R.I.P Eddie

C'est une 57 sa goldtop.

"I also found a 1952 gold-top Les Paul. It's not completely original-it's got a regular stud tailpiece in it, and a Tune-o-matic bridge. I have rewound Gibson PAF pickups in it, too. I use a Les Paul for the end of the set because my Charvel is usually out of tune, and the Les Paul's sound is a little fatter."

Trop chouette cette photo. Le gars était vraiment charismatique.

Feeling deep sadness and overwhelming appreciation.
The appreciation and love for him is bigger though.
Let’s take a minute and try to imagine our world if he never showed up.
It’s unthinkable.
Thank you King Edward. You are deeply loved and will be missed.

The end of an era for electric rock guitar. This bootleg from 1978 is amazing. Eddie Van Halen really changed the language of electric guitar permanently. Rest In Peace.

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I got to meet Eddie Van Halen in 1995. It was a slightly awkward moment but we had a few minutes to talk. We were both in Chicago to play the Jason Becker benefit for ALS. After the sound check they opened up our backstage area and I was one of the first ones in there. Eddie literally came out of a closet where he was changing. We talked about Jason Becker and when he found out I played the guitar on Jasons “End of the Beginning” tune, he said -that was you man? You Sounded Great! - looking back that means more to me now than it ever did. He then however segued mysteriously right into talking about still being pissed about the solo in “Beat it” where the engineer accidentally erased the time code that links up the tape machines and they almost lost the entire beat it solo lol. I then turned around to see about 100 guitar players standing behind me waiting to talk to him. Ha! The night before there was a private party at the Hard Rock Cafe where Eddie was at. I didn’t get to speak with him but I learned why Rockstars wear sunglasses – it’s because camera flashes literally go off every 5 seconds. He was a very down to earth regular dude to speak to. Rest In Peace HERO.

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Eddy hit the guitar world like a tsunami, changed everything and influenced and inspired all of us. Not sure how to process this on top of everything else. Sadness

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RIP Eddie Van Halen
There are a handful of people with any musical instrument that we can credit with actually changing the course of the instrument. Obviously Charlie Parker changed the alto saxophone. Coltrane changed the tenor saxophone. Jaco Pastorius changed the electric bass. John Bonham changed the world of rock drumming. I could go on but you get the point. It’s an amazing feat for any artist to have that kind of impact and influence on any instrument…..But let’s talk about the electric guitar. The advent of the electric guitar changed music, arguably, more than the the advent of any other instrument. The endless combinations of sounds and techniques allowed everyone to seek their own voice which opened up a whole new world of musical expression and possibilities. Maybe I’m biased but in my opinion the electric guitar saved modern music. So when we’re talking about a small pantheon of people who changed the electric guitar that’s a major feat. Monumental!
I still remember the first time I heard Van Halen. It was at a party in Asheville, my hometown. The first VH album had just come out and people were raving about the music and about Eddie’s guitar playing in particular. Never ready to add someone new to my list of who I consider to be great guitarists, I was a bit resistant but ready to give it a chance. At first listen, I can admit now, I was quite impressed but still not ready to give in to the hype. It was obvious that what he was doing was exceptional but he was using a lot of distortion so I wasn’t convinced that he was really pulling it off in a technical sense…. until I heard Eruption. Pretty damn precise! That’s when it hit me. It was a new day in Rock ’n’ Roll. It was a new day in electric guitar playing. Then later when I heard Spanish Fly (from VH2) GOD DAMN!!! He can play that shit on acoustic guitar.
Fast forward. No matter what your tastes, especially if you’re of a certain age, maybe VH’s music was not your thing but you had to admit it was the real deal! I personally never looked at EVH as being a major influence on my own playing as my style was fairly developed by the time I discovered his music but I was always a big fan of his virtuosity. Also I should point out that, as is the case with the emergence of any highly innovative, groundbreaking new music or new musician, it would soon follow that the airwaves would become inundated with a gazillion copycats, most of which paled in comparison to the trendsetter. This has happened in virtually every moment in history where someone changed the course of a genre or where someone changed the course of an instrument. It has also happened historically with songwriting. When someone comes along with a fresh innovative approach to writing songs suddenly copycats appear out of the woodwork. That’s the way it was with Van Halen, both with Eddie’s playing and with the music itself. This inundation left a bad taste in the mouths of a lot of avid music fans, myself included, but again Eddie was the catharsis for change- not to be blamed for what followed- and VH was the real deal.
I only got to see Van Halen, the band, perform twice- once in the early 80’s in Asheville and once a few years ago when they reformed the original band. All four members of Gov’t Mule happened to be in LA at the time and we were invited to the Forum to see what they called a “friends and family” dress rehearsal show. Being there watching Van Halen in a 20,000 seat arena with only 700 lucky attendees was quite an experience. Eddie played brilliantly. The whole band sounded great, as they did when I first saw them several decades earlier. It was something I'll always remember.

Ah ok, my bad

Pas de mot...

Il y en a qui savent bien jouer Eruption ici ?

Comment ne pas s’incliner devant un groove pareil !! Je me suis jamais remis de la tournerie de l’intro =>

Pierre Lescure sur la 5 a rendu un hommage qui ressemblait un peu à quelque chose, même si il a dit des trucs un peu bizarre !