The band who inspired Eddie Van Halen to become a rock giant: “They were badass”
Can you imagine being in the crowd at one of the early Van Halen shows? At that point, rock music was incredibly popular, and it looked as though it was a style of music which had found its feet and was established. Then, along comes fast-fingered Eddie, with a hand speed that would terrify the quickest of drawers in the Wild West. He changed rock music forever with his playing style and captured the hearts of music lovers in the process.
Writing innovative music was one thing, but looking at a musical instrument and deciding that the way it’s been played needs changing is something else entirely. His tapping technique, which was used not just for solos but also to put together riffs, opened people’s eyes to a whole new range of rock music.
When you’re watching an artist like that, it’s hard to imagine them doing anything other than playing guitar and changing music for the better. The truth is, though, without being exposed to some very specific music and having a brother who also encouraged his love of sound, it’s likely that we might have never had Van Halen.
So, who inspires one of the greatest guitarists of all time? Jimi Hendrix? Eric Clapton? Jeff Beck? Nope. It turns out that the band to which Eddie Van Halen was first drawn was the Dave Clark Five. Granted, they’re an excellent band and were on the frontlines along with The Beatles during the British Invasion, but they’re not a band hailed for their guitar sound. That didn’t matter to Eddie, though, as it wasn’t even the guitar he wanted to play.
“Alex and I went to the local theatre to see A Hard Day’s Night, and the girls were screaming. Alex loved that. For me it was ‘Glad All Over’,” he said, “To this day I listen to some of those old recordings, and they have a magic to them. They were badass.”
Eddie’s imagination was sparked after watching Dave Clark Five. Images of being a rockstar entered his mind. He wanted to be a drummer, so he started making his own home drum kits and practising on them.
“Every kid goes through the phase of building model cars and stuff,” he said, “I would take boxes and paper and make something like a snare drum, and I’d play along with the Dave Clark Five stuff. Around fourth grade my passion was drumming. I loved to beat on things. When I turned 12 or so, I got myself a paper route because my parents couldn’t afford to buy us anything, and I bought a drum kit.”
Eddie and his brother Alex would practice together, and as they got older, they started trying to write music. It soon became apparent that Eddie was a more proficient guitarist. So they swapped instruments. The rest is history.
