I.O.U. (album): Difference between revisions
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[[File:IOU.jpg|right|200px]]"I.O.U." is an 1982 album by Allan Holdsworth, and his official debut as a leader. After doing the second album with Bruford, Allan decided he wanted to pursue his own music. In 1979, he had a chance meeting with Gary Husband, and they hit it off immediately. After several lineup changes, the band entered a studio on a barge on the Thames, and recorded the album very quickly, presumably in 1981. The albums features some old tunes and ideas reworked by Allan from the "Velvet Darkness", "Gazeuse" and "The Things You See" albums, as well as never before recorded material. The lineup is [[Gary Husband]] on drums, [[Paul Carmichael]] on bass and [[Paul Williams]] on vocals. Allan sold all of his guitars to pay for the mixing. Allan and the band then moved to California in early 1982, where they self-released the album, and sold it by mail order and at gigs. The album would not get regular distribution until 1985. | |||
The album presents Allan's musical vision in full for the first time. From the first second of "The Things You See", it's all there: Allan plays a lightning-fast, fluid line over his own very personal harmonies. No one else played guitar like this at the time. And nobody sounded like this. Allan's lead sound here is a thing of wonder: Sustaining endlessly with the aid of amplifier distortion, it still sounds clean, and breathes in a way that distorted guitar rarely does. His chords are lush and full and wide, aided by visionary use of signal processing. Gary Husband's drums serve as a perfect, free flowing, yet hard hitting foil to Allan's playing. Bassist Paul Carmichael holds down the bottom with a remarkable ability to give the music a steady foundation (he is a "train" in the group on the same way Tony Newton was with Tony Williams). Layered into this unique soundscape on half the tunes, Paul Williams carries the melody with his own instantly recognizable voice. A timeless classic. | |||
=Track listing= | |||
{|class='wikitable' | {|class='wikitable' | ||
|+ Allan Holdsworth: I.O.U. (1982) ([[Allan Holdsworth Discography|D]] - [[Allan Holdsworth Solo Albums|S]]) ([https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mNjYYfxHBBUTiW1OeiNVUWhZOE8DMsGvk YT]) | |||
! | ! | ||
!style="text-align:left;"|Track title | !style="text-align:left;"|Track title | ||
| Line 8: | Line 13: | ||
|1. | |1. | ||
|The Things You See (When You Haven't Got Your Gun) | |The Things You See (When You Haven't Got Your Gun) | ||
| | |Holdsworth | ||
|5:52 | |5:52 | ||
|- | |- | ||
|2. | |2. | ||
|Where Is One | |Where Is One | ||
| | |Holdsworth | ||
|5:38 | |5:38 | ||
|- | |- | ||
|3. | |3. | ||
|Checking Out | |Checking Out | ||
| | |Holdsworth | ||
|3:39 | |3:39 | ||
|- | |- | ||
|4. | |4. | ||
|Letters of Marque | |Letters of Marque | ||
| | |Holdsworth | ||
|7:02 | |7:02 | ||
|- | |- | ||
|5. | |5. | ||
|Out from Under | |Out from Under | ||
| | |Robinson/Holdsworth | ||
|3:34 | |3:34 | ||
|- | |- | ||
|6. | |6. | ||
|Temporary Fault | |Temporary Fault | ||
| | |Holdsworth | ||
|3:17 | |3:17 | ||
|- | |- | ||
|7. | |7. | ||
|Shallow Sea | |Shallow Sea | ||
| | |Holdsworth | ||
|6:04 | |6:04 | ||
|- | |- | ||
|8. | |8. | ||
|White Line | |White Line | ||
| | |Holdsworth/Brown | ||
|4:43 | |4:43 | ||
|} | |} | ||
'''Allan Holdsworth''': Guitar, violin on "Temporary Fault"<br> | '''Allan Holdsworth''': Guitar, violin on "Temporary Fault"<br> | ||
'''Gary Husband''': Drums, piano on "Temporary Fault"<br> | '''Gary Husband''': Drums, piano on "Temporary Fault"<br> | ||
'''Paul Carmichael''': Bass<br> | '''Paul Carmichael''': Bass<br> | ||
'''Paul Williams''': Vocals | '''Paul Williams''': Vocals (1, 3, 5, 8) | ||
Recording dates: Presumably summer of 1981<br> | |||
Recorded at The Barge by Andy Llewellyn<br> | |||
Mixed at Trident by Colin Green<br> | |||
Produced by Allan Holdsworth | |||
"Out From Under" contains ideas written by [[Steve Robinson]], who later recorded his own version.<br> | |||
"White Line" had lyrics written by frequent Jack Bruce collaborator Pete Brown. | |||
=Gear= | |||
[''Note: This info is based on quotes by Allan himself given below.''] | |||
Allan primarily used his "old faithful Strat" for recording the I.O.U. album. This Stratocaster had two humbuckers—one by the bridge and one by the neck. Over time, he made several changes to the pickups, starting with old Gibson Patent Applied Fors taken from '60s SG Customs, later switching to DiMarzio PAFs, and finally settling on a pair of Seymour Duncan 59s. | |||
As for the amplifiers, during the recording, Holdsworth used two Hartley Thompson amplifiers and two Lab Series L-5 amps. The Hartley Thompson amplifiers were used with two cabinets, each containing two Goodman GP-12 speakers. He mentioned that these speakers were the best but hard to get in America. | |||
For the recording, he miked the guitar in the room where the whole band was playing. The recording took place on The Barge, a studio in England, which is actually a real boat. Holdsworth mentioned that due to the small space on the boat, they couldn't achieve much isolation, with drums in the middle of the room, the guitar amp in one corner, and the bass at the other end. | |||
=Summary of quotes on I.O.U.= | |||
Allan Holdsworth formed the band I.O.U. (with Gary Husband and Paul Carmichael) and recorded the album "I.O.U." He mentioned that they struggled to find a record deal in the UK and eventually decided to record the album independently. | |||
The "I.O.U." album was recorded on a barge in London, which served as a recording studio. The studio was small, making it challenging to achieve ideal isolation for different instruments. They recorded the album relatively quickly, completing it in about five days and mixing it in two evenings. | |||
For the album, Holdsworth primarily used his old Stratocaster with two humbuckers, one near the bridge and one near the neck. | |||
Holdsworth discussed his recording techniques, mentioning that most of the guitar parts on the "I.O.U." album were captured by miking his amplifier in the same room as the rest of the band. He also experimented with some direct input (DI) recording, finding that it worked well for certain songs. | |||
The band faced difficulties in getting record companies interested in their music, which led them to release the album independently. Holdsworth mentioned that it took time to generate interest in the album, and they had to sell it at their gigs and through mail order. | |||
Holdsworth expressed a desire to remix the "I.O.U." album in the future to improve the sound quality, citing that the original tapes sounded better than the released CD. He mentioned the possibility of including two additional tracks that were initially stolen but later recovered. | |||
After encountering challenges in the UK music scene, Holdsworth decided to try his luck in the United States, where they found a more receptive audience. | |||
Holdsworth discussed his evolving musical direction and the transition from playing in other bands to becoming a bandleader and composer. He emphasized the importance of having creative control over his music. | |||
''[This summary was written by ChatGPT in 2023 based on the quotes below.]'' | |||
=Quotes on I.O.U.= | |||
==[[Allan Holdsworth (International Musician 1981)]]== | ==[[Allan Holdsworth (International Musician 1981)]]== | ||
What is the current state of play? | What is the current state of play? | ||
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==[[Allan Holdsworth (Guitar Player 1982)]]== | ==[[Allan Holdsworth (Guitar Player 1982)]]== | ||
Given the freedom to pursue his chordal, melodic, and soloing abilities with the new band, Holdsworth developed material he had written over the previous few years, and with '''I.O.U.''' began performing in England. According to Allan, though, the climate wasn’t quite right for the type of music the band was performing. Punk and new wave were the rage, making '''I.O.U.'''’s music less desirable to the general public. Holdsworth and company recorded in early 1981, and found their music met with less than enthusiastic response by record companies. | Given the freedom to pursue his chordal, melodic, and soloing abilities with the new band, Holdsworth developed material he had written over the previous few years, and with '''I.O.U.''' began performing in England. According to Allan, though, the climate wasn’t quite right for the type of music the band was performing. Punk and new wave were the rage, making '''I.O.U.'''’s music less desirable to the general public. Holdsworth and company recorded in early 1981, and found their music met with less than enthusiastic response by record companies. | ||
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==[[Allan Holdsworth (Music UK 1983)]]== | ==[[Allan Holdsworth (Music UK 1983)]]== | ||
When I saw Allan Holdsworth on a very grey day in Kingston Surrey in the middle of 1981 he was feeling well shall we say not at his best? He’d grown tired of the fight and intimated that it wouldn’t take an awful lot more before he threw in the towel. He’d become disillusioned with the business to the point of thinking about taking a job in a factory, leaving free his evenings to play what he liked. Allan refuses point blank to play music he doesn’t feel, hence his dilemma. The last straw was an album he recorded in England called IOU, which featured singer Paul Williams who is now the only person from that band that’s currently playing with Allan. Allan Holdsworth’s troubles were not yet over, and he ended up having to press the album himself, and sell it on the door at his own gigs and by mail order. So far he’s sold an astonishing 14,000! None of the major UK record companies were interested enough to pick up the album, although that situation is about to change. | When I saw Allan Holdsworth on a very grey day in Kingston Surrey in the middle of 1981 he was feeling well shall we say not at his best? He’d grown tired of the fight and intimated that it wouldn’t take an awful lot more before he threw in the towel. He’d become disillusioned with the business to the point of thinking about taking a job in a factory, leaving free his evenings to play what he liked. Allan refuses point blank to play music he doesn’t feel, hence his dilemma. The last straw was an album he recorded in England called IOU, which featured singer Paul Williams who is now the only person from that band that’s currently playing with Allan. Allan Holdsworth’s troubles were not yet over, and he ended up having to press the album himself, and sell it on the door at his own gigs and by mail order. So far he’s sold an astonishing 14,000! None of the major UK record companies were interested enough to pick up the album, although that situation is about to change. | ||
==[[Guitar Phenom Allan Holdsworth Says He’s Not That Impressed By Flash (The Georgia Straight 1983)]]== | ==[[Guitar Phenom Allan Holdsworth Says He’s Not That Impressed By Flash (The Georgia Straight 1983)]]== | ||
What would you like the future to hold for Allan Holdsworth? | What would you like the future to hold for Allan Holdsworth? | ||
| Line 151: | Line 178: | ||
==[[The Innocent Abroad (Musician 1984)]]== | ==[[The Innocent Abroad (Musician 1984)]]== | ||
Thus did America beckon to one Allan Holdsworth, legendary electro-jazz guitar stylist who, by 1980, was unable to find gainful employment in his U.K. homeland, either as a guitarist or leader/composer of his own appropriately named trio, '''I.O.U.''' Holdsworth was even preparing to hang up his guitar strap forever: "I was broke, couldn’t make any living at all in music. I would’ve had to retire; in fact, I was just about to take a job in a music store. I had accumulated a lot of equipment over the years, and I basically paid the rent by selling a few things each month. Eventually, when we came to mix the '''I.O.U.''' album, I sold the last guitar I had. Then I came over to America on vacation and met someone who said she could get us gigs, so we all came over." | Thus did America beckon to one Allan Holdsworth, legendary electro-jazz guitar stylist who, by 1980, was unable to find gainful employment in his U.K. homeland, either as a guitarist or leader/composer of his own appropriately named trio, '''I.O.U.''' Holdsworth was even preparing to hang up his guitar strap forever: "I was broke, couldn’t make any living at all in music. I would’ve had to retire; in fact, I was just about to take a job in a music store. I had accumulated a lot of equipment over the years, and I basically paid the rent by selling a few things each month. Eventually, when we came to mix the '''I.O.U.''' album, I sold the last guitar I had. Then I came over to America on vacation and met someone who said she could get us gigs, so we all came over." | ||
| Line 157: | Line 183: | ||
==[[Allan Holdsworth (English Tour Program 1989)]]== | ==[[Allan Holdsworth (English Tour Program 1989)]]== | ||
The Holdsworth brand of music -uncompromising and enigmatic - has never really found favour with the record companies. He shrugs: "They say to my manager ‘Let us know when he does something that we can sell’. And, you know, that '''IOU''' album we made... we couldn’t even give it away; we actually tried to give it to record companies and they wouldn’t accept it!" | The Holdsworth brand of music -uncompromising and enigmatic - has never really found favour with the record companies. He shrugs: "They say to my manager ‘Let us know when he does something that we can sell’. And, you know, that '''IOU''' album we made... we couldn’t even give it away; we actually tried to give it to record companies and they wouldn’t accept it!" | ||
==[[The Unreachable Star (Guitar World 1989)]]== | ==[[The Unreachable Star (Guitar World 1989)]]== | ||
'''I.O.U.''' was a five-thousand-dollar record; we recorded it pretty rapidly and mixed in two evenings. It was recorded over a span of time because we couldn’t get the studio time all at once. But since then I’ve tried to be more careful in the recording, pushed myself a little bit harder, and just tried to spend more time mixing. And that all costs money. | '''I.O.U.''' was a five-thousand-dollar record; we recorded it pretty rapidly and mixed in two evenings. It was recorded over a span of time because we couldn’t get the studio time all at once. But since then I’ve tried to be more careful in the recording, pushed myself a little bit harder, and just tried to spend more time mixing. And that all costs money. | ||
GW: Did that record do anything for you? | GW: Did that record do anything for you? | ||
HOLDSWORTH:: Well, it’s the same prob1em. I have great difficulty listening to it now because I sound so bad on it. But it was obviously representative of what we were doing, and that’s the way I played then, because I didn’t know any better. But it’s a good record in terms of having captured something; it captured the essence of what we were doing. And Gary I thought, played just great on it. Paul Williams sang great, too. | HOLDSWORTH:: Well, it’s the same prob1em. I have great difficulty listening to it now because I sound so bad on it. But it was obviously representative of what we were doing, and that’s the way I played then, because I didn’t know any better. But it’s a good record in terms of having captured something; it captured the essence of what we were doing. And Gary I thought, played just great on it. Paul Williams sang great, too. | ||
GW: Do you think the vocal concept prevented you from getting over with the jazz constituency? | GW: Do you think the vocal concept prevented you from getting over with the jazz constituency? | ||
HOLDSWORTH:: It was just something that I grew out of, or that I thought I should change. The original vocal concept stemmed from the trio concept; I wanted to be able to play things as a trio with a melody and chords, set up in a situation where I could perform them with just a guitar. So I used the voice like an instrument, and Paul was the perfect person for that. But I just wanted to do something different. I mean, I never know what I’m going to feel like or what I’m going to want to do, because it changes, and I can’t help it. When I got the SynthAxe, a whole other thing suddenly opened up to me and I didn’t see what I was doing as a musician, or the band itself, in the same way anymore. And I also saw the vocal thing sitting me on the fence really hard, and that people who like instrumental or "jazz" music were kind of perturbed by the vocal aspect of my music. I never was, but I thought that they were, and I also felt that there were people who liked the vocal aspect of t he songs but didn’t like the rest of it. It was like stretching both sides, and, like I said, when I got the SynthAxe I decided that that was what I wanted to do, so I just continued to sit on the fence in a different way. | HOLDSWORTH:: It was just something that I grew out of, or that I thought I should change. The original vocal concept stemmed from the trio concept; I wanted to be able to play things as a trio with a melody and chords, set up in a situation where I could perform them with just a guitar. So I used the voice like an instrument, and Paul was the perfect person for that. But I just wanted to do something different. I mean, I never know what I’m going to feel like or what I’m going to want to do, because it changes, and I can’t help it. When I got the SynthAxe, a whole other thing suddenly opened up to me and I didn’t see what I was doing as a musician, or the band itself, in the same way anymore. And I also saw the vocal thing sitting me on the fence really hard, and that people who like instrumental or "jazz" music were kind of perturbed by the vocal aspect of my music. I never was, but I thought that they were, and I also felt that there were people who liked the vocal aspect of t he songs but didn’t like the rest of it. It was like stretching both sides, and, like I said, when I got the SynthAxe I decided that that was what I wanted to do, so I just continued to sit on the fence in a different way. | ||
==[[Mike Pachelli Show (video transcript 1991)]]== | ==[[Mike Pachelli Show (video transcript 1991)]]== | ||
MP: In 1980 you started a trio called False Alarm, with Gary Husband and Paul Carmichael – was it time for you to become a leader? | MP: In 1980 you started a trio called False Alarm, with Gary Husband and Paul Carmichael – was it time for you to become a leader? | ||
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==[[Creating Imaginary Backdrops (Innerviews 1993)]]== | ==[[Creating Imaginary Backdrops (Innerviews 1993)]]== | ||
You had Velvet Darkness pulled? | You had Velvet Darkness pulled? | ||
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==[[Makin’ Trax (Guitar 1994)]]== | ==[[Makin’ Trax (Guitar 1994)]]== | ||
Musically, what did you try differently on Hard Hat Area than on previous albums? | Musically, what did you try differently on Hard Hat Area than on previous albums? | ||
| Line 207: | Line 226: | ||
==[[No Secrets (Facelift 1994)]]== | ==[[No Secrets (Facelift 1994)]]== | ||
So, how did the Gong projects come about? | So, how did the Gong projects come about? | ||
| Line 219: | Line 237: | ||
==[[Med Siktet Innställt På Total Kontroll (MusikerMagasinet 1996, Swedish language)]]== | ==[[Med Siktet Innställt På Total Kontroll (MusikerMagasinet 1996, Swedish language)]]== | ||
- A friend gave us free studio time at The Barge, [literally] a barge in London. To be able to mix the album over two evenings in Trident Studios, I had to sell the guitars used for the recording. Sometimes I miss England, but that side of the country I don’t miss. For a musician like myself, it’s extremely inhibitive to live there. | - A friend gave us free studio time at The Barge, [literally] a barge in London. To be able to mix the album over two evenings in Trident Studios, I had to sell the guitars used for the recording. Sometimes I miss England, but that side of the country I don’t miss. For a musician like myself, it’s extremely inhibitive to live there. | ||
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==[[Untitled (Guitar Magazine? 2001)]]== | ==[[Untitled (Guitar Magazine? 2001)]]== | ||
Q: And you devote yourself on solo project after 80ís. | Q: And you devote yourself on solo project after 80ís. | ||
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==[[Harnessing momentum (Innerviews 2008)]]== | ==[[Harnessing momentum (Innerviews 2008)]]== | ||
Having said all of this, I would like to remix the '''I.O.U.''' album because the last time I played it off the original two-inch tapes, it sounded so much better than the album. The record was mixed in two evenings. I think everything, but especially the drum sound, can benefit from a remix. Also, the tapes were stolen during that session and two of the tracks were gone by the time we mixed the album. Later, the studio owner found the guy who stole the tape and got it back. So, there are two tracks that aren’t on the original '''I.O.U.''' album that I would include. I’ll have to bake the tapes in order to do it, but I think it would be worth it. The recorded sound was just so much better than the CD and I think I can do it a lot more justice. | Having said all of this, I would like to remix the '''I.O.U.''' album because the last time I played it off the original two-inch tapes, it sounded so much better than the album. The record was mixed in two evenings. I think everything, but especially the drum sound, can benefit from a remix. Also, the tapes were stolen during that session and two of the tracks were gone by the time we mixed the album. Later, the studio owner found the guy who stole the tape and got it back. So, there are two tracks that aren’t on the original '''I.O.U.''' album that I would include. I’ll have to bake the tapes in order to do it, but I think it would be worth it. The recorded sound was just so much better than the CD and I think I can do it a lot more justice. | ||
==[[A Different kind of Guitar Hero (BAM 1983)]]== | ==[[A Different kind of Guitar Hero (BAM 1983)]]== | ||
BAM: Tell me about the recording of the I.O.U. album. | BAM: Tell me about the recording of the I.O.U. album. | ||
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AH: An old Strat that I had for a long time. Unfortunately, I had to sell it to come to L.A. | AH: An old Strat that I had for a long time. Unfortunately, I had to sell it to come to L.A. | ||
=Links= | |||
YouTube playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mNjYYfxHBBUTiW1OeiNVUWhZOE8DMsGvk | |||
Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I.O.U._(album) | |||
Discogs: https://www.discogs.com/master/18388-Allan-Holdsworth-IOU | |||
Ed's blog: http://threadoflunacy.blogspot.no/2017/08/15-iou-1979-1981.html | |||
[[Category:Solo albums]] | [[Category:Solo albums]] | ||
[[Category:Discography]] | [[Category:Discography]] | ||
