After 40 yrs VH could still fill stadiums and sell out tours. I was living in California when the first record came out…Van Halen was a large part of the sound track of my youth.
RIP Eddie…
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For me, some of Van Halen’s most musical work was in the early days as part of Montrose. You can hear Van Helen (the group) sound nearly fully formed in the Montrose debut album. Magic stuff.
Eddie Van Halen was the first guitar player I saw and heard tapping, a technique which he used to great effect and which became widely adopted by contemporary players.
If you want to see him at his live best watch this from 1986:
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Another album really worth tracking down is Brian May & Friends’ Star Fleet Project. There are only three songs on it. Particularly a basement-type of jam session power blues tribute to Eric Clapton is absolutely brilliant with all its little mistakes and miscommunications. It thoroughly underlines Eddie Van Halen’s blues roots if anyone ever had any doubts…
They’re having a ball, that’s for sure 
!
I don’t think it was ever released on CD, I’m afraid.
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Oh, Star Fleet Project is on Youtube…! here linked directly into Bluesbreaker…
Sound quality is slightly hazy but not at all bad.
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I thought Sammy Hagar was in Montrose? The early VH band was Mammoth (narrowly avoiding the terrible name Rat Salade).
Yes
This is a little ripper:
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Yup. Sammy was their front man for the debut but left to join Van Halen. I have both the complete Montrose album set and early VH up to 1984 and it is striking how similar they are.
The original lineup of Montrose is sans Van Halen officially. Though he is credited on their live radio performances.
So that’s how to do it. Thanks, Eddie.
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Eddie was such an excellent guitarist. He had a ton of unique, creative, licks and riffs.
He really was the best guitarist of his era. IMHO.
He used to say that his front men kept getting LSD. Lead singer disease.
Dave
Yes Eddie another icon sadly departed only 65
He was the Hendrix of his era - a guy who blew away other guitarists with both his chops and innovative approach.
I read where Ted Nugent got to check out his rig looking for his “secret”, and realized the gear was nothing elaborate or special, and that all that tone came from Eddie’s hands.
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No - the Frankenstrat was not so much the source as his style.
You misunderstand, I wasn’t saying that’s why he was so good or anything. It was a response to the story that when Ted Nugent was looking for something, he was looking for something different with his equipment. There was, the Frankenstrat.
To be clear, I firmly believe that without it he would still have been known as one of the, or the, greatest guitarist of his generation. Arguably changed guitar playing more than anyone since Hendrix.
But the Frankenstrat itself wasn’t that amazingly different - and he had several iterations of his guitars, especially once he got big and the created the EVH line.
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