Gong: Difference between revisions
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[[File:Gong photo.jpg|150px]] | [[File:Gong photo.jpg|150px|right]]Allan would perform on three albums by Pierre Moerlen's '''Gong''', as the band was sometimes credited: "Gazeuse" (also known as "Expresso"), "Expresso II" and "Time Is The Key". Allan was a member of the band for "Gazeuse", and also contributed as a composer for the album. For the other albums, Allan was a session player, only contributing solos on separate tracks. Allan would later record with the spin-off project [[Gongzilla]], led by Hansford Rowe and Bon Lozaga. | ||
=Summary of quotes on Gong= | |||
Allan would perform on three albums by Pierre Moerlen's '''Gong''', as the band was sometimes credited: "Gazeuse" (also known as "Expresso"), "Expresso II" and "Time Is The Key". Allan also contributed as a composer on | Holdsworth's opportunity to join Gong came about when he received a call from someone at Virgin Records, informing him that Gong was seeking a guitarist. Although he had no prior knowledge of the band or its history, Holdsworth decided to give it a try. He subsequently enjoyed his time working on the "Gazeuse!" album with them. During his tenure with Gong, Holdsworth experienced significant musical freedom, primarily focusing on playing guitar solos. He was not required to contribute much beyond these solos during his time with the band. Gong was seen as a band with substantial potential, particularly due to the talents of the musicians involved, including Holdsworth himself. However, the band faced internal challenges, including frequent arguments among the members and politics. Holdsworth also pointed out the cultural differences within the band, as most of the members were French, which sometimes led to language barriers and heated arguments he couldn't understand. | ||
Looking back on his involvement with Gong, Holdsworth noted that there were moments on the "Gazeuse!" album that he found intriguing and that hinted at his evolving musical ideas. While he typically doesn't listen to his own work, he acknowledged some of the sounds and ideas he contributed to the album. ''[This summary was written by ChatGPT in 2023 based on the quotes below.]'' | |||
=Quotes on Gong= | |||
==[[Any Key In The U.K. (Unknown publication 1978)]]== | ==[[Any Key In The U.K. (Unknown publication 1978)]]== | ||
Where did you record the album? | Where did you record the album? | ||
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==[[Allan Holdsworth (Beat Instrumental 1979)]]== | ==[[Allan Holdsworth (Beat Instrumental 1979)]]== | ||
The emergence of Allan Holdsworth as a force to be reckoned with in ‘best guitar player’ stakes has taken a lot of people (myself included) by surprise. Despite having been around the Jazz/Rock fringes of the business for several years this soft-spoken Yorkshireman first came to my attention relatively recently, on the release of '''Gong'''’s Gazeuse album. | |||
==[[Allan Holdsworth (Guitar Player 1980)]]== | |||
How did you happen to join Gong? | |||
I had been back in England for a while and got a call from a guy at Virgin Records saying that this band, Gong, was looking for a guitarist. I didn't know anything about them, but I decided to give it a thrash. I really enjoyed doing the album with them [Expresso]. | |||
Were you afforded much musical freedom with them? | |||
Oh, yeah. But it was mainly a matter of playing solos. Very little else was asked of me. I tended to lay out when I didn't have specific parts to play. | |||
==[[Allan Holdsworth (International Musician 1981)]]== | ==[[Allan Holdsworth (International Musician 1981)]]== | ||
In 1977 I joined '''Gong''' which was a potentially interesting writing situation, but they could never stop arguing long enough to orgnaise (sic) anything. We toured a little and then I left. Later that year I played on an album with Jean-Luc Ponty - ‘Enigmatic Ocean. In 1978 I played on Bill Bruford’s solo albums ‘Feels Good To Me’ and ‘One Of A Kind’. I joined U.K. in ‘78 which consisted of Bill, John Wetton, Eddie Jobson and myself, one album there. In 1979 I went to Paris with the new trio, and here we are two years later about to make another album. Ultimately I’d like the band to do a couple of albums and establish in the USA: I’m sure we’ll have more success over there. | In 1977 I joined '''Gong''' which was a potentially interesting writing situation, but they could never stop arguing long enough to orgnaise (sic) anything. We toured a little and then I left. Later that year I played on an album with Jean-Luc Ponty - ‘Enigmatic Ocean. In 1978 I played on Bill Bruford’s solo albums ‘Feels Good To Me’ and ‘One Of A Kind’. I joined U.K. in ‘78 which consisted of Bill, John Wetton, Eddie Jobson and myself, one album there. In 1979 I went to Paris with the new trio, and here we are two years later about to make another album. Ultimately I’d like the band to do a couple of albums and establish in the USA: I’m sure we’ll have more success over there. | ||
==[[Never again a serial-production-group (Sym Info 1986)]]== | ==[[Never again a serial-production-group (Sym Info 1986)]]== | ||
So that was an accident, and after that '''Gong'''; that stopped existing as the band fell apart, so that wasn’t my fault. And than Jean-Luc Ponty; even before I started playing with him I had agreed with Bill (Bruford) that I would co-operate on his solo-project, so after I had finished with Jean-Luc I had to go again to work with Bill. | So that was an accident, and after that '''Gong'''; that stopped existing as the band fell apart, so that wasn’t my fault. And than Jean-Luc Ponty; even before I started playing with him I had agreed with Bill (Bruford) that I would co-operate on his solo-project, so after I had finished with Jean-Luc I had to go again to work with Bill. | ||
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==[[Creating Imaginary Backdrops (Innerviews 1993)]]== | ==[[Creating Imaginary Backdrops (Innerviews 1993)]]== | ||
'''Gong''' was good too. It was good fun. I didn’t speak French and they were always arguing in French, so I never knew what the hell they were arguing about! But, I think the band had a lot of potential, it was just never reached. I recently listened to Gazeuse! recently, because it was re-released on CD. I thought I was terrible on it, but the band sounded good. It still sounded pretty fresh—especially the drums. Pierre [Moerlen] sounded great—it sounded like it could have been done yesterday. That says a lot about his drumming. | '''Gong''' was good too. It was good fun. I didn’t speak French and they were always arguing in French, so I never knew what the hell they were arguing about! But, I think the band had a lot of potential, it was just never reached. I recently listened to Gazeuse! recently, because it was re-released on CD. I thought I was terrible on it, but the band sounded good. It still sounded pretty fresh—especially the drums. Pierre [Moerlen] sounded great—it sounded like it could have been done yesterday. That says a lot about his drumming. | ||
==[[No Secrets (Facelift 1994)]]== | ==[[No Secrets (Facelift 1994)]]== | ||
So to Soft Machine and '''Gong'''. Given Allan Holdsworth’s links with Nucleus, with the musicians in Sunship, and later with Bruford, I long ago came to the conclusion that here was a musician very much aware of the dynasty of bands and musicians which can be traced right back to the mid-Sixties with the Wilde Flowers. Surely it wasn’t a coincidence that Allan Holdsworth first played in the Soft Machine and then '''Gong'''. And yet: "In both cases I had no prior knowledge of the bands. In '''Gong''' I knew nothing about Daevid Allen or anything else that had gone before. I don’t mean that in a bad way - I’d never heard it. Same with Soft Machine - I hadn’t heard what had happened before, which may be a good thing, because then you’re not trying to keep something alive. But there was a guy who was also a huge help to me starting out called Brian Blain, who works for the Musicians Union. He was absolutely wonderful - he helped me a lot. I think he really liked me and tried to put me in different situations. I remember we did some clinics - that’s how I met John Marshall. I guess John told the rest of the band about me, and then Brian Blain hooked up a couple of clinics with the Soft Machine, but they added a guitar player because at that time they didn’t have a guitar player. | So to Soft Machine and '''Gong'''. Given Allan Holdsworth’s links with Nucleus, with the musicians in Sunship, and later with Bruford, I long ago came to the conclusion that here was a musician very much aware of the dynasty of bands and musicians which can be traced right back to the mid-Sixties with the Wilde Flowers. Surely it wasn’t a coincidence that Allan Holdsworth first played in the Soft Machine and then '''Gong'''. And yet: "In both cases I had no prior knowledge of the bands. In '''Gong''' I knew nothing about Daevid Allen or anything else that had gone before. I don’t mean that in a bad way - I’d never heard it. Same with Soft Machine - I hadn’t heard what had happened before, which may be a good thing, because then you’re not trying to keep something alive. But there was a guy who was also a huge help to me starting out called Brian Blain, who works for the Musicians Union. He was absolutely wonderful - he helped me a lot. I think he really liked me and tried to put me in different situations. I remember we did some clinics - that’s how I met John Marshall. I guess John told the rest of the band about me, and then Brian Blain hooked up a couple of clinics with the Soft Machine, but they added a guitar player because at that time they didn’t have a guitar player. | ||
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==[[The Man Who Changed Guitar Forever (Guitar Player 2008)]]== | ==[[The Man Who Changed Guitar Forever (Guitar Player 2008)]]== | ||
Are there any things from that early period before you really got into your full-blown solo career—when you were kind of a hired gun—anything you look back on fondly and think, “Damn, that was pretty good”? | Are there any things from that early period before you really got into your full-blown solo career—when you were kind of a hired gun—anything you look back on fondly and think, “Damn, that was pretty good”? | ||
Not usually [laughs]. Sometimes, if I ever have the courage to listen to anything, which I don’t usually have, there are some times … a friend of mine actually played me some of that first '''Gong''' record, and some of the stuff on that I actually liked. I can’t think of exactly what it was, but there were moments that went by and I went, “Oh, I wonder what happened to that?” You could hear something that I was thinking about, but then somehow, some way, I must have deviated and went slightly left or right of whatever that was. And I kind of liked some of the sounds on that record. And, of course, with Tony Williams, that was mostly because of Tony and Allen, and just recently I’ve had the opportunity to play with Allen Pasqua again, which has been a really, really wonderful thing for me, because he’s such an amazing musician. | Not usually [laughs]. Sometimes, if I ever have the courage to listen to anything, which I don’t usually have, there are some times … a friend of mine actually played me some of that first '''Gong''' record, and some of the stuff on that I actually liked. I can’t think of exactly what it was, but there were moments that went by and I went, “Oh, I wonder what happened to that?” You could hear something that I was thinking about, but then somehow, some way, I must have deviated and went slightly left or right of whatever that was. And I kind of liked some of the sounds on that record. And, of course, with Tony Williams, that was mostly because of Tony and Allen, and just recently I’ve had the opportunity to play with Allen Pasqua again, which has been a really, really wonderful thing for me, because he’s such an amazing musician. | ||
[[Category:Bands]] | [[Category:Bands]] | ||
