Agreed, these are by far the greatest interviews ever done with Eddie. Rosen did some great ones as well, but this interview in particular at Zlozower's studio is something.
So much cleared up in this interview. "I know how to read for piano." 54:35 "I took scoring and arranging." 55:50 I mentioned this stuff in previous interview comment sections and got a lot of flak from some Eddie Van Halen "experts." Well, he said it right here! He was a studied musician despite what he may have said in other interviews and what people might have believed. I'm just shocked that anybody couldn't hear it in his playing and compositions.
even beyond that was his dad's musicianship & how much Ed wanted to emulate him. This really makes Ed different from others like the Vai's or Malmsteen's.
@@steveinmidtown 100% A buddy of mine made a deep observation. A few years ago he got all excited and called me to say he knew where Eddie's tone came from. He said he was listening to Diver Down and Big Bad Bill slapped him in the face. Jan's clarinet. That warm, woody tone, with the reed distorting ever so slightly. When he said it, I couldn't believe that had never occurred to me. Whether unconsciously or not, the "Brown sound" may well have been the sound of his dad's clarinet burned into his subconscious. He says here that Jan "has tone". I really think that was it.
@@e.l.norton They won't let people take arranging and scoring courses without being able to read and having a basic knowledge of music theory. Let that sink in for a few minutes. Eddie lied later on when he said he never could read. He mentions in this interview that he lies about things from time to time.
@@e.l.norton Well the one thing we can clearly say and agree upon is that Eddie Van Halen was a big liar. Because logically both things can't be true. This interview was a lot closer in time to his piano playing days, so unless he got so messed up on drugs and liquor that he forgot he ever learned to read.. Who knows. We'll have to agree to disagree.
I saw Eddie live the first time in 78 on the Black Sabbath tour and I never experienced anything like it before or since. Front row too! These interviews are just fantastic Jas...thanks so much for sharing 👍
Thank you so, SO, much!! (Because EVH was so non-extroverted, I hadn’t even heard his voice for the first 10 years of listening. You’re providing treasures to us). ❤️
I'm fifty-seven now. Growing up here in Seattle in the early seventies, a family friend gave me a very large stack of Guitar Player Magazine. Jas always had a great column in those. Tal Farlow, Joe Pass, Lenny Breaux, Pat Martino, Chet Atkins, etc... I read every word. The guitar saved and made my life livable. Thank you, Jas.
Excellent documentation. Recorded history at its finest. It was very sad to hear Eddie warning about drug use to later succumb to them later. Eddie was a good soul. He will live forever in hearts, minds and music. He attained more than he probably realized. Immortality.
I can tell that your more comfortable with interviewing Eddie, or vice versa, cuz it’s more of a couple of guys having a regular conversation an just bullshittin an goofin off rather than just a straight forward, u asking questions an him answering. I like these kinda of interviews way better! Good job & keep um comin! PEACE!
The first time I heard Eddie's voice was on "Could this be Magic" when he says "Thank ya". He sounds like i thought he would. Such a down to earth guy, We Miss you Ed 😢. Thanks Jas!
I think his voice may have been on record before that actually.....Just before he plays Spanish Fly he makes this funny little sound ....'nneaaa' ...lol🤣
I’ve known this song since 84,85…and now I’m confused. “Thank ya”…I thought was Dave. As a huge VH fan/geek , I need to know,,, I’d it Dave or Eddie? Thank ya
@@hamptonkelley4936 It actually could be Dave saying ‘thank ya’…because it is at the moment Ed goes into a live bottleneck guitar solo….as he does so Dave says ‘Edward ? ….thank ya’…..thanking Ed for playing the solo.
Wow, thank you so much for this post. EVH was a very huge inspiration for me to pick up a guitar. Plus it's rare to find and hear an Eddie Van Halen's interview during the pre - Valerie Bertinelli days.
Thanks Jas, this stuff is amazing. I remember reading your articles regularly in GuitarPlayer, this adds an entirely new dimension. I have had a few chances to spend time with GP contributors over the years. Vic Trigger was my private instructor at GIT and of course it was awesome to spend time with Tommy Tedesco after reading his column for so many years. Thanks again!
I remember Tommy Tedesco. I remember with EVH he was one of the guitarists who in 1982 was part of this Musician Institute Instructional book called TEN who came from different guitar backgrounds but were all explaining what they brought to the instrument. Tommy was one. Ed VH another (at that time the ‘new boy on the block’) I seem to remember also the Jazz virtuoso Joe Pass being involved. And also the great session player Larry Carlton. And Don Mock too. It was like a who’s who of virtuoso guitar musicianship. I purchased this publication in the early 1980s and to this day I still have it.
"When Dave gets old, he's gonna be the next Johnny Carson. Dave's art is his mouth." Ed knew ... hence Dave as game show host ending Hot for Teacher vid
@@anttikoponen9647 Well that was because of DAVE .....DLR for image reasons told Ed - 'Lie about your age. In interviews always say you are two years younger than you really are'. So Ed did & that followed him around for a number of years. Everyone thought he was born Jan 1957 when really it was Jan 1955.
This was the first EVH I interview I ever read in GP, although didn't understand alot in 80 cuz I only had a beat up old acoustic... this is the interview that inspired me to acquire my first electric guitar
I so miss King Edward. Through the magic of the internet and people who provide content like we have here, we can finally get to know and connect with the greats. Back in the day, all we had was an occasional (brief) magazine article or maybe a short clip on MTV where we got to see, hear or read about guys like EVH. They were never in-depth or introspective. Just superficial stuff about the new album or tour.
I was fortunate enough to see them every time they played in Louisville until Sammy joined the band.. and I saw the first concert with him.. and I never saw another man Halen concert live, but I feel fortunate to see them in there prime… it was really awesome
This is fantastic, best one yet! So many unknown personal stories. That Chopin piece he is humming is not one of his piano sonatas but is the polonaise op. 40 no. 1 in A major. Always wondered what material Edward played in those early piano contests and now we finally know! Thanks so much for posting these interviews Jas
As a drummer and a Van Halen fan I wish Alex was this open and did Interviews. I have every drum magazine he's done and it's 4. Yes f-ing 4!! Lol!! He did one in 1983, then 1988, 1993, 2008. I would just love more from him. But I love all this. I even have the guitar world book with all Ed's interviews. This is better though. Thanks Jas!! If it wasn't for you and Steve Rosen And photographer Neil Zlozower we wouldn't have these great picture books and interviews. 💯💯💯👊👊👊👍👍
It would be great to create a slide show, during this referencing each subject. Finding photos would be fun. I really enjoyed this. I went to school today.
13:40 "I'm always reaching at my knob...trying to get 11 out if, instead of 10." Hey Spinal Tap, let the record show that Ed beat you to the punch on the whole "11" reference lol!
This just might be my favorite part so far?! Very interesting stuff. As we know, his thoughts on building a scaled down ES-335 style guitar never came to fruition...Unless this is what his original Music Man Wolfgang turned out to be?
Hearing Eddie talk about Floyd Rose was pretty cool, especially the mention of the guitar going completely out of tune if you break a string using his bridge design. I made bridges back in 1981, right around the time floyd came out with his, no internet back then so I had no idea he was about to mass produce them. My design was flush mount, didn't care about going sharp, would rather have the resonance benefit of the flush mount and not have to worry about going completely out of tune after breaking a string, and palm muting didn't set it off either. It would never go out of tune.
8:30.....On the Floyd Rose unit Ed talked about, back then it had only just come out of prototype stage. When he talks about it producing a 'brighter' tone (or more 'brittle bright') this may have been something a young Yngwie Malmsteen picked up on & was the reason he stayed Fender purist & never went down Floyd's path. But Ed made it work very well for him. Also back then there were disadvantages in changing broken strings with the Floyd or having to unclamp it to tune it but this problem was LATER SOLVED by the development of the bridge FINE TUNERS on the Floyd. I even heard that it was ED himself who might have come up with the idea of the fine tuners. I know for a fact that they were then already being used on non vibrato bar instruments like Gibson Explorers for instance.
Ed also solved the problem of the Floyd's tuning going out of whack with string breakage by having the Floyd set down flush with the wood. So you can PUSH DOWN on it but you can't PULL BACK on it.
gotta believe, if the stars would have aligned, Eddie's dad could have gotten work in the studios in LA given his talent and musical knowledge. He immigrated right before/during the "golden years" of recording studio musicians/wrecking crew, etc.
23:55 - is the moment he turns off the tape recorder. And it was about who is apportioned credit and attributed as writers of songs in the band. I'm not sure the who, what, where, and why the band gave all 4 members writing credit for every original song, but it's clear from this interview, EVH was frustrated by that arrangement and the fact that the pressure was on him to come up with an original lick but then everyone else gets a full 1/4 credit share for the song. Look, I'm a Michael Anthony fan. I loved the guy. There's probably no bigger Van Halen fan the MA himself. He was part of the magic energy and ingredient to that band in its prime. But I've often wondered how much he actually wrote music and if his 1/4 share in each song was fair. I think we can see in this interview why 20 years later, EVH was pushing him out of the band - for better or for worse. Not taking sides. I just see it for what it is on face value. EVH has a lot of open opinions in this interview and just lets the tape keep recording but he himself shuts it down when this topic came up. I can empathize with the guy. He does the heavy lifting and others get equal credit. That can eat at you over time. And it was already eating at him.......in 1980. smh
You may be right. But he was also on the record saying that splitting it 4 ways equally was the right thing to do. "We're a band, we rise or fall together" or something. I forget the exact quote. Also, as a musician myself, I can tell you it is frustrating when it's _not_ split equally. Because then, the guys who write most of the songs have no incentive to ever let you bring in your stuff. It really is an insidious circle sometimes, and it kills bands every time.
Why was Alex getting 25% too? EVH said he helped with arrangements, but I can't see 25%. Probably should have been 45% EVH, 45% Roth (for all the lyrics) and 5% Alex and 5% M.A. EVH needed to speak up for himself. Instead he was likely passive-aggressive.
what's also interesting is listened to Ed talking about having to always be coming up with stuff but from interviews I've read & listened to, Ed had a lot of stuff in the can before VH I which would show up years later.
@@flazjsg This doesn’t have anything to do with Michael, but Alex definitely deserved 25%. The parts he came up with to compliment Ed’s were genius and always perfect.
I’m trying to figure out which of Chopin’s piano sonatas that Eddie is mimicking and talking about having to learn and play at his first or an early piano recital/competition. There’s no way he played an entire sonata…he had to have played one movement or one abbreviated section because entire sonatas can last more or less an hour. It kind’ve sounds like he’s imitating parts of “Sonata No. 3 in Bm”, but that’s just a wild guess.
well, Ed was forced to learn classical as a little kid by his parents & I was forced to learn "Begonia Boogie" by mine which may partially explain why he became a success & I'm your basic moron.
I’m glad I got to hear this.. They were not a perfect band and there was a lot of turmoil from a fan standpoint .. I wish they were all brothers and everybody got along because that would complete my fantasy of what my favorite band should’ve been… but in reality, it doesn’t work that way as far as the player not riding or contributing.. I don’t agree with that if it wasn’t for his background vocals, even if that was the only thing he did made that special because it’s a band and you know it everyone loves his background vocals that’s them apart from your everyday heavy metal band or pop metal band it was Anthony singing it didn’t give him credit from what I’ve read. I wish I could’ve been different but those guys.
This is such an incredible interview! The dude was 22 fucking years old in this interview! How many musicians were this great at age 22? It sounds like the band really got along well at that point, only 5 years later and it was over. David Lee Roth really screwed up.
In my opinion, it really was a perfect mix of people no matter what anyone else says.. just think if Eddie and his brother would have hooked up with different positions than Mike and Dave?… Do you think they would’ve been anywhere near as successful if Eddie would’ve hooked up with Dee Schneider?? Or maybe Eddie and his brother would’ve hooked up with Kevin Dubrow as a singer and Rudy as a bass player?? I don’t think that would’ve worked the way that everyone would like it to I hate cliché .. but I think that everything happens for a reason and Dave and Mike and Alex and Eddie were successful because those four people were the band
@@stratcat9432 yeah....I like old Seiko watches. I always liked the 70's style of the 6139 case. There was one 6139 that was known as the Pepsi Seiko as the techymeter was red and blue. But the watch dial was a bright gold but the watch was stainless. I got a few of those on Ebay for like $100. I just liked the look. Then someone around 15 years ago made the correlation that Astronaut William Pogue wore that exact watch on Skylab 4 mission. Now all of a sudden it became "the Pogue" Seiko and prices skyrocketed. Perfect examples are over 2K.
Makes me wonder that since EVH really loved the tone he got from that bandmaster at least the way he used it( with bypassing the main speaker out and just using the EXT speaker out) why he did not use it in the studio? He said that when he is at home playing it was the best sound he ever got? Why would he not use that in the studio? I would! 😁
Yeah he plays very heavy handed which surprised me. about the dead strings, Ed mentioned a few times he hates brand new strings that He liked them when they were really played in. He also used pure nickle wrap which is warmer even new.
It was a gimmick in it's early form. It was pretty crude. But with the advent of fine tuners and better alloys, it became a refined piece of equipment. EVH was part of the refining process.
@@mindeloman Yes. I think Ed might have played a role in that refinement because I heard he was the one who talked to Floyd Rose about putting the fine tuners on the system.
I was at hammerheads out in Long Island while Van Halley were playing ! Can you remind me what year was this taken place ? I was too busy at that time playing video games while eddy and Alex were on stage ! David Lee was there too
I'm a drummer and I'm teaching myself to play guitar, but I don't understand why Alex didn't sit at a piano since he knew how to play a piano and he also knew how to play a guitar? did he ever actually sit down at a piano and try to write stuff and play a guitar and try to write stuff? I guess not.
@@Murphy_R9 I started playing drums in 73 and then I started poking around with a guitar and it was so easy to learn and I was really good at it. but I didn't pursue it. I waited till I was 59 years old to try to teach myself to play a guitar and it ain't easy when you're old, but it is easy when you're younger so you young people out there you want to learn how to play an instrument do it at a young age don't wait till you're old I'm making progress but not the way I was making progress back then
Jas, you really are a treasure, my friend. I think I can safely speak for everyone when I say that we are all so thankful for you and your work.
Agreed, these are by far the greatest interviews ever done with Eddie. Rosen did some great ones as well, but this interview in particular at Zlozower's studio is something.
Absolutely
The GOAT what a great interview!!
So much cleared up in this interview.
"I know how to read for piano." 54:35
"I took scoring and arranging." 55:50
I mentioned this stuff in previous interview comment sections and got a lot of flak from some Eddie Van Halen "experts." Well, he said it right here! He was a studied musician despite what he may have said in other interviews and what people might have believed. I'm just shocked that anybody couldn't hear it in his playing and compositions.
You can't say for certain. Eddie SAID repeatedly, as recently as his Smithsonian interview with a live audience, that he couldn't read.
even beyond that was his dad's musicianship & how much Ed wanted to emulate him. This really makes Ed different from others like the Vai's or Malmsteen's.
@@steveinmidtown 100% A buddy of mine made a deep observation. A few years ago he got all excited and called me to say he knew where Eddie's tone came from. He said he was listening to Diver Down and Big Bad Bill slapped him in the face. Jan's clarinet. That warm, woody tone, with the reed distorting ever so slightly. When he said it, I couldn't believe that had never occurred to me. Whether unconsciously or not, the "Brown sound" may well have been the sound of his dad's clarinet burned into his subconscious. He says here that Jan "has tone". I really think that was it.
@@e.l.norton They won't let people take arranging and scoring courses without being able to read and having a basic knowledge of music theory. Let that sink in for a few minutes.
Eddie lied later on when he said he never could read. He mentions in this interview that he lies about things from time to time.
@@e.l.norton Well the one thing we can clearly say and agree upon is that Eddie Van Halen was a big liar. Because logically both things can't be true. This interview was a lot closer in time to his piano playing days, so unless he got so messed up on drugs and liquor that he forgot he ever learned to read.. Who knows. We'll have to agree to disagree.
this tape really captures Eddie so full of life. it's awesome.
EDDIE'S legend will only continue to grow.
Eddie's description of his perfect custom guitar is the blueprint of his now EVH Wolfgang.
I learned most of my English through these GP interviews. It’s downright surreal to hear it spoken. Thank you Jas!
Wow.
I saw Eddie live the first time in 78 on the Black Sabbath tour and I never experienced anything like it before or since. Front row too!
These interviews are just fantastic Jas...thanks so much for sharing 👍
Thank you so, SO, much!!
(Because EVH was so non-extroverted, I hadn’t even heard his voice for the first 10 years of listening. You’re providing treasures to us). ❤️
Aka "introverted" for future reference.
I didn't hear his voice in the UK until the 1990s ....lol
I'm fifty-seven now. Growing up here in Seattle in the early seventies, a family friend gave me a very large stack of Guitar Player Magazine. Jas always had a great column in those. Tal Farlow, Joe Pass, Lenny Breaux, Pat Martino, Chet Atkins, etc... I read every word. The guitar saved and made my life livable. Thank you, Jas.
Thank you Jas for the next episode! We appreciate you so very much for sharing this historical interview. ❤🤍🖤
Super awesome interview... looking forward to part #5... thank you :)
Excellent documentation. Recorded history at its finest. It was very sad to hear Eddie warning about drug use to later succumb to them later. Eddie was a good soul. He will live forever in hearts, minds and music. He attained more than he probably realized. Immortality.
Ah BRILLIANT ! Made my day ...Thanks Jas
I can tell that your more comfortable with interviewing Eddie, or vice versa, cuz it’s more of a couple of guys having a regular conversation an just bullshittin an goofin off rather than just a straight forward, u asking questions an him answering. I like these kinda of interviews way better! Good job & keep um comin! PEACE!
The first time I heard Eddie's voice was on "Could this be Magic" when he says "Thank ya". He sounds like i thought he would. Such a down to earth guy, We Miss you Ed 😢.
Thanks Jas!
I think his voice may have been on record before that actually.....Just before he plays Spanish Fly he makes this funny little sound ....'nneaaa' ...lol🤣
I’ve known this song since 84,85…and now I’m confused. “Thank ya”…I thought was Dave. As a huge VH fan/geek , I need to know,,, I’d it Dave or Eddie? Thank ya
@@hamptonkelley4936 It actually could be Dave saying ‘thank ya’…because it is at the moment Ed goes into a live bottleneck guitar solo….as he does so Dave says ‘Edward ? ….thank ya’…..thanking Ed for playing the solo.
@@walterevans2118 Yes I think that is correct.
@@walterevans2118 At the very beginning of "Spanish fly" it sounds to me like he say's " Here we go"
Wow, thank you so much for this post. EVH was a very huge inspiration for me to pick up a guitar. Plus it's rare to find and hear an Eddie Van Halen's interview during the pre - Valerie Bertinelli days.
Thanks Jas, this stuff is amazing. I remember reading your articles regularly in GuitarPlayer, this adds an entirely new dimension. I have had a few chances to spend time with GP contributors over the years. Vic Trigger was my private instructor at GIT and of course it was awesome to spend time with Tommy Tedesco after reading his column for so many years. Thanks again!
I remember Tommy Tedesco. I remember with EVH he was one of the guitarists who in 1982 was part of this Musician Institute Instructional book called TEN who came from different guitar backgrounds but were all explaining what they brought to the instrument. Tommy was one. Ed VH another (at that time the ‘new boy on the block’) I seem to remember also the Jazz virtuoso Joe Pass being involved. And also the great session player Larry Carlton. And Don Mock too. It was like a who’s who of virtuoso guitar musicianship. I purchased this publication in the early 1980s and to this day I still have it.
"When Dave gets old, he's gonna be the next Johnny Carson. Dave's art is his mouth." Ed knew ... hence Dave as game show host ending Hot for Teacher vid
Then He did 'Dave TV' on the 'Crazy from the Heat' & the ' Eat em & Smile' videos .
@@andrewbroughton65 He nearly took over Howard Stern's spot in NY I think ?
Eddie says he's 23 years old, which was funny 'cos he was turning 25 in 11 days 😆
@@anttikoponen9647 Well that was because of DAVE .....DLR for image reasons told Ed - 'Lie about your age. In interviews always say you are two years younger than you really are'. So Ed did & that followed him around for a number of years. Everyone thought he was born Jan 1957 when really it was Jan 1955.
Outstanding! Thank you Jas! It's kind of disappointing when the interview ends as these are such masterpieces. Thank you again.
Love these. Thanks for sharing
This was the first EVH I
interview I ever read in GP, although didn't understand alot in 80 cuz I only had a beat up old acoustic... this is the interview that inspired me to acquire my first electric guitar
.. fascinating interview.
Been looking forward to hearing this tape all month. Thanks a bunch Jas.
Thanks as always Jas!!!
I so miss King Edward. Through the magic of the internet and people who provide content like we have here, we can finally get to know and connect with the greats. Back in the day, all we had was an occasional (brief) magazine article or maybe a short clip on MTV where we got to see, hear or read about guys like EVH. They were never in-depth or introspective. Just superficial stuff about the new album or tour.
Thank you so much Jas! I’ll talk about this tonight on my “Exclusively Van Halen “ show. Tuesday’s 8 PM Eastern.
Side note - Johnny I love your channel devoted to EVH and VH. Keep up the great work!
Juat like the mag/printed interview, brings me back to my parent's house. Thanks, Jas!
Yes .. I remember reading some of this as a kid .. I recognize some of the quotes.
I’m such a fan of your interviews! These are pure gold! Thank you so SO much! VH forever!
This is brilliant ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
Thank you! Very interesting.
This was amazing and thanks for sharing it.
Hey Jas, your cousin Johnny Beane sent me. thanks for the awesome interviews!!!
Thank you MPN!
I was fortunate enough to see them every time they played in Louisville until Sammy joined the band.. and I saw the first concert with him.. and I never saw another man Halen concert live, but I feel fortunate to see them in there prime… it was really awesome
This is fantastic, best one yet! So many unknown personal stories. That Chopin piece he is humming is not one of his piano sonatas but is the polonaise op. 40 no. 1 in A major. Always wondered what material Edward played in those early piano contests and now we finally know! Thanks so much for posting these interviews Jas
As a drummer and a Van Halen fan I wish Alex was this open and did Interviews. I have every drum magazine he's done and it's 4. Yes f-ing 4!! Lol!! He did one in 1983, then 1988, 1993, 2008. I would just love more from him. But I love all this. I even have the guitar world book with all Ed's interviews. This is better though. Thanks Jas!! If it wasn't for you and Steve Rosen And photographer Neil Zlozower we wouldn't have these great picture books and interviews. 💯💯💯👊👊👊👍👍
Great stuff this !
Good quality.
It would be great to create a slide show, during this referencing each subject. Finding photos would be fun. I really enjoyed this. I went to school today.
13:40 "I'm always reaching at my knob...trying to get 11 out if, instead of 10."
Hey Spinal Tap, let the record show that Ed beat you to the punch on the whole "11" reference lol!
Thanks Jas!
Thinking about 3/4 size 335s. Now there's the Gibson 336 and 339.
Insane he is 22 here, wow. He was a highly seasoned dude at an incredibly young age.
1980. I believe he is 25 here.
@@maxrings73 Correct! He was born in 1955
@@maxrings73strange that Eddie says 23.
In 1984 they were selling out multiple shows in the same city in just a few minutes.
He exudes honest and passion
Does that include where he tells us he cranked the Variac to 140 volts?😁
amazing stuff. i wonder if wolf has heard these
This just might be my favorite part so far?! Very interesting stuff. As we know, his thoughts on building a scaled down ES-335 style guitar never came to fruition...Unless this is what his original Music Man Wolfgang turned out to be?
Hearing Eddie talk about Floyd Rose was pretty cool, especially the mention of the guitar going completely out of tune if you break a string using his bridge design. I made bridges back in 1981, right around the time floyd came out with his, no internet back then so I had no idea he was about to mass produce them. My design was flush mount, didn't care about going sharp, would rather have the resonance benefit of the flush mount and not have to worry about going completely out of tune after breaking a string, and palm muting didn't set it off either. It would never go out of tune.
27:30 Applying piano to guitar
8:30.....On the Floyd Rose unit Ed talked about, back then it had only just come out of prototype stage. When he talks about it producing a 'brighter' tone (or more 'brittle bright') this may have been something a young Yngwie Malmsteen picked up on & was the reason he stayed Fender purist & never went down Floyd's path. But Ed made it work very well for him. Also back then there were disadvantages in changing broken strings with the Floyd or having to unclamp it to tune it but this problem was LATER SOLVED by the development of the bridge FINE TUNERS on the Floyd. I even heard that it was ED himself who might have come up with the idea of the fine tuners. I know for a fact that they were then already being used on non vibrato bar instruments like Gibson Explorers for instance.
Ed also solved the problem of the Floyd's tuning going out of whack with string breakage by having the Floyd set down flush with the wood. So you can PUSH DOWN on it but you can't PULL BACK on it.
Oh maaaan! To see the super 8 film!
Indeed Holly….A young ED bewildered by winning a classical piano contest….lol
gotta believe, if the stars would have aligned, Eddie's dad could have gotten work in the studios in LA given his talent and musical knowledge. He immigrated right before/during the "golden years" of recording studio musicians/wrecking crew, etc.
I had your Masters of Metal back in the 80's & somebody (probably my brother) stole it.
Wonder if those videos when he was a kid will surface?
*Eddie Van Halen:* *RIP* *MASTER* *CATER*
23:55 - is the moment he turns off the tape recorder. And it was about who is apportioned credit and attributed as writers of songs in the band. I'm not sure the who, what, where, and why the band gave all 4 members writing credit for every original song, but it's clear from this interview, EVH was frustrated by that arrangement and the fact that the pressure was on him to come up with an original lick but then everyone else gets a full 1/4 credit share for the song. Look, I'm a Michael Anthony fan. I loved the guy. There's probably no bigger Van Halen fan the MA himself. He was part of the magic energy and ingredient to that band in its prime. But I've often wondered how much he actually wrote music and if his 1/4 share in each song was fair. I think we can see in this interview why 20 years later, EVH was pushing him out of the band - for better or for worse. Not taking sides. I just see it for what it is on face value. EVH has a lot of open opinions in this interview and just lets the tape keep recording but he himself shuts it down when this topic came up. I can empathize with the guy. He does the heavy lifting and others get equal credit. That can eat at you over time. And it was already eating at him.......in 1980. smh
You may be right. But he was also on the record saying that splitting it 4 ways equally was the right thing to do. "We're a band, we rise or fall together" or something. I forget the exact quote.
Also, as a musician myself, I can tell you it is frustrating when it's _not_ split equally. Because then, the guys who write most of the songs have no incentive to ever let you bring in your stuff. It really is an insidious circle sometimes, and it kills bands every time.
Why was Alex getting 25% too? EVH said he helped with arrangements, but I can't see 25%. Probably should have been 45% EVH, 45% Roth (for all the lyrics) and 5% Alex and 5% M.A. EVH needed to speak up for himself. Instead he was likely passive-aggressive.
@@flazjsg from everything I've heard and read, EVH was very passive aggressive.
what's also interesting is listened to Ed talking about having to always be coming up with stuff but from interviews I've read & listened to, Ed had a lot of stuff in the can before VH I which would show up years later.
@@flazjsg This doesn’t have anything to do with Michael, but Alex definitely deserved 25%. The parts he came up with to compliment Ed’s were genius and always perfect.
I’m trying to figure out which of Chopin’s piano sonatas that Eddie is mimicking and talking about having to learn and play at his first or an early piano recital/competition. There’s no way he played an entire sonata…he had to have played one movement or one abbreviated section because entire sonatas can last more or less an hour. It kind’ve sounds like he’s imitating parts of “Sonata No. 3 in Bm”, but that’s just a wild guess.
It's actually not one of chopin's sonatas, but his polonaise op 40 no1 in A maj! Impressive stuff nonetheless
well, Ed was forced to learn classical as a little kid by his parents & I was forced to learn "Begonia Boogie" by mine which may partially explain why he became a success & I'm your basic moron.
@@RolfdeVeer Well spotted! Thanks very much!
He was humming Chopin's Military Polonaise. It's not a sonata as he claims.. LOL (Op 40 #1)
At what age did Eddie start teaching Wolfgang how to play the guitar?
Does he ever ask him about his tune
Al's drums!
I’m glad I got to hear this..
They were not a perfect band and there was a lot of turmoil from a fan standpoint .. I wish they were all brothers and everybody got along because that would complete my fantasy of what my favorite band should’ve been… but in reality, it doesn’t work that way as far as the player not riding or contributing.. I don’t agree with that if it wasn’t for his background vocals, even if that was the only thing he did made that special because it’s a band and you know it everyone loves his background vocals that’s them apart from your everyday heavy metal band or pop metal band it was Anthony singing it didn’t give him credit from what I’ve read. I wish I could’ve been different but those guys.
This is such an incredible interview! The dude was 22 fucking years old in this interview! How many musicians were this great at age 22? It sounds like the band really got along well at that point, only 5 years later and it was over. David Lee Roth really screwed up.
He's 25 here. Roth lied about EVH's age when they first broke out and said he was younger than he actually was.
@@flazjsg 26:02
@@flazjsg dude even 25 years old is insane how talented he was!
He was 11 days before his 25th birthday.
@@flazjsgwow, so that's why he says 23. Crazy.
26:00 I think he lied about his age lol from 1955 to 1980 is 25 years old if this is around the women and children first album.
He was 11 days before his 25th birthday
In my opinion, it really was a perfect mix of people no matter what anyone else says.. just think if Eddie and his brother would have hooked up with different positions than Mike and Dave?…
Do you think they would’ve been anywhere near as successful if Eddie would’ve hooked up with Dee Schneider??
Or maybe Eddie and his brother would’ve hooked up with Kevin Dubrow as a singer and Rudy as a bass player?? I don’t think that would’ve worked the way that everyone would like it to
I hate cliché .. but I think that everything happens for a reason and Dave and Mike and Alex and Eddie were successful because those four people were the band
ah Eddie. humble, modest but happy to talk about himself for 5 hours straight. 🤣 that's why he was the greatest!
Brilliant stuff. Can we have Eddie back and trade in Justin Beever ?
Johnny Beane sent me over
Thank you James!
Who's Johnny Beane? Jas Obrecht sent me, as I've been following him for 30+ years!
@@PhpGtr Jas is my cousin. Been following him for years too.
@@JohnnyBeane 🤣😅
Better rush and get s Bandmaster amp before the prices skyrocket. Lol!
That happened long ago. Decades ago. Ed had pictures taken of it and shared it in the Guitar Aficionado magazine segment that writer Chris Gill did.
I know,right! 😂😂
@garbeaj Yeah, but all it takes is for some dipdog to start the trend going again. That's the society we live in now.
@@stratcat9432 yeah....I like old Seiko watches. I always liked the 70's style of the 6139 case. There was one 6139 that was known as the Pepsi Seiko as the techymeter was red and blue. But the watch dial was a bright gold but the watch was stainless. I got a few of those on Ebay for like $100. I just liked the look. Then someone around 15 years ago made the correlation that Astronaut William Pogue wore that exact watch on Skylab 4 mission. Now all of a sudden it became "the Pogue" Seiko and prices skyrocketed. Perfect examples are over 2K.
Makes me wonder that since EVH really loved the tone he got from that bandmaster at least the way he used it( with bypassing the main speaker out and just using the EXT speaker out) why he did not use it in the studio? He said that when he is at home playing it was the best sound he ever got? Why would he not use that in the studio? I would! 😁
😉👍 Johnny Beane Recomend!
Thank you Rob!
Gibson 336 or 339!
Anyone else notice A) How heavy Eddie plays acoustically (unplugged), and B) How dead his strings are and it still sounds good? Ha
Yeah he plays very heavy handed which surprised me. about the dead strings, Ed mentioned a few times he hates brand new
strings that He liked them when they were really played in. He also used pure nickle wrap which is warmer even new.
@@Murphy_R9 new strings sound like shit
Johnny Beane sent me
Thank you patty!
Johnny Beane sent me!
Thank you Janice!
@@JohnnyBeane Is there anybody here who Johnny DIDN'T send ?? 🤔 lolol
Did he call the Floyd rose a "Gimmick"? 😂
Well, it was early days with them then so he hadn’t then quite realised how practical they were for staying in tune….lol
It was a gimmick in it's early form. It was pretty crude. But with the advent of fine tuners and better alloys, it became a refined piece of equipment. EVH was part of the refining process.
@@mindeloman Yes. I think Ed might have played a role in that refinement because I heard he was the one who talked to Floyd Rose about putting the fine tuners on the system.
I was at hammerheads out in Long Island while Van Halley were playing ! Can you remind me what year was this taken place ? I was too busy at that time playing video games while eddy and Alex were on stage ! David Lee was there too
I'm a drummer and I'm teaching myself to play guitar, but I don't understand why Alex didn't sit at a piano since he knew how to play a piano and he also knew how to play a guitar? did he ever actually sit down at a piano and try to write stuff and play a guitar and try to write stuff? I guess not.
I started on Drums back in 1977 but after hearing EVH sold my Kit and Bought a strat.
I heard Alex say in an interview that he doesn't have the ability to write.
@@Murphy_R9 I started playing drums in 73 and then I started poking around with a guitar and it was so easy to learn and I was really good at it. but I didn't pursue it. I waited till I was 59 years old to try to teach myself to play a guitar and it ain't easy when you're old, but it is easy when you're younger so you young people out there you want to learn how to play an instrument do it at a young age don't wait till you're old I'm making progress but not the way I was making progress back then
@@dorfsteen 👍
43:32 “my dad is so fuckin hot” cracks me up
lol.... it's also nice he wanted his brother to get more attention - most enthusiastic about that.