> Now in my mind, he's either going to have his bodyguards kick me out for butchering his song, or he's going to like it. I said, "Look, I changed the middle section of your song." I didn't know how he would react to what I was doing. > And you know artists are kind of crazy people. I was just finishing the second solo when Michael walked in. And I proceeded to improvise two solos over it. > I listened to the song, and I immediately go, "Can I change some parts?" I turned to the engineer and I go, "OK, from the breakdown, chop in this part, go to this piece, pre-chorus, to the chorus, out." Took him maybe 10 minutes to put it together. If you know anything about me, be careful when you say, "Do anything you want!" So I asked Quincy, "What do you want me to do?" And he goes, "Whatever you want to do." And I go, "Be careful when you say that. > Michael left to go across the hall to do some children's speaking record. He didn't just contribute the solo-he rearranged part of the song! I had never heard it like that, live was just a whole 'nother level. I don't know if it was the weed or the music or both but I swear I had an out of body experience. When I got in there and the show started, I will never forget Eddie sliding out on the stage on his knees hammering out Eruption. When we got there our high was blown so we toked out more. Our buddy said OK he could call his Mom when we got there and arrange rides for after the show. We told him we were going to see Black Sabbath and Van Halen and he said oh wow, you can't miss that I will drive you there. The Cop asked us where we were going and if we needed a ride or to call someone. The cops and fire department came and put it out eventually. ![]() We pulled over and stood by the side of the freeway and watched our buddy's Mom's car burn up. The next thing you know the car was in flames in the back. An ember flew into the back of the wagon and we didn't notice it but the car just kept getting more and more smoky so we kept rolling the windows down more and more which just fanned the flames. We were smoking weed to get ready for the concert and had the windows rolled down part way to try to keep from reeking out the car. We were driving up the freeway to go see the show and had 4 of us in our buddy's Mom's Datsun Station wagon he borrowed from her. When I was a Sophomore in college (1978) me and some buddies got tickets to see Black Sabbath with Van Halen opening. It's been no secret that Eddie has suffered from cancer for years now, but still, you kind of forget about that, until the day comes. I've been lucky enough to not have lost too many idols in the past, but with the passing of Neil Peart and Eddie - two of my top 5 musicians and music idols of all time, it's been a real blow. ![]() It's been a tough year so far, as far as my heroes dying goes. He made 80's superstrats what they are today, he made hot-rodded/modified Marshalls what the are today, hell, he even made the Peavey 5150 what it is today - which in turn spawned a whole slew of metal amps. There are, and have been, many much more advanced guitar players since Eddie started - but few are as fun to listen to as Eddie, and most of them (in hard-rock and metal) stand on the shoulders of greats like Eddie, either through his playing and style, or gear used. He mastered the the technique of blending lead and rhythm into one, in a tight yet loose-feeling way. It sounded out of this world, like nothing else I had heard.Īfter listening to Eddie play guitar (on/off) for decades, I've come to love his dynamics and touch, as well as his rhythm playing. ![]() I remember having played guitar for probably a year, when a friend of mine (who had been playing for the same time) threw on Van Halen 1 on a cassette, and we listened to Eruption. One of the greats, that completely re-defined guitar, and spawned a new class of guitar players, as well as gear.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |