R.I.P. Eddie Van Halen

Edward Lodewijk Van Halen passed away today at the age of 65. It’s a brutal blow to music and to me personally as his namesake band was one of my favorites – hands down – when it came to rock and roll.

I’ve got many memories from over the years involving Van Halen, and will be sharing a number of them via my Instagram page in the coming days. It became almost comical in some ways how much my friends would invoke the Mighty VH into the most random conversations. When music journalism, radio and on air appearances became my profession, I found myself writing and talking about the band in more official tones, instances of which can be found cataloged right here on this site.

Over at Vanyaland this evening, I shared some thoughts on Eddie’s passing under the headline, ‘Eddie Van Halen’s eruption of guitar innovation was impossible to contain.’ Here’s a sample:

Eddie was a songwriter, gifted multi-instrumentalist and competent producer. He was always fiddling with his guitars, liking the feel of Fenders but the sound of Les Pauls leading to the decision to “Frankenstein” a combination of the two to suit his needs. It was that endless tinkering which contributed to a sound that led to legions of imitators, though none who could come close to duplicating the feel. Every single hair metal band to populate the Sunset Strip of the ‘80s Los Angeles had a young gun guitarist in their ranks, but they all paled in comparison to who Roth affectionally dubbed “The king of 10 fingers and six strings.”

Head over to Vanyaland for the entire piece, and keep checking back here at The Chronicles of MC as I add more in the coming days and weeks.

Featured photo taken by the author at the Van Halen concert in Mansfield, MA August 01, 2015.