RIP Eddie Van Halen
- Thread starter SCHawkFan
- Start date
Ed claimed in interviews that he would spend hours upon hours in a studio filled with electromagnetic waves, and always held a metal guitar pick in his mouth while he wrote music. Supposedly that is right at the spot where he got the mouth cancer.
Unchained was one of the first riffs I ever tried to learn playing guitar. Ill say this. When I was learning the riffs of some of greats, AC/DC, Black Sabbath, Metallica sometimes I would think..I maybe could have come up with this. with EVH I always thought, who the F even thinks of something like this. My favs are Drop Dead Legs and Summer Nights.
He was beyond compare.
He was beyond compare.
He had the classical training background, but his music was definitely "outside of the box".
He had his demons and was a deeply flawed person in some respects, but man could that MFer play guitar like no one else before him. RIP EVH, I'll catch you when you're ready for your encore in the sky.
Damn this year sucks.
Damn this year sucks.
Of course I will always remember 2020, but today is my parents' 55th wedding anniversary so I will always remember the date, too. 
This era was about when things started to go south with Dave. Valerie was involved somehow, Dave didn't like her or just didn't like that Ed was married/engaged.
You can hear the love, followed by the hate, in the music:
That was a Sammy thing. Dave was out of the band by then.
April 30, 1986, 5150 tour...saw that exact show myself.
This is I think the best youtube video that shows how bad ass a friggin' guitar player he was. Yes, it is not Eddia playing it, but it's an up close view into damn near every technique molded into one song that shows just how great a writer for guitar rock he was.
Blistering song on guitar...ladies and gentlemen, I give you the guitar tour de force that is "Romeo Delight".
Blistering song on guitar...ladies and gentlemen, I give you the guitar tour de force that is "Romeo Delight".
Here's a great phone interview that features Eddie playing stuff that would be on 1984 for the interviewer on the phone, live.
So...today really, truly sucks. This really hurts. Bad.
Van Halen...I graduated in 1980. They were My Band. There never has been another. They (Van Halen, not Van Hagar) are truly the soundtrack to my entire life.
My first "real" guitar was a Kramer Focus 1000, which was the closest one could get affordably to Eddie's homebuilt 5150 guitar at the time. Still own it today, maybe my most prized possession. For decades, every night, I'd come home from work and play that guitar. Working on Ain't Takin' 'Bout Love, On Fire, Light Up The Skies, Romeo Delight, Unchained, Hot For Teacher...
I saw them 26 times.
I followed them around for a week on tour during the Diver Down tour, met them all - and partied with everybody but Eddie (I've told this story here more than once).
I still listen to them every time I listen to music. My "main music playlist" of my favorite songs is 800+ songs deep...I have 42 VH songs in it - no other band has over 15.
Van Halen "Fair Warning" is the best American hard rock guitar album ever.
Van Halen (Dave era) is the best American hard rock band ever.
I like this version of "Somebody Get Me a Doctor" because all it really is is a jam for Eddie and Alex. A lot of their songs were worked out by those 2 in this fashion. You'll notice bits and pieces from other tunes sprinkled in, including a song by Cream.
Van Halen...I graduated in 1980. They were My Band. There never has been another. They (Van Halen, not Van Hagar) are truly the soundtrack to my entire life.
My first "real" guitar was a Kramer Focus 1000, which was the closest one could get affordably to Eddie's homebuilt 5150 guitar at the time. Still own it today, maybe my most prized possession. For decades, every night, I'd come home from work and play that guitar. Working on Ain't Takin' 'Bout Love, On Fire, Light Up The Skies, Romeo Delight, Unchained, Hot For Teacher...
I saw them 26 times.
I followed them around for a week on tour during the Diver Down tour, met them all - and partied with everybody but Eddie (I've told this story here more than once).
I still listen to them every time I listen to music. My "main music playlist" of my favorite songs is 800+ songs deep...I have 42 VH songs in it - no other band has over 15.
Van Halen "Fair Warning" is the best American hard rock guitar album ever.
Van Halen (Dave era) is the best American hard rock band ever.
I like this version of "Somebody Get Me a Doctor" because all it really is is a jam for Eddie and Alex. A lot of their songs were worked out by those 2 in this fashion. You'll notice bits and pieces from other tunes sprinkled in, including a song by Cream.
Cool part on that is where he asks the interviewer “Am I taking up too much time? I don’t wanna bore the shit out of you.”
I don’t care for Van Halen but I love it that you have such fond memories. Cheers brother.
This one goes back to just before VHII being released! He's jamming unplugged, playing all sorts of things off and on. It's in-person, so it's easier to hear. You can tell he's very young... they were still living with their folks!
