Tales From The Vault (album): Difference between revisions

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[[File:Tales_from_the_Vault.jpg|right|200px]]"Tales From The Vault" is the name of an Allan Holdsworth album that was released digitally through Pledge Music in 2015 to 2016. The music was only available through the Pledge Music website. NB! This album is not legally for sale as of March 2019. The rights are apparently in limbo.
This was meant to be a crowd sourced project where Allan would pull stuff from his vault, plus finish some unfinished recordings. What we ended up with, was one new track written by Virgil Donati, a lot of alternate mixes and lead vocal takes from “Road Games”, two new SynthAxe numbers, an early version of “Abingdon Chasp”, and a recovered IOU recording of “Water On The Brain”.


This was meant to be a crowd sourced project where Allan would pull stuff from his vault, plus finish some unfinished recordings. What we ended up with was one new track written by Virgil Donati, a lot of alternate mixes and lead vocal takes from “Road Games”, two new SynthAxe numbers, an early version of “Abingdon Chasp”, and a recovered IOU recording of “Water On The Brain”.
==Track listing==
{|class='wikitable'
|+Allan Holdsworth: Tales From The Vault  ([[Allan Holdsworth Discography|D]] - [[Allan Holdsworth Solo Albums|S]])
!style="text-align:left;"|Track title
!style="text-align:left;"|Comments
|-
|Abingdon Chasp
|Previously unreleased recording
|-
|Earth w_solos
|Previously unreleased recording
|-
|Earth no solos
|Previously unreleased recording
|-
|Material Real Outtake
|Alternate lead vocals of Road Games recording
|-
|Material Real Pinski Mix Mastered
|Alternate mix of Road Games recording
|-
|New Dawn
|Previously unreleased recording
|-
|Poochini
|Previously unreleased recording
|-
|Road Games Outtake
|Alternate lead vocals of Road Games recording
|-
|Three Sheets Pinski Mix Mastered
|Alternate mix of Road Games recording
|-
|Tokyo Dream Pinski Mix Mastered
|Alternate mix of Road Games recording
|-
|Was There Outtake
|Alternate lead vocals of Road Games recording
|-
|Water on the Brain Outtake
|Previously unreleased, recorded at the IOU sessions
|-
|Water on the Brain Paul Williams
|Alternate lead vocals of Road Games recording
|}


https://www.facebook.com/AllanHoldsworthArchives/posts/749330075240888
The album was initally released digitally through Pledge music. No track order was published with the tracks, although some customers received a CD at a later time. The track list for the CD is unknown, so here is the track list in alphabetical order, with brief information in parentheses. The track names themselves are taken directly from the file names of the digital release.
 
TALES FROM THE VAULT TRACKLIST:
 
'''Abingdon Chasp''' (Previously unreleased recording)<br>
'''Earth w_solos''' (Previously unreleased recording)<br>
'''Earth no solos''' (Previously unreleased recording)<br>
'''Material Real Outtake''' (Alternate lead vocals of Road Games recording)<br>
'''Material Real Pinski Mix Mastered''' (Alternate mix of Road Games recording)<br>
'''New Dawn''' (Previously unreleased recording)<br>
'''Poochini''' (Previously unreleased recording)<br>
'''Road Games Outtake''' (Alternate lead vocals of Road Games recording)<br>
'''Three Sheets Pinski Mix Mastered''' (Alternate mix of Road Games recording)<br>
'''Tokyo Dream Pinski Mix Mastered''' (Alternate mix of Road Games recording)<br>
'''Was There Outtake''' (Alternate lead vocals of Road Games recording)<br>
'''Water on the Brain Outtake''' (Previously unreleased, recorded at the IOU sessions)<br>
'''Water on the Brain Paul Williams''' (Alternate lead vocals of Road Games recording)
 
==Allan Holdsworth Archives review==
 
TALES FROM THE VAULT - a review
 
A Youtube video has surfaced with excerpts from Allan’s “Tales From The Vault”. This was a Pledge Music crowdfunding campaign, with the intention of releasing “previously recorded but unreleased studio material compiled over the last 10+ years”, in a quote attributed to Allan himself. The finished project didn’t come out like advertised, for a variety of reasons. The first update in the Pledge campaign was posted in March 2015. In Aug 2015, the track “Earth” was released. Then, it took almost a year before the remaining tracks were released.
There seem to be various accounts of the events that took place, so for now we’ll just focus on what was actually released.
 
Here’s the video with excerpts: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1fg5Sz3U20
 
Roughly speaking, the released files consisted of seven tracks of what I call “previous partially released recordings”, and five tracks of previously unreleased recordings. Of these, only three are previously unreleased compositions. Here is a brief list of the tracks released as “Tales From The Vault”, followed by a brief review of the tracks.
 
'''Recordings previously partially released:
'''
 
'''''Road Games outtakes''''' ft Joe Turano on vocals: <br>
''Material Real<br> Road Games<br> Was There<br> Water On The Brain'' <br>(otherwise same recordings as previously released)
 
'''''Road Games Mark Pinske Mixes''''':<br> ''Material Real<br> Three Sheets To The Wind<br> Tokyo Dream''<br> (same recordings as previously released, but slightly different mixes.)
 
I use the term “previous partially released” as all these tracks contain previously released guitar, drum and bass tracks, with different vocals or mixes. There are NO NEW GUITAR PARTS OR SOLOS on these. The previously partially released recordings all stem from the Road Games sessions. Four tracks feature Joe Turano on lead vocals, the recordings are otherwise the same as the previously released album versions. Three tracks are mixes made by Mark Pinske in Frank Zappa’s studio. These contain the same recordings as the previously released album versions.
 
'''Previously unrelased recordings''':
 
Allan Holdsworth: ''Abingdon Chasp'' - demo with Bill Bruford, Francois Moze, Ray Warleigh<br>
IOU outtake: ''Water On The Brain, vocal version ft. Paul Williams''<br>
Solo SynthAxe pieces: ''New Dawn, Poochini''<br>
Allan Holdsworth: ''Earth'' - new recording with Virgil Donati and Jimmy Johnson
 
The previously unreleased recordings are a mixed bag. The version of “The Abingdon Chasp” features Ray Warleigh on sax, and Francois Moze of Gong on bass, in addition to Bruford, but is otherwise very similar to the version released on “One Of A Kind”. It’s likely this was a demo version recorded prior to “One Of A Kind”, but no dates or further info is provided. The version of “Water On The Brain” was recorded for the IOU album, the tapes stolen, and only retrieved after the album was released. It’s freer and loser than the Road Games version, and in my opinion should be added to a deluxe version of the IOU album. (This version might have been available on the internet in the form of a hissy cassette tape rough mix.) Two SynthAxe pieces are included, much in the vein of “Flat Tire”, although no dates are given. "New Dawn" was written by pianist and sometime collaborator Pat Smythe.
 
The track “Earth” is not included among the excerpts, but is perhaps the closest thing we get to hearing what a new Allan Holdsworth solo album would have sounded like, even though it is a Virgil Donati composition. You can hear excerpts of “Earth” in the following video:
 
Allan Holdsworth Sessions with Virgil Donati 4/14/15 Tales from the Vault Pledge Music Campaign: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X07gDIfR1z0
 
In the end, this project turned out to be somewhat underwhelming. Most fans probably expected to hear more than mostly new mixes and versions with different vocals. For this listener, the IOU version of “Water On The Brain” was the artistic high point. The free flowing interplay between Gary, Paul and Allan, wonderful chord voicings, Paul Williams’ voice being a perfect fit for the music, and a short but sweet guitar solo were worth the price of admission alone. It’s uncharacteristically short at a just a little over two minutes, but would have fit perfectly into the original album.
 
At present, the project is closed, and the legal status of these tracks appear to be in limbo. You cannot buy these tracks legally anywhere, as the Pledge does not accept donations, and they have not been released elsewhere. Anybody who was too late in pledging will have to get these tracks on the grey or black market. Nobody knows what will happen to these tracks in the future.
 
It’s fortunate that Allan was able to see the release of the box set “The man who changed guitar forever” on Manifesto records, as it is a much more fitting image of his legacy. Get your copy at https://www.amazon.com/Man-Who-Changed-Guitar-Forever/dp/B01N5P4DLD
 
''(Review found at https://www.facebook.com/AllanHoldsworthArchives/posts/749330075240888)
''
 
'''Links''':
 
Pledge music site: http://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/allanholdsworth
 
A few promo videos from the project:
 
Allan Holdsworth "Earth" Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQu_O4nKK0I (The title is somewhat misleading, as the track “Earth” is not in fact featured.)
 
Allan Holdsworth Pledge - 'Tales from the Vault' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8I7NBoP27TQ (Pledge promo)
 
==Liner notes==
 
Allan's liner notes for the project are reproduced here: [[Tales From The Vault (liner notes)]].
 
=Quotes by Allan=
 
==[[Allan Holdsworth: The final interview (Team Rock 2017)]]==
What’s the status of the crowdfunding project for Tales From The Vault?
 
Tales From The Vault turned into a bit of a disaster, actually. There were some older tracks that I’d done before with Ernest and Joel but I never finished; I was going to finish them for the pledge campaign, but basically the money ran out. Compared to other people I don’t produce albums very quickly. So I ended up not using some of those tunes; it wasn’t financially possible for me to do it.
 
=Album information=
 
Documenting the release of this album is complicated by the fact that PledgeMusic has since gone out of business, and their website has disappeared. The only information that is available openly is what has been archived on The Wayback Machine. A lot of the material posted on the Pledge site required a sign-in, which means this material is not available through the Wayback Machine. (The first archived copy is from March 7, 2015.) A few of these posts have been archived here from my private collection, see below. I will try to piece together a story based on the available facts.
 
'''March 2, 2015: Announcement'''. An announcement was made on PledgeMusic, signed by Allan. Here's an excerpt:
 
''"Just to clarify since there have been some questions as to what people are receiving as the first “downloads”, I originally recorded the basic tracks for two albums’ worth of material over the last 10 years or so with different trios. One with Joel Taylor and Ernest Tibbs (the one and only recorded version of this amazing trio) and the other with one of favorite trios Gary Husband and Jimmy Johnson. All new music.''
 
''Due to record industry changes and some personal stuff I went through, I never completely finished them and so never released them. Some of you may know that the original title for one of these albums was “Snakes and Ladders”. “Snakes and Ladders” in now part of these tracks. None of this music has been fully mixed, edited and mastered until now. Your pledges allow me to finish these tracks, add some new solos, edit/tweak the tracks, mix and master them and then have an outlet that bypasses the traditional way I have released albums over the years.''
 
''As I finish each track(s) in the coming months, I will be releasing one or two each month over the next 6 months for download in high res formats. Towards the end of 2015 I hope to release ALL of the tracks from both unreleased albums in special cd and vinyl sets available only through Pledge. Each will have technical notes from me, rare pictures from my career, liner notes written by me, audiophile sound, amazing packaging and some other very cool surprises."''
 
'''August 31, 2015: First track posted'''. The track "Earth" was posted in two versions. One was a full version, the other was a mix without the guitar solo. Excerpt of Allan's update:
 
''"The reason I chose to do this first was simply because of the fact that it has been so long since I did a studio recording that I didn’t want to just dig up some older music (which actually may have been just fine). I decided to do an arrangement of Virgil’s tune Earth. I found it compelling so I re arranged the tune (not the form that remained the same) just a little re harmonization here and there. So there you have it. The other version is very different as you will hear. In fact I think I arranged myself out of it because of all the cheese I put behind the guitar solo first (that I had to play around). I had already done a previous solo that the computer didn’t like and torched it. Oh well. Don’t be fooled by the short (largely diatonic) solo theres plenty of guitar on the rest of the tunes. I just loved the piece..thats what this was about."''
 
'''January 20, 2016: Delays and apologies'''. Allan posted an apology on the delay of the next two planned tracks, which were "Lanyard Loop" and "Gas Lamp Blues". Take note that these two tracks were in fact never posted.
 
'''July 21, 2016: Final tracks posted'''. The final tracks were posted on PledgeMusic. At the same time, liner notes by Allan were posted. Allan explained that he originally wanted to release newly recorded solos on existing backing tracks. Since he was not able to finish these new recordings, he instead dug through his archives and released some old tapes. These included an old 70s demo, a previously unreleased recording from the IOU sessions, some alternate mixes of "Road Games" tracks, and two previously unreleased solo SynthAxe tracks.
 
In between these key posts, there are several posts signed by Allan, his production team, and PledgeMusic, which effectively are all apologies due to delays. After the announcement on July 21, 2016, two updates were posted from Allan's production team. The surviving snippets give the impression that Allan had parted ways with the production team:
 
'''December 19, 2016: An Open Letter to Allan's Fans'''. ''"PledgeMusic note: The following post is from the project creators, whom represented the artist at time of launch. This is not information from PledgeMusic, nor is it reflective of PledgeMusic. Hi ..."''
 
'''February 3, 2017: Final Update from John McC.''' ''"This is the last update from me in this campaign. I wanted to clear the air and leave on a positive note. I realize that some of you took offense at the last update I wrote. I apologize to the..."''
 
These were the last updates to be posted.  The last archived copy of the update page is from May 15, 2019. http://web.archive.org/web/20190515211043/https://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/allanholdsworth/updates
 
'''Discussions''': There was a discussion page on PledgeMusic were there was a lot of activity at times. A lot of the discussion centered on the frequent delays in delivery of tracks. A few discussion pages are archived. The most recent one seems to be June 15, 2017, and the oldest from May 29, 2015. You may be able to find information relevant to the album here, but take note that it's very hard to verify the accuracy of anything that's posted on an internet dicussion page. The last archived discussion page can be found at http://web.archive.org/web/20170415040118/http://www.pledgemusic.com:80/artists/allanholdsworth/discussion?project_id=9704
 
'''PledgeMusic products''': There were a number of products available for purchase for pledgers. The basic product was the "AccessPass" with digital tracks for download, as well as access to the updates of the PledgeMusic project site. Additionally, you could sign up for T-shirts, having your name printed in the CD booklet, getting a signed booklet, posters, and even a signed guitar. Judging from the discussion on the website, there were several delays in delivery of these products. I do not have verifiable information on these matters, however. A CD was ultimately printed and sent to those who pledged for it. How many of these that were actually made is hard to tell. You can have a look at the store here: http://web.archive.org/web/20160215193000/http://www.pledgemusic.com:80/projects/allanholdsworth/exclusives
 
==Technical details==
 
Here are some [[Technical Details on "Tales From The Vault"]].


[[Category:Solo albums]]
[[Category:Solo albums]]
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The following are the posts signed by Allan from the Pledge campaign for "Tales From The Vault". They contain some interesting facts, both about the nature of the released tracks, but also about material that remains unreleased. Posts made by Allan's management have not been included here, but the campaign was severely delayed and ran into all sorts of problems, which the management responded to. Some of the problems are apparent from Allan's updates. The Allan Holdsworth Information Center would prefer to focus on music and creativity and verifiable facts. "Tales From The Vault" is problematic in that regard, as it's hard to tell exactly what happened. Hopefully we'll know the complete story someday. NB! Although these posts have been signed in Allan's name, it is highly unlikely he actually posted them himself, and there is the possibility that they have been edited by someone in Allan's Pledge team.
The following are the posts signed by Allan from the Pledge campaign for "Tales From The Vault". They contain some interesting facts, both about the nature of the released tracks, but also about material that remains unreleased. Posts made by Allan's management have not been included here, but the campaign was severely delayed and ran into all sorts of problems, which the management responded to. Some of the problems are apparent from Allan's updates. The Allan Holdsworth Information Center would prefer to focus on music and creativity and verifiable facts. "Tales From The Vault" is problematic in that regard, as it's hard to tell exactly what happened. Hopefully we'll know the complete story someday. NB! Although these posts have been signed in Allan's name, it is highly unlikely he actually posted them himself, and there is the possibility that they have been edited by someone in Allan's Pledge team.


http://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/allanholdsworth/updates/49301
[Dead link] http://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/allanholdsworth/updates/49301
 
http://web.archive.org/web/20150226041115/http://www.pledgemusic.com:80/projects/allanholdsworth/


==ACCESSPASS UPDATE 02 MARCH, 2015==
==ACCESSPASS UPDATE 02 MARCH, 2015==
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Allan
Allan


http://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/allanholdsworth/updates/49623
[Dead link] http://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/allanholdsworth/updates/49623


==ACCESSPASS UPDATE 08 MARCH, 2015==
==ACCESSPASS UPDATE 08 MARCH, 2015==
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Allan
Allan


http://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/allanholdsworth/updates/52566
[Dead link] http://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/allanholdsworth/updates/52566


==ACCESSPASS UPDATE 01 MAY, 2015==
==ACCESSPASS UPDATE 01 MAY, 2015==
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Allan
Allan


http://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/allanholdsworth/updates/52571
[Dead link] http://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/allanholdsworth/updates/52571


==ACCESSPASS UPDATE 02 MAY, 2015==
==ACCESSPASS UPDATE 02 MAY, 2015==
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Cheers for now, Allan.
Cheers for now, Allan.


http://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/allanholdsworth/updates/54828
[Dead link] http://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/allanholdsworth/updates/54828


==ACCESSPASS UPDATE 17 JUNE, 2015==
==ACCESSPASS UPDATE 17 JUNE, 2015==
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Allan.
Allan.


http://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/allanholdsworth/updates/55659
[Dead link] http://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/allanholdsworth/updates/55659


==ACCESSPASS UPDATE 02 JULY, 2015==
==ACCESSPASS UPDATE 02 JULY, 2015==
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Cheers for now, best wishes, Allan.
Cheers for now, best wishes, Allan.


http://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/allanholdsworth/updates/57074
[Dead link] http://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/allanholdsworth/updates/57074


==ACCESSPASS UPDATE 31 JULY, 2015==
==ACCESSPASS UPDATE 31 JULY, 2015==
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Allan
Allan


http://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/allanholdsworth/updates/58514
[Dead link] http://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/allanholdsworth/updates/58514


==ACCESSPASS UPDATE 31 AUGUST, 2015==
==ACCESSPASS UPDATE 31 AUGUST, 2015==
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Allan.
Allan.


http://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/allanholdsworth/updates/64844
[Dead link] http://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/allanholdsworth/updates/64844


==ACCESSPASS UPDATE 20 JANUARY, 2016==
==ACCESSPASS UPDATE 20 JANUARY, 2016==
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Cheers for now,  
Cheers for now,  
Allan.
Allan.
[[Category:Discography]][[Category: Solo albums]]
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