RIP Eddie Van Halen

Grunfeld

maw4neu said:

I remember seeing Eddie play Eruption when Van Halen supported Black Sabbath in Manchester at the Apollo Theatre on May 22 nd 1978  . .

I saw them on 1st June 1978.  Great recording of the gig on YouTube.  VH were a white hot ball of energy -- that's what I remember.  Sabbath had to follow them and looked tired and plodded by comparison.

rotius

It's a given that his lead playing and technique are what people focus on, but to me his rhythm playing and song-craft are what sets him apart! He was also an inventor, never quite happy with commercially available gear, thus he created his own. EVH will always be 'The Benchmark'! 

joeyowen

SimonC said:

Feels like this shit world just got a bit shitter.

Yeah this.  It sums it up best for me

It's different to what actual grief feels like for me, but it just makes everything a bit shitter.

I'm just a bit gutted all over

finest1

thanks for pinning this thread. like everyone here, i was shocked to open my internet page to see in big font EVH had died.  i heard he was not well at the beginning of the year, and then he released a message saying he was doing ok. then the whole lockdown in March happened, and i didn't think anything of it. i don't do the whole following on social media.  so i was shocked to hear he died. of course like everyone here, i'm heartbroken as another guitar hero of mine died. the past 24 hours i have read lots of tributes, and i have liked reading comments on how and when people first heard EVH.  loads on facebook and twitter, and i found consolation that all around the world we all fell for EVH's amazing musicality, innovation and passion for the guitar. this has all had an influence on us in some way

for me, in the late 80's i had missed the whole VH thing. by the time i got into rock music, 5150 had already been out, and OU812 was about to be released. Being so new and fresh to 80's rock, i had Hysteria, New jersey, poison albums, and of course appetite for destruction ruling my world. eventually i started buying guitar magazines and EVH would pop up, but i didn't know who he was. fast forward to 1990 or 1991. I took a punt in our price on van halen's "live without a net" didn't know what to expect. and i watched up until the infamous eruption guitar solo. that was it! i just couldn't believe what i was seeing and hearing. i had just started on guitar, and it destroyed me, i didn't play that guitar for days, however, i kept watching the video and curiosity got me back on the guitar, and he became an influence, a teacher and a mentor for me to keep going! another guitar hero to add to the list! after that i ended buying up the VH cd's. 

my thoughts now turn from sadness to tribute, and to celebrate his life, career and music. he wouldn't want us to stop. he would want us to don a cheesy grin and rock out!!

thanks for reading

ps i still have the VHS tape, but no video to watch it on!!

Capelo

Similar story in my case, but with a two decade delay (I’m 40). 

My older brother got me interested in rock music, first was Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, Hendrix and the likes and later on it was GNR and more “contemporary” stuff at the time.

It was only when I decided to stop playing air guitar and try the real thing that I started buying guitar magazines. At some point I was like why does EVH keep coming up all the time? So one day I headed to a nearby HMV and bought Best of Both Worlds. I was immediately blown away and have been a fan since then. I still love Jimmy and Jimi, but to me EVH will always be King. May he Rest In Peace. 

Danny1969

Did a lesson with my youngest student tonight, he's 13 and totally gutted his hero has died. I wasn't even aware kids his age were aware of Eddie but he certainly was. Spent the lesson teaching VH techniques. 

cm01

I put Hot for Teacher on in the car this morning on the school run...

my 7 year old's (whos been tinkering with guitar for a little while now and is pretty musical) jaw dropped and he said... 'What is THAT????!!!' 

Aidanspaghetti

My introduction was as a kid with a c60 cassette with 1984 on one side and on the other,  Zz top Eliminator. Im a VH nut, to the point that I have their logo tattooed on my ankle. So many hours of enjoyment from their music and happy with the knowledge there will be generations of young guitar players who discover that joy. 

Cranky

RIP EVH. Your music always seemed like it was from a happy person for happy people.  I was and still am jealous.

mudslide73

not_the_dj said:

Anyone see the Right Here Right Now tour?

I was at the Birmingham NEC, Little Angels opened. 

Strangely my clearest memory of the gig was Sammy talking about British beer between songs and downing a can of Boddingtons!

@not_the_dj I was there too. Five of us went in my mate Pete's Fiat Uno. I don't remember the Boddington's thing but it was a long time ago. This happened at Musical Exchanges the day after and the story is chronicled on Ian Danter's site http://www.iandanter.co.uk/blogs/rock-and-roll-stories-part-10-musical-exchanges-men-myths-marshalls . I remember the buzz it caused and I was hoodwinked by a mate who reckoned he was in the store when Edward and Tony walked in. A long ruse ensued ending with him producing a photo of him with his arm round a cardboard cutout of Ed on the Peavey stand at a trade show.



  

Philly_Q

mudslide73 said:

This happened at Musical Exchanges the day after and the story is chronicled on Ian Danter's site http://www.iandanter.co.uk/blogs/rock-and-roll-stories-part-10-musical-exchanges-men-myths-marshalls . I remember the buzz it caused and I was hoodwinked by a mate who reckoned he was in the store when Edward and Tony walked in. A long ruse ensued ending with him producing a photo of him with his arm round a cardboard cutout of Ed on the Peavey stand at a trade show.



  

One thing that's struck me reading all the news coverage the last couple of days, they've included dozens of pictures of Edward at various stages of his career, but very few - if any - of him playing the Ernie Ball/Music Man EVH guitars.  Nice to see this pic.

joeyowen

I just posted this in the Stairway Beato thread, but i'll put it here too as it still makes me laugh

This Beato vid reminded me of a funny EVH story (I'm doing my best to remember it)

So Phil X borrowed the strat off Jeorge Tripps of Way Huge.  I've posted before about a talk I went to of Jeorge's as he is my favourite builder/designer by some distance!

So whilst MXR/Jeorge Tripps were designing pedals for the EVH sound, their 5150 pedal I think.  Mr Tripps was over at a rehearsal studio where EVH was rehearsing with all of his gear.  He was a huge fan and was quite nervous about the ordeal listening to EVH and what was wanted/needed and the sounds from the amp etc...  At one point he found himself alone in the room with all of the gear, and couldn't help himself but turn the amp on and hope no one notices, he said he played quite timid through nerves.

Less than a minute after turning the amp on, Eddie storms into the room and yells at him, if you are going to play it, at least play it properly.  Thrust the frankenstrat to him and puts him on the spot and watches him trying to play haha.

vasselmeyer

I was a fan, not of the early stuff, but of 5150, with Sammy Hagar. I though his vocals were amazing, particularly on "Dreams", but the flexibility they had without Roth bitching about EVH playing keyboards gave them a real extra dimension, especially on "Why Can't This Be Love?" which I think is a top notch rock song.

As well as that track I loved the intro and groove on "Summer Nights" and "Best of Both Worlds". Listening to that album and watching "Live Without a Net", it just seemed they were having some amazing fun times.

As an aside, I just rewatched the "Back to the Future" (almost exactly at the 1 hour point on the DVD) scene and noticed the cassette says "Edward Van Halen". It took me down a bit of a rabbit hole and found out that the movie couldn't get any VH music licensed so Eddie just recorded some stunt guitar specifically for that scene. The music isn't VH the band, it's EVH the musician.

west

mudslide73 said:

not_the_dj said:

Anyone see the Right Here Right Now tour?

I was at the Birmingham NEC, Little Angels opened. 

Strangely my clearest memory of the gig was Sammy talking about British beer between songs and downing a can of Boddingtons!

@not_the_dj I was there too. Five of us went in my mate Pete's Fiat Uno. I don't remember the Boddington's thing but it was a long time ago. This happened at Musical Exchanges the day after and the story is chronicled on Ian Danter's site http://www.iandanter.co.uk/blogs/rock-and-roll-stories-part-10-musical-exchanges-men-myths-marshalls . I remember the buzz it caused and I was hoodwinked by a mate who reckoned he was in the store when Edward and Tony walked in. A long ruse ensued ending with him producing a photo of him with his arm round a cardboard cutout of Ed on the Peavey stand at a trade show.



  

Second from the left is gaz morris ( for those that dont know )  the story goes he told Ed that two handed tapping was banned in the shop lol ( no stairway / denied ) ...

WiresDreamDisasters

Seriously... I never realised, but the guitar work and solo in Michael Jackson's 'Beat It' was pivotal to me as a kid. Amazing. I heard Van Halen much later!

viz

jacksonunited said:

It's so incredibly sad. Like many people, he was the reason I wanted to play guitar (along with Richie Sambora but thats another story)

Very special. 

https://i.imgur.com/hQ32ZuB.jpg

jacksonunited

viz said:

jacksonunited said:

It's so incredibly sad. Like many people, he was the reason I wanted to play guitar (along with Richie Sambora but thats another story)

Very special. 

https://i.imgur.com/hQ32ZuB.jpg

Ah that was the show where Richie had his finest hour with that Dry County solo.....

Anyway, back on topic

viz

jacksonunited said:

viz said:

jacksonunited said:

It's so incredibly sad. Like many people, he was the reason I wanted to play guitar (along with Richie Sambora but thats another story)

Very special. 

https://i.imgur.com/hQ32ZuB.jpg

Ah that was the show where Richie had his finest hour with that Dry County solo.....

Anyway, back on topic

I burst into tears when Van Halen came on. I’d loved the music for 10 years and never dreamt I’d ever see them. We queued for 6 hours and were right at the front leaning against the railings - I remember running all the way to the front when they opened the gates. And when Eddie played his first note and 80,000 people roared, it just totally overtook me. Fucking brilliant. We had to leave during Bon Jovi - I was too exhausted to stand up any longer

March

Two game changing musicians in the same year, with Neil Peart going in January and now Eddie.

My sisters then boyfriend got me into Van Halen in my early teens. I'd just got into playing guitar and he bought me VH1 and Fair Warning for Christmas, hearing that guitar tone for the first time was nothing short of a revelation and whilst many will rightly point to his lead playing, his rhythm guitar playing is some of the finest out there. So inventive, the guy just sat in the pocket and grooves.

I've been pretty fortunate to have a friend, Mike, that got to meet and hang with Van Halen a number of times - he got to know them through a friend of his, a certain Mr. Floyd Rose. What is not widely known is that the first few hundred Floyd Rose bridges where made by Mike's then business, Hansen Machine - this was to allow Schaller time to tool up. Mike has told me that he talked Ed and Michael through the manufacturing process, Ed asked all the right questions - a few of those early Floyd Rose's that they manufactured even got into Ed's hands. And yes, he has held Frankie in his own hands.

bingefeller

RIP to one of the true legends of our time.