EDDIE VAN HALEN - "JIMI HENDRIX Was An Amazing Player, But If You Ever Heard Any Live Bootlegs, It's Hard For Him To Keep That Thing Even Tuned"
March 16, 2009, 15 years ago
VAN HALEN guitar legend Eddie Van Halen was referred to by USA Today recently as "the JIMI HENDRIX of his generation."
About the accolades Van Halen responds: "I say it's a hell of a compliment, but at the same time I'm really nothing like Jimi Hendrix," he says, quickly adding that he doesn't mean any disrespect. "I'm just saying I'm very different than Hendrix because I create stuff. He used so many effects and stuff that I was the complete opposite. I wanted the guitar to do things, but nobody built the guitar that I wanted. Hendrix didn't do things like that. He was an amazing player, but if you ever heard any live bootlegs of him, even some of the Woodstock stuff, it's hard for him to keep that thing even tuned."
Growing up in Southern California, Van Halen got turned on to the six-string by surf music. "The first song I ever learned was 'Pipeline,' by the SURFARIS, and 'Wipeout.' Then I hear this song on the radio - it was the 'Blues Theme' on the soundtrack to 'Easy Rider,'" he says. "It was the first time I heard a distorted guitar, and I'm going, 'God, what is that?' I didn't really have an amp then. I went to Dow Radio in Pasadena, and I jerry-rigged this plug to plug into the stereo. I just turned the damn thing all the way up, and it distorted. So every amp I've ever used, I just turn it all the way up."
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