Edward Van Halen RIP

 😢 🎸

Riff from Ain't Talkin' Bout Love one of the top 10 greatest of all time, Panama up there too.

2020...I got 1 thing to say....

Well shit 

EVH wrote the famous guitar shred for Michael Jackson's Beat It, another all time great riff, in about 15 minutes. 

He was a true virtuoso of rock guitar. Hopefully in his death, he will get more attention. People today have little concept of listening to an entire album start to finish. I wore out copies of I, 1984, OU812 and For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge. VH was a big part of the soundtrack of my youth.

holy shit.  still remember seeing them in concert, he had the baddest-ass solo I have ever experienced. rip indeed. wow, didn't even know he was ill like that.

Icon is too small a word. RIP

One of my favorite EVH memories was when he sat in with Letterman's house band on Late Night.
He played the opening parts of "Jump" on Paul Shaffer's keyboard, which, as far as I know, the only time anyone other than Shaffer played them.

There's a blip of it at the beginning, but it starts at about :43.

Incredible artist. Just amazing. 

I heard a rumor it was the steel picks he used to put in his mouth that he blamed for his cancer. 

Regardless, to cancer. RIP Eddie. 

To me Fair Warning is his (and Van Halen's) best work. 

The opening to Mean Street may not be Eruption, but man it absolutely kills. Unchained is for my money the best song VH did. His first foray into the keyboards. Hear About It Later and So This Is Love? are great.

Their first 6 albums were as good as any 6 album run.  

And he married my first celebrity crush...

@packerboi posted:

Incredible artist. Just amazing. 

I heard a rumor it was the steel picks he used to put in his mouth that he blamed for his cancer. 

Regardless, to cancer. RIP Eddie. 

Steel picks causing cancer? Possibly, but I doubt it. Makes me smile because that's something Eddie would definitely say....I'm going to go with he smoked like a friggin train & lotsa hard alcohol too.

pharyngeal pouch or esophageal diverticulum -- Know what that is? It's a little pouch that can collect & hold alcohol (or anything else). How do I know this? My Step Dad died of throat cancer & he drank the hard stuff like Ozzy or Keith Richards amounts. Doctors believe if you drink too much of the hard stuff, it collects there & eventually causes throat cancer.

When I do enjoy some Single Malt or high end Tequila, I'm always finishing with water to help clean out that pouch.

FU Cancer.....RIP Eddie....far & away one of my idols in the music scene. Shedding tears for a man I didn't even know....FU 2020 Just FU

Legend.

Changed the face of an entire genre of music. VH 1 was just crazy. Personally I have Women and Children First as favorite. 

Yep. 2020 can suck a 2020.

Yes that's high end Tequila in that shot glass

Cheers Eddie

Part of my youth died today 

A Van Halen fan at a young age, loved the Roth years (saw Roth at the Dodge Co. fair when I was to young to buy beer, but buying beer for the ladies anyway).  Women and Children First is my favorite Roth years album.  Big Bad Bill has Eddie and Alex's dad playing on it, great song.  

But I've grown to like the Hagar stuff better.  Hot Summer Nights is my favorite song by VH.  The tone changed and musically they went farther with Hagar.  It's all in 5150, OU812 and FUCK (Balance was not great).  

Not many could do what Eddie did, maybe some viral video drinking cranberry juice will get the kids to see that.  

@Iowacheese posted:

Part of my youth died today 

Me as well, although I was not a big Van Halen fan because I can't stand DLR, but Eddie was definitely an all timer.

I was 9 when VH1 came out. My two older brothers played that record repeatedly. Like many, I can hear that record note for note in my head. And also like so many millions, my life and significant memories are totally intertwined with Van Halen's music. So many experiences with so many people where I can vividly recall Van Halen as the soundtrack. Had a good 2 hours earlier where I cranked up the living room stereo and even 40 years later I'm still amazed at how good they were, and of course Ed in particular. And it occured to me tonight- I've heard their stuff thousands of times, and always naturally thought of them as a hard rock band. But really, at heart, at their best, they were the greatest swing band of our lifetime. And listening with that in the front of my head gives me even more appreciation of Eddie and the whole band. Anyone who got to experience VH is truly fortunate to have lived at a time in history where we could be graced with such a phenomenal body of work.

Lived a great life including 21 years with Valerie Bertinelli. Can't complain about that! 

Great pic of Eddie and GB guitar player Jimmy Crimmins when Jim was working at the Hollywood guitar center.   

Damn  2020 we cry freaking uncle already enough!

I didn't truly appreciate how good he was until I saw him play in person i think in GB in 1984.  Wow is the only word I have to this day.

As for my favorite VH album it is VH2 and 1984 a close second (graduated in 84)

@PackerHawk posted:

Lived a great life including 21 years with Valerie Bertinelli. Can't complain about that! 

Years ago, Jimmy told me that Ed used to show up there with a 12 pack and just hang out playing guitar until Valerie would call, asking for him.

Ed would say, "Tell her I just left." 

2020 just keeps on sucking more and more every fucking day !

https://www.yahoo.com/entertai...ibute-002112151.html

Loved EVH recount of when David Lee Roth left the band, and did so in the shittiest way possible, basically told EVH "I'm bigger than this band,"

EVH says "I told Roth, next time you talk to me like that, you better be wearing a cup."

Yet, Roth came back years later... presumably with his cup on.

Our guitar player was a total EVH disciple. Cut his teeth on learning his riffs (very underrated part of EVH’s genius). 

The musical genius of EVH spawned the entire 80s decade of rock guitarists... every band had to have a virtuoso guitar player finger tapping and whammy barring, flying up and down the fretboard. The Brown Tone is easily the most iconic and recognizable guitar tone in music. 

Musically, the Van Hagar era was their finest. But I always gravitated to the early stuff. I was just a kid, but having older brothers, I heard it all. 1984 never left the cassette deck in the car. 

Very nice Valerie:

View this post on Instagram

40 years ago my life changed forever when I met you. You gave me the one true light in my life, our son, Wolfgang. Through all your challenging treatments for lung cancer, you kept your gorgeous spirit and that impish grin. I’m so grateful Wolfie and I were able to hold you in your last moments. I will see you in our next life my love.

A post shared by Valerie Bertinelli (@wolfiesmom) on Oct 6, 2020 at 4:32pm PDT

Is there a better opening track on a debut album than "Runnin' With the Devil"?

as a youngster teenager I heard Runnin' With the Devil on the radio and my jaw hit the ground.  the next time I could I asked about the band at the local record store.  VH was so new the guy hadn't even heard of them - I had him order the LP.  the rest is history.

I'm old, never got it, I'm more of a Albert/BB King, Scotty Moore, Chuck Berry guitar kind guy.  ONe good note instead of pyrotechnics. But after hearing all the rave reviews here and elsewhere I feel I need to give him and them a new listen.

@Pikes Peak posted:

I'm old, never got it, I'm more of a Albert/BB King, Scotty Moore, Chuck Berry guitar kind guy.  ONe good note instead of pyrotechnics. But after hearing all the rave reviews here and elsewhere I feel I need to give him and them a new listen.

Like a lot of sports discussions, it has to be remembered in context. At the time EVH entered the scene, there was no one sounded like that. No one ever played like that. 10 years later, everyone did. 

But it was a seminal moment, like the invention of the piano, or the appearance and evolution of Ragtime and Jazz in the late 19th Century, which eventually gave birth to the Blues, spawning the modern era of pop music and it’s twists and turns. These little moments influence about 95% of the music we listen to today. 

In rock music, the appearance of EVH was one of those moments. Before him, bluesey noodlers like Jimmy Page and the rest of the 70s rock guitar gods had run into a brick wall. There wasn’t much left to explore- then came Eddie. Nothing was ever the same. 

@Scott Catron posted:

Is there a better opening track on a debut album than "Runnin' With the Devil"?

 

Not saying they are better, but in the team picture.

Welcome to the Jungle - GNR

Head Like A Hole - NiN

Blister in the Sun - Femmes

Radio Free Europe - REM

Good Times Roll - The Cars

More Than a Feeling - Boston

Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath

Good Times, Bad Times - Zeppelin

Clapton was still active in the 80’s+.  I liked Van Halen but never that much into them. I listened to Eruption today and was blown away.  Wow!

@Timpranillo posted:

Not saying they are better, but in the team picture.

Welcome to the Jungle - GNR

Head Like A Hole - NiN

Blister in the Sun - Femmes

Radio Free Europe - REM

Good Times Roll - The Cars

More Than a Feeling - Boston

Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath

Good Times, Bad Times - Zeppelin

Sweet Child of Mine - GNR

Sunshine of Your Love - Clapton/Cream

Rick Beato has some really good YouTube content.  What makes this song great #22.