RIP Eddie Van Halen

[Northside Hawk]

yeah...bummer. David Lee Roth was a little too much for me...with the spandex, etc...but Eddie was a pioneer. Dude was amazing and he worked with alot of other musicians too. RIP Eddie.

Van Halen needed Roth in those early years. His Diamond Dave personna was the perfect lightning rod for baby boom teenagers and the media to gravitate to. And future hair band front men were watching, especially Axl Rose and Motley Crue's Vince Neil.


But by the time the third and fourth albums came out (Women and Children First and Fair Warning) it was clear that Eddie was taking the band in musical directions that didn't exactly play to Dave's strengths. Dave somehow got his way with Diver Down, which played to HIS strengths, but should have bolted after that. His schtick was getting tiresome as the teenagers who ate it up five years earlier were outgrowing that phase. And he couldn't sing a tenth as good as Sammy (and needed plenty of help from Michael Anthony)

1984 should been Sammy's. It's rumored that Eddie and Alex didn't let Roth into the studio until it was time for vocals. He was off in Tahiti or somewhere with his group of friends he called the "Jungle Studs".

 

[bitmap]

Hey Fry, I'd trade 1980 for 2020 any day. In two months time I saw Pink Floyd, Van Halen and the Ramones. I think I probably paid $50 total for all three tickets. Floyd was $35 which was scalped at twice the face value on the ticket. I think $10 each for VH and the Ramones. I wasn't even going to go see Van Halen but my high school sweetheart called the day of the show and pleaded with me to get her tickets. She was a HS senior and I was in my freshman year in college. She was in town for the state FHA convention. Really. Luckily for me I was on the program board and had access to some great seats. I was so glad I went. That band was tight! We abandoned the reserved seats and made our way down on the turf and right up to the stage. She was from a pretty conservative pentecostal family. The date would have never happened if her folks knew! Eddie was a monster on guitar and Michael Anthony's harmony vocals shocked me - spot on! The look on her face was priceless when DLR squeezed his balls to hit one of those high notes. I was such a bad influence on her...

 

[Robowe]

Here's a remake ...

 

[Ree4]

Saw Disturbed four times in the early 2000s during my testosterone years and still like to listen to them, but their cover of SOS is the worst thing to be broadcast via radio waves since KISS recorded Beth.

Can't say that I've ever heard it on the radio so I wouldn't know

 

[RobHowe]

EVH was unique and VH was a big part of my adolescence.

Its first 5 albums rocked. Things started going downhill with 1984, IMO.

 

[Fryowa]

EVH was unique and VH was a big part of my adolescence.

Its first 5 albums rocked. Things started going downhill with 1984, IMO.

Not a fan of Van Hagar?

I like the Diamond Dave era better no doubt, but I did actually dig some of Hagar's tunes as well (his stuff with Montrose was killer).

There are only really two bands (in my humble opinion) that were good both before and after hiring a replacement singer. AC/DC and Van Halen.

That goes to show two things...1) It's really, really hard to find a talent who lives up to his or her predecessor, and 2) a really, really good band is bigger than the front man.

 

[Northside Hawk]

Not a fan of Van Hagar?

I like the Diamond Dave era better no doubt, but I did actually dig some of Hagar's tunes as well (his stuff with Montrose was killer).

There are only really two bands (in my humble opinion) that were good both before and after hiring a replacement singer. AC/DC and Van Halen.

That goes to show two things...1) It's really, really hard to find a talent who lives up to his or her predecessor, and 2) a really, really good band is bigger than the front man.

I can give you two other examples, though one of them may be a reach.

Pink Floyd and Genesis.

Floyd may be a reach because only hard-core fans will remember Syd Barrett's time in the band. But his work was spectacular, and influential for the brief time Syd fronted them.

Genesis definitely had two equal eras of quality music. Their prog rock era when Peter Gabriel sang and their more radio friendly period (which started out just as proggy) during Phil Collins' time.

 

[Fryowa]

I can give you two other examples, though one of them may be a reach.

Pink Floyd and Genesis.

Floyd may be a reach because only hard-core fans will remember Syd Barrett's time in the band. But his work was spectacular, and influential for the brief time Syd fronted them.

Genesis definitely had two equal eras of quality music. Their prog rock era when Peter Gabriel sang and their more radio friendly period (which started out just as proggy) during Phil Collins' time.

Genesis is personally have to disagree with but that’s just me. I’m a huge fan of Gabriel’s solo stuff but not his Genesis catalog. To me Genesis is Phil.

 

[RobHowe]

Not a fan of Van Hagar?

I like the Diamond Dave era better no doubt, but I did actually dig some of Hagar's tunes as well (his stuff with Montrose was killer).

There are only really two bands (in my humble opinion) that were good both before and after hiring a replacement singer. AC/DC and Van Halen.

That goes to show two things...1) It's really, really hard to find a talent who lives up to his or her predecessor, and 2) a really, really good band is bigger than the front man.

Personal preference. No scientific evidence, but it seems like most bands do their best work early.

 

[Robowe]

Not a fan of Van Hagar?

I like the Diamond Dave era better no doubt, but I did actually dig some of Hagar's tunes as well (his stuff with Montrose was killer).

There are only really two bands (in my humble opinion) that were good both before and after hiring a replacement singer. AC/DC and Van Halen.

That goes to show two things...1) It's really, really hard to find a talent who lives up to his or her predecessor, and 2) a really, really good band is bigger than the front man.

Don't forget REO Speedwagon ... although technically, Kevin Cronin was with the band, left, and came back. They have good songs with 3 different lead singers (Terry Luttrell, Cronin, and Mike Murphy).

 

[FCAS]

The Kinks were a very underrated band. Van Halen stole a lot more than that song from them, and they weren't the only ones either. Led Zeppelin and The Who stole loads from The Kinks.

Doing cover songs or being influenced by other musicians is not stealing. If it is stealing, you'd be hard-pressed to find any musician who was not guilty of this.

But if you want to stick with that line of thought, you should note that the Kinks first 2 albums have several cover songs. And Ray and Dave have never been hesitant to discuss their influences, or who they "stole from".

 

[Northside Hawk]

Doing cover songs or being influenced by other musicians is not stealing. If it is stealing, you'd be hard-pressed to find any musician who was not guilty of this.

But if you want to stick with that line of thought, you should note that the Kinks first 2 albums have several cover songs. And Ray and Dave have never been hesitant to discuss their influences, or who they "stole from".

Yeah, stealing is a pretty strong word in this case. But subtlety is not always my strong point.

Listen to Shania's "Man I Feel Like A Woman" and how she copped the riff from Aerosmith's "Uncle Salty". Now THAT'S stealing.

 

[Northside Hawk]

Don't forget REO Speedwagon ... although technically, Kevin Cronin was with the band, left, and came back. They have good songs with 3 different lead singers (Terry Luttrell, Cronin, and Mike Murphy).

I think Murphy was present on one studio album-the one with "Riding The Storm Out", which was at the very least their signature live song.

Did you know Duke Tumatoe was in an early version of REO? Decades before he was a Bob and Tom regular and before he played countless Midwest gigs. Suffice to say his music went a slightly different direction than theirs.

 

[Seth53]

Big loss.

However, Tom Petty was a bigger loss.

 

[Northside Hawk]

Big loss.

However, Tom Petty was a bigger loss.

Petty was a big one, but Lou Reed, Prince and David Bowie were monumental.

I guess it comes down to how much stock you put in singers vs guitarists. Tom Petty had a long consistent career and was at the forefront of the early/mid 1990's roots rock revival (bands like, The Wallflowers, Collective Soul, Counting Crows, etc.)

Eddie is on the Mount Rushmore of all time rock guitarists, with Hendrix, Clapton, and Page.

 

[#1DieHardHawk]

Petty was a big one, but Lou Reed, Prince and David Bowie were monumental.

I guess it comes down to how much stock you put in singers vs guitarists. Tom Petty had a long consistent career and was at the forefront of the early/mid 1990's roots rock revival (bands like, The Wallflowers, Collective Soul, Counting Crows, etc.)

Eddie is on the Mount Rushmore of all time rock guitarists, with Hendrix, Clapton, and Page.

Awful lot to choose from there.

I have to agree with the above poster that mentioned Steve Ray Vaughan. He's the bar, IMO.

Clapton once gave an interview where he talked about performing with SRV. At one point, he said he had to leave the stage and compose himself because he literally lost confidence in his abilities while watching Vaughan perform. He also said that the first time he heard him, he was driving and had to pull over because he was so stunned. That's some serious praise, and he came off as completely genuine. I actually don't listen to his music very often. I think the composition by Double Trouble was average at best, but I'm completely mesmerized watching him. It's like his other-worldly talent is oozing out of him.

Another I'll through out there is Roy Buchanan. He's rarely discussed, but, like Vaughan, he just had that extra something. Buchanan is probably the only great guitarist who plugged his Telecaster directly into the amp. Absolutely every nuanced sound he made he did with his fingers alone. He was special. They both died way too soon.

 

[Northside Hawk]

Awful lot to choose from there.

I have to agree with the above poster that mentioned Steve Ray Vaughan. He's the bar, IMO.

Clapton once gave an interview where he talked about performing with SRV. At one point, he said he had to leave the stage and compose himself because he literally lost confidence in his abilities while watching Vaughan perform. He also said that the first time he heard him, he was driving and had to pull over because he was so stunned. That's some serious praise, and he came off as completely genuine. I actually don't listen to his music very often. I think the composition by Double Trouble was average at best, but I'm completely mesmerized watching him. It's like his other-worldly talent is oozing out of him.

Another I'll through out there is Roy Buchanan. He's rarely discussed, but, like Vaughan, he just had that extra something. Buchanan is probably the only great guitarist who plugged his Telecaster directly into the amp. Absolutely every nuanced sound he made he did with his fingers alone. He was special. They both died way too soon.

Stevie definitely had the skill and technique.

It would have been interesting to see Stevie Ray rock and see how he would have stacked up. From what I've heard in stories similar to the Eric Clapton one that you told im sure he would have mastered that as well.

Death is tragic and untimely but it also build an undeserving air of mythology around certain musicians. I call it the James Dean effect. Case in point; Randy Rhoads. I've listened to Ozzy's first two solo albums for decades. Randy was flashy, but no more so than Geroge Lynch of Dokken or Slash of Guns & Roses or Dimebag Darrell of Pantera. But Randy gets the halo effect. Stevie Ray was definitely peerless for his genre. Would love to have seen him rock a little harder.

 

[AreWeThereYet]

yeah...bummer. David Lee Roth was a little too much for me...with the spandex, etc...but Eddie was a pioneer. Dude was amazing and he worked with a lot of other musicians too. RIP Eddie.

This is similar to my thoughts, at least at the time. I didn't (purposely) listen to Van Halen much in my teenage years. (Although I find I can still play most of their early songs in my head.) I thought David Lee Roth was a slick jerk and didn't really see the humor in it. In retrospect he played the part to a T, and it works well for what the band was trying to do. As a teen I was an abrasive nerd jerk, who didn't get along so well with hyper-adolescent slick jerks. Thus the aversion, at least in part. I was also on the other side of the punk/new wave vs. stadium rock/hair metal divide. Not much for striking a pose but it was a mindset thing.