Eddie

I don't even know what to say tonight. I was tempted to say nothing, just because it seems like today, everyone has an Eddie story and most of 'em are being told by folks who actually knew him, fellow musicians and such. I am just a fan - there are thousands like me - and even though I have my Eddie stories, too, I've already told 'em a  lot of times. But I can't just say nothing, because I loved the guy. We all did, we fans, and with Edward, we didn't just love him for his music, but because he felt like a friend, and a good one, a best friend really. I think it was due to that smile of his, which rarely left his face during a concert. He expressed so much joy onstage, running around, doing his leg kicks and knee slides, and it was like he was sharing it all with you, along with his amazing musical ability. It was like he was saying, "isn't this cool"?, but saying it in a way totally devoid of ego. There was no conceit with EVH (and not even with Roth, who was "in on his own joke"). I tried to describe this feeling the other night when I was writing about Van Halen's power as a live band. A huge part of it was their friendliness, their onstage exuberance, even as they were showing off and blowing everyone away.

Yeah, I loved the guy. We all did. And that's why everyone is telling their Eddie stories today, so I might as well tell mine, even though you've probably heard it before.

I started playing guitar when I was 19, a late start for sure, but I'd always wanted to play, ever since I was seven, and I had to wait until I had my own money to buy one, cause Dad wasn't exactly a rock fan. But when I was 18 and ten months, I got my job at MGM Metrocolor, and the first thing I did was save for a guitar. I bought a Les Paul "The Paul" model (now a collectors item), and I bought a Roland Jazz Chorus amp to go with it. I wish I still had that amp, too, as it's also hard to find (and worth a lot of dough). But as I was learning to play, I realised I would need something with a beefier sound if I was going to be able to replicate Judas Priest songs, or early Rush.

Van Halen? Not a chance, lol. Maybe guys who had some playing experience could chance it, but I wasn't gonna try and learn any VH tunes just yet. Still, as great an amp as the Roland was, it was a clean amp, and I needed something heavy, and in 1980, that meant only one name : Marshall.

And so it was that on the evening of December 8th, 1980, I drove down to Beverly Hills, cash in wallet, to buy a Marshall half-stack from some guy who'd placed an ad in the Recycler, a local classified rag. The late, great Dave Small accompanied me that night. The guy lived in the heart of 90210, in a big house, but he was just a hard rockin' dude like me, and he got right down to the business of selling me his amp, a 100 watt Marshall head with a single cabinet (what did I pay, about 600 bucks? I can't remember). He especially wanted to show me a special feature on the volume knob - it could be pulled out, which created an entirely different setting, one that not only added sustain and distortion, but lowered the volume to a level suitable for practicing in one's bedroom, as he had been doing. With his own guitar, he demonstrated the low-volume feature with a few swift licks.

"This switch is cool", he told me, "because you get the same sound you'd get at full volume, but it's low enough so you don't bother your parents". He further explained : "It's not a standard feature. I had it put in by a guy named Jose Arredondo. Ever heard of him"? I replied that I hadn't.

"He does all the modifications for Eddie Van Halen's amps", said the kid from Beverly Hills.

I was pretty much intent on buying the Marshall before I even got to his house, but when he mentioned the connection to EVH, I was counting out the money then and there. Dave helped me load the amp and cabinet into my car, and we proceeded to drive back to Northridge, to the legendary address of 9032 Rathburn Avenue, where the first thing I wanted to do was put the amp in my bedroom, plug it in, and try out that special switch for myself.

But of course, something had happened that night. The moment we walked in the door, lugging the heavy cabinet between us, Mom announced that John Lennon was dead. Howard Cosell had just broken the news on Monday Night Football. I'd been so focused on my newly acquired Marshall (the Rolls Royce of amps), and it's connection to Eddie Freakin' Van Halen, that all I could say in reaction to Mom's statement, was "huh"? And me and Dave kept walking, as you do when carrying something heavy. We took the amp into my bedroom, set it down and came back out.

Then it hit me. I looked at Mom. "What did you say"?  /////

I'm gonna have to leave it there for tonight, as it's late and I'm still at Pearl's, so I've gotta get my sleep. But we'll continue tomorrow, as we say farewell to a musical giant and a very nice guy. My hero.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo  :):)