The Best Thing About Eddie Van Halen

[Pappy P]

--If he doesn't like a singer, he just get's a new one.

 

I love that Attitude!!!

 

I can't even think of the new singer's name, but I will always know who Eddie is, he's 'da man.

 

Word!

[Pappy P]

Oh I forgot to Give Bic Credit for this Idea.

 

His Dave is Daydreaming Thread sparked by thought on Eddie.

[Justus A. Picker]

I've always wondered why, in light of his disdain for singers, Eddie never went the Beck,Satch, Vai, Morse route and put out an instrumental album.

[Kramer Ferrington III.]

Originally posted by Justus A. Picker:

I've always wondered why, in light of his disdain for singers, Eddie never went the Beck,Satch, Vai, Morse route and put out an instrumental album.

A band with a singer brings in a much bigger than a crowd than a band without.

 

And maybe he likes having a singer?

[Dr. Ellwood]

Originally posted by Kramer Ferrington III.:

Originally posted by Justus A. Picker:

I've always wondered why, in light of his disdain for singers, Eddie never went the Beck,Satch, Vai, Morse route and put out an instrumental album.

A band with a singer brings in a much bigger than a crowd than a band without.

Always! very few bands can draw huge audience without vocals.

[Pappy P]

Yeah. It's better to have a singer, any singer:

 

EXCEPT PHIL COLLINS!!!!!

[BiC]

But heck, Eddie's a great singer.

 

But I don't know how his voice or pronounciation is nowadays going through the cancer and all that.

[Billster]

THe best thing about Eddie is his rhythm and timing. Sure, he plays crazy lead, but the when of those notes he hits is the pocket and the rocket

[Dr. Ellwood]

EXCEPT PHIL COLLINS!!!!! 'wow you got THAT RIGHT!!

 

[fantasticsound]

Eddie's about interaction with the audience through music.

 

My impression of Satch & Vai (Can't speak to beck or Morse) is that the connect to music first. That an audience gets it or not is secondary.

 

All too often Satch & Vai write compositions as a support for soloing. Eddie always seemed to write songs with a few moments to make a solo musical statement. I find him to be far more consistant in the solo supporting the song rather than the other way around.

 

I like Satch & Vai, but I vastly prefer Van Halen's songs over his catalog compared to either of them.

 

Eddie wanted to connect with solo guitar, while an audience watched, a few times in his recording career. The results were Eruption and Spanish Fly.

[Pappy P]

Billster and Fantastic:

 

You guys always say the stuff I wish I had.

 

A++

[Darklava]

Originally posted by Pappy P:

Billster and Fantastic:

 

You guys always say the stuff I wish I had.

 

A++

but the when of those notes he hits is the pocket and the rocket

Yeh i know what your saying

[Justus A. Picker]

Originally posted by Kramer Ferrington III.:

Originally posted by Justus A. Picker:

I've always wondered why, in light of his disdain for singers, Eddie never went the Beck,Satch, Vai, Morse route and put out an instrumental album.

A band with a singer brings in a much bigger than a crowd than a band without.

 

And maybe he likes having a singer?

He obviously doesn't like working with them!

I believe it was Eddie that coined the term "LSD" for Lead Singers Diease!

 

Of all the rock guitar players out there I think he's the one guy who could sell the instrumental bag to the masses. At least for an album or two!

[fantasticsound]

Thanks, Pappy.

 

Justus, actually I don't think Eddie could pull off an instrumental album without a lot of pain and suffering.

 

His whole style is designed around limited solos that support the song. I'm not sure he has it in him for an instrumental melody as focal point for an entire composition. At least not for more than one or two songs. But a whole album?

 

I have to say I was hoping to see some immensely popular instrumental music after hearing Satch's Surfing With The Alien album for the first time. (When it was released, mind you.) I felt he could have one of the first Top 20 pop instrumental charters since Mason Williams' Classical Gas if he took the foundation of songs like Surfing With The Alien or Always With Me, Always With You and put shorter, melodic solos in them.

 

One Big Rush was the closest he came to such a song. It worked well in support of a visual collage in the movie, "Say Anything" behind John Cusack's kickboxing workout. But instead of building on that success, Satch continued to write good, commericial, catchy hooks but spoil them for pop radio and a wider audience by inserting eclectic solos.

 

Personally, I like a lot of Satch's music, but I'm so happy it's the age of CD's, where I can instantly scan through many solos. Same for Vai, although I haven't listened to much of his output post Passion & Warfare. Sisters was the closest he came to writing an accessible instrumental that could've had a far wider audience than guitar instrumental lovers.

 

Come to think of it, he wrote a fantastic song that gives a hint as to what an EVH instrumental album might sound like in The Audience Is Listening. Great tune and the solo is more appropriate for an EVH homage.

[Rhino Madness]

Originally posted by fantasticsound:

(...) But instead of building on that success, Satch continued to write good, commericial, catchy hooks but spoil them for pop radio and a wider audience by inserting eclectic solos.

 

Personally, I like a lot of Satch's music, but I'm so happy it's the age of CD's, where I can instantly scan through many solos. (...)

Your comments are pretty telling of Satriani's talent as a great melodicist! Especially as he got popular in the decade when most guitar enthusiasts would scan to the guitar solos and skip the rest (only to hear what technique the guitar player would pull off since most of the songwriting was dismal in shredder music).

[fantasticsound]

That was exactly it, Rhino. Satch is very good at writing catchy hooks and interesting melodies. He just didn't write that elusive instrumental that was interesting without a "solo" section. And the solos he included tended to stray too far from center (IMO, at least) to succeed beyond guitarists.

 

I was so happy to hear his song, The Phone Call off Flying In A Blue Dream. What a great song. Even better when you consider The Feeling, a 6-string Deering banjo song that acts as a prelude. It does stand well on its' own, too. But it's a vocal song with an appropriate solo break.

 

I've always wondered why Satch and Vai never hooked up with decent vocalists for their solo work a la Vai's Flexible album, a self recorded record he produced during his tenure with Zappa. It's hardly an accessible album for non-guitarists. Heck, it was hardly accessible for guitarists. But the vocals on the album were pretty good and interesting. I could imagine him doing pop songs with lyrics and good vocals that would far outshine anything he did with DLR post-Van Halen.

[Durockrolly]

The best thing about Eddie is the over thirty years he has been out there. First as a band called Mammoth, then Van Halen. For those old enough to remember and lucky enough to grow up in the San Gabriel Valley in the seventies you probablly attended a performance in the back yards of Sierra Madre, Arcadia, Monrovia, Pasadena and the likes. I saw them play as Mammoth, before David Lee Roth and as Van Halen with. Not long after, they were playing Hollywood (my favorite clubs, The Wiskey and Gazzaries). I remember a concert at the river with Van Halen, Smile and Snow People. I am nearly 50 years old now and remember less and less but I will never forget the early days of Eddie and Alex and the boys!!!

[Gifthorse]

One thing that always gets overlooked concerning Eddie is Alex.

 

He is equally as important in Eddie's sound. Without him, Eddie wouldn't sound as dynamic or cool. Alex shadows him and then some. He is a total badass with tons of style on drums. He is as identifiable as any of the other 'greats' like Bonham, Copeland etc.

[Billster]

Originally posted by fantasticsound:

I've always wondered why Satch and Vai never hooked up with decent vocalists for their solo work a la Vai's Flexible album, a self recorded record he produced during his tenure with Zappa. It's hardly an accessible album for non-guitarists. Heck, it was hardly accessible for guitarists. But the vocals on the album were pretty good and interesting. I could imagine him doing pop songs with lyrics and good vocals that would far outshine anything he did with DLR post-Van Halen.

Well, Vai hooked up with Roth and later on with David Coverdale, so there's two compelling vocalists. I know Coverdale gets slagged a lot for the wannabe Robert Plant type stuff, but I've liked his stuff all the way back from the Deep Purple days. Early Whitesnake with Bernie Marsden is good stuff

 

Anyway, the singers on Flexable were Bob & Thana Harris, (more Zappa alumni) and they are terrific. Hit up Google and I'm pretty sure you can find at least one album they've done as a solo act.

 

As for Vai, check out a copy of The Ultra Zone, which I think is his best solo album (even better than Passion & Warfare), and also Alive in an Ultra World, which is a good document of his live shows.

 

And if you think Flexable isn't the most accessible work you've heard, check out Flexable Leftovers

 

I took little pieces of seaweed and .....

[BiC]

Originally posted by Durockrolly:

The best thing about Eddie is the over thirty years he has been out there. First as a band called Mammoth, then Van Halen. For those old enough to remember and lucky enough to grow up in the San Gabriel Valley in the seventies you probablly attended a performance in the back yards of Sierra Madre, Arcadia, Monrovia, Pasadena and the likes. I saw them play as Mammoth, before David Lee Roth and as Van Halen with. Not long after, they were playing Hollywood (my favorite clubs, The Wiskey and Gazzaries). I remember a concert at the river with Van Halen, Smile and Snow People. I am nearly 50 years old now and remember less and less but I will never forget the early days of Eddie and Alex and the boys!!!

What a blessing that must have been.

[JipThePeople]

If this is a Phil Collins sucks thread then sign me up!

 

Hendrix EVH Satriani - The Big 3

[Fumblyfingers]

Originally posted by Durockrolly:

I will never forget the early days of Eddie and Alex and the boys!!!

My friend Pat told me they used to hire them for their annual motorcycle club bash down in Orange County. The Stumpjumpers was the name of the club- a dirt bike deal. He said they just rocked the ass out of it. Each year they booked them in advance for the next year, my buddy did the booking. One year he got a call from the band saying they could not do an upcoming Stumpjumper party as they had got signed and were about to go out on tour, they had hit the bigtime or whatever and my friend pleaded with them, just one more time, just this last gig. So they came and did it except this time they had roadies and flashpots and all sorts of good stuff.

 

You had to hear Pat tell it, but he's not around anymore...so that's his story, and I'm sticking to it.

[BiC]

Originally posted by Fumblyfingers:

Originally posted by Durockrolly:

I will never forget the early days of Eddie and Alex and the boys!!!

My friend Pat told me they used to hire them for their annual motorcycle club bash down in Orange County. The Stumpjumpers was the name of the club- a dirt bike deal. He said they just rocked the ass out of it. Each year they booked them in advance for the next year, my buddy did the booking. One year he got a call from the band saying they could not do an upcoming Stumpjumper party as they had got signed and were about to go out on tour, they had hit the bigtime or whatever and my friend pleaded with them, just one more time, just this last gig. So they came and did it except this time they had roadies and flashpots and all sorts of good stuff.

 

You had to hear Pat tell it, but he's not around anymore...so that's his story, and I'm sticking to it.

Your story shows VH's loyalty to those who made them who they are or "were", and hopefully one day will become again.

[marvar]

One of the best things about Ed-

He got to wake up to Valerie Bertinelli!

[BiC]

I came across these great early photos from Japan:

 

web page

[Gifthorse]

Cool photos Bic. Apparently it was cool back then to pull your pants up to your chin..

 

 

That rocks it is circa 1978!! I love to use the word circa by the way. Whenever I can I will throw it in.

 

VH were total badasses by the way!! Get Roth back and forget about it..

[Gifthorse]

By the way, I like to say By the way alot

[Kramer Ferrington III.]

Originally posted by Pappy P:

Yeah. It's better to have a singer, any singer:

 

EXCEPT PHIL COLLINS!!!!!

Phil Collins is not that bad (did I just say that? I must have a weird sort of Tourette's!)

 

Seriously, as a vocalist he's not bad. I can't stand his records, but he's not a bad vocalist.

[fantasticsound]

Originally posted by Billster:

...Anyway, the singers on Flexable were Bob & Thana Harris, (more Zappa alumni) and they are terrific. Hit up Google and I'm pretty sure you can find at least one album they've done as a solo act.

 

As for Vai, check out a copy of The Ultra Zone, which I think is his best solo album (even better than Passion & Warfare), and also Alive in an Ultra World, which is a good document of his live shows.

 

And if you think Flexable isn't the most accessible work you've heard, check out Flexable Leftovers

 

I took little pieces of seaweed and .....

Thanks for the suggestion on Alive In An Ultra World. I'll have to check that out.

 

As for Flexible, I've always had the CD version, which has always included Leftovers, so believe me when I say I know what you mean. I like it all, but "eclectic" deserves a blurb about that album as part of the dictionary definition.

[rotosound45]

The best things about Eddie are ::

 

1. His contributions to guitar playing as an art.

2. His contributions to the guitar in terms of technological advances.

3. His contributions to amplification in terms of technological advances.

 

These are also true about Tony Iommi.