Reunion news from Holdsworth:
From J Sedula Tue Jun 20 00:54:38 1995
Newsgroups: rec.music.progressive
Subject: Re: UK Reunion/Holdsworth
Date: 19 Jun 1995 05:37:51 GMT
It just so happens that I saw Allan Holdsworth tonight in San
Francisco-great show, BTW-Holdsworth and drummer Chad Wackerman were
amazing. Anyway, during the break between sets, AH was standing next
to me at the bar, and I couldn't resist asking him if there was any
truth to the UK rumor. He sort of rolled his eyes, smiled, and said
he too had heard the rumor, but no one has talked to him about it.
Frankly, considering the show I saw AH put on tonight, the thought of
him playing w/ Wetton and Jobson seems unfathomable-a true step
backwards for AH. Hopefully, after seeing four Crimson shows this
coming week(yeah!), I will probably feel the same way about Bruford.
Anyway, thought you'd like to know...
Date: Wed, 19 Jul 1995 21:02:50 -0400 (EDT)
From: MARKCH@midd.middlebury.edu
Subject: RE: Elephant-talk digest v95 #208
In ET #208 The Engineer formerly known as Tim asked:
A question, Is this U.K. rumour real???
Well, a couple of weeks ago I had a nice little chat with Allan Holdsworth
before he played a gig in a little tiny club called Metronome in
Burlington, Vermont. I asked him if there was any truth to the rumor that
there was a UK reunion in the works. He said he had also heard the rumour
and had even been approached by Wetton's management, but that nobody had
said anything about the specifics (time, place, money).
It was one of those shows that made you want to rush home, gather all your
guitars together. . .
. . .and take a match to 'em.
murkie
(markch@middlebury.edu)
Jesus is coming! Look busy!
Date: Fri, 21 Jul 1995 00:49:38 -0400 (EDT)
From: Jeff Preston
Subject: Talkin' to Pat
I got a call from Pat Schroeder tonight, who wanted to give me a
"verbal update" on the Birchmere and Bottom Line gigs. Pat has been
a guest at Casa Holdsworth in the past, and got to hang out with
Allan and the chaps quite a bit this past week (or so), and had
some news on the U.K. reunion rumors I thought I'd report...
As others here had noted, Allan has *not* yet been contacted about
the possible U.K. "reunion" album, but Pat said that when he supposed
aloud that Allan would have no interest in it, Allan said, "Oh no! I
would DO it, and I'd even be willing to tour; in fact, when I get home,
I'm going to make some calls (about this)." So, there it is: If Wetton
and Jobson want him, he sure sounds interested at this point.
From: "Butler, Keith"
Subject: U.K. Reunion?
Date: Wed, 26 Jul 95 20:43:00 EDT
I attended the Alan Holdsworth show on Friday July 14th at The Bottom
Line in NYC. After the late show I hung around waiting to ask Alan to
autograph my U.K. CD sleeve and Chad Wackerman to autograph his solo
CD sleeve. After they did, I proceeded to ask Alan about a rumor I've
heard a while ago that the original members of U.K. may be reuniting
around the end of the year after the King Crimson tour. I'm sad to say
that he knew nothing of a U.K. reunion that would include him as a
member. However, he said he would definitely be interested in joining
if asked too do so. Another fellow there said he saw Eddie Jobson a
few weeks earlier at a King Crimson show in NYC, to which Alan replied
that he hasn't heard from him in about 15 years. A third fan who
knows Jobson personally asked Alan if he would like to have Eddie
contact him directly and maybe stop down for the Bottom Line show the
following night to jam. Alan said he would love that. The two made
arrangements but I'm not sure if it ever happened. (Anyone out there
know if it did?) Anyway, if a U.K. reunion is going to happen it
looks like it's going to happen without Alan Holdsworth. Anyone hear
anything else?
Keith
Date: Wed, 10 Jan 1996 23:19:36 -0800
From: edumark@ix.netcom.com (chris hoard )
Subject: The Truth According to Holdsworth
Here's my .02
I recently asked Allan over a fine pint of ale if there was any
possibility of him participating in the UK reunion. The issue was
simply this, he was offered an opportunity to participate as a studio
guest musician and play a few solos. His management informed Wetton's
management, whom apparently a lion's share of any creative royalties
are tied up with, that he didn't have time in his schedule to
participate.
In other words, Holdsworth was willing to participate as a band member,
and that was unacceptable to the management involved. AH would welcome
a chance to work with Jobson/Wetton again, if he had creative input, as
was the case in the original lineup, but with a large share of
royalties already committed apparently to the management involved, this
level of involvement was out of the question -- so under the terms that
some musicians would earn royalties, and others not, Holdsworth thought
it was best to decline.
I doubt Bruford will appear in the project without Holdsworth, given
that Bill has stated he has time for KC in 1996 and little else. In
fact he specifically stated a UK project was out of the question a few
months back -- but then he's come back to KC after two feuds with
Fripp, and he all but swore he'd never play in Yes again after he
left... I hope if Bruford's entertaining participating, he insists
Holdsworth be included.
The original band was truly greater than the sum of its part, and
without Holdsworth or Bruford, I'm certain it'll be less than half of
what it had been at it's peak... Of course today, half of UK, is
probably significantly better than anything else in rock that's
remotely progressive (KC excepted). I'm still amazed at some of the
Mahavishnuesque arrangements of the Danger Money tunes they performed
on some of the '78 tour dates, with Holdsworth and Jobson pushing both
fusion and rock to its technical limits, and Wetton's vocals finding a
resonance and purpose that never quite matured in KC...
I'll mention this tired topic with Allan again when I visit Allan in a
few days. He may be involved in the coming months in a new Soma
project. I'll see if he's heard anything more about what's going on...