Warren Haynes tried to dismiss Eddie Van Halen’s abilities when he first heard him: “Anything to convince yourself that he couldn’t possibly be that good”
Gov’t Mule and The Allman Brothers guitarist Warren Haynes is a monster guitar player in his own right, but he admits that such was the impact Eddie Van Halen had on the guitar scene in the 80s, he would try to find ways to make himself believe that EVH couldn’t possibly be as good as he appeared to be.
Though Haynes never met Eddie, he was taken aback by his approach to guitar when he first saw him live during the 1980s. Haynes “didn’t want to believe it was as good as it was”, but after seeing an acoustic performance from Eddie, denying his talent any further felt futile.
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Speaking on an episode of On The Record – the podcast from Ultimate Guitar – Haynes begins, “I did see him play twice, once in the early ‘80s and once at a private show at the LA Forum when they got back together with David Lee Roth and they were doing a private show for about 700 people or something. It was like a rehearsal show before the tour started. And he was great both times I saw him.”
He adds, “In the beginning, I didn’t want to believe it was as good as it was… I would listen to him and go, ‘Wow, that’s fantastic, but he’s using a lot of distortion. Maybe he’s just kind of covering up some of it…’ You know, anything to convince yourself that he couldn’t possibly be that good.
“Eventually, when I heard the thing that he did on acoustic guitar, I was like, ‘My God, he can do that on acoustic. That’s fantastic.’ He was amazing. I never did consider him an influence because, like I said, at that point, I had kind of already chosen my direction and I didn’t want to go down that rabbit hole. But I love those first few [Van Halen] records a lot… He changed music in the same way that Hendrix changed music.”
As pointed out by a number of other guitarists, Eddie’s magnetic talent led to other players closely imitating his style: “All the young guitar players from that point forward were using him as a springboard, which is both good and bad. Because, all of a sudden, we got inundated with terrible clones of Eddie Van Halen, but that’s what happens with anybody who’s innovative like that,” states Haynes.
“So, in some ways, what he gave to the music world also opened the doors for a lot of mediocrity, but he changed everything. And of course I love Steve Vai’s playing, some of those guys have some serious chops. It’s never been something I wanted to pursue for myself, but I’m envious of people who can play like that.”
Warren Haynes released his latest solo record Million Voices Whisper back in November. He will be touring in 2025.
The post Warren Haynes tried to dismiss Eddie Van Halen’s abilities when he first heard him: “Anything to convince yourself that he couldn’t possibly be that good” appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
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