Red Hot Chili Peppers drop Eddie Van Halen tribute song ‘Eddie’
Funk-rock masters Red Hot Chili Peppers have released the second track off their upcoming album, the Rick Rubin-produced Return of the Dream Canteen. It comes in the form of a languid piece dedicated to the late guitar hero Eddie Van Halen entitled ‘Eddie’.
Similar to early cuts by the band such as ‘The Zephyr Song’, ‘Wet Sand’ and ‘Universally Speaking’, but coming with much crisper production and more atmosphere, courtesy of some Joy Division-esque bass playing from Flea, and one of guitarist John Frusciante’s best performances in an age. It’s a stylistic area that the band haven’t tapped into too much over their career, but it’s one that definitely works.
There’s a lot to love about the track, including the mellow backing vocals, which help to instil the piece with an edge that Red Hot Chili Peppers tracks are often lacking. Frusciante also does his best Van Halen Impression, complete with divebombs, and it’s nice to hear him amp it up.
In a press release, frontman Anthony Kiedis explained the origins of the song and how it came to be a tribute to the late Van Halen mastermind: “Sometimes we don’t realize how deeply affected and connected we are to artists until the day they die. Eddie Van Halen was a one of a kind.”
“The day after his death, Flea came into rehearsal with an emotional bassline. John, Chad and I started playing along and pretty soon ,with all our hearts, a song in his honour effortlessly unfolded. It felt good to be sad and care so much about a person who had given so much to our lives”, Kiedis continued.
The frontman concluded: “Although the song doesn’t speak to Eddie by name, it talks about his early days on the Sunset Strip and the rock n roll tapestry that Van Halen painted on our minds. In the end, our song asks that you not remember Eddie for dying but for living his wildest dream.”
‘Eddie’ follows ‘Tippa My Tongue’, which was released last month to much acclaim, and together both are setting the scene for what seems to be a real return to form for the Californian masters. Return of the Dream Canteen drops on October 14th via Warner Records.
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