The 1972 classic rock song that taught Eddie Van Halen a lesson: “One for the history books”
To construct a genuinely distinctive guitar sound, natural talent must be fused with ingenuity, including borrowing aspects from those who have already risen to the top. The late Eddie Van Halen greatly understood this as he formed a blistering approach that would revitalise guitar playing.
Van Halen understood that innovation rarely emerges in isolation. The greatest musicians absorb ideas from their heroes before reshaping them into something uniquely their own, and few did that more successfully than Eddie.
While he is ostensibly a metal player who opened the gates to thrash, crossover and black metal, as well as the widely derided hair metal that would follow in his wake, Van Halen existed at the intersection of a series of different forms, though he might not have seemed it, given his eponymous band’s lycra-clad, stadium-filling image and intense punk fury underpinned aspects of his playing. However, he was also a lifelong lover of the experimentalism of Allan Holdsworth and the bluesy traditionalism of Eric Clapton.
As the mention of Clapton might suggest, and given his era, Van Halen was greatly indebted to the classic rock period’s guitarists, particularly those who brought heaviness to the fore. One man he was extremely enamoured with was Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi, who took the blues formula, slowed it down, and distorted it, creating a towering sonic substance unlike anything anyone had heard before his band broke through.
While their styles might vary considerably, both men would hold great respect for each other and become good friends, with the Birmingham legend expressing that he simply could not fathom how Van Halen played in such a searing way. Significantly, Iommi described him as an “innovator” in a series of areas on the six-string.
Yet, there was another who made a tremendous impact on the Amsterdam-born guitarist, whose style is closely related to his: Ritchie Blackmore of Deep Purple. Donning a 17th-century witchfinder’s hat, the Londoner produced a profoundly scintillating sound. He did so by drawing upon the work of another Stratocaster wielder, Jimi Hendrix, and putting his own twist on the dynamism with heavy dive-bombs and, more importantly, à la Eddie Van Halen, two-string tapping in a rock context that fit the mainstream.
While the likes of ‘Black Night’ and ‘Highway Star’ are two of Blackmore’s most revered fretboard moments with Deep Purple, somewhat surprisingly, it was his most simplistic effort that galvanised a young Eddie Van Halen and opened his mind up to the full power of the guitar. This is ‘Smoke on the Water’, one of the singles from 1972’s Machine Head. It is a go-to for any beginner guitarist that everybody is familiar with, even those who wouldn’t necessarily count themselves as music fans. Van Halen would often list it as one of his all-time favourites.
When discussing his heroes with Rolling Stone in 2011, at one point in the chat, the ‘Eruption’ star examined his heavier influences and described the simple but emphatic ‘Smoke on the Water’ riff as “one for the history books”.
He said: “With Tony, it’s the riffs, and the power of the music. And you’ve got people like Ritchie Blackmore [and] Leslie West. Leslie West has this incredible tone in Mountain. And Ritchie Blackmore I liked because of his vibrato bar use on [1970’s] Deep Purple in Rock. Also, they come out with great riffs. I mean, come on, ‘Smoke on the Water’ is one for the history books.”
Ritchie Blackmore was also a fan of his American disciple. Not only did he describe him as one of the nicest men in the industry, but he also said he and Frank Zappa, of all people, both believed that he “reinvented” the instrument and inspired a generation by doing so.
Although Eddie Van Halen would eventually redefine the guitar in his own image, he never forgot the players who helped shape his musical outlook. From Tony Iommi’s crushing riffs to Ritchie Blackmore’s inventive approach, those influences provided the foundation upon which he built one of the most distinctive sounds in rock history. The result was a style that inspired countless musicians while ensuring his place alongside the very heroes he once looked up to.
Listen to ‘Smoke on the Water’ below.
