EVH, ‘Somebody Get Me a…Tape Recorder,’1974
By this age Ed probably already had it in him....
In 1974, Edward Van Halen was 19 years old, a year out of high school. By that time he was already a monster – in fact, well before that according to people who were around in his high school years.
In September, we took a look at some of his – really Van Halen’s – super-early stuff (’74, ’75, ’76). Recently an audio recording surfaced that apparently is “the earliest known recording of Eddie Van Halen playing guitar alone. Recorded at home, in his parent’s house, in 1974,” sayeth the VanHalenStore.com, which posted it.
In it you will hear:
> A detuned version of the “Somebody Get Me a Doctor” chorus – meaning the E string is detuned, as he’s favored later in his career (notably via the D2H tailpiece) but didn’t do at all until Fair Warning.
> His early love of clean, syncopated rhythm. By now everyone knows Eddie’s first rock instrument was the drums, and while it’s kind of easy to see/hear how rhythmic his style is, it’s cool to hear how he was onto that probably from the get-go.
Sounds like Ed is playing straight into a tape recorder – remember those? Anyone still have one?!
Important note if you are reading this at the office: The jamming ends at 7:16, after which there’s a short recording of what sounds like Ed, Dave and Mike trying to talk a girl into entering a hotel room. There’s at least one F-bomb, so beware.
Also, it sounds like Ed says to the girl that the guys are “experts” and “artists” at “slamming the ham.” Wonder what he’s referring to….
Category: Edward Van Halen
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