in edgewise.
> p.s. Whatever happened to the "Uknown John Clark" whose Holdsworthesque
> lines were on one of the old Bruford albums?
Well, if we knew that, he wouldn't be unknown, would he?
- - -
Dave Lane davidl@ratsys.com
R a t i o n a l
Systems, Inc.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Jeff Preston
Subject: Other music and other things
Date: Tue, 9 Nov 93 18:41:55 EST
> From: Kingsley Durant Jr
> Subject: Other music; AH gear
> I'd like to respond to the question about who else we
> Atavachronistas listen to. I seem to have fallen into a very
> guitar-centric mode over the last few years, at least in the
> realm of popular and jazz music. This bothers me to some
> extent, but what it is, is, what it is... Some of my
> recommended listening:
[excellent artists deleted, but agreed upon by yours truly, on the
ones I've heard, except for Torn... still don't get much from him]
I hadn't intended to respond to this thread, since my tastes are
bound to draw flames from *somewhere*. ;) Just looking through my
CDs you'd find the expected dosages of Jeff Beck, Eric Johnson, John
McLaughlin, Steve Morse, Scott Henderson and Kazumi Watanabe (the
"guitar-centric" part, certainly). But you'd also find stuff by XTC,
The Sundays, Donald Fagen, Aerosmith, Jane's Addiction, Bela Fleck and
the Flecktones and Frank Zappa. Everywhere I post, I seem to rave about
last year's release on Bill Laswell's Axiom label, _Transmutation
(Mutatis Mutandis)_ by Praxis, which *still* gets a lot of airplay at
my house. It's psychefunkedelic thrash-hop... quite different than
anything Holdsworth would be associated with, I daresay. Another really
interesting (yet unlike Holdsworth in any respect) recording I've been
listening to a lot would be Ozric Tentacles' _Strangeitude_, which is
very spacey, jammy prog-rock with a solid groove. I liken this band to
what Rush *should* have sounded like by now. ;)
On my "short buy" list (or on order from the good folks at Maxell, grr),
there's the latest album by Universal Congress Of (the name of which
escapes me... help me out, Mr. Vance -- you saw the Sharrock comment
so you have *two* good excuses to post now!), Henry Threadgill's _Too
Much Sugar For A Dime_ and an inexcuseable vacancy in my collection:
Miles Davis' _Kind of Blue_. I'm also soliciting suggestions from Allan
on the best Cannonball Adderly material (so far he's only said "Any old
Miles album with him playing will do."), and I have a number of pop
things I'd like to pick up before long (latest thing by Bjork, some
of Happy Rhodes' material and a couple of old Husker Du CDs).
> (Does anyone else agree that Dennis
> Mackay was the first engineer to really capture Allan's sound,
> on the first Gong record?)
If you're talking about _Gazeuse!_ (or alternately titled _Expresso_
in some circles), all I can say is *absolutely*! No question! Now
*that* is a *sound*.
> Lastly, BTW Jeff, I am working on the quiz and I'm well over
> nine but not at twenty (yet) ;-)
Well you have stiffer competition now, Kingsley... :) For anyone
who missed it, we're having a little trivia quiz, and the winner will
receive a copy of _Reaching for the Uncommon Chord_ by Allan Holdsworth
and Christopher Hoard, *autographed* by Allan Holdsworth. Entries are
due by 11/30/93 to my address, preston@msuacad.morehead-st.edu , and
you may make amends/corrections to your answers up until the deadline
date. Copies of the quiz are available from me via e-mail. Only three
weeks left... hurry! :)
Jeff
--
Jeff Preston =*= Moderator of the Allan Holdsworth discussion forum
=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*= atavachron-request@msuacad.morehead-st.edu =*=*=*=
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: phv@equalizer.cray.com (Paolo Valladolid)
Subject: Re: Digest #66
Date: Tue, 9 Nov 93 15:54:51 PST
> From: uchima@fncrd8.fnal.gov (Mike Uchima)
> Subject: what other artists do you like?
>
> What other artists do you like/listen to, that other Holdsworth fans might
> also like?
John Coltrane. I think this saxophonist had a greater influence on Holdsworth's
improvising style than any other musician, guitarists included. Start
with _A Love Supreme_.
Tribal Tech. A fusion group led by guitarist Scott Henderson and bassist
Gary Willis. Henderson's style sounds like a cross between Holdsworth, Santana,
and Albert King. He uses the same pickups (Seymour Duncan Allan Holdsworth
model pickups) and a similar equipment setup. Did I mention that both
Henderson and Willis are also great composers?
David Torn. A versatile yet highly original guitarist who has played in a
variety of contexts. He's been accused of being a Holdsworth imitator, but I
don't think he really sounds like anyone else. Check out _Cloud About Mercury_
and _Door X_, as well as his work with other artists such as Jan Gabarek,
Mick Karn, etc. BTW, he says he helped invent the Steinberger TransTrem.
Bill Frisell. Another multi-faceted yet original guitarist. His highest
profile gigs have been with Naked City, in which he's required to play a
wide variety of styles from country to jazz to thrash-metal; often within one
song. Frisell's gigs with this groups and other NYC downtown acts such as
Power Tools showcase his guitar wildman side. Frisell's own albums tend to
expose his gentler side where he's more likely to play acoustic or use
his volume pedal. Like Holdsworth in "Shallow Sea", Frisell uses the volume
pedal to create synth-like pads or pedal-steel sounds. Frisell started out
as a clarinet player; the volume pedal seemed like a good device to use to
try to get breathy sounds out of guitar.
> I don't know if anyone can help me with this, but I'm desparately
> trying to find out what equipment was used by AH on Metal Fatigue,
> especially for thase lovely, clean sproingy synth-type sounds. So
> any information on amps or effects (or guitars!!) would be greatly
> appreciated.
Try using a volume pedal to fade in your guitar. Then add chorus and digital
delay to get those pad-like sounds to sustain longer. Holdsworth used an
Ibanez model AH-10 with an ebony fretboard for "Metal Fatigue" but later
switched to Steinbergers. He's been consistently known to use Mesa Boogie
amps. Finally, remember to *not pick every* note you play; execute hammer-ons
and pull-offs when doing scalar runs.
> Have you guys ever discussed this one? . . . . Who's better, Allan
> Holdsworth or John McLaughlin? And, 20 points off for any letter
> that begins with the cliche, "It's impossible to compare two guitarists
> with such different styles . . ." and 25 points off for any letter
> that begins with the cliche, "It depends on how you define 'better'..."
I like John McLaughlin for his versatility, having played with musicians of
every genre from rock (Santana, Hendrix) to Indian classical to flamenco. I
admire him for the love and respect that he's given to the music that he's
played.
Having said that, I prefer Allan Holdsworth for his phrasing and would like
to see him expand his musical horizons more in some musical context in which
we've never heard him before; like in his hard-swinging rendition of
"Michelle" (which BTW answers the question someone posted here a few years
ago: Can Allan play in a traditional jazz context?).
Now the recent discussion about song lyrics bring to mind a question I posted
here a year ago to which *no one* answered, despite the abundance of
Holdsworth gurus here:
Who wrote the lyrics to the vocal tunes on Holdsworth's albums?
Allan himself?
--
Paolo Valladolid
phv@equalizer.cray.com
Cray Research Superservers, Inc.
--
Paolo Valladolid
phv@equalizer.cray.com
Cray Research Superservers, Inc.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I ========= End of Atavachron Digest =========
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: ::::::: ]] [[ ::::::: : Administrative requests to:
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/ :: ] ::: [ :: \ All opinions expressed herein are
I I those of the individual contributors.
Atavachron Digest - The Allan Holdsworth Discussion Digest
Volume 2, Number 68
Sunday, 14 November 1993
TODAY'S TOPICS:
==============
AH lyrics
Re: What we listen to
RE: other music
RE: other music
Re: Atavachron Digest Number 67 (Tue Nov 9 19:03:27 1993)
Re: AH lyrics
Another try ...
Want to ask Bruford something?
Introduction
Bootlegs
_Hard Hat Area_ scheduled for release
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Tue, 9 Nov 1993 18:12:35 -0600 (CST)
From: DOZIER@ANLPNS.PNS.ANL.GOV (WDDOZIER@ANL.GOV, (708)252-5476)
Subject: AH lyrics
According to Allan (this was a long time ago, during the first IOU tour), he
wrote the lyrics. I don't know if this has continued to be true on later
releases or not.
Bill Dozier
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: phv@equalizer.cray.com (Paolo Valladolid)
Subject: Re: What we listen to
Date: Tue, 9 Nov 93 16:52:48 PST
> > From: uchima@fncrd8.fnal.gov (Mike Uchima)
> > Subject: what other artists do you like?
> >
> > What other artists do you like/listen to, that other Holdsworth fans might
> > also like?
>
> John Coltrane. I think this saxophonist had a greater influence on Holdsworth's
> improvising style than any other musician, guitarists included. Start
> with _A Love Supreme_.
>
> Tribal Tech. A fusion group led by guitarist Scott Henderson and bassist
> Gary Willis. Henderson's style sounds like a cross between Holdsworth, Santana,
How could I forget to mention Weather Report? The more I listen to Wayne
Shorter's sax playing, the more I realize that if Holdsworth had been playing
rather than Shorter, his improvised lines would have been very similar to
Shorter's. Replace the sax with distorted legato guitar and you'll know what
I'm talking about. Of course, Shorter was the man handpicked by John Coltrane
himself to take Coltrane's place in Miles' band and Shorter was heavily
influenced by Coltrane, so this takes us back to the Holdsworth-Coltrane
connection. There really aren't any blatant stinkers in the Weather Report
catalog, but the one's I've heard and liked are _Night Passage_, _Black
Market_,_Heavy Weather_, _Weather Report (the first album, with the origami
figures
on the cover)_, and _I Sing the Body Electric_, which prog-rock aficionados
might like for its distinctly King Crimsonish feel (Ralph Towner adds the
guitar presence with his stunning 12-string guitar solo on "Moorish Princess").
Coincidentally, the above albums feature either Jaco Pastorius or Miroslav
Vitous on bass, so you can't go wrong really with any Weather Report album
with either of these two on it. Well, except _Mr. Gone_, which should probably
be avoided. Weather Report not only had great improvisers; it also had
great composers in its lineup.
Tribal Tech is heavily influenced by Weather Report. Start with the _Tribal
Tech_ album. Some record stores might file Tribal Tech albums under Scott
Henderson's name, so look out.
As for my musical tastes, I've only discussed 10% of the music I listen to,
maybe less. As Malcolm will attest, a complete listing of everything I listen
to would take up a novella at least (and this list is constantly growing).
--
Paolo Valladolid
phv@equalizer.cray.com
Cray Research Superservers, Inc.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Wed, 10 Nov 93 00:10:53 -0500
From: rardin%bad.dnet@auriga (R. Lynn Rardin)
Subject: RE: other music
> On my "short buy" list (or on order from the good folks at Maxell, grr),
> there's the latest album by Universal Congress Of (the name of which
> escapes me... help me out, Mr. Vance -- you saw the Sharrock comment
I'm not Mr. Vance, but I'll help out. :) Could it be THE ELEVENTH-HOUR SHINE-
ON? If so, nice album.
> so you have *two* good excuses to post now!), Henry Threadgill's _Too
> Much Sugar For A Dime_ and an inexcuseable vacancy in my collection:
We're going to see Threadgill and Very Very Circus next week! I can't wait.
TMSFAD was at the top of my 1993 Cadence Readers' Poll entry, to give you an
idea about my opinion of this one. BUY IT! :)
> Miles Davis' _Kind of Blue_. I'm also soliciting suggestions from Allan
> on the best Cannonball Adderly material (so far he's only said "Any old
> Miles album with him playing will do.")...
There's some truth to that. BTW, is Allan a big Adderly fan? MILESTONES
wouldn't be a bad one to pick up.
> If you're talking about _Gazeuse!_ (or alternately titled _Expresso_
> in some circles), all I can say is *absolutely*! No question! Now
> *that* is a *sound*.
This is a _great_ recording!
-Lynn
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Jeff Preston
Subject: RE: other music
Date: Wed, 10 Nov 93 1:08:44 EST
> From: rardin%bad.dnet@auriga (R. Lynn Rardin)
> Subject: RE: other music
> > On my "short buy" list (or on order from the good folks at Maxell, grr),
> > there's the latest album by Universal Congress Of (the name of which
> > escapes me... help me out, Mr. Vance -- you saw the Sharrock comment
> I'm not Mr. Vance, but I'll help out. :) Could it be THE ELEVENTH-HOUR SHINE-
> ON? If so, nice album.
Yes, that's it! Mr. Vance has been getting complements netwide for
exposing us to this material, and I can hardly wait to get my copy
spinning in the player.
> We're going to see Threadgill and Very Very Circus next week! I can't wait.
> TMSFAD was at the top of my 1993 Cadence Readers' Poll entry, to give you an
> idea about my opinion of this one. BUY IT! :)
It's due from the Maxell folks any day now (nearly four months after
the order went in, but I can hardly complain: my pals at Allmusic gave
me enough Max Award points to get *six* free CDs... I decided not to
ask for anything else I was impatient to hear though!). This is another
one for which thanks is owed to Mr. Vance, the hippest listener in
southwest Texas.
> > Miles Davis' _Kind of Blue_. I'm also soliciting suggestions from Allan
> > on the best Cannonball Adderly material (so far he's only said "Any old
> > Miles album with him playing will do.")...
> There's some truth to that. BTW, is Allan a big Adderly fan? MILESTONES
> wouldn't be a bad one to pick up.
Yes, Allan is big on Adderly. I forget where I've read references to
that... perhaps in _Reaching for the Uncommon Chord_. Just one listen
to _Kind of Blue_ convinced me that I needed to find more of his work.
Jeff
--
Jeff Preston =*= Moderator of the Allan Holdsworth discussion forum
=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*= atavachron-request@msuacad.morehead-st.edu =*=*=*=
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Wed, 10 Nov 93 15:00:25 GMT
From: mley@acorn.co.uk (Martin Ley)
Subject: Re: Atavachron Digest Number 67 (Tue Nov 9 19:03:27 1993)
Yo Jeff!!
Let's hear it for the Ozrics! I've recently started listening to them, and
Strangeitude
is definitely my fave, although Erpland is good too. To start with, I was a bit
"embarassed" about liking a band that were so heavily into dance/rave type
music, but I enjoyed it so much I though "sod it"!! I love the way the synths and
guitars
weave in and out of the really solid grooves in the backing. Real drums, too - no
crummy drum machines here. The guy can really play.
I must try and get hold of some Scott Henderson and David Torn. Sounds as though
they're well worth a listen.
Out of Holdsworth and McLaughlin I prefer Holdsworth... So what?
Keep up the good work.
Mart
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Wed, 10 Nov 93 10:51:04 -0600
From: uchima@fncrd8.fnal.gov (Mike Uchima)
Subject: Re: AH lyrics
Bill Dozier wrote:
> According to Allan (this was a long time ago, during the first IOU tour), he
> wrote the lyrics. I don't know if this has continued to be true on later
> releases or not.
>
> Bill Dozier
Rowanne Mark is credited with writing the lyrics on the Atavachron and Secrets
albums. The vocalist (Naomi Star) on Against The Clock (from Wardnenclyffe
Tower) also shares writing credits with Allan on that track. Maybe there's a
trend towards letting his vocalists write their own lyrics (or letting his
lyricists sing what they write)?
-- Mike Uchima
-- uchima@fnal.fnal.gov
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Thu, 11 Nov 1993 07:11:42 -0500 (CDT)
From: Back from the shadows again
Subject: Another try ...
>Date: Wed, 10 Nov 1993 01:11:40 -0500
>From: Jeff Preston
>Subject: RE: other music
>
> [_Too Much Sugar For A Dime_]
>
> It's due from the Maxell folks any day now (nearly four months after
> the order went in, but I can hardly complain: my pals at Allmusic gave
> me enough Max Award points to get *six* free CDs... I decided not to
> ask for anything else I was impatient to hear though!). This is another
> one for which thanks is owed to Mr. Vance, the hippest listener in
> southwest Texas.
Aw shucks, I think you're just trying to get me out of the woodwork.
:*) As far as the nearly four months waiting for the Max Awards stuff,
that's not unusual. They say to allow three months, and I've never had
anything come in any quicker than that.
As for listening habits of Atavachronistas in general, it seems that my
tastes are not too far removed from a number of others on the list. One
comment that really caught my eye was the following:
>Date: Mon, 08 Nov 1993 15:44:49 -0500
>From: svasi@getafix.cs.uoregon.edu
>Subject: RE: other artists
>
>Sonny Sharrock, who plays less fusion and more jazz than AH, but to my taste
>has the same ability to play endless phrases that are fiery, impassioned, and
>still really fluid.
At first I was going to question your sanity in comparing the two, but
a couple of words you used saved you. :*) Stylistically, I see them as
polar opposites -- Allan is the epitome of the "clean" phrase (to repeat
that line: "you never hear his hands"), while Sonny is all jagged edges.
Allan is soaring somewhere up in hyperspace, while Sonny is rumbling along
a lot closer to earth.
Both Sonny and A.H. are definitely able to play "phrases that are fiery,
[and] impassioned", and Sonny can be fluid, but he seems to derive that
more from the rounded Les Paul sound than from flawless fretwork like A.H.
To put it another way: Fluidity for Sonny (IMHO) is smearing and twisting
phrases, while fluidity for Allan is leaping across phrases without ever
seeming to touch down.
(Just so you'll know where I'm coming from -- I am a huge fan of
Sharrock. I have spent quite a bit of time trying to get my hands on every
recording that Sonny has ever appeared on. Hell, I even hounded Audiophile
Imports for over a year to get me a copy of _Guitar_. I finally got it for
$35 a week or so before ENEMY decided to re-issue it domestically. %*)
BTW, nice to see all the activity on the list (hi, Lynn! :*), and no, I
won't compare A.H. and McLaughlin. :*)
Chuck
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Jeff Preston
Subject: Want to ask Bruford something?
Date: Thu, 11 Nov 93 14:36:12 EST
I don't know if this Westwood One thing will have a call-in Q&A session,
(I don't do radio network shows... or radio, for that matter, here in the
MHz wasteland of eastern Kentucky), but the name sounds familiar. If there
*is* a call-in, anyone here want to call and ask Bill about the latest
information regarding the aborted Bruford/Holdsworth collaboration? If
nothing else, Bill might actually get a kick out of a non-Yes question,
knowing how passionate his feeling run towards Yes (sarcasm mode shifted
back to neutral). :)
Here's the relevant data, if it'll do anyone any good:
(The following posting was forwarded without permission)
> From: mcorso@mindvox.phantom.com (Mike Corso)
> Subject: INFO: Steve Howe/Bill Bruford on radio 11/12!
> Message-ID:
> Followup-To: rec.music.misc,alt.rock-n-roll.classic,alt.music.rush
> Originator: recmusic@cygnus
> Lines: 33
> Sender: news@news.tudelft.nl (UseNet News System)
> Nntp-Posting-Host: cygnus.cp.tn.tudelft.nl
> Reply-To: mcorso@mindvox.phantom.com
> Organization: [MindVox] / Phantom Access Technologies / (+1 800-MindVox)
> Date: Thu, 11 Nov 1993 19:01:15 GMT
> Approved: rec-music-info@cp.tn.tudelft.nl
> Xref: news.ysu.edu rec.music.misc:20354 alt.rock-n-roll.classic:3809
rec.music.info:1742 alt.music.rush:8851
>
> Here's an update of the radio appearances that Steve Howe and Bill
> Bruford will be making in support of _Symphonic Music of Yes_--a great
> recording with another fabulous Roger Dean piece on the cover.
>
> Bill Bruford and Steve Hoe will be in New York to promote the record
> November 11 and 12. On Thursday, they'll be at WMMR in Philadelphia at
> 1PM and at WNEW/Scott Muni in New York at 4PM (4:30??).
>
> They'll be appearing on Westwood One's Satellite feed to many top market
> AOR stations on Friday November 12 to talk about the record and perform
> "unplugged."
>
> KATT OKLAHOMA CITY 8:40AM
> WGFX NASHVILLE 8:50M
> WMMS CLEVELAND 9:00AM
> WHJY PROVIDENCE 9:10AM
> WRDU ALEIGH 9:20AM
> WXLP AVENPORT 9:30AM
> KGGO DES MOINES 9:50AM
> WFBQ INDIANAPLOIS 10:0AM
> KZRR ALBUQUERQUE 10:10AM
> KOME SAN JOSE 10:20AMWXRK
> NEW YORK 10:30AM (INTERVIEW W/DAVE HEMAN TO AIR
> LATER IN THE ATERNOON)
>
> Oh, yeah--don't miss their sure-to-be-interesting appearance on the Regis
> and Kathy Lee Show on Thursday (11/11) at 9AM (check your local
> listings)....I can't wait for this!!
>
> BTW, there's an 800# forordering _Symphonic Music of Ye_:
> 800-888-8574....
>
> C-man
Thanks for reading,
Jeff
--
Jeff Preston =*= Moderator of the Allan Holdsworth discussion forum
=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*= atavachron-request@msuacad.morehead-st.edu =*=*=*=
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: 12 Nov 93 07:41:57 EST
From: "Michael A. Bogdonoff" <71534.1470@CompuServe.COM>
Subject: Introduction
I'm new to Internet, connecting through Compuserve. I've been a fan of
Alan Holdsworth since the Road Games EP was released, and went back to
fill out my collection. I've now relaced all the vinyl with CD versions;
I've still never seen that EP on CD, however. I've seen him live 3 times
in Philadelphia (4 if you count the big UK free show down by the Delaware
River --30-50 thousand people saw that one). One time he came through, he
OPENED for Ronnie Montrose. I was stunned. The only redeeming aspect was
that I got his autograph at the bar during the Montrose set. Then we went
home.
I'm trying to track down the whereabouts of his Live in Japan video...can
anyone help? Also, are there any plans for any release of live material?
Touring on the East Coast?
Are live tapes exchanged through this group? I know some artists frown
upon that, some are indifferent and some encourage it...my impression is
that AH is a perfectionist who might not appreciate the circulation of
tapes...what's the story?
The interviews I've read recently suggest that AH is rather discouraged
with the music industry...Funk Pop a Roll, as XTC might say. Here's
hoping that there are enough of us out here buying his releases and
supporting his live shows to encourage him to continue.
Glad to hear from anyone wishing to correspond...
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Jeff Preston
Subject: Bootlegs
Date: Fri, 12 Nov 93 12:40:25 EST
> From: "Michael A. Bogdonoff" <71534.1470@CompuServe.COM>
> Subject: Introduction
> I'm trying to track down the whereabouts of his Live in Japan video...can
> anyone help? Also, are there any plans for any release of live material?
> Touring on the East Coast?
Allan says this is not a legitimate video; here's what he had to say
about it in Anil Prasad's interview of 1/15/93:
= AH: Yeah, "Tokyo Dreams." What it was is we knew the cameras were
= going to be there, but we were supposed to be able to view it
= first. It was supposed to be completely up to us whether we wanted
= it used it or not. But of course that was not the truth, they lied
= and they put it out and it was done in a really sneaky way. The
= company that did the video was owned by someone else other than the
= video company that put it out and then mysteriously disappeared, so
= the contract was... you know... there was nobody... the only way we
= could do anything about it... the lawyer I have over here said, if
= you have $25,000 you want to put down, I can go and start
= something. Obviously, I don't have any mon.. there's just no way.
As far as we know, there are no immediate plans for a legitimate live
release. Allan is working on his last album for Restless now, so we may
find out more regarding the possibility of such after he signs with a
new label. As far as a tour, nothing is planned for anywhere at the
moment -- we'll have the itinerary here as soon as one becomes available.
And regarding _Road Games_, it's not available on CD yet, but it may
be at some time in the future... Audiophile Imports was supposedly in
negotiations with Warner Bros. this summer on this, but there's been
no new word on this lately.
> Are live tapes exchanged through this group? I know some artists frown
> upon that, some are indifferent and some encourage it...my impression is
> that AH is a perfectionist who might not appreciate the circulation of
> tapes...what's the story?
The story here is that Morehead State University expressly forbids us
to discuss these bootlegs, or any other clearly illegal acts, using
their resources. That is one reason the list is moderated. Sorry, but
no bootleg trading is allowed via Atavachron. Even if it were, I would
have to weigh that against the desirability of Allan and Claire's
continued support of the list, which would certainly disappear if we
were trading bootlegs via Atavachron!
Jeff
--
Jeff Preston =*= Moderator of the Allan Holdsworth discussion forum
=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*= atavachron-request@msuacad.morehead-st.edu =*=*=*=
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Jeff Preston
Subject: _Hard Hat Area_ scheduled for release
Date: Sun, 14 Nov 93 11:09:04 EST
Claire just wrote to say that Allan had finished mastering the tracks
for _Hard Hat Area_, and that it would be released in Europe and Japan
next month (!) on unspecified labels, and that Restless would release
it in the US in January. I will write back to her today to see if
anything is in the works for a supporting tour. Stay tuned!
Jeff
--
Jeff Preston =*= Moderator of the Allan Holdsworth discussion forum
=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*= atavachron-request@msuacad.morehead-st.edu =*=*=*=
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
========= End of Atavachron Digest ========= I
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Administrative requests to: : ::::::: ]] [[ ::::::: :
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All opinions expressed herein are / :: ] ::: [ :: \
those of the individual contributors. I I
Atavachron Digest - The Allan Holdsworth Discussion Digest
Volume 2, Number 69
Wednesday, 24 November 1993
TODAY'S TOPICS:
==============
Soft Machine/Holdsworth
RE: Soft Machine
RE: Soft Machine
Other music I listen to
RE: Other music I listen to
Archives now available by e-mail
Oops!! / Release date
Jim Kelley/Connors/Tribal Tech
RE: Connors
RE: Connors
AH transcriptions in February '93 Guitar Player
Re: AH transcriptions in February '93 Guitar Player
AH / StarTrek
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Sun, 14 Nov 93 17:45:39 CST
From: Philip Benjamin Riley Sr
Subject: Soft Machine/Holdsworth
I have been searching unsuccessfully for any Holdsworth-era Soft Machine.
have been able to find several albums before and after Holdsworth was in
the band, but never the ones I want. (and off the subject I haven't found
any Andy Summers era SMachine either) Does anyone know anywhere I could
come up with any of this material?
phil r
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Sun, 14 Nov 93 19:15:04 -0500
From: rardin%cygnus.dnet@auriga (R. Lynn Rardin)
Subject: RE: Soft Machine
>I have been searching unsuccessfully for any Holdsworth-era Soft Machine.
>have been able to find several albums before and after Holdsworth was in
>the band, but never the ones I want. (and off the subject I haven't found
>any Andy Summers era SMachine either) Does anyone know anywhere I could
>come up with any of this material?
This may or may not be very helpful to you, but I found my copy of Soft
Machine's BUNDLES (See For Miles SEE CD 283) at Newbury Comics in Harvard Sq.,
Cambridge, MA.
-Lynn
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Sun, 14 Nov 93 18:45:20 CST
From: Philip Benjamin Riley Sr
Subject: RE: Soft Machine
I'd say that might be very helpful indeed. I'm in Chicago now, but I'm
going home to Chelmsford, MA for the holidays, so I'll stop by the Garage
while I'm in town, or possibly another NComics. In fact, I hadn't
realized it was still in print. Here in the midwest, one only finds
used copies of any Soft Machine, and I haven't found Holdsworth readily
avilable anywhere.
Thanks.
phil r
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: v-mikeyo@microsoft.com
Subject: Other music I listen to
Date: Sun, 14 Nov 93 17:04:00 PST
Lots of people have been talking about what they listen to the most other
than AH. So here's my $0.02 worth, in no particular order...
- John McLaughlin, in vast quantities! esp. his early 80s stuff (Belo
Horizonte, Music Spoken Here) and more his recent trio work
- Bill Bruford, esp. "Feels Good To Me", Earthworks and his albums with
Patrick Moraz
- Lyle Mays' solo albums
- John Abercrombie, esp. his work with Johnson and Erskine
- Bireli Lagrene, a very energetic and passionate gypsy guitarist from
France
- Tribal Tech, well put together but lacks feeling at times
- Miles Davis, late 50s/early 60s (Kind of Blue, Someday My Prince Will
Come), his 80s electric stuff leaves me cold
- John Coltrane, esp. Giant Steps, Blue Train and his work with Miles (see
above)
- Mike Brecker, before he went GRP
- Jeff Beck, esp. "Wired" which is on my top 10 list of everything I've ever
heard
- Uzeb, although not as much as I used to
- Astor Piazzolla, esp. Tango Zero Hour, also top 10
- Weather Report
- and more...
In the classical department
- Maurice Ravel, esp. Piano Concerto in G -- another all time top 10 item
- Darius Milhaud, check out the key changes in Saudades do Brasil (piano
version)
- Shostakovitch's "Leningrad" symphony
- George Gershwin
And just in case you were wondering, I HATE PACHELBEL'S !@#$%^&* CANON!!!!
Finally, to the question "Which do I prefer of McLaughlin and Holdsworth", I
say Mu.
Yours musically,
Michael
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Sun, 14 Nov 93 21:00:49 -0500
From: rardin%cygnus.dnet@auriga (R. Lynn Rardin)
Subject: RE: Other music I listen to
> - Bill Bruford, esp. "Feels Good To Me", Earthworks and his albums with
>Patrick Moraz
Those dates with Moraz are really nice. And FGTM still gives me a thrill
every time I listen to it! Bruford's one of my favorites. That's why I'd
_really_ like to see that Holdsworth/Bruford project come off!
-Lynn (rardin@auriga.rose.brandeis.edu)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Jeff Preston
Subject: Archives now available by e-mail
Date: Tue, 16 Nov 93 9:38:46 EST
Just in time for the final two weeks of the trivia quiz...
In addition to being available via anonymous FTP to ftp.uwp.edu,
the Atavachron archives are also now available via e-mail request
to the MSU listserver. To retrieve archive files, send e-mail to
listserv@msuacad.morehead-st.edu with the following as the text of
your message:
get atavachron logYYMM
... where "YY" is the year and "MM" is the year of the desired
archive file. To get a list of all the archival files available
from the listserver, send e-mail to listserv@msuacad.morehead-st.edu
with the following as the text of your message:
index atavachron
Happy hunting! :)
Jeff
--
Jeff Preston =*= Moderator of the Allan Holdsworth discussion forum
=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*= atavachron-request@msuacad.morehead-st.edu =*=*=*=
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Jeff Preston
Subject: Oops!! / Release date
Date: Sat, 20 Nov 93 10:58:35 EST
Anyone who has sent in a posting to the list since Wednesday or so
may have had their mail returned to them with a mysterious error
message. I apologize -- this was caused by an oversight on my part
which resulted in the file permissions for a certain file to be
changed. The problem is fixed now, and I hope to be more careful
in the future... remember, I'm a Unix neophyte. :)
I decided to make a short phone call to Restless to see if I could
nail down an exact release date for _Hard Hat Area_. Reed Sherman, the
fellow who originally put me in touch with Allan, is no longer working
there, it seems, but the receptionist said she had a scheduled release
date of February 8th, 1994 for the new album. No word yet from Claire
regarding a supporting tour, but I'll be sure to inform the list as
more information becomes available.
Jeff
--
Jeff Preston =*= Moderator of the Allan Holdsworth discussion forum
=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*= atavachron-request@msuacad.morehead-st.edu =*=*=*=
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Kingsley Durant Jr
Subject: Jim Kelley/Connors/Tribal Tech
Date: Sat, 20 Nov 93 19:02:03 EST
In digest #66 or thereabouts, I mentioned that Jim Kelley was
still making amps as far as I knew. OOPS! It seems that Kelley
quit the business to become a college professor (!) so it's off
to the vintage shops if you want one. Aspen Pittman (Mr.
Groove Tubes) gives an address for one of Kelley's former
employees in his "Tube Amp Book," should anyone need help wth a
Kelley amp they do own.
RE: Bill Connors; Allan had a few comments to make about
Connors' recent stuff in the '89 Guitar World interview which,
for those who haven't read it, is the best AH interview ever
(sorry, Anil!). Connors didn't entirely disappear in the late
'70's, BTW - he quit playing electric guitar and did solo
acoustic gigs; he might have even studied some classical for a
while. He released one solo acoustic LP on ECM, _Swimming With
A Hole In My Body_ which is OK, tho' I haven't pulled it out to
listen to in 8 or 10 years. Sort of ECM-ish, y'know? He also
played with Jan Garbarek Group in '80 or '81; one LP _Photo
With..._ is pretty good and reminiscent of early (pre-jaco)
Weather Report. He was replaced by Bill Frisell in that group.
RE: Gary Willis (of Tribal Tech): I met him at a Leni Stern gig
(at which Robben Ford sat in) in NYC last month. I asked him
how he enjoyed his brief tenure with Allan - I had seen them in
Cambridge on his tour with IOU. He said it was great but
Husband and Holdsworth would go so far out sometimes that he'd
feel clueless as to what to do. Hmmm... I also attended Scott
Hendeson's seminar at the GPI show, and came away mightily
impressed with his knowledge/chops but less so with his
musicality. IMHO, they (Tribal Tech) would love to be the next
Weather Report, but they ain't - too chops for the sake of
chops and not enough "group improv." I sound like a broken
record, but Marc Johnson's Bass Desires captured that Weather
Report vibe much better.
<>
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Sat, 20 Nov 93 23:02:46 -0500
From: rardin%cygnus.dnet@auriga (R. Lynn Rardin)
Subject: RE: Connors
>RE: Bill Connors;... Connors didn't entirely disappear in the late
>'70's, BTW - he quit playing electric guitar and did solo
>acoustic gigs; he might have even studied some classical for a
>while. He released one solo acoustic LP on ECM, _Swimming With
>A Hole In My Body_ which is OK, tho' I haven't pulled it out to
>listen to in 8 or 10 years. Sort of ECM-ish, y'know?
He released at least one other ECM solo recording, THEME TO THE
GUARDIAN (1974). Kingsley's description of SWAHIMB fits THEME well, too. I
noticed that the 1978 recording entitled IAI FESTIVAL by Jimmy Giuffre, Lee
Konitz, Paul Bley and Connors was just reissed on Improvising Artists. I'm
pretty sure Connors appeared on at least one other recording with a similar
group.
-Lynn
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Sun, 21 Nov 93 10:03:20 EST
From: "Bob Lynch"
Subject: RE: Connors
Two other excellent albums by BC: Picture with Red Wires/Blue Roof (I know
that is not correct but it's close), and what I believe is a landmark album,
Of Mist and Melting (ECM), featuring BC, Jack DeJohnette, Jan Garbarek, and
Palle Daniellson(?). It is all acoustic, recorded masterfully, the
compositions are nothing short of perfect, and the interplay is astounding.
I still have a copy of the album, but I would kill to have a CD version. If
anyone knows of such a thing, please post it. I prefer this BC to the
Holdsworthian BC, however Bill's compositions on his recent efforts are
truly remarkable.
--Bob Lynch
>>RE: Bill Connors;... Connors didn't entirely disappear in the late
>>'70's, BTW - he quit playing electric guitar and did solo
>>acoustic gigs; he might have even studied some classical for a
>>while. He released one solo acoustic LP on ECM, _Swimming With
>>A Hole In My Body_ which is OK, tho' I haven't pulled it out to
>>listen to in 8 or 10 years. Sort of ECM-ish, y'know?
>
>He released at least one other ECM solo recording, THEME TO THE
>GUARDIAN (1974). Kingsley's description of SWAHIMB fits THEME well, too. I
>noticed that the 1978 recording entitled IAI FESTIVAL by Jimmy Giuffre, Lee
>Konitz, Paul Bley and Connors was just reissed on Improvising Artists. I'm
>pretty sure Connors appeared on at least one other recording with a similar
>group.
>
>-Lynn
>
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Sun, 21 Nov 93 12:38:15 PST
From: freedman@mprgate.mpr.ca (Elliot Freedman)
Subject: AH transcriptions in February '93 Guitar Player
Guitar Player of February 1993 had an article entitled 'Allan Holdsworth
Explores New Guitar Frontiers' by Chris Gill as a part of their 'Damn The
Cliches' issue.
There were also a number of solo snippet transcriptions by Jesse Gress which
unfortunately were not tagged with the name piece from which they were taken.
Does anyone know from which tunes the nine exercises were taken?
=======================================================================
Elliot E. Freedman (freedman@mpr.ca)
Who welcomes interest from Internet users in his group's tape of
adventurous, electric jazz music. Write for details!
"Very, very good avant fusion..."
Guitar Player Magazine, October 1991
Reader's Soundpage Competition
=======================================================================
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Sun, 21 Nov 93 21:36:50 EST
From: "Bob Lynch"
Subject: Re: AH transcriptions in February '93 Guitar Player
I can't find my copy of the magazine, but I believe the excerpts were all from
Wardenclyffe Tower.
--Bob Lynch (lynch@jvnc.net)
>
>Guitar Player of February 1993 had an article entitled 'Allan Holdsworth
>Explores New Guitar Frontiers' by Chris Gill as a part of their 'Damn The
>Cliches' issue.
>
>There were also a number of solo snippet transcriptions by Jesse Gress which
>unfortunately were not tagged with the name piece from which they were taken.
>
>Does anyone know from which tunes the nine exercises were taken?
>
>=======================================================================
>Elliot E. Freedman (freedman@mpr.ca)
>
>Who welcomes interest from Internet users in his group's tape of
>adventurous, electric jazz music. Write for details!
>
> "Very, very good avant fusion..."
> Guitar Player Magazine, October 1991
> Reader's Soundpage Competition
>=======================================================================
>
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Tue, 23 Nov 93 12:56:23 PST
From: freedman@mprgate.mpr.ca (Elliot Freedman)
Subject: AH / StarTrek
My drummer friend, an avid AH & Star Trek fan, has picked on what was a
discussion thread on Atavachron a year ago, namely soliciting Paramount
Pictures to have AH make a musical or even on-camera appearance on one
of the Star Trek series. He's drafted a letter, much like Jeff Preston's of
last year, and hopes to send it off.
The letter does mention AH's use of 'Atavachron', 'All Our Yesterdays',
'Zarabeth', 'Mr. Spock', and does mention the Atavachron cover.
I can't help but to think that in this age of TM, (c), SM, basically the
corporate takeover of language, arts, and culture (I'll stop before leaning
to raving :) ) that it might not be such a good idea to make Paramount aware
of AH's use of Star Trek - isms.
I though Atavachron-ers (TM ??, SM ??) might have something to say about this.
Any thoughts? And wouldn't it be cool for AH to do Deck 7 lounge music? :)
=======================================================================
Elliot E. Freedman (freedman@mpr.ca)
Who welcomes interest from Internet users in his group's tape of
adventurous, electric jazz music. Write for details!
"Very, very good avant fusion..."
Guitar Player Magazine, October 1991
Reader's Soundpage Competition
=======================================================================
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I ========= End of Atavachron Digest =========
\ :::: ]I[ :::: /
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/ :: ] ::: [ :: \ All opinions expressed herein are
I I those of the individual contributors.
Atavachron Digest - The Allan Holdsworth Discussion Digest
Volume 2, Number 70
Wednesday, 1 December 1993
TODAY'S TOPICS:
==============
Re: Soft Machine
Re: other music
McLaughlin/Holdsworth--"Too Nice A Guy"
Bill DeLap & UK Guitarist magazine
Bill DeLap
Re: Soft Machine
We have a winner!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Wed, 24 Nov 93 14:24:44 -0600
From: uchima@fncrd8.fnal.gov (Mike Uchima)
Subject: Re: Soft Machine
Philip Benjamin Riley Sr writes:
>
> I have been searching unsuccessfully for any Holdsworth-era Soft Machine.
> have been able to find several albums before and after Holdsworth was in
> the band, but never the ones I want. (and off the subject I haven't found
> any Andy Summers era SMachine either) Does anyone know anywhere I could
> come up with any of this material?
>
> (and, in a later posting):
>
> Here in the midwest, one only finds
> used copies of any Soft Machine, and I haven't found Holdsworth readily
> avilable anywhere.
>
> Thanks.
>
> phil r
I picked up a copy of _Bundles_ a few months ago at Crow's Nest Digital in
Aurora, IL -- found it in their Imports section. That's probably a little far
for you to drive for just one disc (~50 miles, I guess), but maybe if you
happen to be out that way for some reason...
Crow's Nest also seem to have a fair selection of other Holdsworth-related
stuff -- they usually have most of his solo recordings in stock, although they
seem to be really confused as to whether to file them under Rock or Jazz (I've
actually seen them stock two copies of the same Holdsworth title, one in each
section). I also picked up my copies of _Wardenclyffe Tower_, Bruford's
_Feels Good To Me_ and _One Of A Kind_, as well as MVP's _Truth In Shredding_
there.
Also, if you don't mind mail-order, CD Connection has a pretty good selection,
and quite reasonable prices. They list all of the currently in-print
Holdsworth solo recordings, as well as quite a few Soft Machine titles (but
not _Bundles_, alas). I've gotten quite a lot of good music from these guys
since I discovered them a few months ago; but just because they list something
in their catalog doesn't guarantee that they can get it -- they claim a hit
rate of something like 95%, but my experience is that on the more obscure
stuff, it probably runs more like 60%. Other than this, I've been really
pleased with their service; and I prefer that they list something that they
might not be able to get, rather than not list it at all.
-- Mike Uchima
-- uchima@fnal.fnal.gov
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: "Steve Morris"
Date: Wed, 24 Nov 1993 12:40:11 -0800
Subject: Re: other music
In #67 Jeff wrote:
>I hadn't intended to respond to this thread, since my tastes are
>bound to draw flames from *somewhere*. ;) Just looking through my
>CDs you'd find the expected dosages of Jeff Beck, Eric Johnson, John
>McLaughlin, Steve Morse, Scott Henderson and Kazumi Watanabe (the
>"guitar-centric" part, certainly).
Jeff, - not a flame, mind you - my interest in music centers around
the guitar. Especially instrumentals. But I have not heard any Kazumi
Watanabe. Please compair and contrast him to others such as the ones
in your above list.
I looked for him at my local CD shop and found _Mobo I and II_ and
_Pandora_. Are these good pics, or should I start with something else?
What I listen to besides AH...
-Steve Morse Band / Dixie Drages - the best!
-Joe Satriani- there was a discussion between him and AH in one of the
gtr mags.
-Pat Metheny - His new live cd is great... jazzy....
-The Rippingtons (/Russ Freeman) - more sax mixed with gtr and bass..
Their new live cd is great...
-J.L.Ponti(sp)- I dont accually have any of his stuff ;) but AH played
on some of his early stuff... Anybody heard Ponti's latest?
Thanks,
Steve
smorris@mfg.sgi.com
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: 25 Nov 93 10:37:00 PST
From: "Chris King"
Subject: McLaughlin/Holdsworth--"Too Nice A Guy"
Who's better: McLaughlin or Holdsworth? Actually that probably is
a tired, pointless question; but since I brought it up, let me
add my humble two cents.
I saw this quote once from (I think) B.B. King. He said, "Peter
Green makes me sweat." (Of course talking about the marvelous
guitarist from the original Fleetwood Mac.) The way a person
responds to certain music may be the only way to judge between
very dissimilar guitar styles. Or between almost anything.
A friend and I, over coffee, once discussed: What's better?
Julia Roberts in the movie, "Mystic Pizza" or Joe Zawinul
playing "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy." You check your heart rate and
note the dampness of your forehead, and you can figure out
which is better.
I saw John McLaughlin for the first time in 1977 with the One Truth
Band--his brief-lived electric band after Mahavishnu I. I remember
walking into the Dorothy Chandler Pavillion in Los Angeles not
quite knowing what to expect; a friend had suggested that since
I enjoyed Robert Fripp immensely, I should check out McLaughlin.
I think the band first kicked into "Inner Mounting Flame". McLaughlin
blew out the most fast, distorted, thought-provoking, sweat-inducing
solo I had ever heard to that moment. I walked out of there afterwards
shaking my head in disbelief over what I'd just heard. I returned
to my dormitory, Bahia, at the University of California, Irvine, and
declared to my dorm mates that I had just heard a musician who
was better than the Beatles. When the laughter died down after
an hour or two, I went to bed. Next morning I went out and bought
"Inner Mounting Flame" and "Birds of Fire."
When I heard Holdsworth live for the first time at the Golden Bear
in Huntington Beach, Cal., probably in 1981 or so, I heard the
most fast and thought-provoking solos I'd heard since Johnny M.
But the songs never made me sweat (and he didn't use much distortion,
either). Don't get me wrong, I love Holdsworth. But I've never
had that kick in the stomach thrill from him. So, IMHO, McLaughlin
is better. Whatever that means.
I took my seven-year old son camping with his Indian Guides tribe
a couple weekends ago (Indian Guides are a bit like the Boy Scouts).
It was with ten other father-son pairs on the beach at Camp Pendleton
Marine Base. I hoped it wouldn't be a long weekend of boring, father-
to-father discussions of football. Instead, luckily, one of the dads
there was a professional guitarist who worked with one of the major
instrument manufacturers in the world. Discussion turned to
Holdsworth around the campfire. Paul, the dad, said, "Allan Holdsworth.
Yes, I've talked to him a few times. God, he's great. And such a nice
guy. But that's the problem."
"What do you mean, 'that's the problem.'" I asked (after my fifth
"S'More").
"He's brilliant, but he's such a nice guy, the music industry
treats him like sh--. He's got to learn to be a bigger bastard, if
he wants to make it big," my friend said.
Oh well.
Best Wishes,
Chris King
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Mon, 29 Nov 93 12:55:33 PST
From: freedman@mprgate.mpr.ca (Elliot Freedman)
Subject: Bill DeLap & UK Guitarist magazine
I contacted luthier Bill DeLap a week or two ago and had a great chat with
him. When I mentioned that the UK-based Guitarist magazine's October or
November issue's AH interview was filled with mentions of his work he
expressed interest in receiving a copy of the article.
Should anyone on Atavachron have picked up the magazine would they mind
sending a copy of the article to me or to Bill DeLap directly?
Once again, it was the October or November issue of the English Guitarist
magazine. DeLap's address is:
Bill DeLap,
The Guitar Lab
1186 Highway 68,
Monterey, CA
USA 93940
It can be fax'd to him (c/o Angelo Vennuti, Manutek) at (408) 655 8967
I'll follow up this posting with a summary of our conversation!
Elliot Freedman
freedman@mpr.ca
1744 Parker Street
Vancouver, Canada
V5L 2K8
TEL (604) 293 6034
TEL (604) 255 7017
FAX (604) 293 5787 (c/o MPR Teltech Ltd.)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Mon, 29 Nov 93 13:04:06 PST
From: freedman@mprgate.mpr.ca (Elliot Freedman)
Subject: Bill DeLap
With regards to fifths tuning and his baritone instruments I called Bill DeLap
a week or two ago. We spoke for a half hour about his instruments, AH, music
that he likes, gear in general, and Atavachron.
Bill apparantly bought AH's red Charvel and mentioned using it as a guide
sometimes in the early development of some of the instruments he built for AH.
We both lamented the fact that Ibanez discontinued production of the AH model
as it was a pretty fine sounding instrument, with a nice jumbo-fretted neck.
I was really interested in fifths tuning and how AH might have used the long
necked instruments (for example, fifths tuning for NonBrewed's opening line).
Apparantly, and I hope I've understood this correctly, AH tunes the long
necked instruments (the single necked ones at least) in standard tuning
but starting on a low C or a low D depending on the scale. Bill referred to
the baritone instruments of different scales as a 'C neck' or 'D neck'. I
had suspected that Zarabeth might have been done with regular tuning but was
confused thinking that AH used the long necks for fifths tunings.
Bill was pretty enthusiastic about the WT+3 version of the Unmerrygoround
solo and particularily enjoyed the extra-sustaining quality of sound that
Allan achieved with his long necked instrument.
For those of you who are more liquid than I, he did have for sale one of the
first 'C neck' baritone instruments built for AH. He also mentioned that
he put the top (with a mock soundhole... for fun?) on a new Steinberger
that Allan bought (as seen in that last Guitar Player interview).
Other than that, he's busy servicing and building guitars both electric and
acoustic in the Monterey area. It was a real pleasure to speak with him
and I hope that someone on the Atavachron can forward a copy of the UK
Guitarist AH article to him. A friend apparantly has internet access so
I'll forward Atavachron particulars to him.
Elliot Freedman
freedman@mpr.ca
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Mon, 29 Nov 93 15:19:45 CST
From: Philip Riley
Subject: Re: Soft Machine
To Mike Uchima : thanks for for your advice
regarding finding SMachine, Holdsworth, etc...
And on that subject... _Bundles_ is a recompilation, is it not? Along with
the other releases on See For Miles? Actually, I should probably just ask
for a complete discography for Holdsworth... so, if anyone's willing...
be my guest.
music besides Holdsworth? lessee..
- Andy Summers: _World Gone Strange_, _Charming Snakes_, etc...
- Fripp : King Crimson, League of Crafty Guitarists, etc... though I was
very disappointed by both the Sylvian/Fripp album and the tour
to support it. I've been told by someone on alt.music.progressive
that Adrian Belew told him that there is definitely a KC album due
next year.
-Bela Fleck
-Eno
-John Lurie/the Lounge Lizards, as well as any film by Jim Jarmusch...
-Roland Kirk
-Michael Hedges
etc, etc, these are things more or less in the vein of this group...
although I make it a policy never to become too enamoured of one "type"
of music, or one performer... it seems to me, and this is something
I'd criticize Holdsworth for a times, that a musician should, without
being dilletantish, seek many different ways to express himself. I'd
be ecstatic if _Hard_Hat_Area_ turned out to be vastly different from
_Wardenclyffe_ or _IOU_... comments? Or am I just a dilletante?
-phil
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Jeff Preston
Subject: We have a winner!
Date: Wed, 1 Dec 93 3:58:41 EST
It was a tough battle, but after the dust settled and the random
number generator on our HP9000/G50 finished, a lone contestant in
the trivia quiz was left standing. Yes folks, in a dead-heat, two-way
tie for first place (with 19 correct answers), Jim Trivellas of
Melbourne, Australia has come away with the coveted autographed copy
of _Reaching For The Uncommon Chord_ -- congrats, Jim! And by the
way... no one got the answer to #15 right, so no need to feel inadequate,
Jim. ;)
Answers To
The Toughest Allan Holdsworth Trivia Quiz
Ever Presented On Atavachron!
=============================
Throughout his career, Allan has continually searched for better
tools with which he can express himself. That search has presented
him with instruments from many different manufacturers and luthiers.
#1) Name the company that actually built a production model of
a guitar bearing Allan's initials.
A: Ibanez produced the AH-10, circa 1985
In the "entirely optional Atavachron reader's survey" conducted
last year, Atavachron readers were asked to rate all of the then-known-
to-be-released albums on which Allan had appeared.
#2) Which album was not only rated highest by the respondents,
but also tied for top place in the *number* of responses given
overall?
A: _Metal Fatigue_
Allan and his most recent touring band (Steve Hunt, Gary Husband and
Skuli Sverrisson) plays a tune in concert that no one in the band
wrote, nor is it on any of Allan's solo releases.
#3) What is the name of this tune?
A: "Proto-Cosmos," originally recorded on Tony Williams' New
Lifetime's _Believe It_ LP, 1975
#4) Who wrote it?
A: Keyboardist Alan Pasqua
Longtime Holdsworth associate, bassist Jimmy Johnson, also fronts
a band of his own.
#5) What is the band's name?
A: Flim and the BBs
#6) For what landmark in studio recording history are they
known?
A: They are one of the first (if not *the* first) bands to
release a completely digital recording
Another of Allan's associates was in the "house band" on a nationally
(U.S.) syndicated talk show last year.
#7) Who was the musician?
A: Chad Wackerman
#8) Who was the host of the show?
A: Dennis Miller
While Allan's music has won critical acclaim in the press, he has
gone relatively unrecognized by the mainstream music industry. One
of his releases was, however, nominated for a Grammy Award for "Best
Rock Instrumental."
#9) Which Holdsworth release was nominated for a Grammy award?
A: _Road Games_
Allan's tune "Zarabeth" from _Wardenclyffe Tower_ was named for a
fictional character from an original Star Trek series episode.
#10) What was the name of the episode?
A: "All Our Yesterdays"
#11) What is the name of the actress who played the part of
Zarabeth?
A: Mariette Hartley
In the liner notes to _The Collection_, a double-length Columbia
Jazz Contemporary Masters release combining _Believe It_ and _Million
Dollar Legs_ by Tony Williams Lifetime, Matt Resnicoff wrote a
synopsis about the mid-'70s version of Lifetime (more accurately
known as "New Lifetime"). A good portion of this article focuses on
Allan, and how he came to be in Tony Williams' New Lifetime.
#12) To whom does Resnicoff give credit for initially referring
Holdsworth to Williams?
A: Alphonso Johnson
One of the most surprising collaborations Allan was involved in
was with ex-Night Ranger guitarist Jeff Watson.
#13) What was the name of the unlikely 1976 radio hit which they
covered?
A: "Play That Funky Music"
#14) What band originally recorded this tune?
A: Wild Cherry
Allan's use of the SynthAxe is well-known, but it was not his first
use of guitar-synthesis technology.
#15) On what album does Allan's first *recorded* use of a guitar
synthesizer appear?
A: Pierre Moerlin's Gong, _Time Is The Key_; on the tune
"Arabesque"
One of Allan's solo albums was recorded in a studio which was built
in a converted barge.
#16) Name the album.
A: _I.O.U._
In 1991, Allan contributed to _MVP: Truth In Shredding_, a release
featuring Frank Gambale. In the credits, Allan's home studio, The
Brewery, is mentioned.
#17) According to these credits, in what California community is
The Brewery located?
A: Tustin
Allan was credited with playing on a tune on the cassette version
of the 1986 album _Stand Up_ by Steve Morse, but due to a problem
with the tape synchronization, Allan's part was not actually
included.
#18) What was the name of this tune?
A: "English Rancher"
The album _Wardenclyffe Tower_ derives its title from a device
which inventor Nikola Tesla envisioned as a mass collector of
electrical current from the atmosphere itself.
#19) In which U.S. state did Tesla start construction of
Wardenclyffe Tower?
A: New York
Geometry question:
#20) How many strings are on a standard SynthAxe?
A: Twelve; a set of six for the neck, and a set of six on
the body (notice the "geometry" comment!)
Thanks to everyone who participated... I hope we can do this again
in the future (although it may be tough to come up with twenty more
questions). :)
Jeff
--
Jeff Preston =*= Moderator of the Allan Holdsworth discussion forum
=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*= atavachron-request@msuacad.morehead-st.edu =*=*=*=
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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