Eddie Van Halen 1955 – 2020

Eddie Van Halen was a very flawed human being. All human beings are flawed in some way and no one is perfect, but musicians in general and especially us guitar players are from another planet. Singers behave one way, drummers another and bass players another, but guitar players have certain patterns about them that can be terribly difficult to say the least. We look for loyalty as a priority, but will sever ties at the drop of a hat. We don’t have to worry about losing our voice before a gig so we are usually a lot more reckless with partying than singers and girls LOVE us so drummers and bass players hate that we can tear down our gear quickly and get out there and mingle. But Eddie, like his guitar playing, was way the fuck out there. Boy, was he angry. The vitriol he spewed toward ex-members like DLR, Hagar and especially VH bass player and backing vocalist Michael Anthony was a lot of the time uncalled for and unnecessary. Hate for former members seemed to consume him.

He married a woman who was much loved by teen boys of the time and they even sort of looked alike but instead of enjoying a life with her he chose a path that involved anger, alcohol, lots of cigarettes and he ended up losing the girl. He had the best band in the world and he, along with his brother, proceeded to make decisions that completely ruined their legacy. There was that horrible story about Eddie showing up drunk in Nirvana’s backstage and making racist remarks to Kurt Cobain about co-guitarist Pat Smear and pleading to play “Eruption” to introduce their encore. There are many accounts of him appearing at places drunk, unruly and wearing worn Adidas held together with duct tape and just looking like a homeless person. But when he played all that was out the window.

He was aging gracefully, still looked good and could still hold his own on stage with any other guitar player. But anger, cigarettes and booze held a power over him and no amount of awesome solos could break the spell. To go along with the horror stories there are also tales of him being approached by normal folk and fans alike and spending quality time talking with them like they were equals. I’m angry with him for messing up the band but I am more angry and sad that he could not get it together. After the tongue cancer drama he went through I would just CRINGE seeing interviews on TV with him where he had a lit cigarette in his hand. I would just shake my head and say, WTF? There is even a great photo of he and DLR bonding together backstage during the tour from just a few years ago and Eddie is lighting Dave’s cigarette while having his own lit cancer stick in his mouth.

Whenever I wanna go back to being a carefree teen just discovering sex and weed and backyard parties and booze, I just put on one of the early VH records and there I am again without a fucking care in the world. Alex’s crisp drums, Michael’s throbbing bass and soaring backing vocals, DLR frontin’ and Eddie were the soundtrack to the youth of many people my age, but especially for us Californians. VH were America’s band and we were proud of them. In a way it was they like they were the West Coast Ramones. They were unique to their state of origin while also just totally capturing the sonic essence of youth of the day. And damn he could play! It really is true that there were great guitar players and then there was Jimi Hendrix and then there were more great guitar players and then there was Eddie Van Halen. No other guitar icons besides those two have had the same impact on how rock guitarists approach their playing. They both set bars that are unachievable for anyone else. I just wish Eddie could have been around a little longer and straightened himself out. MeanStreets4LIFE…