Edward is one of the most innovative and influential guitarists of our generation. I heard today that one of his guitars is going into the Smithsonian. A fitting tribute to one of the all-time greats.
—Howard Leese
When I moved to California from Ohio in the late 1970s, I joined a local band that was playing KISS, Led Zeppelin, and Aerosmith, along with our own horrible originals. I was singing and playing guitar, and we had another guitar player in the band. He was bragging about a local band called Van Halen, saying the guitarist was the best guitar player ever, and I would be blown away by what he could do. Since I was already very competitive with this guy, my first response was, “He’s no Rick Derringer.” So I avoided going to see them when they were local, just because I didn’t believe him.
I also had another friend who moved from back East to California to try to get in a band and have a career. He saw a local band at the Troubadour called Quiet Riot with a young guitarist named Randy Rhoads. He left that show thinking the local talent was pretty good, but he still had chops and wasn’t gonna give up, so the next night he went to the Whisky to see another local band called Van Halen. He left the show that night and moved back home. He said, “If this is the local talent, I gotta practice more.”
—Gilby Clarke
So it was 1978, and a friend and I were going to a concert in New York City to see a couple great bands. When we got there, there were flyers announcing a third band that night: Van Halen. Never heard of them. “Are you sure they don’t mean Van Morrison?” I asked. So we sat there with our beers and waited. All of a sudden, with the lights still on, there was a rumble. The seats started shaking, then the walls, then the floors. I looked at my friend who had turned a very interesting shade of pale. What’s going on? What’s happening? I heard a few girls in the front row screaming. One fainted. A kid’s braces popped out, and I saw a man’s hairpiece go flying and land in someone’s beer. Everyone was holding their hands to their skulls as if letting go would cause their brains to explode out of their ears. What do we do? Should we get close to the exits? You go first. But what if the sky is falling? What if the city’s on fire? Something has gone horribly wrong. Then my friend kicked me in the shins. He screamed “Hey, we’re not gonna die; I know what’s causing this!”
“An earthquake?” I asked. “NO!”
“An alien death ray?” “NO!”
“The Russians?” “NO!”
“The Four Horsemen?” “NO NO NO NO!!!!!!!”
“Then what is it?”
“IT’S HIM!” my friend said, pointing.
“Who, what, where?”
“Look onstage!”
I stood on my seat and looked. There was this skinny guy sliding out from under the curtains on his knees, with a whammy bar pressed so low that the strings were hanging a foot off the neck. WTF?!
On the way home after the show, my friend said I looked like Moses in The Ten Commandments after he came down from the mountain. I said, “I feel like him. You know why? ‘Cause like Moses, I just saw God!”
—Vito Bratta
Summer 1978. I was fifteen when the first Van Halen album came out, and I had been playing guitar for a few months. Hearing Van Halen for the first time was an event I remember: where I was, what I was doing, time of day, type of day, time of year… The other bands and records I recall hearing for the first time with that kind of vividness are Eric Clapton’s playing in Cream, Pete Townshend’s in The Who, and Jimi Hendrix on Band of Gypsies. And like those guitarists, I liked Ed’s playing immediately.
Later that summer I saw them live at the San Diego Sports Arena. I remember how quiet it was between songs during the opener’s set. When their set was over and they left the stage, it stayed dark for a few moments, and then the place went absolutely ballistic. The floor shook—like Van Halen was going to appear instead of the opening act returning for an encore—but neither happened. The house lights came on. Set change…
The only time it got that quiet again was during “Eruption.” It’s astonishing to begin with, but to see it performed live was a free-falling rush. I remember this guy in the front row walked up to the stage and grabbed Ed’s leg! Ed—on his knees, in the middle of the two-handed triplet bit at the end, snapped back out of reach not missing a note—”I’m on FIYAAAAAA!”
—Warren DeMartini
I know all about Ed. I listen to his music and enjoy it. We had a mutual friend, and he used to bring Eddie’s records over to the house, so I kind of heard Eddie. And then my daughter used to live a short distance from where Eddie used to practice with his band out in Pasadena. My daughter used to live right near there, and I said, “Who’s the guitar player over there?” And so I heard Eddie before Eddie knew I was listening to him.
Ed told me that once he had a Les Paul Junior and he had to play a slide overdub on a song [“Dirty Movies”]. It was a double-cutaway, but he couldn’t get up high enough on the neck, so he took a saw to it. I loved it!
—Les Paul
The end of ‘76 was the year that the world-famous Whisky A Go Go on the Sunset Strip reopened. The owners had asked me to help them put bands into the club to get it going again. Songwriter and producer Kim Fowley called and told me about a band from Pasadena called Van Halen and gave me the singer’s phone number. I called Dave, and he was excited to get a shot at playing a major club, and asked me to come see them play at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium, where I could meet the other band members and give him the Whisky contract.
When I got there on the night of the show, to see what I thought was just another punk rock band, I saw that the auditorium was sold out; 3,500 screaming high school kids were jam packed into the venue, with others being turned away. I thought to myself, what’s going on here? How can a punk band draw so many people into a major auditorium?
When the lights went down and the announcer introduced Van Halen, the kids went nuts and started screaming. The band started playing and the hair on the back of my neck stood up. I got a chill right through my bones. I had never seen anything like this in my life. The guitar player was playing in a style that was foreign to me. It was taking my breath away. It was Bach, Beethoven, and rock all rolled into a guitar sound backed by bone-shattering beats on drums and bass. They were the greatest band I’d ever seen in my life. These guys were so good I almost crapped in my pants. I thought, “What the fuck is this?”
After working the band at the Whisky, I called my producer friend Ted Templeman to see them play the Starwood. I thought Ted would be the perfect producer for Van Halen because Ted was an expert in the three-part harmonies that Van Halen was doing on some of their songs. Ted came with Warner Bros. Records chairman Mo Ostin. It was pouring rain on a Monday night, and no one came to the club to see the show. I think there were about six people there. Ted and Mo shared my first reaction to the band … fucking great! We went backstage and Mo said, “We want you to be with Warner Bros.” Just like that, Van Halen had their recording contract. Their first LP was released in February 1978, and went on to sell over fifteen million copies.
Our first tour was as the opening band on a three-act show starring Journey, with special guest Montrose. Van Halen was to start at 7:30, a horrible time to play, as people are still coming into the venue. To make matters worse, the band was only allowed to do a short thirty-minute set. It was bizarre to see the people walking into the venue while Van Halen was playing. No one had ever seen anything like them before. The band was kicking major ass, people would just stop in the aisle and watch the band with their mouths hanging open. Eddie as always was killing on guitar. After about two shows, the guys from Journey would start showing up at the venue so they could watch Eddie play. Neal Schon was totally blown away by what he was seeing. The other bands would stand in the wings of the stage on Eddie’s side, and when Eddie started into his “Eruption” solo, the reaction from the bands and the audience was the same: total shock and awe!
There were many memorable moments during that first
1978 tour that took VH first across the United States, then on to Europe and Japan, including the band using skydivers to stage a stunt in which the band seemed to jump out of a plane and into Anaheim Stadium in Southern California to play for a crowd of 55,000 people.
Another notable show, for different reasons, was the Texxas Jam at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, playing with Journey, Heart, Ted Nugent, Aerosmith, Sammy Hagar, and other great bands. As it happened, the band’s equipment didn’t arrive in time from Tokyo, so the guys had to borrow equipment, which did not make for a happy group of musicians. Eddie was understandably upset at the prospect of playing in front of his contemporary musicians for the first time without the amps and effects that he felt contributed to his signature sound. But in spite of that, being the incredibly talented musician he is, Eddie still pulled it off to a standing ovation. I think that it was at this show that all the other musicians in the other bands began to realize that there was a new superstar guitar player on the block, and one who could do it even without his own equipment.
My tenure with the band lasted from the show at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium in 1977 to the end of 1978, for a total of sixteen months. It was a period of time that I treasure, and it was an honor to be part of music history that will last forever. Eddie Van Halen created a new sound and a new style of playing, and will remain the standard-bearer of guitar players in rock ‘n’ roll.
—Marshall Berle
Van Halen opened up for my band in the late 1970s, and this fuckin’ kid started playing shit I’d never heard before, and I was like, “Oh, I think I’m a bad motherfucker, but there may be an element of me sitting on my bad motherfuckin’ laurels!”
He was unbelievable! He did things on the guitar that no one else did. He injected a keyboard/saxophone-gone-mad array of licks and patterns and sounds that were more Yusef Lateef, Sun Ra, and John Coltrane, but never getting into the land of self-indulgence. His inspiration was always so musical. He’s one of those rare, gifted musical warriors that could literally kick the shit out of his guitar with his feet and somehow he’d make it remain melodic, musical, and rhythmic. He has an unbelievable animal touch that defies everything before him. It was really fascinating to see him play, and especially to be there on this first tour and have them open up for me and kick me in the ass. He was and remains very, very inspirational.
EVH is a musical animal, and I join music lovers everywhere in thanking and saluting him for bringing such infectious fire and attitude to our beloved American rock ‘n’ roll music. Ultimately, this man’s creations have dramatically enriched our lives as much as any musical talent in the history of mankind. Godspeed, Eddie Van Halen. You are my guitar blood brother.
—Ted Nugent
Ed is a phenomenal, innovative, and soulful musician. I say “musician” rather than simply “guitarist” because he is so much more than that. And yet, while his musicality does transcend his chosen tool for expression, he is in my estimation one of the last true guitar heroes, in that late 1960s to early 1970s sense of the term. He’s also a friendly, down-to-earth guy, and for me, that’s probably his most endearing trait. Whenever we cross paths, however infrequently, it’s always a blast, and even though we aren’t close pals, I always feel that we went to different high schools together!
—Elliot Easton
I first met Ed in Azusa, California, through a mutual friend of ours, Brad Becknell. I had a repair shop, and Ed would come in and I would do work on his guitars. One day I potted a pickup for him, and it got too hot and it shrunk the bobbin. It looked really bad, but it still worked, and Ed loved the way it looked. I believe later he put it in one of his other guitars.
He used to sit and noodle around and play guitar in the front of my shop while I worked on his guitars. He also did some of his own work. This was before they had recorded an album (and when the first album came out, he credited me!).
About eight or nine months later, I moved my shop to San Dimas. Eddie and Michael Anthony used to come over to the new shop and hang out. I gave him some World War II atomic bomb blast goggles and some old paint respirators because they wanted to wear them onstage for some of their Hollywood shows (don’t ask me why!).
To me, no one in the music industry has revolutionized guitar playing like Ed has! There are a lot of great players out there, but Eddie was the first one out there to bring his finger-tapping technique to the masses (or rock world), and he has remained a down-to-earth guy for all these years.
—Wayne Charvel
Ed, Eddie, Edward—or Father Van Halen—could have legally changed his name to OH MY GOD!!!!! WHO IS THAT PLAYING THE GUITAR??!! Hell, sometimes you didn’t even know if it’s a guitar!! Eddie didn’t just nudge the guitar into the future, he catapulted it beyond insanity. When people talk about famous moments in history and where they were, guitarists and non-musicians will say, “I remember the first time I heard ‘Eruption.’” Not only did Ed usher in unreal guitar tones, but also technique not usually associated with rock guitarists. As if that wasn’t enough, Ed was a triple threat—tone, technique, and songwriting! He changed everything! From the way guitars were made, like the “super strat” with the Floyd Rose, to everybody modifying their amps to get Eddie’s “brown sound.”
LONG LIVE THE KING!
—Zakk Wylde
The first tour I did with Van Halen, the bill was Journey, Ronnie Montrose, and Van Halen was opening. I was doing my instrumental music on that tour. Van Halen was a young, loud, and brash band, and I liked them. Eddie came up to me backstage at sound check and he called me Mr. Montrose. He shyly shook my hand and said, “Mr. Montrose, I’m Edward Van Halen, and I’m a big fan. We told Ted Templeman to get the Montrose sound when we did our record.” He also told me they used to play “Dancin’ Feet” from one of the Montrose albums at their yard parties in Pasadena.
I really enjoyed Eddie’s playing. What made Eddie special was his youthful irreverence for the rules. That’s what impressed me. He’d developed his own style. I think Eddie started out on drums first, and there’s a very percussive nature about the way he plays. He plays very metered and percussive, and he’s very fluid in that style.
—Ronnie Montrose
I saw Van Halen live for the first time in 1979. It was hard to tell which side of the stage Eddie was on because he was running, full speed, back and forth, the entire show. While doing this, he was playing the most stunning, effortless, insane rock guitar that any human being had ever done … with a stripey guitar, giant hair, and a big grin on his face. That was about the best thing I’ve ever seen in my life.
My favorite Van Halen solo is from “Outta Love Again” on the second album. If James Brown could dance inside a guitar player’s fingers, it would sound something like that.
It was impossible to get through the 1980s without copying Eddie Van Halen. It took me another two decades just to get the idea not to copy him. It’s just an idea, of course…
—Paul Gilbert
Edward’s contribution to rock guitar is immeasurable. It is only the most elite of musicians whose unconventional approach becomes convention. Some people are so utterly original that they can only do what comes naturally to them. Although Edward’s technique shattered prevailing standards, it was his choice of notes and the way he phrased them that were the auditory expression of his personality.
—Steve Vai
I think Ed was responsible for his own style really. He did something fresh.
—Gary Moore
I first saw Van Halen at the Philadelphia Spectrum in 1979. I guess I was fifteen or so. My friends and I were going to see anyone who came through town. We played music all day, and concerts were like schooling. My buddy had bought tickets for us for eight dollars. I didn’t remember who was playing that night so I asked my bro; he said Van Halen, and I said, “Van who?”
So we were standing six feet from the front of the stage, jammed like sardines. The lights went down, the curtain went up, and I heard a sound that I will n
ever forget. A frickin’ moose call that came through the biggest wall of Marshalls I had ever seen!! It made the whole place vibrate. And then Eddie came out and scorched our asses for two hours with that “brown tone”!
I’ve had the opportunity to meet Eddie a few times over the years. One time, I was doing a project with Andy Johns, and he suggested that we go to Eddie’s house and borrow a power amp and baritone guitar for the song we were working on. He said they had some stuff we could use at 5150 and asked, “What do you think?” I said, “Yeah! Good idea, let’s go!!!” Like I would have said no? We got there and Andy said, “Wait outside.” I was standing there in awe of this amazing property. His studio was just up the drive from his house. It was like a dream. I was standing there outside when this Range Rover drives up the hill and parks. It was Eddie! Holy shit! But he looked pissed. He said, “Who are you?” like he was gonna call the cops. I said, “I’m with Andy,” and he said, “Oh, cool, why didn’t you say so? Come on in! You want a beer?” It was so cool. I’ve met him a few times, and even did some tours with his original guitar tech, Rudy Leiren, as my guitar tech.
For me, Eddie took rock guitar maybe as far as it could go. He had and has it all as a musician. And he’s a cool dude all the way round.
—Doug Aldrich
There is nothing I can say about Edward Van Halen that hasn’t already been said. I think he is the most influential, recognizable, and important guitarist of the last thirty-five years. Yes, I’m smitten!!!
Eddie Van Halen Page 2
