“It’s just the way I play”: Why Eddie Van Halen felt strange about his reputation as a guitarist
Despite always remaining humble about his efforts as a guitarist, Eddie Van Halen did well to draw immediate attention from many of his contemporaries. While some became enamoured with how anyone could possibly go at it without a plan and become such a hero, others saw him as the ultimate purveyor of the unpredictable.
In a sense, while he never wanted his playing to overshadow his music, this nonchalance only made his abilities seem even more advanced. After all, some of the greatest musicians in history are the ones who can pull off almost anything with a sort of effortless resignation, and Van Halen was no doubt one of them. As Tony Iommy once said: “Eddie was playing things I’d never seen before. He set off a whole new load of players playing like that.”
From the start, Van Halen treated the guitar like a key ingredient in a recipe. He never set out to be a guitar hero and only learned in a way that made sense to him. In doing so, he unintentionally became known as one of the most skilled players in a game where he never even followed the rules. However, that’s not to say that he didn’t embrace the instrument with curiosity, even if that’s what ultimately became his unspoken secret to success.
Still, nothing he did fit the typical guitar virtuoso, but that’s what made so many want to emulate his style, with some even copying the exact instrument he used. For instance, once, he attended a live performance of The Weasels and was stunned to see them using the same guitar as him: “I just don’t understand how someone could walk onstage with my guitar because it is my trademark,” he said. “You know, when people see a freaked-out striped guitar like that, with one pickup and one volume knob, they obviously know it’s mine.”
For this, among many reasons, Halen had a love-hate relationship with his own reputation and made it clear that all of the hype surrounding his style and approach wasn’t exactly warranted, considering how he only did all of his “tricks” because he searched for new ways to create sound dynamics. Steve Lukather once recalled an exchange while the pair were working on ‘Twist the Knife’ when he asked how he pulled it off.
“I remember him telling me, ‘Look, man, I never meant to turn it into this parlor-trick thing — it’s just the way I play,” he told Guitar World. “He found a new way to fill out the sound. He created a whole orchestra on the instrument. You have to look at things pre-Van Halen and post-Van Halen when it comes to guitar.”
He also recalled his general attitude, saying, “He was just a humble little guy who just loved to mess with shit and do things different. He always had an ‘adventure mentality.’ He knew what he wanted. And he wanted really weird shit.”
It’s an interesting position to take, but an understandable one nonetheless. After all, Van Halen is often remembered for being one of the greatest guitar players who ever existed, but many of those who continue to preach about that label rarely say much about the other facets of his music. At the same time, constantly playing down such a monumental achievement only speaks to someone with genuine intuition, of which Van Halen had tonnes.
