Holdsworth at 28 years old...

[fitness1]

Some great Soft Machine footage I'd never seen before.

Absolutely amazing....

[NormanKliman]

Hey fitness1, thanks for uploading that; I'll check it out tonight, for sure.

I saw Holdsworth perform just a few feet away at a small bar in Chicago in the early-to-mid 1980s. I'd heard his playing and didn't expect to be so surprised.

[Gordon Currie]

He got a late start and had only been playing guitar for about ten years at that time.

He wanted to play saxophone instead but had problems with ear infections. So he picked up a guitar laying around the house and proceeded to invent his own approach of emulating aspects of horn playing.

[NormanKliman]

Okay, I watched it last night. Whew, at five minutes into the video, I was wondering what else Holdsworth could do, like maybe fly or burst into flames. He nails that kind of playing, although it seems to be far from where he eventually took it. I like the fact that they go on from that intense shredding to other very different kinds of music. Some of the more “processed” experimental stuff sounds like HAL having a nervous breakdown. (You know, HAL, the villainous computer from Kubrick’s 2001?)

The drummer is really good, isn’t he? Looks like a real character in the video. I had to laugh, because I remember those afros and mustaches, and I kept thinking he could probably play one hell of a solo, and he sure did (starts 44:30). The last time I saw such unusual playing was Trilok Gurtu with John McLaughlin in the early 1990s, I think it was.

Cool rhythm at 12:03. What is that, 3+3+2+2?

Also, is the bass player playing a Fender VI? If I’m not mistaken, this instrument or a similar one was recently mentioned in an AGF thread that I can’t seem to find.

(Edited to add: Here's the thread.)

I enjoyed a lot of that. I am a sucker for early 70s jazz rock and prog.

[Borderdon]

I’ve loved Mr. Holdsworths music for many years, and have collected what I could find, but I haven’t seen this particular footage. Thanks for posting.

[Mooh]

Saw Soft Machine in 1974. The James Gang was headlining, but it was the show opener that blew me away, Roy Buchanan.

[steveh]

Originally Posted by NormanKliman

He nails that kind of playing, although it seems to be far from where he eventually took it.

Thanks +++ for posting this; I too had not seen it.

Very interesting to hear him at such an early stage because while what he's playing here is way beyond the abilities of 99.9% of other guitarists, I agree that, for him, it sounds pretty immature: All the hallmarks are there but underdeveloped and he took his style so much further.

I saw him a fair few times (including in clinics) and when he was at his peak (late 80s, early 90s for me), he was utterly mind-blowing. Such an innovator. However, I do remember with fondness taking a friend to see him who left the concert saying, very sarcastically, "Well I'll be humming that one all the way home..."!

Cheers,
Steve

[NormanKliman]

Originally Posted by steveh

Thanks +++ for posting this; I too had not seen it.

Posted by fitness1.

[FrankHudson]

I enjoyed watching it too. Though people I admire, admire Holdsworth, I am not greatly familiar with his work. As per the sharp post up-thread, from what I know this is early in his evolution. You could see the early fusion/John McLaughlin aims in this set and specifically in Holdsworth's playing. Though I can enjoy that fast arpeggio in unusual time signatures thing a bit more now when fusion isn't threatening to take over jazz or jazz-featuring-guitar, it often leaves me cold over long stretches. Of course, all of us who have ever operated a guitar are none-the-less impressed with that because we know it what all it takes just to pull that off, regardless of what the listener in us feels.

The rest of the band helped keep that from happening here. I liked the textures from the dual keyboards (not a common lineup save for some of the Miles Davis fusion groups) and the Fender Bass VI player, though generally mixed low, showed some nice stuff with that unusual instrument. And yes that drummer is yet another demonstration of my observation that UK drummers as a class had more skills and chops that most white American rock bands' drummers could muster.