Born in Amsterdam, Netherlands in 1955, Eddie Van Halen shared his elder brother Alex’s love in music from an early age, with their father being a musician as a major influence. Even though they were young, they studied the piano. However, it was rock & roll music that truly captured their interest and, a few years later, fundamentally altered their life.
Van Halen was founded in 1972, but it wasn’t until 1978 that they were able to produce their revolutionary first album, which was greatly influenced by Eddie’s amazing guitar skills and completely revolutionized the music industry. The late guitarist was acclaimed for his abilities throughout the years and was compared to many other great performers, but Eddie claimed he couldn’t duplicate two guitarists.
The 2 guitarists that Eddie Van Halen said he couldn’t replicate
Jimi Hendrix
Ever since his debut, Eddie Van Halen has been frequently linked to Jimi Hendrix as a musician who significantly influenced the style of electric guitar playing. But the guitarist admitted to Rolling Stone in 1995 that he was unable to capture Hendrix’s sound.
The interviewer asked him about his experiences working in the Electric Lady studios, where Hendrix recorded a number of well-known songs. That occurred when Gene Simmons, the vocalist and bassist for Kiss, assisted Van Halen in recording their first demo in the 1970s.
Eddie Van Halen said, “Yeah (It was great). But I never learned a song by Hendrix except ‘Purple Haze,’ because that was a pop hit. I didn’t know how to get his sound. That’s what turned me off. The same thing with Jeff Beck. I just plugged into my amp, turned it all the way up and loved the way that sounded. For me, it was all Clapton, because he was so straightforward.”
Talking with Howard Stern in 2006, he also said, “He had all this bunch of pedals and stuff, and I couldn’t afford the shit.” He then was questioned if he thought Hendrix was a “hack”. Then he replied saying: “No, no. He did some crazy shit. I don’t know, I couldn’t afford the wah-wah pedals, the fuzzbox, all that stuff, you know. I kind of did my own thing.”
Throughout his career, the artist has stated a few times that he thought Jimi Hendrix was “sloppy” when he performed live. Regarding Jimmy Page, the guitarist and producer for Led Zeppelin, he had made the same statement.
Jeff Beck
Jeff Beck, also referred to as “a guitarist’s guitarist,” is remembered as one of the most distinctive guitarists in music history. His method was so amazing that it was nearly impossible to imitate. Eddie Van Halen mentioned that during his 1995 interview with Rolling Stone.
Eddie stated to Rolling Stone in 2011 that he just began to listen to his albums in 1975, despite the fact that he was already one of the most well-regarded guitarists in the world in the late 1960s. Hearing the iconic album “Blow By Blow” (1975) was the catalyst for his interest in the guitarist’s work.
He said, “I didn’t get into him until ‘Blow By Blow’. Just the instrumentalness of it. And ‘Wired’ (1976). Interesting stuff in there. I guess it was just the experimentation in there that I liked.”
“Jeff Beck is definitely a standalone. You never know what the hell he’s gonna do. My brother and I were in France 20 years ago, and Jeff Beck was playing. He was doing a rockabilly thing. And we were like, ‘What the hell is this?’ You never know what to expect with him.”
Van Halen was acknowledged as a terrific guitarist by Jeff Beck. In 1985, he said to Guitar World magazine that he would love to hear him perform the Blues more often He believes, “He brought tapping to the forefront. I still think he was one of the tastiest players doing it. It wasn’t his fault that all these other horrendous people tried to emulate him.”
Jeff said, “I actually saw Eddie play some blues once and it was really beautiful. It would be great to hear him play more in that style.”