“I can’t imagine where guitar players would be without Eddie. We’d be listening to electronic music”: Sammy Hagar says Eddie Van Halen “saved” guitar players
Sammy Hagar has said that Eddie Van Halen “saved guitar players”, and was, in his view, a “music god” whose talents extended far beyond the guitar.
The comments come as Hagar prepares to bring his Best of All Worlds tour – featuring Joe Satriani, bassist Michael Anthony and drummer Kenny Aronoff – back for a limited summer run.
In a recent chat with Guitar Player, the singer reflects on his years working with Van Halen and the guitarist’s enduring influence on rock music and his own musicianship.
“I can’t imagine where guitar players would be without Eddie,” Hagar begins. “He just took a fuckin’ hard left, man, and we’re going to outer space. There were great guitar players before him: Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, David Gilmour, Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix.”
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“I mean, Hendrix kind of did the same thing – he got that whammy bar in there and changed everything. But Eddie took the whammy bar and the hammer and the frickin’ tapping.”
“But it wasn’t just the innovation of what he did; he was a great musician. He was a master. He was fuckin’ Beethoven – he was that unique. He belongs in that category.”
Hagar also argues that Van Halen’s impact wasn’t limited to his guitar playing alone.
“People call him a rock god – he’s a music god, in my opinion,” says Hagar. “When I bring keyboard players into the band now and they have to learn Right Now and some of his keyboard parts, they’re holding their heads in their hands and saying, ‘Fuck! This guy played keyboards just as unique as he played guitar.’ And on guitar, Joe [Satriani]’s going, ‘Wow, this chording!’”
“So I can’t imagine where guitar players would be without Eddie,” he continues. “I think they probably would’ve come and gone and we’d be listening to electronic music. I think Eddie saved guitar players – he saved us so we could continue and compete with those damn keyboards and electronic instruments and Pro Tools and all that crap.”
The singer also credits Van Halen for making him a “better musician” and expanding his “lyrical abilities”.
“I just loved working with him,” Hagar says. “Like when he was playing Love Walks In on piano – stuff came out of my mouth I would never have sung. The way his playing inspired a lyric and the words that fit melodically, rhythmically within the song, just writing with him was crazy.”
“I remember when we wrote Black and Blue – it’s the most syncopated lyric/guitar thing I’ve ever heard in my life. I would never write a song like that without Eddie.”
While early Van Halen records are often cited as the guitarist’s defining work, Hagar believes some of Eddie’s most ambitious writing came later.
“So many people think the early stuff was his best stuff,” he says. “Well, no, that was just the first time you heard him. It was so fresh and new when you heard Eruption or Spanish Fly or these intros on these songs.”
“Was that the best stuff? It was his simplest stuff.”
Pointing to Can’t Stop Loving You from 1995’s Balance as an example of Van Halen’s later writing, Hagar adds, “When we play that song now, Joe looks at me and goes, ‘Wow, what a piece of music! Every single bar is different. It just keeps changing.’ And this is Joe Satriani. This isn’t some kid that’s just learning how to play guitar.”
“It was an honour being able to play with Eddie,” he concludes. “It made me a better musician. It made me a better writer. It made me a better singer, without a doubt. I did my best vocals ever with Van Halen.”
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Source: www.guitar-bass.net
