I bought the magazine back in 1980. I read that interview until the pages fell apart. It is surreal to actually listen to that interview all these years later.
So funny to hear Jas ask Ed about all of his techniques. What has been known to players for years now was so unknown back in 1980. It really goes to show what a Pioneer Ed was. NOBODY was doing what Ed was doing back in 1980. He was simply one of a kind. THE BEST IMO. I can't believe he's gone and that era is long gone. Makes me so sad. I really miss those days. A time in America that will NEVER be the same especially now that our country is almost unrecognizable. RIP Ed and to my youth. 😔
Great post Michael....Ed was breaking so much new ground in how the instrument was played. As Ed says here in the interview he was breaking the rules in which the instrument was played & expanding its sonic vocabulary with just his hands on the instrument without pedals. They all copied what he had done subsequently but none of those people had his unique approach to the instrument & so they became mere clones of him....Its lovely in this tape to hear the interaction between Ed and Jas & how much Jas was laughing at Ed's stories...Like the tale about the girlfriend who told Ed he loved his guitar more than her...& I think Jas appreciated Ed's free spirited approach to the instrument. For instance when Jas replies to Ed questioning tuning conventions Jas says -'Its so refreshing to hear someone say that'.
@@christowing3816 Me too bro.. The kids today don’t have a clue. In our day we were too busy having a blast and we were all doing it TOGETHER. Today’s kids are spending their time trying to figure out which bathroom to use! SMH
@@michaelpalermo354 lmfbo right I went to a concert a few weeks ago seen Alter Bridge and Mammoth WVH I will say this EVH'S son is really good that was my 3rd time seeing him and they haven't disappointed me yet but it was at a brand new venue and the bathrooms were gender neutral coed whatever they wanted to call it. We never had that back in the day. I live in Boston and when I was little my dad would take me to Red Sox games and in the 70's you had to piss in a trough that looked like a giant bathtub no stalls unless you had to drop one
Ed LOVED to talk about his guitar playing & his ideas so much didn't he ?.....The ENTHUSIASM in his voice. Wonderful...He was SO into it.....He enjoyed talking about this stuff as much as I loved to read it bless him. Love hearing Ed play & sing the riff off beat timings from Allan Holdsworth's stuff on the UK album.
Back in 1980 when this was originally recorded the 15 year old me would have went absolutely nuts listening to this! I read the Magazine interview over 50 times when it first came out so hearing this would have been a real treat. Admittedly i was a Edward Van Halen fanatic in 1980 He is the one that made me sell my drums and get a Strat in 1980!
13:48 Barre w/right + trill w/left hand 14:20 Pick grip demonstration 14:55 Spanish Fly tapping segment 15:45 FYLT 24:20 YRGM live ‘79 Funk Jam 26:50 Tune-up + On Fire 30:00 ATBL + New riffs 30:30 Unreleased Riff 32:00 Warm-up runs 36:40 You’re No Good 38:09 DTNA 39:18 Somebody Get Me a Doctor 17:28 talks about playing with his brother 18:26 the simple/cheaper the gear the better 19:12 Allan Holdsworth (players he likes to listen to) 20:18 In the Dead of Night 20:58 Types of riffs he gets sick of hearing on the radio 22:35 Sacrificing how he plays to move on stage and wear the strap lower 23:20 Repeating vs Improvising solos live 25:00 “Playing guitar is like having sex” 25:29 How often Ed plays guitar + Fender bandmaster head at home 28:55 Spontaneity and Feeling 30:50 Compliments Michael 32:18 Strings 33:06 Rudy Leiren 33:20 Tuning 34:46 “Fuck the Rules” 37:00 Ed’s favorite solos he’s recorded 38:40 VH2 Recording
What an incredible interview I’m listening to the fourth tape right now. Thanks for posting. I miss the brothers because I think Alex died along with him😢 Love you guys have some great memories
Still have that mag. Defining moment. We are all so lucky to have been alive and around to see and hear Van Halen in the late 70s, 80s, in the 90s, and even their ending days of the 2010s...
Great interview Jas! What an amazing talent Eddie was. The unplugged bits are amazing. His internal rhythmic drive was incredible as well. He just had music flowing through his veins. I think he would have been a gamechanger even if he'd been born 50 years earlier and gone into jazz, classical or blues. Complex guy as well. He contradicts himself a lot over the interviews I've heard and read over the years. Hard to know what the real Eddie was like.
I think one of the ways he contradicted himself was when he talked about what he thought of other players using his licks & ideas but I think he evolved in his attitude to things like that. He clarified this in the 2015 Smithsonian interview he gave when he explained how his attitude & responses had changed to people who learned from him as time went by.
@@walterevans2118 Maybe he just saw himself as another player and not the game-changer he wound up being. Sounds like he didn't know how big his influence was until he got some perspective.
@@flazjsg Yes, I would agree with that. He did see himself as just another player & only after people began paying him compliments did he get that perspective. He seemed genuinely embarrassed by compliments in interviews actually. Just as Hendrix did. When asked about his impact on other players I remember him saying -'Well, I really didn't set out to make my mark on the world. I just do what I do & other people like it' .
Ed's addictions blurred his personality throughout his entire life. Knowing too many addicts, most are helpless & terrified of their demons but don't have the offset of Ed's generational talent as a shield which unfortunately led to the horrific mid 2000's when he looked like a skid row bum. His last few years were miraculous...few can pull out of that kind of death spiral.
Thank you for posting these interviews with King Edward. This is amazing to listen to. Wish he was still with us can't even imagine what he would be releasing. Hopefully one day Alex and Wolfgang will did stuff out of the vault. It would be a crying shame if they didn't go through them. Again this had been so awesome to listen to
Incredible interviews. Listen to Eddie talk and play (without amp) is a fresh news (and I read all). I hope you put George Lynch's audio cassete 501 (84-85) that is at Southern Folklife Collection (closet for who is not on campus) too on youtube. I think all your full audio interviews are musical historical gems. Thanks
Eddie was 10,000 miles ahead of everybody , emotionally, soulfully, tinkering, you name it, he used every single cell in his body to come through his fingers and make a piece of wood ,some metal and 6 strings sound like 4 or 5 people playing guitar. EVH for my money, he is the most important person in the worlds "Guitar Book" that has ever existed. LONG LIVE EDWARD VAN HALEN 🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸
It's amazing how Eddie reinvented guitar after all the legends that came before him, Hendrix page beck Clapton Blackmore iommi just to name a few so that in itself is beyond amazing, what was it about Eddie??? And I would love to know what he did or how he sounded the very first time he ever held a guitar ditto for al and the drums
It's so nice to know he needs to warm up to play I'm the One. He doesn't automatically swing on the first try when he's just hanging out talking to someone. I spent 3 years on that
Awesome interview and thanks for sharing Jas (I saved all my old Guitar Player magazines and always loved your write ups) !!! I love that he gave props to Michael Anthony at 30:57 !! Great stuff on the whole series ! Thanks Again !
Damn Eddie was a real badass unplugged! He is probably the ONLY guitarist i can enjoy listening to without a amp on a electric guitar! I also learned that it was Jas not Eddie that made up that "Like a race car driver crashing ever now and then". I always though that was eddie's saying but turns out Jas said it originally! And i almost died laughing when Eddie said Alan Holdsworth Looked like a "Dork" because he wore his guitar so high up! 🤣
If you listen to the 1979 interview that’s on UA-cam it’s also with jas. Eddie does say that first that’s how he described his playing before he started using the tremolo bar
@@These_go_to_eleven_1959 lol Holdsworth is pretty damn amazing.. But I'd def rather be more rock n roll, as far as sound.. I'm in the cool riff, but even cooler solo kinda school of thought..
still hard to comprehend that Ed was making $150 bucks a week, living at home & owed Warner millions at this time. 27:25 - On Fire 28:20 - solo 36:50 - You're No Good intro 37:30 - solo 38:15 - Dance Night Away intro 39:24 - Somebody Get Me a Doctor 39:45 - solo
Man am i glad you released these!! Ive listened to your phone interviews with Ed i dont know how many times! Sure miss him, there will never be an equivalent master of guitar. Thank you man!!
I'm about 20 minutes into this video and I realised Eddie never actually gave us, as fans, his full capabilities. As he said, certain things he did didn't meet with the Van Halen brand and might not have translated well. I know he did some side projects, but I would have LOVED hearing a few solo albums from him. In that same vein, I would have loved to hear what Randy Rhoads would have done after Ozzy. He had told Ozzy shortly before he died that he didn't want to be a "rock and roller" anymore. They both were capable of greater things.
30:58 “Aw, he’s a damn good bass player”. EVH: I miss you a lot buddy but would it have killed you to acknowledge this throughout the MIGHTY Van Halen’s existence?
@@frankrichards3089 I went to see the winery dogs play last week. The last time I saw Billy Sheehan play was 1986. Last week he was a total bad mofo - on par with Geddy Lee. Now, according to Ed in this interview, he couldn’t play with a bass player that plays guitar on bass. Nonetheless, if the rumours are true, he tried to sack Mike and replace him with Billy. That would’ve been a total disaster.
There's A LOT of occasions where Ed promoted the band over what he thought or felt. During Diver Down, critics were calling out the use of cover songs all through that album and he talked about "why shouldn't we make those old songs, ours?" He was promoting their new album and the band. But that album was the beginnings of Dave leaving the band because it that albums caused EVH to build his own studio and take back control. And then what did he say? "I'd rather bomb with my own songs than someone else's." And other than "apolitical blues" on 0U812, I can't recall them ever doing another cover song.
Yeah Eddie actually enjoyed talking to JAS and Steve Rosen about Music. Jas was extremely lucky to have sat 2 feet from Edward as he played unplugged and talked shop!
That theme music was composed and recorded by Nik Hunt, who has produced all of my UA-cam podcasts. Nik is also responsible for improving the sound of the original interview cassettes. I'm grateful to be working with him!
29:00 “ what should a good solo do?” “ You should feel it, if it’s melodic, and has no feel, it’s fucked.” “ what should a good rock ‘n’ roll song do?” “ Move you in any way… Depress you, make you happy, horny, rowdy, anything…. Amen
the one thing about tuning arbitrarily is singing in tune. if i have a tough time with singing certain things Ill play the melody with a piano to get myself in tune. you develop a muscle memory that you can relate to really sing better in tune. if you have a band that is constantly moving around the pitch..lol...it could get strange. Also, I learned my playing along with the first 5 VH records and they all seem to be in Eb accross the board. I don't even notice anything varispeed'd which you get now and then with recordings
No, it isn't the straight up truth. He's lying. He saw Danny Johnson and Rick Derringer doing it, so it may have been the other way around. Plus he saw Harvey Mandell tapping. Ed is my favorite guitarist, but he was full of it sometimes in the early days.
These tapes are a gold mine. I doubt there is any other interview in existence where Eddie opens up about his technique and equipment as he does on these tapes. Basically from Diver Down onward all the interviews he gave were just bullshit as he became cynical after the failure of Fair Warning (VH's magnum opus) to sell. Of course later in life it went beyond cynical and he would just outright lie about everything and make up stupid stories that never happened. Jas asks good questions which brings out Eddies honest enthusiasm for what he does.
@@eddieisgreat5150 He went out of his way to burn bridges with Sammy Hagar and Michael Anthony by making up stupid stuff like Michael is tone deaf and he had to make videos to teach Michael how to play bass. He made up stuff how the song Beat It "didnt have chords" and he had to fix the song by adding chords. Just a lot of stupid stuff.
@@eddieisgreat5150 In early interviews he said he learned his theory, how to read music and got his "fingers moving" via his classical piano training. In later interviews he claimed he never learned how to read music - which is absurd if you spent 10 years playing concert level classical piano pieces. Maybe he never became a great sight-reader, but clearly he could read. He said in this interview he learned from guys like Hendrix but in later interviews he never listened to Jimi and didn't care for him. He praises Michael Anthony here, then trashes him in other interviews - even around this same time-frame (see Steve Rosen on that one.) He was a complex guy. I tend to blame the drugs. If you read Van Halen Rising, you'll see that he even copped his tapping from a friend who'd gone to see Canned Heat guitarist Harvey Mandel. Does EVH ever mention that? Nope.
After the 2004-tour - I dreamed that this line-up had formed: Steve Vai / Sammy Hagar / Michael Anthony / Alex Van Halen 'Vai-Hagar-A.A.' (Hey...with V.H. album-titles - like "OU812" & "F.U.C.K.", it didn't seem that far-fetched!)
I've always wondered what the magazines sales statistics were when Eddie was featured..did they rise or stay the same or ? The GP crew woulda had great insight into who had everyone's attention at the time by their sales numbers.
When it came out, the April 1980 EVH cover story quickly became our best-selling issue. GPI used to get dozens of boxes of each new issue of Guitar Player sent to our warehouse, where I could still find back issues years later. The Van Halens were all gone within a few days. It remained the best-selling issue until I left in 1998, and I don't know if anything published afterward surpassed it in sales. Eddie called me after it came out and told me he liked it. And when I met Valerie for the first time, she asked me to send her a copy, since she'd taken the cover off of hers and hung it on a wall. I was glad to accommodate her request.
I find it interesting in both parts he does actually reference Hendrix. Later he would never really tip his hat to Jimi. (not saying he ripped off Jimi) but it seemed unlikely as a young player you'd not check him out along with Clapton, Page, and Beck etc. Blackmore too is in Ed's playing a little at times way back/
To me, Eddie's lead playing sounds like a cross between Blackmore and Holdsworth. I hear very little Clapton in his playing, other than the way he might start or end a phrase, but the body of the solos is the guys I mentioned. As Eddie has said, that tenor saxophone style of phrasing was important to him (Blackmore is also a big saxophone fan for lead work.) A lot of his riffs really vary. There's clearly a big Ted Nugent influence with some of his main riffs (like "Somebody Get Me A Doctor",) and one of the tunes he played during this interview - "I'm the One", but you can hear traces of nearly every big-time classic rock artist in his riffs and rhythm work. "Unchained" is a Stones-type of chordal thing - like "Brown Sugar." There's also some ZZ Top amongst others - "Bottoms Up" is basically "La Grange". I also hear some Brian May in Eddie's rhythm work.
The funny thing is that guys like Satriani and Vai always mention Hendrix, but don't sound like him. They sound way more like EVH! People are weird with their influences - what they say influenced them by what they sound like are two completely different things.
@@flazjsg yeah. I didn't want to stir up any shit with my comment. I just know another year or so from this interview Ed was a dead-end when it comes to Hendrix conversations, and really wouldn't acknowledge him at all. I think because both were SO innovative with the instrument and used Strat style guitars people tried to overly connect the dots. Ed really wanted to define himself and what he'd achieve so I kind of get why it went that way. and good call with ZZtop. I did know that. I'll have to check out more Nugent. I really only know his radio tunes....but it will be fun to hear some of those origins. Any idea what Sax players Ed and Blackmore might have been into? I'd love to check that out!
@@RichardFriendartist Someone else pointed out that ZZ Top reference to me - I didn't originally catch/hear it, but it's so obvious when you hear it knowing that. Ed wasn't a "thief" - he really assimilated other styles and riffs and was able to give them a new rebirth. A lot of lesser players just steal stuff. I think it's the same with Ted with the absorption of the style. I'm not super familiar with Ted's deep cuts, but listen to the rhythmic intro and volume dynamics of "Great White Buffalo", and you can hear that the structure of Ted's riff is assimilated for "Somebody Get Me A Doctor." Ted's really good at coming up with driving rhythms and licks. Since Ed's dad was a sax player and clarinetist, I'd probably listen to the great saxophone players of the swing era. Check out Lester Young with Count Basie in the late 1930s on "Clap Hands Here Comes Charlie", "Jumpin' at the Woodside", "Every Tub" or "Lester Leaps In." Any good jazz or blues from that era probably was heard in EVH's home. I think Eddie had the same drive and freedom Lester shows in those. Playing with and against the rhythm. The way they slur the notes at the end of a rapid-fire phrase. Lots of freedom.
Strange that He never mentioned that VHll was mixed -or mastered ?-in a different studio when He talked of the inferior drum sound..is it possible that He didn't know ?
Yeah... thanks Johnny Beane... now we know the truth about the String Boiling... and who needs to know the chords anyway... just play what you feel! 😎🤘🎸
Ed turned me on to holdsworth after that interview ( like many others)Of course I had to go listen to the UK tune - now I know where those odd punches in take your whisky home come from. I miss Edward Van Halen
I agree with him about stretching the strings before putting them on the old Pre fine tuner Floyd rose but i would not put them in a microwave! Those older Floyd's were not quite as easy to get in tune.
Just think about how many bands since 1980.. Will never be able to have an interview dissecting their instrumentation.. I mean think about it.. who’s gonna want to listen to U2 or may be Green Day talk about what type of guitars they used and how they accomplish the guitar solos or their baseline?… it ain’t gonna happen because no one wants to listen to that I know that those two Bassett made quite a bit of money, but so did *NSYNC and the Backstreet Boys and who ask them about that bass player or guitar player.??? that would be nobody… there’s levels to this.. and some people are on the lower level
"Put them in a microwave"?? Ah, no. You do NOT put metal inside a microwave. I think that may have been one of the wive's tales he threw out there to throw people off his trail, so to speak.
Edward is a 25 year old kid at this point… think about that for a second think about what you were doing when you were 25 years old, that would have to blow somebody’s mind. It would be hard to deal with the same alone the money of the people kissing your ass it could ruin even the strongest people.
Yeah eddie had to get used to the fact that every guitarist after him was just rippin him off completely, every metal group in the whole decade of the 80s tried to look and sound like vh, every lead singer tried to look like roth and every guitarist tried to look and sound like eddie
I bought the magazine back in 1980. I read that interview until the pages fell apart. It is surreal to actually listen to that interview all these years later.
Totally surreal...in the best possible way :)
Me too. Lol
Yet it seems like yesterday, in a way.
Guitar Player Magazine ?
So funny to hear Jas ask Ed about all of his techniques. What has been known to players for years now was so unknown back in 1980. It really goes to show what a Pioneer Ed was. NOBODY was doing what Ed was doing back in 1980. He was simply one of a kind. THE BEST IMO. I can't believe he's gone and that era is long gone. Makes me so sad. I really miss those days. A time in America that will NEVER be the same especially now that our country is almost unrecognizable. RIP Ed and to my youth. 😔
Great post Michael....Ed was breaking so much new ground in how the instrument was played. As Ed says here in the interview he was breaking the rules in which the instrument was played & expanding its sonic vocabulary with just his hands on the instrument without pedals. They all copied what he had done subsequently but none of those people had his unique approach to the instrument & so they became mere clones of him....Its lovely in this tape to hear the interaction between Ed and Jas & how much Jas was laughing at Ed's stories...Like the tale about the girlfriend who told Ed he loved his guitar more than her...& I think Jas appreciated Ed's free spirited approach to the instrument. For instance when Jas replies to Ed questioning tuning conventions Jas says -'Its so refreshing to hear someone say that'.
@@walterevans2118 Yeah they had a good relationship. Ed trusted Jas.
Agreed 💯 there will never be another 80's and 90's type of living in our lifetime. I'm so glad I grew up in that Era
@@christowing3816 Me too bro.. The kids today don’t have a clue. In our day we were too busy having a blast and we were all doing it TOGETHER. Today’s kids are spending their time trying to figure out which bathroom to use! SMH
@@michaelpalermo354 lmfbo right I went to a concert a few weeks ago seen Alter Bridge and Mammoth WVH I will say this EVH'S son is really good that was my 3rd time seeing him and they haven't disappointed me yet but it was at a brand new venue and the bathrooms were gender neutral coed whatever they wanted to call it. We never had that back in the day. I live in Boston and when I was little my dad would take me to Red Sox games and in the 70's you had to piss in a trough that looked like a giant bathtub no stalls unless you had to drop one
That was not an interview ....that was a killer guitar lesson
i love how hard ed plays, always percussive and bright
It’s amazing. You can hear how strong his hands are.
It's good to hear Ed say nice things about Mike's playing
amazing piece of history here. ed has so much enthusiasm i feel like i'm in the room with him
Ed LOVED to talk about his guitar playing & his ideas so much didn't he ?.....The ENTHUSIASM in his voice. Wonderful...He was SO into it.....He enjoyed talking about this stuff as much as I loved to read it bless him. Love hearing Ed play & sing the riff off beat timings from Allan Holdsworth's stuff on the UK album.
Back in 1980 when this was originally recorded the 15 year old me would have went absolutely nuts listening to this!
I read the Magazine interview over 50 times when it first came out so hearing this would have been a real treat.
Admittedly i was a Edward Van Halen fanatic in 1980 He is the one that made me sell my drums and get a Strat in 1980!
Ed was so down to earth. I wish I could have known him and discusses progressive music with him. That first UK album was awesome.
Holdsworth!!!!!
13:48 Barre w/right + trill w/left hand
14:20 Pick grip demonstration
14:55 Spanish Fly tapping segment
15:45 FYLT
24:20 YRGM live ‘79 Funk Jam
26:50 Tune-up + On Fire
30:00 ATBL + New riffs
30:30 Unreleased Riff
32:00 Warm-up runs
36:40 You’re No Good
38:09 DTNA
39:18 Somebody Get Me a Doctor
17:28 talks about playing with his brother
18:26 the simple/cheaper the gear the better
19:12 Allan Holdsworth (players he likes to listen to)
20:18 In the Dead of Night
20:58 Types of riffs he gets sick of hearing on the radio
22:35 Sacrificing how he plays to move on stage and wear the strap lower
23:20 Repeating vs Improvising solos live
25:00 “Playing guitar is like having sex”
25:29 How often Ed plays guitar + Fender bandmaster head at home
28:55 Spontaneity and Feeling
30:50 Compliments Michael
32:18 Strings
33:06 Rudy Leiren
33:20 Tuning
34:46 “Fuck the Rules”
37:00 Ed’s favorite solos he’s recorded
38:40 VH2 Recording
Just the type of time stamps I was looking for tbh lol
Hello Jas. Johnny Beane sent me from his live stream show. I’m happy to be the owner of your Masters of Heavy Metal book I got in the 80’s. 🎸👍
What an incredible interview I’m listening to the fourth tape right now. Thanks for posting. I miss the brothers because I think Alex died along with him😢
Love you guys have some great memories
Thank you so much for posting these interviews. It’s a fans dream come true to hear stuff like this in 2023. Rest in peace King Edward
Zak Wilde fan
Incredible! Each interview is a Master Class in Musical Genius and a peak behind the curtain in the wizard's own words.
Still have that mag. Defining moment. We are all so lucky to have been alive and around to see and hear Van Halen in the late 70s, 80s, in the 90s, and even their ending days of the 2010s...
Thank you so much. Ed plays his songs perfectly. You can hear his guitar not plugged in so well. I miss him. RIP
What a treasure this is. Thank you so much for uploading. :D
Great interview Jas! What an amazing talent Eddie was. The unplugged bits are amazing. His internal rhythmic drive was incredible as well. He just had music flowing through his veins. I think he would have been a gamechanger even if he'd been born 50 years earlier and gone into jazz, classical or blues. Complex guy as well. He contradicts himself a lot over the interviews I've heard and read over the years. Hard to know what the real Eddie was like.
I think one of the ways he contradicted himself was when he talked about what he thought of other players using his licks & ideas but I think he evolved in his attitude to things like that. He clarified this in the 2015 Smithsonian interview he gave when he explained how his attitude & responses had changed to people who learned from him as time went by.
@@walterevans2118 Maybe he just saw himself as another player and not the game-changer he wound up being. Sounds like he didn't know how big his influence was until he got some perspective.
@@flazjsg Yes, I would agree with that. He did see himself as just another player & only after people began paying him compliments did he get that perspective. He seemed genuinely embarrassed by compliments in interviews actually. Just as Hendrix did. When asked about his impact on other players I remember him saying -'Well, I really didn't set out to make my mark on the world. I just do what I do & other people like it' .
Ed's addictions blurred his personality throughout his entire life. Knowing too many addicts, most are helpless & terrified of their demons but don't have the offset of Ed's generational talent as a shield which unfortunately led to the horrific mid 2000's when he looked like a skid row bum. His last few years were miraculous...few can pull out of that kind of death spiral.
Awesome share. Many thanks.
Thanks Jas!! These interviews are golden!!!
Thank you for posting these interviews with King Edward. This is amazing to listen to. Wish he was still with us can't even imagine what he would be releasing. Hopefully one day Alex and Wolfgang will did stuff out of the vault. It would be a crying shame if they didn't go through them. Again this had been so awesome to listen to
So glad Pt. 2 is up now! You have some amazing archives. Keep up the excellent work!!
Hey hey... you're cousin Johnny Beane sent me! Awesome interview!
So cool hearing the audio...i remember every word from the GP interview cool to hear all the stuff you left out( per Ed) Thanks Jas
Incredible interviews. Listen to Eddie talk and play (without amp) is a fresh news (and I read all). I hope you put George Lynch's audio cassete 501 (84-85) that is at Southern Folklife Collection (closet for who is not on campus) too on youtube. I think all your full audio interviews are musical historical gems. Thanks
At the time of this interview Eddie didn't know or realize that he was creating a whole new era of guitar playing.
inspired Generations of guitar players
Eddie was 10,000 miles ahead of everybody , emotionally, soulfully, tinkering, you name it, he used every single cell in his body to come through his fingers and make a piece of wood ,some metal and 6 strings sound like 4 or 5 people playing guitar. EVH for my money, he is the most important person in the worlds "Guitar Book" that has ever existed. LONG LIVE EDWARD VAN HALEN 🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸
He was ahead of everyone except Allan Holdsworth!
Rip
It's amazing how Eddie reinvented guitar after all the legends that came before him, Hendrix page beck Clapton Blackmore iommi just to name a few so that in itself is beyond amazing, what was it about Eddie??? And I would love to know what he did or how he sounded the very first time he ever held a guitar ditto for al and the drums
It's so nice to know he needs to warm up to play I'm the One. He doesn't automatically swing on the first try when he's just hanging out talking to someone. I spent 3 years on that
@@vbassoneallan couldnt even play rhythm guitar or write actual songs so id say ed was ahead of him
Hello Jas, your cousin Johnny Beane sent me! Great interview. thank you so much for posting.
Awesome interview and thanks for sharing Jas (I saved all my old Guitar Player magazines and always loved your write ups) !!! I love that he gave props to Michael Anthony at 30:57 !! Great stuff on the whole series ! Thanks Again !
Hey Jas, Johnny Beane your cousin sent me over to watch your interview with EVH. Super cool brother. Great interview
Really enjoyed listening to both interviews. They definitely had a better insight for me than the typical televised interview.
Back in '84 my guitar teacher told me Edward doubled Ain't Talkin' solo w/ a sitar. Now I know where he got that.
Jas, THANK YOU so much! This was amazing! Wow! In the presence of greatness! ❤🤍🖤
Excellent! Johnny Beane sent me over 🤘🏼
Cousin Johnny sent me over here to check you out
This is amazing! Thank you, cousin in law Jas!
Johnny! :)
Nice to hear from you, cuz! I was gonna email you the link in advance, but don't have your email.
@@RichardFriendartist Richard!
@@TalkingGuitarJasObrecht I'll send it to you.
Damn Eddie was a real badass unplugged! He is probably the ONLY guitarist i can enjoy listening to without a amp on a electric guitar!
I also learned that it was Jas not Eddie that made up that "Like a race car driver crashing ever now and then".
I always though that was eddie's saying but turns out Jas said it originally! And i almost died laughing when Eddie said Alan Holdsworth Looked like a "Dork" because he wore his guitar so high up! 🤣
If you listen to the 1979 interview that’s on UA-cam it’s also with jas. Eddie does say that first that’s how he described his playing before he started using the tremolo bar
Lol well I've never seen anyone look "cool" with the guitar high..I couldn't play holding it so high if I even tried.. Luckily
@@jasonmorris3533 I would gladly look like a "Dork" if i had the talent of the late great Alan Holdsworth! 😁
@@willneal5398 Yeah i checked you are right.
@@These_go_to_eleven_1959 lol Holdsworth is pretty damn amazing.. But I'd def rather be more rock n roll, as far as sound.. I'm in the cool riff, but even cooler solo kinda school of thought..
Johnny Beane sent me!!! Great job
Thank you Jas
Thanks to ever posted this.. this is like finding an EVH gold mine..Thanks!
Anything with Eddie gets a 👍 from me.
Altho, putting guitar strings in the microwave to dry them after you boil them is not a good idea 😆
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS JAS 👍👍🙏......Right now I need it ... GOD BLESS YOU.
Thank you for posting. This is magic
still hard to comprehend that Ed was making $150 bucks a week, living at home & owed Warner millions at this time.
27:25 - On Fire
28:20 - solo
36:50 - You're No Good intro
37:30 - solo
38:15 - Dance Night Away intro
39:24 - Somebody Get Me a Doctor
39:45 - solo
Off to listen to those Holdsworth tracks.
Thanks so very much!
😃
Johnny Beane sent me
Man am i glad you released these!! Ive listened to your phone interviews with Ed i dont know how many times! Sure miss him, there will never be an equivalent master of guitar. Thank you man!!
Love this interview
I'm about 20 minutes into this video and I realised Eddie never actually gave us, as fans, his full capabilities. As he said, certain things he did didn't meet with the Van Halen brand and might not have translated well. I know he did some side projects, but I would have LOVED hearing a few solo albums from him. In that same vein, I would have loved to hear what Randy Rhoads would have done after Ozzy. He had told Ozzy shortly before he died that he didn't want to be a "rock and roller" anymore. They both were capable of greater things.
Put the strings in the MICROWAVE?? Lol ok Ed
This is amazing stuff, he sounds disappointed when you ask if you’re running out of time for the interview 36:30
incredible Jas. thank you!
Thanks for sharing these treasures! Thank you for your great work and dedication.
Thank you so much for this!!!
28:36 to 28:45 Worth the price of admission...Solid Gold 💯
Wow, just WOW!
Excellent..
"You should actually put it in a microwave..." 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣Eddie the trickster.
Jeez 43 yrs ago....it seems like yesterday
30:58 “Aw, he’s a damn good bass player”.
EVH: I miss you a lot buddy but would it have killed you to acknowledge this throughout the MIGHTY Van Halen’s existence?
Well he did right here in 1980, however, this was not the case years later. Ed was right here, Mike was a great player.
@@frankrichards3089 I went to see the winery dogs play last week. The last time I saw Billy Sheehan play was 1986. Last week he was a total bad mofo - on par with Geddy Lee.
Now, according to Ed in this interview, he couldn’t play with a bass player that plays guitar on bass.
Nonetheless, if the rumours are true, he tried to sack Mike and replace him with Billy. That would’ve been a total disaster.
@@fab.silva1119 Yes I totally agree he is a bad mf
There's A LOT of occasions where Ed promoted the band over what he thought or felt. During Diver Down, critics were calling out the use of cover songs all through that album and he talked about "why shouldn't we make those old songs, ours?" He was promoting their new album and the band. But that album was the beginnings of Dave leaving the band because it that albums caused EVH to build his own studio and take back control. And then what did he say? "I'd rather bomb with my own songs than someone else's." And other than "apolitical blues" on 0U812, I can't recall them ever doing another cover song.
@@mindeloman good point
“we have plenty of time” I thought that was really cool of him for some reason.
Yeah Eddie actually enjoyed talking to JAS and Steve Rosen about Music. Jas was extremely lucky to have sat 2 feet from Edward
as he played unplugged and talked shop!
EVH: I DRY MY STEEL STRINGS IN THE MICROWAVE 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂!!!!!!😂😂😂😂😂!@#$!!!!!@#$😂😂😂😂😂😂
32:00 Eddie's pre-show warm-up.
Thanks, Jas!!! Please release any Steve Morse early interviews
Here's our first one, 1978: ua-cam.com/video/CHUo7uP2mHg/v-deo.html
I like the acoustic guitar intro and outro to this clip. What is it from please?
That theme music was composed and recorded by Nik Hunt, who has produced all of my UA-cam podcasts. Nik is also responsible for improving the sound of the original interview cassettes. I'm grateful to be working with him!
Yes!
Who supplied the Snow? Lol 😆
Sounds like you guys were having a blast.. Lol 😆
DORK, damn i havent' heard that slang since 1984
Johnny Beane Recomend! 😉 👍
Interesting to hear a pre-Valerie Ed
Ed sounds incredible here, who needs an amp ? Lol
Hey..that 'in the dead of night ' intro that He played ..is it possible that He stuck it into 'Atomic Punk' ?..it sure sounded similar.
9:37 - Ain't Talkin bout love has electric sitar under the solo?!?!?!?! Never heard that before.
29:00 “ what should a good solo do?” “ You should feel it, if it’s melodic, and has no feel, it’s fucked.”
“ what should a good rock ‘n’ roll song do?”
“ Move you in any way… Depress you, make you happy, horny, rowdy, anything….
Amen
Johnny Beane sent me over here
....Put the strings.....IN THE MICROWAVE TO DRY THEM !!! WHAAAAT?
You should put a link for interview 1
I made the entire interview a playlist. 👍
the one thing about tuning arbitrarily is singing in tune. if i have a tough time with singing certain things Ill play the melody with a piano to get myself in tune. you develop a muscle memory that you can relate to really sing better in tune. if you have a band that is constantly moving around the pitch..lol...it could get strange. Also, I learned my playing along with the first 5 VH records and they all seem to be in Eb accross the board. I don't even notice anything varispeed'd which you get now and then with recordings
At 5:13 it's hilarious how he said it but straight up truth.
No, it isn't the straight up truth. He's lying.
He saw Danny Johnson and Rick Derringer doing it, so it may have been the other way around. Plus he saw Harvey Mandell tapping.
Ed is my favorite guitarist, but he was full of it sometimes in the early days.
@@chrisb8655 thanks for setting me straight on this.
These tapes are a gold mine. I doubt there is any other interview in existence where Eddie opens up about his technique and equipment as he does on these tapes. Basically from Diver Down onward all the interviews he gave were just bullshit as he became cynical after the failure of Fair Warning (VH's magnum opus) to sell. Of course later in life it went beyond cynical and he would just outright lie about everything and make up stupid stories that never happened. Jas asks good questions which brings out Eddies honest enthusiasm for what he does.
Cocaine's a helluva drug!
What did eddie lie about, or what stupid stories?
@@eddieisgreat5150 He went out of his way to burn bridges with Sammy Hagar and Michael Anthony by making up stupid stuff like Michael is tone deaf and he had to make videos to teach Michael how to play bass. He made up stuff how the song Beat It "didnt have chords" and he had to fix the song by adding chords. Just a lot of stupid stuff.
@@eddieisgreat5150 In early interviews he said he learned his theory, how to read music and got his "fingers moving" via his classical piano training. In later interviews he claimed he never learned how to read music - which is absurd if you spent 10 years playing concert level classical piano pieces. Maybe he never became a great sight-reader, but clearly he could read.
He said in this interview he learned from guys like Hendrix but in later interviews he never listened to Jimi and didn't care for him. He praises Michael Anthony here, then trashes him in other interviews - even around this same time-frame (see Steve Rosen on that one.)
He was a complex guy. I tend to blame the drugs. If you read Van Halen Rising, you'll see that he even copped his tapping from a friend who'd gone to see Canned Heat guitarist Harvey Mandel. Does EVH ever mention that? Nope.
Years of vodka and cocaine
After the 2004-tour - I dreamed that this line-up had formed:
Steve Vai / Sammy Hagar / Michael Anthony / Alex Van Halen
'Vai-Hagar-A.A.'
(Hey...with V.H. album-titles - like "OU812" & "F.U.C.K.", it didn't seem that far-fetched!)
Thinking about evh wanting a 3/4 size 335. Would he use a 336 or 339 or a Les Paul ES?
I've always wondered what the magazines sales statistics were when Eddie was featured..did they rise or stay the same or ?
The GP crew woulda had great insight into who had everyone's attention at the time by their sales numbers.
When it came out, the April 1980 EVH cover story quickly became our best-selling issue. GPI used to get dozens of boxes of each new issue of Guitar Player sent to our warehouse, where I could still find back issues years later. The Van Halens were all gone within a few days. It remained the best-selling issue until I left in 1998, and I don't know if anything published afterward surpassed it in sales. Eddie called me after it came out and told me he liked it. And when I met Valerie for the first time, she asked me to send her a copy, since she'd taken the cover off of hers and hung it on a wall. I was glad to accommodate her request.
I find it interesting in both parts he does actually reference Hendrix. Later he would never really tip his hat to Jimi. (not saying he ripped off Jimi) but it seemed unlikely as a young player you'd not check him out along with Clapton, Page, and Beck etc. Blackmore too is in Ed's playing a little at times way back/
To me, Eddie's lead playing sounds like a cross between Blackmore and Holdsworth. I hear very little Clapton in his playing, other than the way he might start or end a phrase, but the body of the solos is the guys I mentioned. As Eddie has said, that tenor saxophone style of phrasing was important to him (Blackmore is also a big saxophone fan for lead work.)
A lot of his riffs really vary. There's clearly a big Ted Nugent influence with some of his main riffs (like "Somebody Get Me A Doctor",) and one of the tunes he played during this interview - "I'm the One", but you can hear traces of nearly every big-time classic rock artist in his riffs and rhythm work. "Unchained" is a Stones-type of chordal thing - like "Brown Sugar." There's also some ZZ Top amongst others - "Bottoms Up" is basically "La Grange". I also hear some Brian May in Eddie's rhythm work.
The funny thing is that guys like Satriani and Vai always mention Hendrix, but don't sound like him. They sound way more like EVH! People are weird with their influences - what they say influenced them by what they sound like are two completely different things.
@@flazjsg yeah. I didn't want to stir up any shit with my comment. I just know another year or so from this interview Ed was a dead-end when it comes to Hendrix conversations, and really wouldn't acknowledge him at all. I think because both were SO innovative with the instrument and used Strat style guitars people tried to overly connect the dots. Ed really wanted to define himself and what he'd achieve so I kind of get why it went that way. and good call with ZZtop. I did know that. I'll have to check out more Nugent. I really only know his radio tunes....but it will be fun to hear some of those origins. Any idea what Sax players Ed and Blackmore might have been into? I'd love to check that out!
@@RichardFriendartist Someone else pointed out that ZZ Top reference to me - I didn't originally catch/hear it, but it's so obvious when you hear it knowing that. Ed wasn't a "thief" - he really assimilated other styles and riffs and was able to give them a new rebirth. A lot of lesser players just steal stuff.
I think it's the same with Ted with the absorption of the style. I'm not super familiar with Ted's deep cuts, but listen to the rhythmic intro and volume dynamics of "Great White Buffalo", and you can hear that the structure of Ted's riff is assimilated for "Somebody Get Me A Doctor." Ted's really good at coming up with driving rhythms and licks.
Since Ed's dad was a sax player and clarinetist, I'd probably listen to the great saxophone players of the swing era. Check out Lester Young with Count Basie in the late 1930s on "Clap Hands Here Comes Charlie", "Jumpin' at the Woodside", "Every Tub" or "Lester Leaps In." Any good jazz or blues from that era probably was heard in EVH's home. I think Eddie had the same drive and freedom Lester shows in those. Playing with and against the rhythm. The way they slur the notes at the end of a rapid-fire phrase. Lots of freedom.
@@flazjsg cool thank you. !
Strange that He never mentioned that VHll was mixed -or mastered ?-in a different studio when He talked of the inferior drum sound..is it possible that He didn't know ?
@johnnybeane Hi cousin! Thanks for sending over your subscribers :)
Hi Ava! You're Welcome! 🙂
My whole enjoyed the show -- we're grateful!
Yeah... thanks Johnny Beane... now we know the truth about the String Boiling... and who needs to know the chords anyway... just play what you feel! 😎🤘🎸
Ed turned me on to holdsworth after that interview ( like many others)Of course I had to go listen to the UK tune - now I know where those odd punches in take your whisky home come from. I miss Edward Van Halen
Just do a John McLaughlin🤣pretty funny stuff. Ed was right, Holdsworth was the man
Disclaimer: Don’t boil your strings 😂
I used to do it all the time. He’s right. But I would dry them with a hair dryer.
Lol. And don’t dry them in the microwave! 😝
Long Live the King
Didn't know he tunes a quarter step down.
Strings in the microwave? Monkey see Monkey do..not me
I agree with him about stretching the strings before putting them on the old Pre fine tuner Floyd rose
but i would not put them in a microwave! Those older Floyd's were not quite as easy to get in tune.
Just think about how many bands since 1980.. Will never be able to have an interview dissecting their instrumentation.. I mean think about it.. who’s gonna want to listen to U2 or may be Green Day talk about what type of guitars they used and how they accomplish the guitar solos or their baseline?… it ain’t gonna happen because no one wants to listen to that I know that those two Bassett made quite a bit of money, but so did *NSYNC and the Backstreet Boys and who ask them about that bass player or guitar player.??? that would be nobody… there’s levels to this.. and some people are on the lower level
"Put them in a microwave"?? Ah, no. You do NOT put metal inside a microwave. I think that may have been one of the wive's tales he threw out there to throw people off his trail, so to speak.
Nothing gets pass u huh 😂
Edward is a 25 year old kid at this point… think about that for a second think about what you were doing when you were 25 years old, that would have to blow somebody’s mind. It would be hard to deal with the same alone the money of the people kissing your ass it could ruin even the strongest people.
28:27
Yeah eddie had to get used to the fact that every guitarist after him was just rippin him off completely, every metal group in the whole decade of the 80s tried to look and sound like vh, every lead singer tried to look like roth and every guitarist tried to look and sound like eddie
This sounds a lot like Alex … not Ed.
Not at all. It’s totally same voice Ed has had all along only a bit higher with his young age. Same voice. Same accent. Alex has a deeper voice
How I miss this dude.
Guitar is not the same, sorry.
Eddie invented nothing and did everything!