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Eddie Van Halen dead at 65 from metastatic throat cancer


Dmitry

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Thanks for posting that D, I had never seen it before and enjoyed it.

Popular Mechanics is running the piece Eddie did for them back in 2015. It's an interesting read.

Eddie Van Halen, the legendary guitarist and leader of the pioneering metal band Van Halen, passed away on October 6, 2020 at age 65, after battling cancer. Widely considered to be the greatest guitarist of his generation—and maybe of all time—it isn't a stretch to say the rock god influenced every modern player who came after him. Van Halen's wildly inventive innovations, including tapping, or the act of playing the guitar using both left and right hands on the neck, redefined what musicians could do with the instrument—and what rock and roll music could sound like. Van Halen even patented some of his game-changing techniques.

Van Halen wrote this piece for Popular Mechanics in 2015, discussing his patents, rebuilding his guitars and amps, and searching for his signature sound. To honor him, Pop Mech is reprinting the article in its entirety. May he rest in peace.

https://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/a15615/how-eddie-van-halen-hacks-a-guitar/?utm_source=pocket-newtab

 

 

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He did not invent " hammering" or any of that stuff. That's another one of those ' rock truths" that soothe the uncurious into suckerdom.

Damn good player Don't get me wrong, and full credit for bringing the techniques to an idiom that really benefited from an exaggerated of approach, this isn't about that. But these techniques have been around for string instruments long before any of us were born.

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14 hours ago, felser said:

Greatest of all time?  No way.   Showiest, maybe.  Taste counts for something, doesn't it?  And that was often lacking.  Give me Hendrix, Rory Gallagher, Richard Thompson, Zappa, and plenty of others. 

That's the same I think. Or maybe it's because I don't like metal. But I always found the overblown credit he got very exaggerated.

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6 minutes ago, Bluesnik said:

That's the same I think. Or maybe it's because I don't like metal. But I always found the overblown credit he got very exaggerated.

That’s interesting. I can’t say I’m a big fan of the music of that time or of Van Halen but he was a unique talent.

Greatest of all time? There is only one. Hendrix.  I never saw EVH play but saw Jeff Beck play several times and he did things with the guitar that blew my mind.  Not saying he’s the best (after Jimi) but he’s in the conversation, in my opinion. 

Edited by Brad
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When I was a little (i.e. elementary school aged) kid, we lived in Arcadia, CA.  A few doors down from Michael Anthony's parents' house.  Mike's youngest brother and I were friends, and ran around the neighborhood together.  I was in and out of their house regularly, and remember many older teenagers and maybe 20 somethings coming in and out.  Very possible EVH and Roth amongst them.  But they were all just older, long haired guys to me at the time.

We moved away before Van Halen took off, but that connection kept me a fan of the band as I grew older and moved around many times.  

As has been referred to a few times already, Eddie wasn't nice to Mike at all, for most of the time the band existed.  Mike is as friendly, nice, and low-key as they come, and Ed simply screwed him out of his rightful piece of VH's royalties etc, when he fired Mike and then only allowed him to come back as a salaried employee.  

So as great a musician as Ed was, he wasn't the greatest bandmate or person, as evidenced by his treatment of Mike, Roth, Hagar & Cherone over the years.  So I have mixed feelings about him, but regardless, Rest in Peace, Eddie.  

 

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On 10/10/2020 at 5:19 PM, felser said:

Greatest of all time?  No way.   Showiest, maybe.  Taste counts for something, doesn't it?  And that was often lacking.  Give me Hendrix, Rory Gallagher, Richard Thompson, Zappa, and plenty of others.    

What is your definition of showiest?  EVH showier than Hendrix?

 

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6 hours ago, catesta said:

VH didn't play metal.

 

True. But they were a significant influence on the related “glam metal” genre.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glam_metal

Van Halen has been seen as highly influential on the movement, emerging in 1978 from the Los Angeles music scene on Sunset Strip, with a sound based around the lead guitar skills of Eddie Van Halen. He popularized a playing technique of two-handed hammer-ons and pull-offs called tapping, showcased on the song "Eruption" from the album Van Halen.[4] This sound, and lead singer David Lee Roth's stage antics, would be highly influential on glam metal, although Van Halen would never fully adopt a glam aesthetic.[18]

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Jack White posted this on FB after his performance on SNL last night:

"i thought it could be a nice gesture for me to use this blue eddie van halen model guitar for one of the songs tonight on SNL. the guitar was designed by eddie (with a few customizations i had added). eddie was very kind to me and saw to it that this guitar was made for me to my specs. i wont even insult the man’s talent by trying to play one of his songs tonight. thanks again
eddie for this guitar and rest in peace sir."

121005261_3741575785875627_7111554019476

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13 hours ago, Rooster_Ties said:

True. But they were a significant influence on the related “glam metal” genre.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glam_metal

Van Halen has been seen as highly influential on the movement, emerging in 1978 from the Los Angeles music scene on Sunset Strip, with a sound based around the lead guitar skills of Eddie Van Halen. He popularized a playing technique of two-handed hammer-ons and pull-offs called tapping, showcased on the song "Eruption" from the album Van Halen.[4] This sound, and lead singer David Lee Roth's stage antics, would be highly influential on glam metal, although Van Halen would never fully adopt a glam aesthetic.[18]

Of course, Van Halen the band and Eddie in particular influenced and continue to influence countless bands and musicians. My comment though was directed at a poster saying "Or maybe it's because I don't like metal. But I always found the overblown credit he got very exaggerated."  

If someone thinks Van Halen was playing metal, they are confused, as is the person that says credit given to Eddie was overblown and very exaggerated. 

 

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I'm not a metalhead, nor a Van Halen fan, but my impression from reading far too many discussions online re what is and isn't metal is that definitions have shifted since the '70s & '80s in a way that excludes many bands whose initial fans would've thought of them as metal.  I won't even try to elucidate the hair splitting over the difference between heavy metal and just plain metal...

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