Velvet Darkness (album): Difference between revisions
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[[File:Ah velvet.jpg|right|200px]]"Velvet Darkness" is a 1976 solo album by Allan Holdsworth. The album features him on electric and acoustic guitar, as well as a short violin performance. He also wrote all of the tunes. | |||
[[File:Ah velvet.jpg|right|200px]]"Velvet Darkness" is a 1976 solo album by Allan Holdsworth. The album features him on electric and acoustic guitar, as well as a short violin performance. He also | |||
In 1976, while in New York, Allan was offered a recording contract with CTI Records by Creed Taylor. Allan assembled a band consisting of Alphonso Johnson on bass, Narada Michael Walden on drums, and Alan Pasqua on keyboards. According to Allan, the band was just rehearsing for a single day in the studio when they were dismissed by the producer at the end of the day. Later, Allan found out that the producer had recorded the studio rehearsals, and mixed and released them without Allan's consent. He was completely unaware of the album release until he received a copy of the album on his doorstep back in England many months later. He disowned the album completely, and fought to have it deleted. In 1990, a CD version appeared, which contained all new mixes, as well as five alternate takes. This is the version that is listed here. The track "Floppy Hat" even had the original guitar solo from the album replaced with an alternate take, but without notification. Allan fought yet again to have the CD | In 1976, while in New York, Allan was offered a recording contract with CTI Records by Creed Taylor. Allan assembled a band consisting of Alphonso Johnson on bass, Narada Michael Walden on drums, and Alan Pasqua on keyboards. According to Allan, the band was just rehearsing for a single day in the studio when they were dismissed by the producer at the end of the day. Later, Allan found out that the producer had recorded the studio rehearsals, and mixed and released them without Allan's consent. He was completely unaware of the album release until he received a copy of the album on his doorstep back in England many months later. He disowned the album completely, and fought to have it deleted. In 1990, a CD version appeared, which contained all new mixes, as well as five alternate takes. This is the version that is listed here. The track "Floppy Hat" even had the original guitar solo from the album replaced with an alternate take, but without notification. Allan fought yet again to have the CD removed from the market. He claimed that he never released any royalties whatsoever from the album. Since Allan's passing, the album has reappeared on streaming services. | ||
The music is very raw indeed, and it sounds exactly like what Allan claimed: A studio jam or rehearsal. The title track lifts ideas from Igginbottom's "Golden Lakes", while "Kinder" is an acoustic version of "Fred" on the "Believe It" album. Other tracks would be reworked later, as Allan by his own admission counted nothing that was done on the album. A chord progression in "Gattox" would later be revisited on "Gas Lamp Blues". "Wish" would be reworked into "The Things You See". The title track would reappear in a more refined | The music is very raw indeed, and it sounds exactly like what Allan claimed: A studio jam or rehearsal. The title track lifts ideas from Igginbottom's "Golden Lakes", while "Kinder" is an acoustic version of "Fred" on the "Believe It" album. Other tracks would be reworked later, as Allan by his own admission counted nothing that was done on the album. A chord progression in "Gattox" would later be revisited on "Gas Lamp Blues". "Wish" would be reworked into "The Things You See". The title track would reappear in a more refined form as "Shadows Of" on the "Gazeuse" album. | ||
This album certainly has a troubled history, and you can tell by listening to it. The talent on display is not in question, but the music suffers from the circumstances. That said, the acoustic tracks shine nonetheless. They were recorded on a separate day, presumingly while Allan was still in good faith towards the producer. Allan was not satisfied with these either, which is not so hard to understand all things considered, but all the takes of "Kinder", "Floppy Hat" and "Last May" rise above their shady origins. | This album certainly has a troubled history, and you can tell by listening to it. The talent on display is not in question, but the music suffers from the circumstances. That said, the acoustic tracks shine nonetheless. They were recorded on a separate day, presumingly while Allan was still in good faith towards the producer. Allan was not satisfied with these either, which is not so hard to understand all things considered, but all the takes of "Kinder", "Floppy Hat" and "Last May" rise above their shady origins. | ||
=Track listing= | |||
{|class='wikitable' | {|class='wikitable' | ||
|+ Allan Holdsworth: Velvet Darkness (1976) ([[Allan Holdsworth Discography|D]] - [[Allan Holdsworth Solo Albums|S]]) | |+ Allan Holdsworth: Velvet Darkness (1976) ([[Allan Holdsworth Discography|D]] - [[Allan Holdsworth Solo Albums|S]]) ([https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_k2yntMRbGkZ6mbruDmNBPWNZnYXhr-Das YT]) | ||
! | ! | ||
!style="text-align:left;"|Track title | !style="text-align:left;"|Track title | ||
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Produced by Creed Taylor<br> | Produced by Creed Taylor<br> | ||
=Summary of quotes on Velvet Darkness= | |||
Allan expressed deep dissatisfaction with his 1978 album, "Velvet Darkness," recorded under unfavorable conditions with no rehearsals. He called it a rip-off and an embarrassment, citing thin sound and lopsided balance. He also lamented the lack of royalties due to contract issues and unauthorized releases, stating that the album was never fit for release and was a complete disaster. ''[This summary was written by ChatGPT in 2023 based on the quotes below.]'' | |||
=Quotes on "Velvet Darkness"= | =Quotes on "Velvet Darkness"= | ||
==[[A Disturbingly Normal Genius (Boston Phenix 1976)]]== | |||
Q: Do you think you might do a solo album? | |||
A: I just finished a new album of my own things for CTI, but it turned out really awful ... The whole thing was trundled out in two days without any rehearsal. While we were playing a thing in rehearsal the man with the tape recorder would say you don't have to do any more - that's cool, why don't we move on to the next tune. I didn't see what was happening; I was just trying to go along with it. But after wards I realized I should not even have started it. I had no control over any. thing. Before I went in I was told studio time would be no problem. As it worked out, I couldn't get it done quick enough, and they just didn't seem to care. And they'd have things like tea break at 10, lunch hour, take five at two o'clock and if you're in the middle of a tune, well, too bad. It was really painful. After what happened with Tony it had given me a new goal, something to look forward to, to see if I could get myself together for it. But this album was just bringdown, it was like taking two steps forward and ten back. | |||
Q: This is kind of a strange question, but are you hopeful that people would not buy the album? | |||
A: Yeah, I hope they don't. It's worse than not doing anything at all. I wish it had never happened. Good or bad, everything on that album is first take. Everything. They wouldn't let me do any more soloing. Real nitty gritty. | |||
==[[Player Of The Month (Beat Instrumental 1978)]]== | ==[[Player Of The Month (Beat Instrumental 1978)]]== | ||
He had failed, however, to mention something that happened in New York just before he came home. As I mentioned this omission in his life’s history, Allan’s normally placid and amiable expression darkened in-to a scowl. The event? An invitation from Creed Taylor, boss of CTI Records, for Allan to record a solo album. He hates that album with a passion. It was recorded in nine hours; there were no rehearsals. "It’s just a jam. The sound is disgusting. I mean, I’m really particular about my guitar sound, especially over the last two or three years, cuz I reckon I’ve now got that part of it together. We got into the studio, and we never had what you might call a balance check. None of that happened, man. They set the mikes up, and they had two mikes for a double drum kit. Really crazy. We’d play the tunes once, and that was it. Finished. Next tune. We’d just let one tune run down even if it didn’t have an ending. And that’s literally how that album was made." | He had failed, however, to mention something that happened in New York just before he came home. As I mentioned this omission in his life’s history, Allan’s normally placid and amiable expression darkened in-to a scowl. The event? An invitation from Creed Taylor, boss of CTI Records, for Allan to record a solo album. He hates that album with a passion. It was recorded in nine hours; there were no rehearsals. "It’s just a jam. The sound is disgusting. I mean, I’m really particular about my guitar sound, especially over the last two or three years, cuz I reckon I’ve now got that part of it together. We got into the studio, and we never had what you might call a balance check. None of that happened, man. They set the mikes up, and they had two mikes for a double drum kit. Really crazy. We’d play the tunes once, and that was it. Finished. Next tune. We’d just let one tune run down even if it didn’t have an ending. And that’s literally how that album was made." | ||
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==[[Allan Holdsworth (Guitar Player 1980)]]== | ==[[Allan Holdsworth (Guitar Player 1980)]]== | ||
Along with Williams, bassist Tony Newton and keyboardist Alan Pasqua, he recorded two albums - Believe It and Million Dollar Legs - and toured in 1975 and ‘76. After bad management drove him away from that ensemble (at one point during a tour he ended up stranded in San Francisco with neither money nor a place to stay and had to pawn his guitar to get back to England), Allan recorded his first solo album, '''Velvet Darkness'''. | Along with Williams, bassist Tony Newton and keyboardist Alan Pasqua, he recorded two albums - Believe It and Million Dollar Legs - and toured in 1975 and ‘76. After bad management drove him away from that ensemble (at one point during a tour he ended up stranded in San Francisco with neither money nor a place to stay and had to pawn his guitar to get back to England), Allan recorded his first solo album, '''Velvet Darkness'''. | ||
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==[[The Unreachable Star (Guitar World 1989)]]== | ==[[The Unreachable Star (Guitar World 1989)]]== | ||
I wish I could go back and do ‘em all again [laughs]. | I wish I could go back and do ‘em all again [laughs]. | ||
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==[[Mike Pachelli Show (video transcript 1991)]]== | ==[[Mike Pachelli Show (video transcript 1991)]]== | ||
MP: How do you feel about that first recording? | MP: How do you feel about that first recording? | ||
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==[[Creating Imaginary Backdrops (Innerviews 1993)]]== | ==[[Creating Imaginary Backdrops (Innerviews 1993)]]== | ||
The single most frustrating thing for me, is to be in a situation where you can’t get a record deal because for whatever reason they won’t sign you up, but the same people will take complete advantage of you by bootlegging things and putting out other albums. Sony just did that with that old '''Velvet Darkness''' album. They re-released it, but unfortunately, I wasn’t able to stop them right away. But they [the lawyers] stopped them eventually and they’re not going to make that album anymore, because that whole project was a rip-off in the first place. Sony re-released it and packaged like a new album. So, those kind of things make me go crazy—they make me want to tear my hair out. | The single most frustrating thing for me, is to be in a situation where you can’t get a record deal because for whatever reason they won’t sign you up, but the same people will take complete advantage of you by bootlegging things and putting out other albums. Sony just did that with that old '''Velvet Darkness''' album. They re-released it, but unfortunately, I wasn’t able to stop them right away. But they [the lawyers] stopped them eventually and they’re not going to make that album anymore, because that whole project was a rip-off in the first place. Sony re-released it and packaged like a new album. So, those kind of things make me go crazy—they make me want to tear my hair out. | ||
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Well, I think they bought the whole CTI catalog from someone. That album’s been bootlegged three times, and each time I think "Great, that’s the end of that one." But it showed up again—it keeps showing up! But now that it’s owned by a big label, they had to produce all the paperwork and they couldn’t. So, that’s how we got ‘em. They had no paperwork for anything to say they could do any of that stuff. But there’s no way you can stop them. We had a bootleg video out in Japan. I had a contract that said this could not be used. I actually have a contract and it just came out! The video just came out! It’s called Tokyo Dreams. What it was is we knew the cameras were going to be there, but we were supposed to be able to view it first. It was supposed to be completely up to us whether we wanted it used it or not. But of course that was not the truth. They lied and they put it out and it was done in a really sneaky way. | Well, I think they bought the whole CTI catalog from someone. That album’s been bootlegged three times, and each time I think "Great, that’s the end of that one." But it showed up again—it keeps showing up! But now that it’s owned by a big label, they had to produce all the paperwork and they couldn’t. So, that’s how we got ‘em. They had no paperwork for anything to say they could do any of that stuff. But there’s no way you can stop them. We had a bootleg video out in Japan. I had a contract that said this could not be used. I actually have a contract and it just came out! The video just came out! It’s called Tokyo Dreams. What it was is we knew the cameras were going to be there, but we were supposed to be able to view it first. It was supposed to be completely up to us whether we wanted it used it or not. But of course that was not the truth. They lied and they put it out and it was done in a really sneaky way. | ||
==NARADA MICHAEL WALDEN ON WORKING WITH ALLAN== | |||
Recently, drummer Narada Michael Walden was a guest on Questlove’s podcast, “Questlove Supreme”. The podcast was published on April 10, 2024. As you may know, Narada played drums on Allan’s solo album “Velvet Darkness” that came out in 1976. In the podcast, Narada sheds a light on what happened during those sessions. In most ways, he actually confirms what Allan has said: The band met in the studio, and were rehearsing the songs while the engineer was recording, and that’s what we hear on the album. | |||
Narada does not share Allan’s misgivings about the album, though: He got paid to do the session, and is proud to say he worked with Allan Holdsworth. | |||
You can hear the whole podcast here: | |||
https://omny.fm/shows/questlove-supreme/narada-michael-walden-part-2 | |||
Special thanks to Dirk V. for bringing this to our attention! | |||
This is an edit of the transcript provided with the podcast, shortened for clarity. Questlove starts talking about Allan at 1:10:18, even though the transcript times it to 1:03:42. | |||
QUESTLOVE: I'm a big CTI Records fan, as people might know, Creed Taylor and you worked with Allan Holdsworth on an album called 'Velvet Darkness' in 1976. Do you have any memories of those sessions and Allan Holdsworth? | |||
NARADA: Yes. Allan asked me to come and record them at CTI. He's one of the most brilliant guitar players in the world, and we all know he's very sensitive. On keyboards is a cat who was from Tony Williams' band; Alan Pasqua, and on bass from Weather Report; Alphonso Johnson. And I go there with my drum kit. It's a white Gretsch kit with the enameled double painted on the inside, which sounds they are like fibes [sic]; clear, but they're - mighty like that - wood. | |||
And so then Allan starts showing us these songs and as he shows the song, then we play the song and then we would cut it. Then we maybe cut it a second time and that will be that. Then, you know, we kind of went through those songs like that. In his mind, he's thinking - he’s just kind of showing us the songs and we're...- you know - come back another time or whatever he'd think, I don’t know. | |||
But Creed Taylor and Rudy van Gelder, the great engineer, they were loving it and that was what they wanted to get: that live, fresh, raw vibe and then they wanted to put it out… and Allan wanted to do more; do more takes and whatever he wanted to do, you know. So it’s some discrepancy between his concept and maybe what theirs was. But I was just doing what I was asked to do and being paid to do whatever it was. So that was the album. It came out and I'm proud of it. I'm proud to say I worked with Allan Holdsworth. | |||
=Links= | |||
AH Archives: https://www.facebook.com/AllanHoldsworthArchives/posts/199075173599717 | |||
Ed's blog: http://threadoflunacy.blogspot.no/2017/06/6-velvet-darkness-and-million-dollar.html | |||
Discogs: https://www.discogs.com/Allan-Holdsworth-Velvet-Darkness/release/3875484 | |||
https:// | Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Velvet_Darkness | ||
YouTube playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_k2yntMRbGkZ6mbruDmNBPWNZnYXhr-Das | |||
[[Allan Holdsworth Discography|'''Discography''']] - <div style='text-align: center;'>''Previous'': [[Million Dollar Legs (album)|'''Million Dollar Legs''']] - ''Next'': [[Gazeuse! (album)|'''Gazeuse!''']]</div> | |||
[[Category:Solo albums]] | [[Category:Solo albums]] | ||
[[Category:Discography]] | [[Category:Discography]] | ||
