GUITAR SOLOS

Jeremy Webster Frith better known in the world of avant-garde music as FRED FRITH was born into a musical family where he learned all the traditional styles of playing at very young age but somewhere along the line in his formal eduction something went very wrong and his tastes totally derailed into the world of the avant-garde. After meeting a like minded partner in crime in the form of Tim Hodgkinson, together they formed Henry Cow and which introduced to the world a form of avant-garde music called Rock In Opposition. By crafting complex compositions based on 20th century classical, jazz and progressive rock, Henry Cow shocked the world with its style of musical expressions that seemingly came from another universe.

Only one album in with the Henry Cow project, FRITH was already setting out to start his solo career. Lauded as one of the most unusually creative guitarists of all time for his insanely unique contributions to the "Legend" album, FRITH released his very first solo work the following year in 1974. GUITAR SOLOS was a highly experimental album of guitar compositions that featured eight tracks that were unaccompanied without any production tricks like overdubbing. Every track features a unique prepared guitar that offered free improvisational avant-garde techniques that were completely unstructured unlike the works of Henry Cow which were highly structured.

GUITAR SOLOS truly is a very strange album indeed and one of those where you wonder how in the world did he do that without the manipulative assistance of a production process. The album was recorded in July 1974 and played on a modified 1936 Gibson K-11 with an extra pickup over the strings which allowed the amplification process to emerge from both sides of the fretted note. By splitting the fretboard with a capo, FRITH essentially had two guitars in one and given his arsenal of alternative tunings, picking styles and other tricks up his sleeve, he crafted one of the most alien sounded guitar albums of the ages. The results are indeed bizarre with unfamiliarity at every turn yet FRITH tackles totally unique and challenging turf as effortlessly as the Henry Cow band unleashed an equally alienating mix of strange sounds that were taken to their logical conclusion from the very beginning.

Many however were not impressed citing the 1971 album "Solo Guitar" by Derek Bailey as the main influence behind his avant-garde compositions and that isn't exactly far from the truth because if you listen to that album, it indeed precede this album by three years and set out to showcase the performance techniques of free improvisation guitar by mixing jazz, exploring atonality, noise and whatever fancied Bailey's whim at the moment. Inspired by Bailey's work perhaps but a careful listening experience to both albums back to back reveal that despite both based in the avant-garde world of free improvisation, the two guitarists shared completely different styles and therefore despite not really being the first album to navigate these waters, FRITH's GUITAR SOLOS was very much unique in its own way.

Even 50 years later this album sounds as startlingly fresh as i'm sure it sounded back in those days. Outside of Derek Bailey's 1971 release, there's really not much to compare it with. Each track focuses on different aspects of the guitar whether it be strange scales, unexperienced timbres or freaky contrapuntal elements that emerged from the "two" guitars playing together. The longest track is the closing "No Birds" which at 13 minutes showcases some of the most experimental approaches. This track was played on two prepared guitars simultaneously and simulates the timbre and range of an entire orchestra. Clever placement and the use of stereo guitars resulted in a bizarre outcome. FRITH did utilize electric guitar tools such as volume pedals, feedback and filtered sounds to add to the multi-dimensional nature of the release.

GUITAR SOLOS has remained an enigmatic solo release in FRITH's massive solo canon since its first release in 1974 and now 50 years later in the year 2024 the album has been remastered and re-released with an entirely new album in the same spirit simply titled "Fifty." The album can be purchased separately or as a combo pack with the original GUITAR SOLOS. While FRITH was not your conventional guitar hero, the Virgin Records label tried to make him one but FRITH's outsider persona has served him more good in the longevity department than any mainstream guitarist has sustained. His music is therefore more timeless sounding and the alienating effects of the vast array of experimentation on this release is nothing short of breathtaking. GUITAR SOLOS was a landmark of avant-garde music and remains a popular cult hit due to Henry Cow's increasing popularity over the ensuing decades. The re-release of this album with a brand new companion release is the absolute perfect way to allow newer generations to experience GUITAR SOLOS in all its bizarre experimental grandeur.