Eddie Van Halen: Difference between revisions
From Allan Holdsworth Information Center
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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== | |||
Weren't you also involved in producing an album for Allan Holdsworth? | Weren't you also involved in producing an album for Allan Holdsworth? | ||
