Eddie Van Halen died ... what a bummer

The first time yours truly heard Eddie Van Halen was his solo on Beat It by Michael Jackson. Short, quick and something altogether different as no rock guartarist has ever sounded like this before or since. On the Eruption clip seen above, the reason why this is so is his duo hand fingering technique doing simultaneous jams, thus generating sound unlike anyone else. Varese, Zappa and Stockhausen come to mind in listening to this. In an interview a few years before his death, after quitting booze and drugs. Eddie was articulate, open and kind, talking about how important it was to connect with friends and family and not talking about how cool a rock star he is. He looked terrific, which comes as a shock after learning about his death after a long bout with cancer at 65.

“I don’t know shit about scales or music theory,” he told Rolling Stone in 1980. “I don’t want to be seen as the fastest guitar in town, ready and willing to gun down the competition. All I know is that rock & roll guitar, like blues guitar, should be melody, speed, and taste, but more important, it should have emotion. I just want my guitar playing to make people feel something: happy, sad, even horny.”

RIP Eddie Van Halen 10/5/2020