Eddie Van Halen - Revision history

Per: /* Phone interview with Eddie 1982 */

2025-03-31T00:24:27Z

Phone interview with Eddie 1982

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			Here's a transcription of the relevant section:

			You know Allan Holdsworth?

			Yeah.

			I jammed with him at the Roxy.

			I heard about that.

			It was fucking great. I kind of wrote a tune and came down in the afternoon and got them to play it because they asked me if I wanted to jam with them. And I said, “Well, shit, I can’t play the kind of offbeat stuff that you guys do! So how about playing this?” It was a riff. It kind of went [demonstrates] – you know something that was their style but more my influence type of thing. And Allan is such a fucking nice guy. He spent the night at my house. We started talking, man, and he’s got two kids and a wife back in England, and he’s selling equipment to fucking pay the rent. And he came over here for his last chance to try to make some money playing. So some groupie chick, whose father is rich, flew him and his band out here and got him some gigs like at the Roxy and Golden Bear, or whatever – you know, places like that. Man, I started crying! I couldn’t fucking believe it! So after I jammed with him at the Roxy, I’m saying, “My God, man, you’re too fucking good just be pissed away like this.” He was selling records at the door.

			You’re kidding.

			Yeah! He’s not even on a label! So I fucking called Ted, our producer, and I said, “Goddamn it, check this guy out. He is hot. He might be a little out there, you know. He might be a little spaced out, but ….” Anyway, I got him signed to Warner Brothers.

			Great! Good for you, man!

			I mean, I just had help him, man. ’Cause he’s the only motherfucker that I get off on.

			You’re the first person I ever heard talk about him.

			Well, that shows you how much I like him. I love the way he plays. I think nobody ever even knew who he was until I started talking about him.

			What appeals to you most about his playing?

			Ahh, just, his – I don’t know how to explain it. He’s got feeling, he’s got a fuckin’ ear that’s unbelievable. I mean, you could play any chord change you want and he can improvise over it. But at times, I gotta say, he does get a little monotonous with his [sings a passage] – you know, he never stops. So I talked to him a little bit about that too, because I’m gonna be co-producing his album, which is gonna be a lot of fun. Allan is such a fucking nice guy, it’s unbelievable. And he’s just being fucked around. He’s been fucked around by EG Records or something like that, and somebody owned his publishing and this and that. I just took him to our attorney and I said, “Listen to our attorney.” So I think a deal is just about wrapped up with Warner Brothers. I spoke to him like just about two weeks ago, and he says he’s fucking happy as shit.

			You did him a good turn, Eddie.

			Hey, fuck, man, I’m not… You know, just don’t print everything that I’m telling you, okay? [Note: Again, Eddie’s wishes were honored and this next part was left out of the original 1982 publication]

			Yeah, for sure.

			There’s one thing that bothered me so much in the very beginning, in ’78, our first tour, is how people like Joe Perry and other guitarists would just give me the shaft with their eyes. Wouldn’t say hello. Wouldn’t be nice. No nothing. I’m not that way. I don’t give a fuck if I’m playing a Holiday Inn lounge, I enjoy playing. But I can’t stand to see a person with Allan’s talent, because of mismanagement and people fucking him around. You know, he was ready to sell his guitar and everything and work in a factory. And that is fucking sickening. So I just think about people like Joe Perry or Ritchie Blackmore, who all hate my guts anyway, they wouldn’t go out of their way to help anybody ’cause they would feel threatened. Hey, the way I look at it is I wish there were more people that were innovative so I would have somebody to cop licks from. It might sound a little ego’d-out, but there are very few guitarists that I can listen that make turn my head and go, “Whoa! How did he do that?” And Allan is about the only one.

			Very sophisticated cat.

			Yeah, but also very naïve.

			He’s been through it now.

			Yeah. And we’re still going through it.

			Source: https://jasobrecht.substack.com/p/eddie-van-halen-1982-interview-part-4a2

	==Music UK September 1983==		==Music UK September 1983==

Per: /* Phone interview with Eddie 1982 */

2023-03-18T13:56:14Z

Phone interview with Eddie 1982

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	==		==Music UK September 1983==

	Weren't you also involved in producing an album for Allan Holdsworth?		Weren't you also involved in producing an album for Allan Holdsworth?

Per: /* Phone interview with Eddie 1982 */

2023-03-18T13:54:56Z

Phone interview with Eddie 1982

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			==

			Weren't you also involved in producing an album for Allan Holdsworth?

			EVH: Yeah. We originally scheduled to go in (to record) when I got off tour but I wasn't exactly sure how long the tour would go. Anyway, Allan didn't want to wait, he was climbing the walls. He would only have to wait a month but he didn't want to, so he produced it himself. I think he made a big mistake because Ted Templeman (also scheduled to work on the project) could have made his ideas reach a lot more people. Allan is a fantastic guitarist but needs direction. Everyone does. I'm not trying to be holier than thou because I need it too. It's easy to get one-sided about something and you need an outside person or persons.

			And I think Allan, Donn Landee, Ted and I could have done a great job. I don't know what was involved because I wasn't there. It was between Warner Brothers and Ted. But I do know he was signed because of my interest and Ted's.

			Didn't you do some work with G.I.T. (Guitar Institute of Technology)?

			EVH: I did a semi-seminar with Allan Holdsworth one day. It was right after I played at the Roxy with Allan. (Van Halen guested on an encore number when Holdsworth played the Roxy, a live music club in Hollywood, some time ago.) He spent the night at my house and the next day he had to do a seminar at G.I.T. so I brought my guitar along and played with Jeff Berlin and Allan and Gary Husband (Holdsworth's drummer). It was a lot of fun considering I didn't know what the hell I was doing. I was playing along with Allan's stuff and Jeff Berlin was whispering the chords to me. I ended up playing chromatically the whole time. But I surprised myself. I freaked myself out because I landed on my feet. I love doing that too, just going out and playing in weird keys and stumbling and landing on your feet. It's a great feeling. It's like doing a backward flip off the high dive and landing right.

			https://www.muzines.co.uk/articles/eddie-van-halen/12012

	==Excerpt from Eddie Van Halen interview, Guitar Player April 1980==		==Excerpt from Eddie Van Halen interview, Guitar Player April 1980==

Per: /* EDDIE ON ALLAN */

2023-03-01T00:30:58Z

EDDIE ON ALLAN

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 https://youtu.be/Gov_s01q9HI?t=2063
 ==Excerpt from Guitar World Jan 1981==
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 https://www.guitarworld.com/features/eddie-van-halen-first-guitar-world-interview-1981
 ==Excerpt from Eddie Van Halen interview, Guitar For the Practicing Musician, Nov 1988==

Per: /* Excerpt from Eddie Van Halen interview, Guitar World, February 1990 */

2023-03-01T00:28:19Z

Excerpt from Eddie Van Halen interview, Guitar World, February 1990

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	VAN HALEN: I'd sure like to see how Holdsworth does some of his stuff, but I never had the nerve to ask him. It takes me two hands to do what he does with one. I don't know how he pulls it off.		VAN HALEN: I'd sure like to see how Holdsworth does some of his stuff, but I never had the nerve to ask him. It takes me two hands to do what he does with one. I don't know how he pulls it off.

			==Excerpt from Guitarist 1993==

			Are there any players around who you find yourself getting excited about?

			“Beck, Steve Lukather… I don’t know, I generally like everything and at the same time, nothing really inspires me, if that’s what you mean. I think the last guitarist who moved me was Holdsworth. Just because he was so out there, y’know?

			“I wanted to work with him and try to bring him back to earth, so to speak, and make him more accessible, but it never quite materialised. The guy just has some insane technique, if he’d only make it a little more melodic.

			https://www.guitarworld.com/features/eddie-van-halen-goes-deep-on-his-approach-to-tone-technique-and-guitar-design-in-this-classic-1993-guitarist-interview

	==Eddie recalls playing with Allan, VHlinks 2013==		==Eddie recalls playing with Allan, VHlinks 2013==

Per: /* Excerpt from Guitar World Jan 1981 */

2023-03-01T00:26:25Z

Excerpt from Guitar World Jan 1981

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	"I'd Just like people to like what I play. I don't want people to say, 'You're Number One.' It's a matter of taste. To me Allan Holdsworth is Number One. Other kids might listen to him and not even understand what he's doing. Older people might think I suck."		"I'd Just like people to like what I play. I don't want people to say, 'You're Number One.' It's a matter of taste. To me Allan Holdsworth is Number One. Other kids might listen to him and not even understand what he's doing. Older people might think I suck."

			https://www.guitarworld.com/features/eddie-van-halen-first-guitar-world-interview-1981

	==Excerpt from Eddie Van Halen interview, Guitar Player April 1980==		==Excerpt from Eddie Van Halen interview, Guitar Player April 1980==

Per: /* EDDIE ON ALLAN */

2023-03-01T00:25:56Z

EDDIE ON ALLAN

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			==Excerpt from Guitar World Jan 1981==

			But do you still reach any new plateaus?

			"Sure I do."

			Can you point some out on your records?

			"The solo on Cradle Will Rock is different. One guitar player who I respect and think is the baddest, is Allan Holdsworth. I do one short lick on Cradle which is very spontaneous. That came out because I've been listening to this guy. On the second album I expanded a little more on harmonics."

			Would you like to be thought of as a great player?

			"I'd Just like people to like what I play. I don't want people to say, 'You're Number One.' It's a matter of taste. To me Allan Holdsworth is Number One. Other kids might listen to him and not even understand what he's doing. Older people might think I suck."

	==Excerpt from Eddie Van Halen interview, Guitar Player April 1980==		==Excerpt from Eddie Van Halen interview, Guitar Player April 1980==

Per at 10:57, 14 November 2022

2022-11-14T10:57:33Z

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	I'd Just like people to like what I play. I don't want people to say, "You're Number One." It's a matter of taste. To me Allen Holdsworth is Number One. Other kids might listen to him and not even understand what he's doing. Older people might think I suck.		I'd Just like people to like what I play. I don't want people to say, "You're Number One." It's a matter of taste. To me Allen Holdsworth is Number One. Other kids might listen to him and not even understand what he's doing. Older people might think I suck.

			==Excerpt from Eddie Van Halen interview, Guitar For the Practicing Musician, Nov 1988==

			By John Stix

			VH: I remember once at GIT Allan Holdsworth was doing a seminar and he asked me to come down and I said, "Me play with you, with your music?" He said, "Just wing it." I ended up doing it and it was great. That was really weird, totally blindfolded for me. I didn't know the song structure or where I was going. I was guessing and playing chromatically, hoping to land on my feet. I sure wish we could have worked together like we were supposed to. All he had to do was
			wait six weeks till I got home from South America. He ended up doing it himself.

			GPM: It was still a good record.

			VH: I didn't hear much of it. I was almost afraid to listen to it because he had a couple of riffs that I thought were great and I heard them completely differently than he did. I would have just liked to have him try doing it the way I heard it. I know that he didn't, because I never talked to him and told him what I wanted. I'm sure his record ended up the same way as the demos that I heard, which are very tunnel vision. Very much Allan. I don't mean it was a bad thing, I think I could have possibly had him look at his music in a different way. He had this one riff that I hear like a Zeppelin tune. He heard it with brushes. It could have been neat. He can do amazing things that nobody can do on a guitar. It kind of pissed me off that I never got a chance to hear some of the things that I wanted to hear.

			GPM Is that something that you'd still like to do?

			VAN HALEN Sure.

	==Excerpt from Eddie Van Halen interview, Guitar World, February 1990==		==Excerpt from Eddie Van Halen interview, Guitar World, February 1990==

Per: /* Excerpt from Eddie Van Halen interview, Guitar World Januar 1981 */

2022-02-23T09:59:03Z

Excerpt from Eddie Van Halen interview, Guitar World Januar 1981

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	I'd Just like people to like what I play. I don't want people to say, "You're Number One." It's a matter of taste. To me Allen Holdsworth is Number One. Other kids might listen to him and not even understand what he's doing. Older people might think I suck.		I'd Just like people to like what I play. I don't want people to say, "You're Number One." It's a matter of taste. To me Allen Holdsworth is Number One. Other kids might listen to him and not even understand what he's doing. Older people might think I suck.


	==Excerpt from Eddie Van Halen interview, Guitar World, February 1990==		==Excerpt from Eddie Van Halen interview, Guitar World, February 1990==

Per: /* Excerpt from Eddie Van Halen interview, Guitar World Januar 1981 */

2022-02-23T09:58:51Z

Excerpt from Eddie Van Halen interview, Guitar World Januar 1981

← Older revision		Revision as of 09:58, 23 February 2022
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	I'd Just like people to like what I play. I don't want people to say, "You're Number One." It's a matter of taste. To me Allen Holdsworth is Number One. Other kids might listen to him and not even understand what he's doing. Older people might think I suck.		I'd Just like people to like what I play. I don't want people to say, "You're Number One." It's a matter of taste. To me Allen Holdsworth is Number One. Other kids might listen to him and not even understand what he's doing. Older people might think I suck.


			==Excerpt from Eddie Van Halen interview, Guitar World, February 1990==

			GW: You were pretty involved with Holdsworth's career for a while there.

			VAN HALEN: Yeah, I got him signed to Warner Bros. because I just hated to see this guy who's so amazing selling guitars to stay alive. So I got him signed. I was supposed to co-produce the record with Ted Templeman and Donn Landee. Then I hate to say this-while we were on tour in South America he just didn't wanna wait like two weeks, you know? So he did it himself...and it ended up being just another Allan Holdsworth record. The guy needs direction, you know what I mean? We did a couple of demos before I went to South America, and one of the songs was great. So he blew it, I think. I really think I could have, well, not necessarily pulled him back, but steered him in a different direction, you know? I was just over my friend Steve Lukather's house, and he played me Allan's new record, and I tell you, I couldn't tell the difference between that and his other records. I don't wanna rag on the guy, because he's an incredible player and he's a good friend. I love him. He just needs direction, that's all.

			GW: Have you worked with him since that episode?

			VAN HALEN: Yeah, I talked to him on the phone about a month ago. He called and asked if I'd want to do something with him. And I'd love to, except I don't really have the time right now. When the time is right, sure. It'll be fun. I don't give a damn if it's good or not. Like that thing I did with Brian May; that wasn't good, but it was fun.

			VAN HALEN: I'd sure like to see how Holdsworth does some of his stuff, but I never had the nerve to ask him. It takes me two hands to do what he does with one. I don't know how he pulls it off.

	==Eddie recalls playing with Allan, VHlinks 2013==		==Eddie recalls playing with Allan, VHlinks 2013==