Another Virtuoso Gone

2020 isn't getting any better, and the news of Netherlands-born American GUITAR GAWD Eddie Van Halen losing his fight with cancer at the age of 65 is yet another blow. In the late 70s, Van Halen took up the mantle of Jimi Hendrix and became the most noted hard rock guitarist of the late 70s-mid 80s, preferring to play a modified guitar he cobbled together himself. His place in the hard rock pantheon would be assured even if his only release was the instrumental Eruption off of his band's first album, characterized by an innovative two-handed string tapping technique. This is THE song which every teenager who picks up an electric guitar seeks to emulate. Here's the 1983 US Festival performance of Eruption:

  

 It's a hard act to follow up on, but Eddie Van Halen persisted in putting out party-friendly hard rock. Here's a performance of the second album's Beautiful Girls featuring Eddie Van Halen's son Wolfgang on the bass:

   

Everybody Wants Some!! off of Van Halen's third album, formed the sountrack behind a hilarious animated vignette in the movie Better Off Dead: 

 

 Unchained, from the band's fourth album, is another barn-burner of a song, with its heavily flanged guitar sound:

  

One of the standout tracks on Van Halen's fifth album is Little Guitars, which was inspired by Flamenco guitar playing: 

  

Eddie Van Halen described his guitar technique on Little Guitars in a charmingly self-deprecating fashion: 

"I think that the best thing I do is cheat. I came up with the intro after I bought a couple of Carlos Montoya records. I was hearing his fingerpicking, going, 'My God, this guy is great. I can't do that.' So, I just listened to that style of music for a couple of days and I cheated! [Using a pick] I am doing trills on the high E and pull-offs with my left hand, and slapping my middle finger on the low E. If there's something I want to do and can't, I won't give up until I can figure out some way to make it sound similar to what I really can do." 

  If that was cheating, nobody would cry foul. 

The rock world, and rock fandom, lost a titan with the passing of Eddie Van Halen. His eponymous band, anchored by his guitar genius and leavened with the sometimes clownish (in a good sense) showmanship of David Lee Roth, formed the soundtrack to a lot of parties in my youth. Eddie's playing, with it's use of effects pedals, tapping/hammering, and whammy bar, was emulated by a lot of bands of the era. I could go on with further examples of Eddie Van Halen's sheer virtuosity- the band released a dozen albums with various lineups, but I figure my time is better spent just blasting Eddie's music. What better tribute could there be to such a nonpareil?