Among guitarists, he`s a cult figure. A wizardly, long-faced English gent whose experimental, fusion sound and bizarre technique revolutionized the way many-including greats like Carlos Santana and Eddie Van Halen-felt about the guitar.
To the rest of the world, however, he`s as unknown as the driver sitting at the next traffic light.
Allan Holdsworth, 45, has created and played on more records than some performers have even heard; he estimates it at 20-plus. More than once, he has been on the verge of commercial success-with a 1984 Grammy nomination and one record in the Top 200-but he has never crossed the barrier between the cover of Guitar Player magazine and the hearts of the record-buying masses.
Because of this, his Thursday night performance at the Cubby Bear, 1059 W. Addison St., may be his last in this area. ”I`ve been thinking a lot in the past year about giving up the guitar,” Holdsworth said. ”The fan base really hasn`t grown, because the kind of music I play doesn`t get promotion or played on radio.”
For Holdsworth, a lifetime spent falling through the cracks has left him frustrated. ”Record companies tell me to play something more commercial, but I don`t want to do anything else. I`d rather get people interested in this,” he explained. ”I`d get another job before I would play music I don`t enjoy. But then, I`m really not qualified to do anything else.”
The unconverted might say, ”So what if he quits? No one knows his music anyhow.” Those who have listened, however, regard him as an artist of monumental importance.
Tom Wheeler, editor of Guitar Player for the last decade, struggles to illustrate the man. ”Allan does seemingly impossible stretches and hits notes that the vast majority of players have scarcely considered, let alone attempted,” Wheeler said. ”He is extremely fluid, with a smooth, horn-like approach.”
Nearly every musician`s magazine has at one time or another dubbed Holdsworth the greatest guitar player on Earth, a man too far ahead of his time.
In addition to his work with the guitar, Holdsworth is a pioneer of the Synth-Axe, a guitarlike object used to control various signals sent to a processor. With a Synth-Axe, a guitarist has the versatility of a keyboardist to create complex horn patterns and sound effects.
Wheeler recalls a time when he and Holdsworth were wandering about a musical instrument convention where the guitar synthesizer was first revealed. ”He sat down, picked it up and began playing it immediately without any introduction to the instrument,” Wheeler said. ”I didn`t even know where to begin, and he was good enough to perform a concert on it that night.”
Although Holdsworth is usually classified as a jazz or fusion-style guitarist, many of Holdsworth`s fans come from the rock arena.
Van Halen called him ”the best in my book” and was so enthused by his playing that he persuaded-make that demanded-his label, Warner Bros., to sign Holdsworth in 1983.
Despite Van Halen`s good intentions, the deal created many unhappy months for Holdsworth when he discovered that the label didn`t understand, or even want, his music.
”It was a disaster,” Holdsworth recalled. ”They only signed me because of Eddie. Eventually they were saying that if I didn`t get a famous singer, they wouldn`t even release the album.” He held out and eventually did much of the album his way.
Ironically, that album, ”Road Games,” was released after Holdsworth left the label. It received rave reviews and a Grammy nomination for best rock instrumental. Since then, he has stuck with the independent record companies. His next album is due out early next year on Restless Records.
”I don`t get a big recording budget or much promotion, but I have creative freedom,” Holdsworth explained. ”I was working with another major label after Warner Bros. and they were telling me who to hire as musicians, what kind of music to play, what producer to use-I mean, what`s the point of putting me on the record?”
Although the independents give him artistic license, that doesn`t get him airplay. ”The music is somewhere between jazz and rock, so neither (kind of) station will play it,” he said. ”I feel kind of trapped. I guess other musicians feel this way, too. It`s hard to survive if you`re not mainstream. I can barely sustain my existence now, but I can`t live a lie.”
Wheeler also noted the bind Holdsworth is in. ”He has become a cult figure in that his influence has far exceeded his fame,” Wheeler said. ”But people can`t copy or duplicate him. In general, he has caused guitarists to think more abstractly about their own playing.”
