Holdsworth’s final years

mentoneman

mentoneman

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such a tragic loss that didn’t have to end that way. heard the stories from people who knew him before things got really rough.



after following his career since the mid 80s and seeing him live during his peak, it was hard watching him struggle the last time i saw him live in 2012 at NAMM. may his music live on!
 
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just that many folks were trying to support him near the end but it seems his addiction and impossible standards destroyed him. sounded like he hated playing guitar and couldn’t honor his professional commitments.
 
mentoneman said:
just that many folks were trying to support him near the end but it seems his addiction and impossible standards destroyed him. sounded like he hated playing guitar and couldn’t honor his professional commitments.
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What was he addicted to ? Never knew this
 
so what's his best work?

I tried to get into him, since high praise for him regularly pops up on internet forums.
I don't know, to my ears it's just sounds like he is running up and down some scales, like warming up. a lot of jazz players do this.
Doesn't sound like music to my ears, just plain horrible...

But there was one acoustic track i actually liked!
 
valve said:
so what's his best work?

I tried to get into him, since high praise for him regularly pops up on internet forums.
I don't know, to my ears it's just sounds like he is running up and down some scales, like warming up. a lot of jazz players do this.
Doesn't sound like music to my ears, just plain horrible...

But there was one acoustic track i actually liked!
Click to expand...
Check out his band U.K. .
It’s not for everyone
 
Heavy Machinery is different than some of his other works IMO. Guitar, Keyboards and Drums. No vocals or other distractions.

I'm a BIG Holdsworth fan; can't play it, but dig it.




edit: the bass is actually played by Jens on keyboards (synth bass, organ bass,...)
 
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valve said:
so what's his best work?
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hard to say, it's so varied. Try Heavy Machinery that I posted above. The songs start slowly and build up; then down, etc... The first song, Join Ventures, has flashes of his lead prowess scattered throughout.

I like UK, and his work with Bruford; Sixteen Men of Tain is another fav of mine, more fusion oriented than Heavy Machinery.

 
mentoneman said:
such a tragic loss that didn’t have to end that way. heard the stories from people who knew him before things got really rough.



after following his career since the mid 80s and seeing him live during his peak, it was hard watching him struggle the last time i saw him live in 2012 at NAMM. may his music live on!
Click to expand...


I always got a sense that he was his own worse critic; never satisfied or pleased with his work no matter how amazing many of us thought it was...
 
Mr. Willy said:
Holdsworth was a huge influence on EVH. Eddie was trying to sound like Holdsworth when he did a lot of those legato licks. See Drop Dead Legs jam at the end.
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this Holdsy solo off the Jean Luc Ponty album always sounded like one Eddie pulled from on the Full Bug to my ears and was from his more approachable days if trying to cop some of his lines:




and this is from his apex years where it’s best to just watch and let him exist in his exclusively rarified alien atmosphere:



what these bootleg or even professionally shot videos don’t capture is the 3D SOUND you were immersed in at his shows—particularly the low end of the bass/drums and Allan’s huge rack tones—and the very hard rock side of the fusion his band generated live. if you were lucky enough to be there on an “on” night it was a profound experience.

at his best he was mind blowing. i always got hit by the dichotomy during one of those shows that here was this Mr. Rodgers looking proper English dweeb with high waters and librarian shirt tearing the bag out of all the most revered spandex shredders and jazz heroes on the planet. even though he despised repetition, predictability and pentatonic blues bending stuff, he liked it loud and heavy—especially when Gary Husband was on drums—and somehow managed to out rock everyone with his demented sophistication when he went there.
 
What an other worldly player. In about 1985 he played a bar close to where I live. I was too young to get in, but a buddy of mine went. Said he went on break and was sitting at the bar. My buddy went and talked with him. Alan was telling him how he was getting endorsements gear and selling it to finance his tour. Just crazy!!!
 
valve said:
so what's his best work?

I tried to get into him, since high praise for him regularly pops up on internet forums.
I don't know, to my ears it's just sounds like he is running up and down some scales, like warming up. a lot of jazz players do this.
Doesn't sound like music to my ears, just plain horrible...

But there was one acoustic track i actually liked!
Click to expand...
My first experience with Holdsworth was confusion. Starting in high school I had subscriptions to Guitar Player mag. When Metal Fatigue came out there was an article on Holdsworth in there and they mentioned that album. On my weekly trek to the record store I found that album and bought it. Put it on and thought what is this?!? Didn’t like it. Years later after GIT I started listening to it again. Now I have the ears to follow what he was doing. It is one of my favorite albums now.
I was into all the typical 70’s and 80’s hard rock / metal and did not understand the jazz fusion stuff at all. Took a lot of study before my ears could accept what was going on.
Killer stuff now.
 
Greazygeo said:
My first experience with Holdsworth was confusion. Starting in high school I had subscriptions to Guitar Player mag. When Metal Fatigue came out there was an article on Holdsworth in there and they mentioned that album. On my weekly trek to the record store I found that album and bought it. Put it on and thought what is this?!? Didn’t like it. Years later after GIT I started listening to it again. Now I have the ears to follow what he was doing. It is one of my favorite albums now.
I was into all the typical 70’s and 80’s hard rock / metal and did not understand the jazz fusion stuff at all. Took a lot of study before my ears could accept what was going on.
Killer stuff now.
Click to expand...
my experience as well but i started earlier with Velvet Darkness then IOU.
 
i remember this one kinda freaked me out like “he can do it on an acoustic too!?!?”




and now to cleanse your palate with some space…

 
Fusionbear said:
I still remember borrowing my older brother's copy of IOU. Mind blowing! I wore that vinyl album out...

So sad that he declined into addiction madness...
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were you at his Tone Merchants show?
he was still blazing then on all yamaha gear.
 
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