I.O.U. Band: Difference between revisions
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I.O.U. was the name of Allan's first proper solo album, but it was also used as a name for Allan's band at the time. Allan has said that he did not really see himself as a bandleader, but rather as a member of a band that played his material. Nevertheless, the genesis for Allan's venture into a career as a solo artist came about in the late seventies. Allan had appeared as a leader on a number of BBC sessions, but according to himself, these sessions were one-offs using ad hoc bands. At the time of doing Bruford's "One Of A Kind", Allan had a desire to do something with his own material, and thus set out to form a permanent band to showcase his own music. Early incantations of this band had rather an unstable lineup, and Allan used different names for these bands. At least two names were used before deciding on the moniker I.O.U.: [[False Alarm]] and [[Holdsworth & Co.]]. | I.O.U. was the name of Allan's first proper solo album, but it was also used as a name for Allan's band at the time. Allan has said that he did not really see himself as a bandleader, but rather as a member of a band that played his material. Nevertheless, the genesis for Allan's venture into a career as a solo artist came about in the late seventies. Allan had appeared as a leader on a number of BBC sessions, but according to himself, these sessions were one-offs using ad hoc bands. At the time of doing Bruford's "One Of A Kind", Allan had a desire to do something with his own material, and thus set out to form a permanent band to showcase his own music. Early incantations of this band had rather an unstable lineup, and Allan used different names for these bands. At least two names were used before deciding on the moniker I.O.U.: [[False Alarm]] and [[Holdsworth & Co.]]. | ||
This article focuses on the band that appeared on the I.O.U. album: [[Gary Husband]], [[Paul Carmichael]] and [[Paul Williams]]. After Allan emigrated to the U.S., he continued using the I.O.U. name, even after Husband and Carmichael were replaced by [[Chad Wackerman]] and [[Jeff Berlin]]. "Road Games" was presented as a solo album, but "Metal Fatigue" was presented as "Allan Holdsworth with I.O.U.", even though the album featured various lineups throughout. | This article focuses on the band that appeared on the I.O.U. album: [[Gary Husband]], [[Paul Carmichael]] and [[Paul Williams]]. After Allan emigrated to the U.S., he continued using the I.O.U. name, even after Husband and Carmichael were replaced by [[Chad Wackerman]] and [[Jeff Berlin]]. "Road Games" was presented as a solo album, but "Metal Fatigue" was presented as "Allan Holdsworth with I.O.U.", even though the album featured various lineups throughout. This was the last album to feature the "I.O.U." moniker. | ||
The quotes presented here are therefore somewhat subjectively categorized, and overlap different lineups and periods. | The quotes presented here are therefore somewhat subjectively categorized, and overlap different lineups and periods. | ||
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==[[Allan Holdsworth (Guitar Player 1982)]]== | ==[[Allan Holdsworth (Guitar Player 1982)]]== | ||
In 1980, Allan teamed with bassist Paul Carmichael and drummer/pianist Gary Husband to form a trio in London known as False alarm. Expanded later to include vocalist Paul Williams (formerly of Juicy Lucy and Tempest, a band in which he and Holdsworth had worked together in 1973), the group became known as I.O.U. In a Guitar Player interview in the December 1980 issue, Holdsworth originally described the music as having "some elements of jazz and rock, but we try not to be overly tricky." | In 1980, Allan teamed with bassist Paul Carmichael and drummer/pianist Gary Husband to form a trio in London known as False alarm. Expanded later to include vocalist Paul Williams (formerly of Juicy Lucy and Tempest, a band in which he and Holdsworth had worked together in 1973), the '''group''' became known as I.O.U. In a Guitar Player interview in the December 1980 issue, Holdsworth originally described the music as having "some elements of jazz and rock, but we try not to be overly tricky." | ||
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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==[[The Innocent Abroad (Musician 1984)]]== | ==[[The Innocent Abroad (Musician 1984)]]== | ||
I.O.U. then made their tabled emigration and Americans greeted the '''band''' as long-lost old friends, which at that point they were starting to feel like. Still, for all the buzz, they were unable to interest anyone in the LP so they decided to put it out themselves, pressed it and worked it as best they could. It was then that Holdsworth was "discovered" by Eddie Van Halen. Edward had actually met Allan in the U.K. era, so he came down to the Roxy to catch I.O.U. After a post-gig chat, Van Halen was invited to come to sound-check the next afternoon and they had "a bit of a blow." For an encore that night, they worked up one of Eddie’s tunes, which went over big; very big. Van Halen immediately began working on his producer, Ted Templeman, and his label, Warners, to sign Holdsworth. What exactly was understood between Holdsworth and Van Halen was never pinned down, however. Allan logically assumed that Warners wanted the '''I.O.U. band | I.O.U. then made their tabled emigration and Americans greeted the '''band''' as long-lost old friends, which at that point they were starting to feel like. Still, for all the buzz, they were unable to interest anyone in the LP so they decided to put it out themselves, pressed it and worked it as best they could. It was then that Holdsworth was "discovered" by Eddie Van Halen. Edward had actually met Allan in the U.K. era, so he came down to the Roxy to catch I.O.U. After a post-gig chat, Van Halen was invited to come to sound-check the next afternoon and they had "a bit of a blow." For an encore that night, they worked up one of Eddie’s tunes, which went over big; very big. Van Halen immediately began working on his producer, Ted Templeman, and his label, Warners, to sign Holdsworth. What exactly was understood between Holdsworth and Van Halen was never pinned down, however. Allan logically assumed that Warners wanted the '''I.O.U. band'''. Paul Williams maintains that during all the negotiations for the deal, no one at Warners corrected that impression: | ||
"When Allan signed the contract, we had a band. Then they turned around and said to him, ‘Well, we don’t want the band.’ But as it happened, the '''band''' changed." | "When Allan signed the contract, we had a band. Then they turned around and said to him, ‘Well, we don’t want the band.’ But as it happened, the '''band''' changed." | ||
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What are you doing at the moment? | What are you doing at the moment? | ||
Well, we’ve got a new album coming out soon in the States, called ‘Metal Fatigue’, on the Enigma label. I understand it’s going to be released over here, unlike the last one, Road Games’, which was on Warner Brothers, but I don’t know which label it will be on. Warner Brothers took an awful tong time to decide whether they wanted us to do another album or not, which is why this one’s taken such a long time to come out. The majority of the recording was actually done quite a while ago, and there are two different sets of personnel. On side one it was Chad Wackerman on drums, Jimmy Johnson on bass, Paul Williams on vocals and myself on guitar. On side two Gary Husband, (an original member of the IOU band) played drums, Gary Willis was on bass and Alan Pasqua played some keyboards. The first line up is the one we’re touring with at the moment, and we’re just off to Japan. Hopefully, we’re going back to the States to record the next album, which I’m really hoping will feature the SynthAxe. | Well, we’ve got a new album coming out soon in the States, called ‘Metal Fatigue’, on the Enigma label. I understand it’s going to be released over here, unlike the last one, Road Games’, which was on Warner Brothers, but I don’t know which label it will be on. Warner Brothers took an awful tong time to decide whether they wanted us to do another album or not, which is why this one’s taken such a long time to come out. The majority of the recording was actually done quite a while ago, and there are two different sets of personnel. On side one it was Chad Wackerman on drums, Jimmy Johnson on bass, Paul Williams on vocals and myself on guitar. On side two Gary Husband, (an original member of the '''IOU band''') played drums, Gary Willis was on bass and Alan Pasqua played some keyboards. The first line up is the one we’re touring with at the moment, and we’re just off to Japan. Hopefully, we’re going back to the States to record the next album, which I’m really hoping will feature the SynthAxe. | ||
==[["...Where No Guitarist Has Gone Before..." (Cymbiosis 1986)]]== | ==[["...Where No Guitarist Has Gone Before..." (Cymbiosis 1986)]]== | ||
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Cymbiosis: Now this was after your Soft Machine and Tony Williams days? | Cymbiosis: Now this was after your Soft Machine and Tony Williams days? | ||
Holdsworth: Oh, yeah. This was way after that-and after Bruford and U.K. This was the beginning of this '''band''' now, the '''I.O.U. band | Holdsworth: Oh, yeah. This was way after that-and after Bruford and U.K. This was the beginning of this '''band''' now, the '''I.O.U. band'''. Then we found Paul Carmichael and we liked him because he didn’t sound like he was trying to do anybody else. He was going for his own thing, and that, to me, counts ten times over. | ||
==[[Audiostreet Featured Artists (Audiostreet 2000)]]== | ==[[Audiostreet Featured Artists (Audiostreet 2000)]]== | ||
