Like the rest of the world, I was saddened by the news of Eddie Van Halen passing away. His influence on the rock world, and musicians of all genres cannot be overstated. I vividly remember watching the 1985 film Back To The Future” on VHS in my basement and being mesmerized by Marty doing the guitar “tapping” technique during his epic solo on “Johhny B. Goode” that certainly was inspired by Eddie’s guitar playing. Many discussions of Van Halen (the band) usually end up dancing around the topic of which era of Van Halen is the best. The early years with David Lee Roth? Or the Sammy era? I was just starting my love affair with rock music when the change from Roth to Hagar occurred. I gravitated more towards the Hagar era since that was what was progressing at the time. Fueled by hits on the radio, and the unforgettable (to me) Crystal Pepsi ad campaign which featured “Right Now” played no small role in shaping my musical interests. However, as I have gotten older, it was that early Eddie guitar playing that spoke to me more. It seemed his guitar playing drove those songs more in the early years. In retrospect though… is it really a discussion that matters? If you are a fan of fantastic guitar playing it absolutely does NOT matter which era… because Eddie was there from start to finish, and really, THAT is what matters most.
-Bickham
