Allan's influences: Difference between revisions
From Allan Holdsworth Information Center
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Merlin Rhys Jones started by asking Allan about the influence of John Coltrane on his playing... | Merlin Rhys Jones started by asking Allan about the influence of John Coltrane on his playing... | ||
Allan Holdsworth: ... that's when I started going out and buying tons of Coltrane records, everything I could find. My Dad had a lot of records and I started out copying Charlie Christian solos. By the time I discovered Coltrane I had learned to just absorb the (musical) experience. I never analysed or transcribed anything (Coltrane) did because it was very spirited, with a lot of heart but it was also heady. | Allan Holdsworth: ... that's when I started going out and buying tons of Coltrane records, everything I could find. My Dad had a lot of records and I started out copying Charlie Christian solos. By the time I discovered Coltrane I had learned to just absorb the (musical) experience. I never analysed or transcribed anything (Coltrane) did because it was very spirited, with a lot of heart but it was also heady. Coltrane's Sounds was my favourite record. | ||
'''[[Allan Holdsworth (steveadelson.com 2000)]]''' | '''[[Allan Holdsworth (steveadelson.com 2000)]]''' | ||
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But, as every Beat reader knows, pedals, strings and picks don't make you a good player; And in Allan's case they still don't explain that astonishing technique with the tremolo. How does he do it? | But, as every Beat reader knows, pedals, strings and picks don't make you a good player; And in Allan's case they still don't explain that astonishing technique with the tremolo. How does he do it? | ||
"Practice," came the frustrating reply. "I love the effects you can get with it. The first person I heard who used it in an interesting way was Jimi Hendrix. Well, it seemed interesting at the time, but afterwards you realized that it was similar to the way most people used it. Then, when I was with Tempest, I heard Ollie Halsall use it, but in a more controlled way than Jimi Hendrix. So I started experimenting myself, and after a while I realized that I was doing things that I hadn't heard anybody do. Using a tremolo arm makes it very expressive - it takes it somewhere else from having just frets, where all the notes are laid out for you like a keyboard. | "Practice," came the frustrating reply. "I love the effects you can get with it. The first person I heard who used it in an interesting way was Jimi Hendrix. Well, it seemed interesting at the time, but afterwards you realized that it was similar to the way most people used it. Then, when I was with Tempest, I heard Ollie Halsall use it, but in a more controlled way than Jimi Hendrix. So I started experimenting myself, and after a while I realized that I was doing things that I hadn't heard anybody do. Using a tremolo arm makes it very expressive - it takes it somewhere else from having just frets, where all the notes are laid out for you like a keyboard. | ||
'''[[James Marshall Hendrix: Undisputed Master of the Electric Guitar (Guitar World 1985)]]''' | |||
I CAN'T REALLY remember what year it was when I first heard Jimi Hendrix play, but it was around the same time as I first heard Cream, so that would be around '67 or so. I guess. What I first heard was his single, 'Hey Joe', which I thought was great. | |||
Actually, at the time I was more of an Eric Clapton fan, so I did go to see Cream a few times, but I never saw Hendrix live at all. I really liked Clapton's style a lot; it didn't really strike me until later on how important Hendrix was for the guitar. Obviously he was a real innovator, and he opened up all kinds of possibilities to guitarists — his use of the tremolo arm, for instance, and his control of feedback. But at the time, as I say, I wasn't really a Jimi Hendrix fan — I liked his stuff, but we weren't really on the same wavelength as far as musical direction. It's only looking back that I can see what he was doing. It's kind of like how I felt about the Beatles when they came out. I had the same reaction: I didn't really like them until after. Hendrix, just didn't move me that much at the time, and he didn't inspire me to do anything different from what I was already doing. | |||
I've gone back and listened to the records since then, obviously. The ones I like best are the ones he did in the studio, like 'The Burning Of The Midnight Lamp', for example. I really like the opening riff for that one [hums it], and the bit with the harpsichord. | |||
All I can say is. it's my own misfortune that I didn't understand or see more of what Hendrix was doing at the time he was actually doing it. Even though we just didn't connect stylistically, I think he was great, and he was definitely an important guitar player. | |||
=JIMMY RAINEY= | =JIMMY RAINEY= | ||
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HOLDSWORTH: Well, in a funny way all the people I like are all the people who are doing something different with it. From the beginning, I've enjoyed players like Charlie Christian, Wes Montgomery and Joe Pass, and more recently, Pat Metheny who did a whole thing on his own. Scott Henderson is doing something unique, and now; Frank Gambale comes along and does something great. It just shows you that you shouldn't be so resolute about things like music. People waste time spending hours trying to clone something when they could be spending hours practicing something really different. | HOLDSWORTH: Well, in a funny way all the people I like are all the people who are doing something different with it. From the beginning, I've enjoyed players like Charlie Christian, Wes Montgomery and Joe Pass, and more recently, Pat Metheny who did a whole thing on his own. Scott Henderson is doing something unique, and now; Frank Gambale comes along and does something great. It just shows you that you shouldn't be so resolute about things like music. People waste time spending hours trying to clone something when they could be spending hours practicing something really different. | ||
[[Category:Influences]] | |||
