Holdsworth for Mortals, Part 1
who is “the best” in music are generally unhelpful and meaningless, Allan Holdsworth ranks as a guitarist who was among the most universally respected by his fellow players. He received superlative praise from masters of the guitar of every style, including Frank Zappa (who claimed that Holdsworth “single-handedly reinvented the electric guitar”), Carlos Santana, Joe Satriani, John McLaughlin, Guthrie Govan, George Benson, Tom Morello and especially Eddie Van Halen, who called him “the best, in my book” and helped him land a major-label recording contract. Despite being an influence and inspiration to so many guitarists, Holdsworth never reached the household-name status of guitarists like Hendrix, Clapton, Beck, Van Halen, Jimmy Page and Brian May, probably due to
