In grade 9 a couple friends and I needed to make an advertising video. We chose to do a car, and needed something epic for the opening, so went with this song.
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This is very sad. We lost a great player and pretty cool guy. I had a chance encounter with Eddie a couple decades ago, one I will never forget.
I was flying from Calgary to Phoenix on a consulting gig, and my flight had been cancelled out of Calgary. They managed to get me on a flight through LA so off I went. On the flight from LA to Phoenix I ended up in a middle seat and was really hoping the aisle would not be filled. As the flight filled up and the door was about to be closed my seat next to me remained open. I thought I had caught a break. Just before the doors closed a guy in a beat up old herringbone over coat, with blown out elbows, wearing a knit cap with long hair sticking out everywhere, stumbled on the flight. From a distance this guy looked like bum off the corner of Ventura. I looked around the plane and the only seat left open was next to me. Could the day get any worse???
As the "bum" was shuffling down the aisle he bumped into someone and dropped his boarding pass. He bent over and picked it up, and as he did he cracked a smile. I immediately recognized his crooked bridge and knew who it was. He continued down the aisle nodding at people along the way. As he approached he reached up to throw his bag in the overhead, but is slid of his shoulder and ended up hitting me in the shoulder. He quickly apologized and likely recognized my look of annoyance. He took his seat, got comfortable, and engaged the guy across the aisle in a quick conversation.
When I fly I normally have headphones on so I don't have to engage people in conversation if I'm engaged in some work. I had my headphones on and my discman (this was 20 years ago!) in my lap, and this didn't stop Eddie from engaging me in conversation. He elbowed me and asked me what I was listening to? I didn't want to let on I knew who he was so I looked at him with a straight face and said, "Sammy Hagar," recognizing this was not long after his departure from the band. Van Halen responded with, "Aw, that guy sucks!"
We went through the discs I had with me, much of Canadian music, and struck up a conversation about what we did. He asked me what I was doing going to Phoenix and I told him that I was going for work and let him know I was a consultant in the IT business. I asked him what he did and he said he was in the music business. Playing dumb I asked him if he was an engineer or in A&R? He laughed and said he was a musician in a pretty big band. I asked him if they did anything I might know. He rattled off a list of their greatest hits, looking like it would impress me (of course it did, but I wasn't going to let on I was). I looked at him for a second, then let my face light up like the light bulb had just gone on, looked him straight in the eye and sai, "You're David Lee Roth!" I thought he was going to punch me, so I let him in on my gag and told him I recognized him when he cracked his smile coming down the aisle.
We talked for the majority of the 50 minute flight from LAX to PHX. He told me all about the music business, life on the road, the stress it put on his marriage with Valarie (who was from Scottsdale), and how he was re-evaluating things since the band broke up. He was a really cool guy who had a great sense of humor and could make you laugh. When I read this news it took me back to that conversation like it was yesterday and it made my stomach drop. We lost a great one. I suspect that he, Hendrix and Terry Kath are cutting heads in the great beyond.
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This is very sad. We lost a great player and pretty cool guy. I had a chance encounter with Eddie a couple decades ago, one I will never forget.
I was flying from Calgary to Phoenix on a consulting gig, and my flight had been cancelled out of Calgary. They managed to get me on a flight through LA so off I went. On the flight from LA to Phoenix I ended up in a middle seat and was really hoping the aisle would not be filled. As the flight filled up and the door was about to be closed my seat next to me remained open. I thought I had caught a break. Just before the doors closed a guy in a beat up old herringbone over coat, with blown out elbows, wearing a knit cap with long hair sticking out everywhere, stumbled on the flight. From a distance this guy looked like bum off the corner of Ventura. I looked around the plane and the only seat left open was next to me. Could the day get any worse???
As the "bum" was shuffling down the aisle he bumped into someone and dropped his boarding pass. He bent over and picked it up, and as he did he cracked a smile. I immediately recognized his crooked bridge and knew who it was. He continued down the aisle nodding at people along the way. As he approached he reached up to throw his bag in the overhead, but is slid of his shoulder and ended up hitting me in the shoulder. He quickly apologized and likely recognized my look of annoyance. He took his seat, got comfortable, and engaged the guy across the aisle in a quick conversation.
When I fly I normally have headphones on so I don't have to engage people in conversation if I'm engaged in some work. I had my headphones on and my discman (this was 20 years ago!) in my lap, and this didn't stop Eddie from engaging me in conversation. He elbowed me and asked me what I was listening to? I didn't want to let on I knew who he was so I looked at him with a straight face and said, "Sammy Hagar," recognizing this was not long after his departure from the band. Van Halen responded with, "Aw, that guy sucks!"
We went through the discs I had with me, much of Canadian music, and struck up a conversation about what we did. He asked me what I was doing going to Phoenix and I told him that I was going for work and let him know I was a consultant in the IT business. I asked him what he did and he said he was in the music business. Playing dumb I asked him if he was an engineer or in A&R? He laughed and said he was a musician in a pretty big band. I asked him if they did anything I might know. He rattled off a list of their greatest hits, looking like it would impress me (of course it did, but I wasn't going to let on I was). I looked at him for a second, then let my face light up like the light bulb had just gone on, looked him straight in the eye and sai, "You're David Lee Roth!" I thought he was going to punch me, so I let him in on my gag and told him I recognized him when he cracked his smile coming down the aisle.
We talked for the majority of the 50 minute flight from LAX to PHX. He told me all about the music business, life on the road, the stress it put on his marriage with Valarie (who was from Scottsdale), and how he was re-evaluating things since the band broke up. He was a really cool guy who had a great sense of humor and could make you laugh. When I read this news it took me back to that conversation like it was yesterday and it made my stomach drop. We lost a great one. I suspect that he, Hendrix and Terry Kath are cutting heads in the great beyond.
Thats a really cool experience, thanks for sharing!
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“That incredible virtuosity combined with that beautiful grin allows me to forgive him for letting David Lee Roth stand in front of him." - Pete Townsend.
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No one has moved the electric guitar further ahead since eddie and I dont expect anyone will.
A lot of people dont know how much of an influence hes had on guitar gear, his endless quest for tone had him chopping up guitars and hot-rodding amps like a mad chemist. He put brands like Hamer and Friedman on the map and created signature, iconic gear for bigger brands that's sold well for decades. His 5150 amps are probably his biggest success, being one of the most popular and recorded amps in metal for nearly 30 years. Go into any guitar store and the stuff on sale will bear his mark as much as anyone not named Leo Fender.
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This absolutely devastated me. I'm thinking that I'm over it and ready to move on...? But no.
I was in Gr. 9 when VH1 dropped and I lost my "stuff" trying to figure out what he was doing to get those sounds out of a guitar.
Over many years in cover bands, I played a large portion of their catalog and figured out how to "cop" his stuff at a good enough level to fool the average listener.
But I always knew that I was a mere copy-cat, not an innovator.
My favorite track is the "boogie" off of Van Halen 1..."I'm the One".
It took me months of jamming to the record to get that groove down (and months to find a drummer that could understand where "the pocket" was) in that tune.
My main (go to) guitar has an original Floyd Rose (one of the first with fine tuning, bought in early 1983 at Mothers in Edmonton) and this was (primarily) because of Edward's influence...him and Ulrich Roth. I wrote a bad check ($400) to buy it, Mom and Dad bailed me out and made me pay it off. $400 was a lot of money for a kid working minimum wage as a 19 year old ski instructor in 1983.
But I had to have it...
I saw Edward many times over the years but my "keeper" is still the show in 1980 at Northlands Coliseum. Dave was messed up beyond all repair and presented himself as the "perfect" village idiot. Stumble, mumble, bumble, can't even try to remember the lyrics, or to sing in time. Edward was on his game this night and most of us left the venue saying "David Lee Who?" Sure, Edward was probably high as a kite on blow. It fits in with how things were rolling at that point. Regardless? One hell of a show. DLR can FOAD in my opinion. Never liked the dude.
Sammy was a real singer and it changed the band in a BIG way.
The best of Edward (as a soloist) is probably on "Fair Warning", he's demonstrably upset with the state of affairs and he's "pissed off" wailing on some of the tracks.
The best of Edward as a song writer would probably be on the F.U.C.K. album.
All that said?
If there is ever a case to be made for a "poser"? Insert DLR and move on.
I went to see Sheehan, Vai, and Greg Bissonette in 1986.
"David Lee Who? Indeed...
Same story. The guy doesn't get it.
He hired a superstar set of musicians and within three years they all told him to fu*k off as well.
Dave will never read this...but maybe he Should?
Alex and Wolfgang have solid control on anything we will see from Edward's archive moving ahead.
I haven't bought a record in 25 years but I am dying to hear Wolfgang's album. If Ed says it kicks ass (which he did, many times) then it probably does.
Rest in Peace Edward, the mark you left on the world will persist forever.
There will still be people listening to Van Halen in the year 2500 (if the "world" still exists) and that is a huge accomplishment by any stretch of the imagination. Just like Bach, Beethoven, Chopin...? You will also live forever.
No small accomplishment my man.
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