AllanHoldsworth
The guitarist who made the guitar sound like a saxophone
Allan Holdsworth
The guitarist who made the guitar sound like a saxophone
Allan Holdsworth was raised in Bradford by his grandparents. His grandfather Sam was a jazz pianist who filled the house with records. Allan didn't get a guitar until he was about seventeen, and what he really wanted was a saxophone. Horn players like John Coltrane and Charlie Parker shaped his ear more than any guitarist did. He taught himself largely by working out harmony on his own, and he began recording with the band 'Igginbottom in 1969.
The early 1970s took him through Nucleus, Tempest and then Soft Machine, whose 1975 album Bundles features him heavily. He moved to America to join Tony Williams's New Lifetime for Believe It, then played with Gong and Jean-Luc Ponty. In 1978 he joined Bill Bruford's solo project and the progressive rock supergroup U.K., playing on its debut album. He felt out of place in the rock world and left both before long.
Frustrated with the business, he paid for the 1979 sessions for I.O.U. himself, and the album came out in 1982. By then he had moved to Southern California, and Eddie Van Halen's public praise led to the Warner Bros. EP Road Games, produced by Ted Templeman and nominated for a Grammy. Metal Fatigue followed in 1985. From Atavachron in 1986, the SynthAxe controller became a second voice on albums such as Sand, Secrets and Wardenclyffe Tower.
Holdsworth kept recording at his home studio, The Brewery, through The Sixteen Men of Tain in 2000, and he toured with drummers such as Gary Husband and Chad Wackerman. Money was often tight, and a 1999 divorce cost him the studio. Other guitarists continued to revere him, even though few outside music circles knew his name. He played his final concert in San Diego on April 10, 2017, and died five days later at home in Vista, California. Several archival live albums have come out since.
The 10 greatest Allan Holdsworth solos
- 1Allan Holdsworth · solo by Allan Holdsworth · 1985
- 2The New Tony Williams Lifetime · solo by Allan Holdsworth · 1975
- 3U.K. · solo by Allan Holdsworth · 1978
- 4Allan Holdsworth · solo by Allan Holdsworth · 1982
- 5Allan Holdsworth · solo by Allan Holdsworth · 1985
- 6Soft Machine · solo by Allan Holdsworth · 1975
- 7Allan Holdsworth · solo by Allan Holdsworth · 1983
- 8The New Tony Williams Lifetime · solo by Allan Holdsworth · 1975
- 9Allan Holdsworth · solo by Allan Holdsworth · 2000
- 10Allan Holdsworth · solo by Allan Holdsworth · 1983
The sound
Holdsworth plays almost entirely legato. He picks only a few notes and links the rest with hammer-ons, pull-offs and slides, so his long, fast lines flow like a tenor saxophone solo. Wide finger stretches let him play four or more notes per string, and he avoids stock blues licks and familiar scale patterns in favour of dense modes, diminished and whole-tone shapes, and harmony that shifts constantly. Behind the solos are big chord clusters played with a volume pedal so they swell in like strings. His tone is smooth, compressed and vocal, and nobody else sounds like him.
- Gibson SG (guitar) His main guitar from the late 1960s into the mid-1970s, including his Soft Machine and Lifetime years.
- Steinberger GL2TA-AH (guitar) A headless carbon-graphite signature guitar he took up in 1987, prized for its stability and even response.
- Carvin H2 and HF2 Fatboy (guitar) Signature headless models from his long partnership with Carvin, starting in the late 1990s.
- Ibanez AH-10 (guitar) His 1984 signature semi-hollow design from the Metal Fatigue era.
- SynthAxe (effect) A fretted MIDI controller he used from Atavachron (1986) onward, played with a breath controller to shape each note like a horn.
- Hartley-Thompson amplifier (amp) His warm, clean amp of choice; Eddie Van Halen borrowed his modified one for the Beat It solo.
- Mesa/Boogie (amp) Mark III and rack Boogie gear shaped his lead tone during the 1980s.
- Yamaha DG80 / DG130 (amp) Digital modelling amps he used later in his career.
Covers
- Countdown, originally by John Coltrane A tribute to his biggest musical hero that takes on Coltrane's notoriously hard changes.
- Nuages, originally by Django Reinhardt He gives Django's dreamy ballad his swelling, synth-like chord voicings.
- Norwegian Wood, originally by The Beatles The Beatles' waltz becomes an unlikely jazz vehicle.
- Very Early, originally by Bill Evans Evans's lyrical harmony fits his own ear perfectly.
- Isotope, originally by Joe Henderson An angular hard-bop tune turned into a legato workout.
Timeline
- 1946 Born August 6 in Bradford, England
- 1969 First recordings with 'Igginbottom
- 1975 Soft Machine's Bundles and Tony Williams's Believe It released
- 1976 Velvet Darkness issued without his approval
- 1978 Plays on U.K.'s debut album and works with Bill Bruford
- 1982 Self-funded I.O.U. finally released
- 1983 Road Games EP on Warner Bros. earns a Grammy nomination
- 1986 Atavachron, his first album with the SynthAxe
- 2000 The Sixteen Men of Tain, the last album made at his Brewery studio
- 2017 Plays his last concert April 10; dies April 15 in Vista, California
Facts
- He didn't get his first guitar until he was about 17.
- He really wanted to play saxophone, and he tried to make his guitar sound like one.
- His grandfather, who raised him, was a jazz pianist.
- Eddie Van Halen borrowed his modified Hartley-Thompson amp and used it on the Beat It solo.
- Road Games was produced by Ted Templeman, best known for his work with Van Halen.
- He disowned Velvet Darkness, which was released from rehearsal tapes without his approval.
- He plays violin as well as guitar on I.O.U.
- He was a real-ale enthusiast who invented a beer pump he called the Fizzbuster.
- He was a keen cyclist.
- Frank Zappa counted him among the most interesting guitarists alive.