Eddie Van Halen: The Complete 1980 Interview - Tape 1 (HD Audio)
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- Опубликовано: 25 янв 2023
- Eddie Van Halen often claimed that the most important elements of his sound were his imagination and his hands: “The way I play is in my fingers,” he insisted. “I can play through any amp and it still sounds like me.” During this first hour of our marathon 1980 interview, Eddie proves this beyond all doubt. Playing his unamplified Frankenstrat, he does note-for-note covers of favorite Clapton solos, demonstrates specific songs and techniques heard on the first three Van Halen albums, shows how he composes the band’s music, and demos original songs that had been rejected by the band.
This interview took place a couple of weeks after the interview heard in “Eddie Van Halen: The Complete 1979 Interview (HD Audio).” (Hear it here: • Eddie Van Halen: The C... ) Near the end of that conversation, Eddie asked me to write a cover story on him - his first one ever - for Guitar Player magazine. I quickly arranged for this to happen.
About two weeks later we met on the morning of January 15, 1980, at Neil Zlozower’s photo studio in Hollywood. Eddie drove himself over in his brand-new Jeep CJ. He walked in wearing beige corduroys and a black-and-white checkered shirt. He was carrying two guitar cases. One held a guitar he’d recently assembled using an extra-thick Boogie Bodies body and a Floyd Rose locking tremolo system. The other was the latest incarnation of what would become known as the “Frankenstrat.” At this time, the guitar’s body was spray-painted red with black and white striping. Its full-sized white pickguard had the standard holes for the two pickups nearest the neck, but there were no pickups in these positions. Eddie had enlarged the rear pickguard hole to accommodate a vintage Gibson P.A.F. pickup.
In addition to his extensive playing during this first part of our four-hour meeting, Eddie talks about a wide array of subjects, including his piano background, how he learned to play guitar, the differences between his “planned” and spontaneous solos, the limitations of rock and roll, blues influences, the importance of phrasing, where the band’s money goes, VH bootlegs, the recording of the just-mixed "Women and Children First" album, and, naturally, his pedalboard, amps, and guitars.
I hope you enjoy this unique recording, and be sure to check out the other historic Van Halen interviews on the Talking Guitar RUclips channel. To help us continue producing podcasts, please hit that donate button and send some cheer our way: paypal.me/TalkingGuitar.
A special thanks to engineer/producer Nik Hunt for enhancing the sound of the 43-year-old master tape. For more guitar-intensive podcasts and articles, visit my online Talking Guitar magazine at jasobrecht.substack.com/. #vanhalen #eddievanhalen #edwardvanhalen #jasobrecht #talkingguitar #nikhunt #guitarplayermagazine
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Eddie was a teenager his whole life. I mean that in the best way. He was always sincere, emphatic, and always saw the humor in everything.
Eddie always speaks with such conviction and candidness. These recordings are priceless. The best.
Thank you, Jas!!
Ed playing with no amp, much conviction with nearly every strike of the string-s too. Many excellent player are missing that in their Eddie licks. A small few do and get it.
@@msw812 I wish Eddie had been playing through any amp at all, even a pig nose, we would have been able to hear what he was playing so much better.
Hearing stuff like this now makes it feel like he is still with us, which is a great feeling. RIP Eddie.
There’s a lot of trust in this interview. Can you imagine seeing all this in real time?
Eddie’s youthful enthusiasm and almost-naive approach to all he’s doing is unreal - I could listen to this all day!!!
I love the story of how Dave would go over to the Brothers' house, check in with their mom, and go up to Eddie's room where he was always playing. And he would sit on the stack of amps with his notebook and they would write a couple songs together. At least the ideas for some of them, anyways.
Eddie was truly a creative thinker who could think outside of the box. I love how passionate he is about music and guitar playing. He was a rockstar at the highest level but he was also a true musician and good human being.
Ed at 12:52, "Turn the fuckin' radio off!" 😂 Amen!
...the radio that was coincidentally playing "Dance The Night Away"...
@@GregTudor Classic! 😆
This is a must hear for any Van Halen fan, Ed really goes into detail about how he comes up with songs and solos, all the while playing guitar during the interview, it's like you're hanging out with Edward! This is a gift to anyone who misses the king of 10 fingers. Thank you Jas, keep 'em coming!
How many guitar players have ever gone this distance to get a guitar that matches what he wants their sound to be like. He goes on the Fender manufacturing tour, notices how the frets are being put in, and goes home to replace his own frets using the same process! This is such an incredible insight into how his mind worked!
Simply brilliant Jas! What a rare and beautiful gift for us on Edward's Birthday! Thank you so much! ❤🤍🖤🎸👑
Indeed Holly. On Edwards BIRTHDAY too.....THIS was possibly the most interesting & influential Guitar Player Magazine interviews of the 1980s.
Do people in 2023 understand how ground breaking that first Van Halen album was? It was basically because of what Eddie was doing with his guitar....some amazing music. Ted Templeman created a monster of an album.
With Donn Landee…
You.had to be a teen back then to understand
@@Swanlord05 I was 6 years old when the first Van Halen album came out and I totally understood how great it was!
I was at a live music rock club when someone put Eruption on the sound system…everyone freaked out but I didn’t think anything of it, I had recently seen seen Alan Holdsworth Live, so EVH was not impressive to me, later on I got to understand how great he was, especially when I heard Fair Warning…however, I thought he was going to take that level of playing even further especially what he did on ‘Push comes to shove’ where some different harmonic modes such as Lydian mode were used, but for whatever reason, Eddie didn’t devolve those aspects of his playing beyond that record…anyone else have opinions about his playing on Fair Warning? I think that was his peak playing
@@ChromaticHarp Nearly all guitar playing Van Halen fans and many non-players feel that ‘Fair Warning’ was the peak of Edward’s playing and writing and the peak of the band in general.
Edward had no appreciable knowledge of music theory and he definitely had absolute zero knowledge of modes. If he played in a particular mode, it was purely accidental.
We sure miss you Eddie. RIP
Unbelievable!! This was my favorite interview growing up in Seattle, WA and I use to read it over and over. My favorite Guitar Mag of all time. Thank you very much Jas for sharing this with us. It brought back so many great memories and I really enjoyed it, and look forward to the next addition.
Here's the Van Halen songs I picked up on feel free to add timestamps for the Clapton stuff in the replies:
12:26 I'm the One
13:02 Women In Love
15:44 Spanish Fly
22:35 Jamie's Cryin
23:59 Somebody Get Me a Doctor
24:51 Aint Talkin Bout Love
26:00 Somebody Get Me a Doctor
26:32 Ice Crem Man
45:30 Dance the Night Away
46:27 Tapping from Eruption and Spanish Fly
59:00 You Really Got Me
Around 43:00, he starts jamming an unreleased song called "Act Like it Hurts", although he calls it "Red Zone" here.
Man, this should have 1000000s of Comments and Likes ! This is Guitar 101 with the absolute greatest Guitar player who ever lived Period .... Thank you for sharing .
This is just AMAZING! Listening to the G.O.A.T. perform Spanish Fly and all the other incredible licks and songs just shows what a genius he was (and will ALWAYS be). Thank you Jas for sharing these time capsules, they bring so much joy to all of us EVH lovers all over the world!
Incredible! Each interview is a Master Class in Musical Genius and a peak behind the curtain in the wizard's own words.
Great interview. Eddie is just a kid in his guitar shop world. Awesome. Sounded like a sincere nice guy who loved playing guitar and his band.
What a treasure you have given us!
Thanks Jas, I still have a copy of that magazine and I've read the article over and over. Learned reading English from that article 🙂 Great to hear this!
Ed, you son of a... Listen to his insane feel just noodling w nothing. He just loved his guitar. It was his mistress. Exactly why he became a God. That guitar became an appendage, like an extra arm. We'll never see another him in our lives. Cherish these old interviews, there's some EVH gold in these...miss ya Ed.
Thanks so much, Jas! This is pure gold. You can clearly hear what I've always suspected: Eddie's left hand is super strong and he really hits the strings very hard with his right hand. Very percussive sound. And Eddie was one of the best rhythm guitarists ever.
This is so incredible to hear, and so amazing to get to understand more about the genius of Eddie! So glad these tapes were recorded, and made available.
"It's in my fingers." Damn right it is.
The relationship these guys had since day one makes all Jas's interviews with him a treasure. It's so good to hear him as if he were talking shop with a pal...unguarded, unpolished. I think if he had more dudes like Jas around him throughout his career, he'd have been a much happier sensitive genius.
He never struck me as particularly unhappy.
@@MartijnHover last concert with Sammy Hagar???
Exactly David….Jas and Steven Rosen were like his close BUDDIES ….Great interviews, great friendship.
@@mindeloman One incident makes somebody an unhappy person? You must have led a very uneventful life. 🙂
@@MartijnHover Hey, no need for the passive-aggressive ad hominem. Peace and love man. It's just that anyone that has followed Van Halen recognized there as a dark period in Ed's life. From around 1996 through 2007 or so, was this dark period. Much in his life was unraveling. Who knows all the reasons. There's definitely a lot of things that led up to his alcoholism that pervaded his life from around 1997 to 2007. Before the reunion tour, Sammy said he showed up to 5150 studios only to find ed was not there. He was in the house asleep. When he came down, Sammy said he didn't even recognize him. He came in wearing like combat pants and boots and the boots had been duck taped to stay together. The house was evidently mostly empty and ed just slept on a dirty mattress on the floor. Evidently, his drug of choice was cheap port wine or some such red wine and it. That's what rotted his teeth out - not meth as some people had suggested. Sammy said it was so bad on that tour and ed was so awful to him and Mike, they had to have separate dressing rooms away from each other and had to take separate air planes. It got to a point where they only saw each other when they came on stage together and Sammy said he was never sure if he would be awake and/or sober enough to go on stage. Every tour date was questionable. Probably his darkest years were after that tour and the reunion with Dave. The moment he really came out of it all was around 2007 when he went into rehab. He said in an interview he had been sober since 2008. From 2009 all the way to his death, we really got to see the old EVH. One the last tour in 2015 he really did look good. He looked incredibly happy. And he was playing better than ever.
A pack of guitar strings in 2023= $5.99! , Hearing Edward Van Halen playing a '59 Les Paul unplugged from 1980= PRICELESS!!!!
This is my third listen to this and each time i hear something i missed the first time!
Thank you so much Jas! And a MAJOR thank you for including the exact date of the interview!
These are the best Eddie interviews I’ve ever heard! Thanks a lot! But you sound like a decent cool guy that I could bullshit with too. Much appreciated.
@Jas Obrecht, Thanks so much for posting this incredible view into a Young Edward Van Halen's mind!
That right hand is awesome. The articulation and power. You could tell that dude played piano for a long time!! As a drummer I love this stuff. I know what the hell am I listening for? Because I love Van Halen!!! Plus it's just awesome to hear him. Plus I love hearing how he builds his guitars and how he does what he does. ❤❤❤
Ed described me at 50:40, "Some guitar, Van Halen freak who just wants something no one else has." 😂
What a great interview these interviews are precious.
40:16 is my favorite part, says he doesn’t know what he played but it sounds like something out of this world 😂 he was a guitar master!
Unlike the prior guitar gods, Clapton or Hendrix. Eddie changed and altered the physicality of the guitar. He made these changes to accommodate and create what's become the unique Van Halen sound. He took the instrument to the next level. RIP Edward.
You're doing a wonderful thing with this channel, Mr. Obrecht. Thank you so much. These issues of Guitar Player were a big part of my childhood, and hearing these interviews is amazing.
Wow this is the best interview I've ever heard with Ed! Very relaxed by now with you Jas and chillin at Zloz' studio Amazing
This is wonderful Jas - thank you. Edward was light years ahead of any other guitar player. How he conceived the idea of using the variac, wax dipping his pick ups, amongst many other technicques too is just genius, whilst full of infectious enthusiam that inspired many of us from first time of hearing him to present day and beyond.
This is great! Thanks for posting this important historic interview.
He was an innovator. His guitars. His amps. His harmonic style. His look.
I mean who else uses a dog chain for a guitar strap ?
Jas, thanks so much! What a great present for us on Edward's birthday!
These interviews are great.... Finally a technical chat without those dopey hack questions, like, "So, what were your influences growing up?" Or... "So, what are you doing now??"
Those same tired questions every interviewer asks that nobody cares about make most interviews intolerably dull. But this is just a natural conversation about guitars and music. Perfect.
Jas - I got the Guitar Player issue right when it came out, I was 17. I thought the printed parts were all there were....... I read the interview tons of times, but this is like being there!!!! What a great treat this is, long live EVH in all of us. In the late 80's my band was photographed by Neil in the studio you are probably doing this interview, another treat! Thanks so much for posting these tapes for all - so fantastic!
These interviews are gold, thank you so much for sharing!
I always likened the beginning of Running with the Devil like the Van Halen UFO landing because that pretty much sums it up for me in that moment when they hit.
Ya that reversed siren sound in the intro totally gives the vibe of a UFO landing to blow our minds
Thank you Jas for these incredible insights into Eddie’s world shared by the man himself. He was such a great guitar player and his rhythm playing is unmatched IMO. He had great melodic sense, swing, and the man could lay down a groove like no other. I also love his honesty and bluntness. He was one-of-a-kind and the world will forever miss him!
These EVH interviews are filled with amazing content. Thank you so much Jas!!!
Ed's playing here is so crisp and fast it's crazy. This is definitely peak EVH.
I will cherish these random pop up interviews forever. It makes you wonder how many more are or we’re out there!
And Jas I can't think of a better was to celebrate Ed's birthday but to listen to the man himself speak. I'm going to listen to all your interviews and then head back into the music. Thank you!
This is awesome Jas!
It REALLY is.
@@AllenGarberGuitarFun 👑🎸🎂
Its really interesting that in these interviews he says he cranked the variac up not down. I always mostly heard he turned it down.
@@gearhead762 He did turn it down. Around 40 years later in his Esquire magazine interview he admitted that he lied when he said he turned it up.
@@AllenGarberGuitarFun hahaha yes he did lol. I knew you would be on top of that. Gotta keep em guessing if youre on to something right? Ive heard he used to boil his strings too but that may have been more classic Ed b.s. to keep people in the dark or doing crazy things. Its still highly intetesting just listening to him shoot the crap and talk though regardless of what may be b.s. or not.
Jas, thank you so much for posting these recordings. He was our Mozart. And you were there. Thank you so so so so so so much.
Thank you for sharing!!!
Thank you so much for this treasure! I tried to read all of his interviews back in the day but you ask really insightful questions that me as rabid fan is eating this up. This interview covers so much stuff and so interesting that eddie makes you leave out things so as not to get ripped off. You can tell how the interview is abruptly cut. I wish that eddie was plugged in bc a lot of the harmonics and squeals would've been heard but still you can hear Eddie's amazing command and power through his fingers. What an interview! Thanks again
So cool the way Ed plays "Crossroads" at 20:22 to answer the question how he started teaching himself lead!
Ed always said that Clapton was the only guitarist that inspired him......
@@pulsarlights2825 Allan holdsworth was also a massive influence
@@VODECI Yeah, that happened later. You can hear Holdsworth all over the end of Drop Dead Legs.
@@michaelgarcia2050 same with summer nights solo lol
Listening to Eddie flipping the clasps on the guitar case to bring out the Frankenstrat gave me chills all over. I could visualize it and be there as you were, Jas. Seeing that guitar for the first time! Though, I do understand seeing it for the first time must have been like, "Wow, this a mess!". Thinking back on it must be an unbelievable feeling.
Pure Gold. AU on the periodic table, people… here it is manifested as the smiling innovator EVH.
Ahhhhhh BEAUTIFUL .....REALLY looking forward to hearing this. Listening NOW.... THANKS SO MUCH JAS ❤❤👌👌👍👍👍👍👍
Eddie sings from The Animals "It's My Life". Sweet!
He had mentioned that in the original published interview, but it’s great to hear him actually sing it!
Thank you so much for sharing these gems, Jas!!
Happy Birthday Ed! We love and miss ya!
Wow.....the interviewer was very knowledgeable....he got Ed to talk like a musician
This is Ed's music theory .....thank you
This is amazing. Thank you.
There's a huge hole in our world without eddie...
Happy Birthday King Edward .
There is just something about Edward that no other guitarist in history has and it's almost impossible to explain but I'll give you an example of what I mean . The great Steve Vai used to be at Frank Zappa's house all the time working with Frank and of course it was Dweezil home also . Despite Steve always being around and playing amazing guitar Dweezil was absolutely OBSESSED with Eddie , that's all he talked about . When Eddie visited the great Jason Becker at his home Jason's parents told Eddie that Jason says you're the greatest ever . That's how it was with tens of millions of other up and coming guitarists , no matter how many other amazing guitarists were around everybody including every guitar publication on the planet focused and obsessed over Eddie . It wasn't his tapping either because even when he didn't tap he would leave your jaw permanently attached to the floor . It was EVERYTHING , he was the whole package. He changed everything .
I love that @11:25 we can hear "Dance the Night Away" on the radio in the background.
25 yr old Edward Van Halen, kinda cocky, yet self depreciating - humble. But overwhelmingly, and staggeringly intelligent, a creative genius -i think he actually knew he was a genius. Surreal...and sad to hear him talk. Theres definitely this spark in thr way he talks about ehat he wants to do next....
Jas, thank you. This is great.
Fascinating that you so much Jas!
This is so enjoyable to listen to and just in general, there sure likes there are a lot of great interviews to listen to on this channel, Jas. Where to find the time......
It's just really awesome hearing how into the guitar Eddie was.
Dude I so wish this interview was on video
loved it!!!...Thank you!!!
12:54 "Turn the fuckin' radio off will ya?"
Gotta love Eddie's sense of humor
Awesome. yep, I've got that issue still in perfect shape. Thanks again Jas!! The audio is something I never even thought about the possibility of hearing. I was 14 & a huge Edward fan (as he was mostly known then) at the time of this & in my first few months of calling myself a guitar player even thought I hardly knew shit except the magic Barr chord.
This is just amazing. I'm flummoxed, lol. And the playing!!!
Thank you thank you thank you for sharing this.
At 43:06 I've heard you do that on your jam night vid. Remind me what that is???
What a gift this interview is
Hell yeah! New Eddie interview
Thank you so much! 🙋🏻♂️
Man i can listen to no amp eddie all day. Priceless
Still sounds so great doesn't it!
This might be a bit of a hot take, but I have listened to your Malmsteen interview and now this. I have also talked to people that have met both and said negative things about each regarding their "arrogance"and or just not being nice in general. I never took any of the stories I heard seriously, but always felt that yeah if I were that gifted I might behave like I didn't have time for the distractions. Something that really stands out to me having heard quite a few interviews with each is that they both respected you very much and talked to you accordingly. You asked fantastic questions and I think they both understood your knowledge of the instrument and appreciated it. This makes for a fantastic dynamic and wonderful interview. Thank you so much for sharing.
Thanks! It's kind of you to say this.
Oh I see, the April issue combined from these in person meetings and the phone call. Great, Jas. And yes, I at least saved the magazine cover.
Young guys please understand, Edward was our hero when we were starting out. He was like the Gold Medalist of rock guitar, a super hero. Our answer to Beck, Page, Clapton. My generation embraced him. Each album release was when we skipped school.
All heavy hard rock and metal of that era started with Edward. His playing and my God his sound, was like when the Mayflower hit American shores, when Edison made the lightbulb.
really gets into the nitty gritty of his techniques and gear
wish there was video to this, but thx for the audio
Cool stuff. Thank you!
Thank you so much for preserving history..
What I love about Eddie's playing is how shocked I and everyone else was to hearr it and aside from the flash he really olayed with feeling and emotion. He was very technical, but also had great feel
Thanks so much for sharing this! I have the original issue. It's like being there!
Jas you are a National Treasure . It had to be said ! Thank you !
Thank you brother, thank you very much!
"it still goes out of tune, it's the way you play it." I could not love this statement more, I actually start practices sometimes with a fully out of tune guitar, to remind myself how to find intonations and positions that work with any tuning. Thank you again for 'The Eddie Anthology' - cheers - Tyler.
Thanks Jas! Happy Birthday Ed!!!
OMG What a treat this is! Thanks so much for sharing Jas!
These tapes are epic and incredible pieces of history and you can see that Eddie had no idea how much of a legacy he would leave behind, legend.
THANK YOU! So awesome!
I had a guy bashing Eddie years ago online and I told him music historians will be talking about Eddie when his grandchildren will refer to him as who? Eddie was the best and everyone else could hope to be like him. RIP Eddie
It’s so wonderful to hear ED talking with such youthful exuberance and enthusiasm with Jas in this…And noodling with his guitar on the tape too in order to clarify what he is doing…There were so many jokes and laughter in this interview which I didn’t realise when reading the original transcribed interview. ‘ZLOZ …Turn that radio off’ ! …..lol😂
How does this not have 487million thumbs up.
I've still got my original copy of this issue of Guitar Player. This is incredible!! Thank you Jas for all of your great interviews over the years.
The recordings are absolutely priceless!!! But, your hard work isn't. I've sent you a small token of my appreciation
Wow, Jeff -- very generous of you! This made my day. Thank you!
43:15 "Me Wise Magic"
43:55 "Red Zone" (have heard this on demos "Act Like It Hurts")
At 38:15 he plays the ending tapping run from the “Hear About It Later” solo.
@@AllenGarberGuitarFun interesting...I had to really listen hard to catch that. Was really interesting to hear the Spanish Fly parts especially when he gave up on it. I remember you saying how transcribing it isn't worth the hassle because he seems to just wing it. He also sounded articulate & concise. Didn't realize Jose "modded" his pedals, too.
ruclips.net/video/8WdE2tLWGQ4/видео.html
@@steveinmidtown Jose didn’t mod his pedals other than to put a power adapter for his Phase 90 so he wouldn’t have to use batteries.
@@eddieisgreat5150 any idea how Ed was able to jump on the stack of speakers & not knock them over? 1:50
Wow, can you imagine sitting across from Eddie Van Halen and he shows you how he played Spanish Fly and other songs? Name a VH song and he plays it right in front of you. Unreal.