I was talking to Allan at one of his gigs in LA in 1986. I told him that I had read in Guitar Player Magazine that Eddie said he felt very intimidated playing on the same stage with Allan. Allan said he felt intimidated playing on the same stage with Eddie. Yep. True story.
@@Minotauro_di_Chieti it's true. Intimidated isn't the proper word. They both said I didn't know what he was going to play. They respect each other highly
Allan was intimidated of playing with Eddie on stage only because Allan voiced concern over David Lee Roth saying he was sexually attracted to British guitar players with a mammoth finger reach. He was worried that Dave might put the moves on him on stage and it would become a viral RU-vid video. Of course, after Allan said that decades before YT existed and people asked "WTF is RU-vid?", he was considered mentally disturbed. Still a great player, but mentally disturbed. Must suck to be right about so much stuff and not get credit for it. I'm still trying to be right about anything. :(
The pictures of Eddie in the flannel shirt were taken when I was at MI in Sept 81-82. The buzz that morning was Eddie was coming in to watch the Allan Holdsworth seminar. The seminar started; no Eddie. A little while later, the back door of the room opened, in walks Eddie carrying a guitar case. No assistants, no entourage. He watched the rest of the seminar from a seat at the front of the room. When he got up to play with everyone else, it was just his guitar and the small amp behind him; the sound was still unmistakable. I was shocked that only four or five of us hung out with him while he packed up his things; just a regular guy. We walked him out to his car, which was in a public lot around the corner. His Porsche looked like it had been driven through a desert. He opened the door - empty Heineken bottles in the door pockets, cigarette butts and ash all over the interior. Rock and Roll.
@@nasticanasta no it is more like they were just not a match period due to styles Don't try to demean EVH....... guitar playing is not a competition......... there is NO greatest of all times........or this guy is better than that guy nonsense.....
Rock needs EVH like fusion needs Holdsworth, they’re the pinnacle of each, IMO. Can you imagine rock without Eddie? What would fusion guitar aspire to if not Allan? Unthinkable .
@@nasticanasta David Westoff is VH hater all you got to do is go over all the comments to see for yourself. As for his comments, nobody on the planet is a match for Holdsworth but Eddie will come the closest by far .
These are two COMPLETELY different types of players. Allan Holdsworth will go down as a Master above masters. But Eddie is fire, fury, emotionally savage. Eddie is incredible. Alan is amazing.
With two totally different styles they both absolutely lit this jam up. Eddie playing every bit as any jazz player yet with his own style, and Allen playing his brand and killing it. This is an example of true masters of their craft as they branch out yet still deliver insane expertise.
Perfect distinction between Eddie Van Halen and Allan Holdsworth's playing style. I wanted Eddie to develop as a musician and hope that Eddie comes back on a 'musicians only' tour in 2019.
Eddie Van Halen is my guitar hero. And I know Allen Holdsworth was one of Eddie’s favorite guitarists. So kudos to them both now jamming in heaven. We miss you both.
I know you both commented 3 years ago, but I feel that same sentiment today. EVH inspired me to play and is still the King (in my head). 3 decades later, I'm still learning from both players. I'll never come close to understanding Holdsworth. Does anybody? Love & miss them both.
I owe it to Eddie for alerting me to Allan's existence. I grabbed the UK album, closely followed by "One Of A Kind" (both mentioned by Eddie in his Guitar Player cover story interview) and eventually got the Tony Williams Lifetime albums. My life was changed forever and I still loved Eddie and Van Halen for being the best at what they did, even after hearing the genius of Allan Holdsworth. In an age where internet shredders go out of their way to deny acknowledging who they ripped most of their stuff off from in the interests of boosting their online profile (and also monetized profits), I thinks it's amazing that Eddie, at the absolute peak of his fame, went out of his way to draw attention to the humble Englishman that would open our ears and minds to a musical universe unheard until his existence. I first heard Dave Chappelle say this and it applies to no-one more than Allan. “The mark of greatness is when everything before you is obsolete, and everything after you bears your mark.”
Brett - I remember hearing you for the first time on one of those tear-out vinyl records that Guitar Player (or Guitar World?) used to insert into their magazines - way back in the late 80s/early 90s. It was a LIVE solo... similar to the one that you do on the John Farnham video here on YT. That solo FLOORED ME! Still to this day - LOVE your playing and songs!
Same here. I read the Guitar Player interview in March or April 1980 where EVH mentioned Allan. Then I went out and bouth Tony Williams Lifetime (1st), Jean Luc Ponty (Enigmatic Ocean), and Bill Bruford (One of a Kind), and I became immersed in the Master. Then I went to see Allan Holdsworth with I.O.U. Live at the Bottom Line in NYC in NYC. Greatest display of virtuostic guitar laying I have ever seen to this day - and have seen many of the greats, including EVH, Stanley Jordan, Steve Morse, Al DiMeola, etc.
I wanted to write about my feelings about the work of Allan and the loss of him. I wrote a lot, but I erased it, and now all I say is "Allan, I miss you! I wish more people had had an open ear for the sensational music you have created".
Eddie is the best rhythm and lead player bar none - and we will never see anyone with that amount of natural feel and talent ever again. We are fortunate to have witnessed it in our lifetime.
@@swiftusmaximus5651 Eddie didn't 'worship' Holdsworth or anyone else. Eddie was his own man doing his own thing his own way and was a multi-instrumental musical prodigy. Holdsworth is a great guitarist, but he's just one of many. Eddie was next level.
@@Gerardus1970 Im not saying Edward performed Fellatio on him, Allan was Edwards favorite player. " he's the best in my Book" , " He's the only guy i get off on" and " he's the only Guy out there i can steal Licks from" .
@@swiftusmaximus5651 That doesn't mean Ed 'worshipped' him - in fact Ed said a lot of nice things about many players - he was modest in that way. All the guitar players stole licks from each other - shit, if you listen to a hair metal rock station you almost hear a bit of Eddie in every song. It's like he kickstarted a whole genre. Alan never had that kind of impact though he was certainly appreciated by his peers.
@@Gerardus1970 Jeff Beck worshipped John McLaughlin too. So you think Edward is above worshiping another guitar player? Everyone has theyre One Guy, even Edward.
My guitar teacher jammed with Alan Holdsworth. Alan said , “no recording” , but My teacher couldn’t resist, and hid a recorder behind something, and is a treasured memory from all his Students.
I don't know if this has been said since I haven't read all the comments so far, but EVH loved Allan, so much so that around the time of this video (1983) Eddie got him a record on Warner Bros, produced by Ted Templeman, called Road Games, which is a must have. That EVH spirit is so apparent here as he mixes it up with the late great Holdsworth. Anyone would be intimidated by AH, and with plenty of good reasons! But true rocker as he is, Eddie brought all he had to the table here...you can feel it. It's exhilarating. Of course, no human guitarist could hang out with Holdsworth. But Eddie? The kid had heart.
Anyone who hears this video sound can tell when Eddie Van Halen is playing even if they never heard of him before But unless you are a fan of Alan holdsworth you can't tell when he's playing, it just sounds like some random jazz guitarist having a bad day, lol. Allan holdsworth is severely overrated
@Samí Warrior It's been 2 weeks since king Edward Van Halen passed away and millions of people around the world are still in disbelief mourning his death When Allan holdsworth died... Nobody gave two shits about him, lol.
What also needs to be appreciated is that Ed turned up on Allan's turf and played Allan's style of music - improvising all the way. Not only does he deserve massive props for that - regardless of the sneering comments from many on this video - but he more than held his own, too. As great as Holdsworth was, as much as he knew about music, he couldn't compete on Ed's turf. The sneery people commenting on this video will try and pass that of as being beneath Allan, that rock music is too simplistic for his talent but the truth of the matter is great players should be able to adapt - as Ed did when jamming with Allan - and that easier music is just that: easier. The chordal tones, the rhythm, the opportunity to play singable and memorable lines that don't require a degree in theory or a love for the atonal. Allan has said many times that he wouldn't be able to do that and was ewually in awe of Ed for beign able to do what he did - the magic that he pulled out at the drop of a hat such as his reckless abandon of Beat It to the pseudo-sax free-flowing at the end of Top Jimmy to the melodic masterclass of Love Walks In (middle and outro solos). As much as Allan knew more music theory (and despite the myths, Ed was no slouch either, having studied jazz theory at college) music is all in the ears not on the page and not only was Ed a master, even at such a young age, of pop sensibility and rock flair (in fact he created pretty much everything we now take for granted - from technique to pickups to amps to bridges) but he also played aoutie the lines, blurred scales and modes and ventured into jazz territory quite often whilst making it fit the pop/rock song structure. Now THAT is genius. And as for Pat Methey, he said of Eddie: "really think he is a great player and someone I always enjoy hearing. there was a time i went to vh shows as much as possible just to check him out. one time, i got to go back before a show and hear him warm up - which was absolutely mind blowing - he played more incredible music in that 30 minutes of warmup time than he did in the all the vh "shows" that i heard rolled together. he is so creative - it would be great to hear him expand into other areas - especially now that "heavy metal" is about as dead as it could possibly be (who would have thought that that would happen in 1984?) eddie is more like a jazz guy anyway to me - he is always searching for sounds and ideas".
One of the better and more even-handed comments I've read in a while. Both of these men were amazing musicians, and rare gems. The world is richer for them both having practiced their art in front of us.
Both are/were from another universe. Both made huge impacts on how the instrument would be played thereafter. I personally gave up comparisons between players decades ago. Both Allan and Eddie are legends, and this is coming from a lowly bass player! BTW, I really enjoyed hearing Jeff Berlin absolutely kill on his bass on this Jam! He was more than playing bass, he was manning a damn flamethrower!!!
This is Eddie's turf. They're playing a simple rock progression. Eddie even claims to have come up with the riff with Jeff Berlin. Allan's style is not simple rock progressions. His music incorporated the intricacies of jazz (modulations, tempo changes, time signature changes, altered dominants) and classical (counterpoint, disonnance) with the sounds and tones of rock music (fusion). We are talking about a fusion legend hear- if AH can play over tullio or giant steps, he can definitely improvise on panama. I don't wish to be negative about other musicians. That is not the point. Eddie has had many accolades over the years. Allan has not. As a musician myself, I would find this riff/jam easier to improvise over than anything in AH's cataloge that I can think of right now.
@MorbidManMusic Remains I had the tape for years and actually was going to when I saw this one ‘but have lost it (damn!) where you at this gig ..I was at GIT ..and bumped into Eddie and Allan on Hollywood blvd ...also have tapes of Steve Morse with the Dixie dregs as a trio..
Love them both. Eddie for taking rock guitar to the next level and exposing right hand tapping as no one did before, sort of what Frank Gambale did for sweep picking, and Allan for inventing the legato left hand playing he is known for.
@@TheAgentAssassin yup.....he brought the D-tuna, brown sound, string slapping rock riffs like mean street and beginning of this vid, the wolfgang guitar, rise of the floyd rose, tap harmonics used musically together, volume swelling (catherdral), power drill sounds through pick ups (poundcake) de-tune tone, cool flange and phase effects and on and on.
@@Briman24 flange, phase, and volume swells existed before Eddie. He started Guitar Wars, but don't take credit away from people that did that before him.
Thanks for posting this. I love hearing these old rare vintage jams. I wish we had the video footage. Man with todays pocket/phone cams in the old days. What footage we would have. :D
Ian Ballard is absolutely right! EVH was very humble towards Holdsworth and helped him get IOU out on Warner Brothers! Thank you, Eddie, for your humility and graciousness! You were a true buddha!
Well ain't this the best thing I've heard in forever....Eddie and Allan... What a treat to listen to these guys talk back and forth...I miss both you guys RIP
I doubt a person could fall asleep playing the way EVH plays. His style is all about energy and joy. If you fall asleep you are not playing it right. :)
That was really interesting to hear, how both of these guitar innovators interpreted the groove and feel of this jam..the only thing for anyone to do is appreciate both of these one offs of the guitar world, there will never be another of either..They both changed how we viewed the instrument and how we played. Awesome post, I didn't even know that there was a recording of Alan and Eddie playing together, very kool!!!
The only guitarists that Holdsworth sounds like are the guys he influenced. There's a lot of guys who play like that now, but back in the late 70's, not so much. Also, I've never heard anyone use the kind of chord progressions Holdsworth uses in his compositions. He uses a lot of tone clusters and inversions that don't seem to be used by most guitarists, regardless of genre.
HEY: anyone who wants to hear AH but not so unfocused should check out Greg Howe (what a terrible name for a guitarist!) who has NO STYLE, but might have the scariest jazz chops of any of the shredder dudes: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-5BuPjJcy6EQ.html and if you love CREATIVE guitar (etc) as i do, check out my solo electronic uke (!) project TRONIC UKE. i'm ready to commit suicide, but everyone tells me my playing is unique and fabulous, but i really hate how corrupt this world is. I'm trapped in NH with no way out, and no musicians I can play with, which is killing me. And the criminals at Google put suppression filters on all my videos and channels b/c I criticized Giuliani and the Dempublicans, so not even strangers who subscribed to me ever know when a new video is put out! %$#@!!!! (I play outdoors every day which is the best, though. Strangers give me money to learn my instrument!) ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-S_vxQOH051U.html
Holdsworth is the only player that makes me want to quit playing guitar. Players like Halen, Vai, and Malmsteen all inspire me and make me want to study their technique... but Holdsworth is like an impenetrable stonewall.
Velvet Darkness and Road Games……played them both 1000s of times over the las 40 years, nothing like them. Too bad that noone else in Racine Wisconsin as heard of him all of these years until some friends of mine met him and jammed with him at some jazz fest in Washington State. So fn good
Incredible celebration of music !! 2 guitar masters now together in guitar heaven , one Beast on bass and a groovy drumer together on this one , perfect !! RIP ALLAN and EDDIE ...
@@meatpole55 Well , it's a way of speaking , but yes , i ' d prefer to think they're in heaven than in hell....In a strict Christian theological way , i' d say they will have to wait for the second coming of Jesus Christ and be juged !! Anyway, may they rest in peace , wherever they are !!
There are 3 great innovators of this era in guitar technique. Edward Van Halen with RH tapping, sound construction, Allan Holdsworth with LH legato technique, and the toughest to pull of smoothly is Frank Gambale, with his patented sweep picking. Frank is also the one who tells a story when he solo, very mature, all notes have a purpose with him, similar to Pat Metheny, another brilliant story teller, but his genius comes not from technique but the mesmerizing way he weaves in and out of tonality.
...Between the 2 of them, Allen is the guy who has more to work with & seamlessly plays what he wants on demand....Eddie plays what he hears rattling around in his head at any given time....2 different approaches that work well for each, both know music (Allen probably a bit more) but more importantly produce "their sound" that is instantly recognizable as their own. Great stuff by both.
I probably would have dropped dead from sheer incredulity at seeing this happening at the time . Back then I had no idea they knew each other and they were both just masters to me .
Wow! I remember that show. ROXY! Funny thing is we were YELLIN' Vallerie before Eddie got on stage. Long night "IOU" Jeff Berlin classic. It was another HOLLYWOOD moment. Glad I remember. Robbie,Robert,Mark.
TWO GREAT PLAYERS ..I ALWAYS REMEMBER THE VH JAMS UNTILL ITS MY TIME TO GO TO THE CONCERT IN THE SKY THANKS EDDIE FOR HELPING US ALL FOR DIFFERENT REASONS WITH YOU TALENT ..I HEAR VH AND IT TAKES ME BACK TO BEERS AND CHEVELLES LOL WAIT STILL TO THIS DAY ...R.I.P. BROTHER AND THANK YOU
2 of the best ever and one of them is gone. Both musical geniuses from 2 different venues of music and both on virtually the same level when it came to creativity. If you listen to Allan's Road Games album you will hear some of Eddy's right hand tapping technique but it is hard to tell because Allan played so smooth. Eddy also emulated a little of Allan's technique and style in some songs before Sammy joined the band. I saw Allan in 1983 performing the Road Games album material. What an awesome talent. If you never got to see him live you really missed out. There will never be another Eddy Van Halen or Allan Holdsworth and I got to see both of them.
Love this. There should be a law that the cops pick these guys up once a year to play a set. Van Halen and Holdsworth are good for each other. Jeff Berlin!!!
Both Eddie and Vai list Allan Holdsworth as the best they've ever seen. Vai says the stuff Holdsworth was doing back then, hasnt even been invented yet. RIP to the King...Allan Holdsworth.
Vai's words are reverential, and likely true...but there is some younger talent coming up that has some creative promise. Check out Rick Beato's interview with Matteo Mancuso.
This is around the time that Eddie hooked Allan up with Warner Bros. & Ted Templeman to do the "Road Games" EP. They were clearly hanging out a lot. Listening back to "1984" (the subsequent VH album) Allan's influence seems REALLY obvious now! Check out the long, abstract, twisty lead lines in Top Jimmy, Girl Gone Bad, Drop Dead Legs... All of it really! Nice to join up the historical dots! Thanks for posting!
Here is the entire Bruce Lee quote: "Empty your mind, be formless. Shapeless, like water. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle and it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Now, water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend.”
Each was recognized in their respective genres. There is no comparison...only contrast. To anyone who has ever seen Holdsworth live, we know the answer and yet we would choose to honor both rather than detract for the respect due each.
Obviously EVH made tapping popular because of his unique way of playing it. And it was his tone which made his guitar interesting. It was considered the holy grail of tone at the time.
Beyond all the comments, comparisons, etc....the common theme in all of Eddie's photos is that smile. This man loved playing guitar and it projected from him in sound waves of joy.
I was at thisshow..Roxy 83..right around when the Recording for what would become ROAD GAMES started....it was nuts ..all good energy...using the Red Baron..the guitar that we created our industry standard for playability......
I love this live jamming!! And what makes it so memorable is I can hear when Eddie plays & I can hear when Allan plays, they are both being themselves & you & I are grateful for it. I just can't stand it why people start 'hating' Eddie because they think he doesn't belong there purely because their jealous of his achievements & how he's changed the guitar much like Hendrix has. But I guess EVH has to die first so he can get the respect hey? Sad.
There are some people that hate Eddie because of his "God" like status there's no doubt about that . Here is what they don't understand , Eddie himself despises being heaped praise upon but when you have every guitar magazine and everybody calling you the greatest non stop wherever you go for over 40 years there's not much you can do . The praise comes for truly legendary guitarists in their own right . Eddie has never gone around saying I'm the greatest EVERYBODY else on the planet has .
A HUGE moment in guitar history. 240k down a RU-vid rabbit hole………so sad that these 2 heroes of mine are gone…….I don’t think we’ll see their like again.
Though not as well-known to most guitarists as Michael Jordan is to sports fans in general, even. At the very least, Holdsworth's worth is not as widely appreciated as Jordan's.
@@s1iznc1d34 I'm not personally attacking you? I just said that that particular comment is idiotic. This is what I'm saying, his playing was so ahead of his time that even you can't grasp it. Allan was not a conventionalist, Eddie was; Eddie was perfect for his time.
I loved and still love Eddie and Alan . Eddie , mastered his own style and technique . I have heard him play on a great , many things . His style , wasn’t for every progression . At times , it was seriously out of place and too much for that particular groove or style . It doesn’t take away from the fact that he was great , in his own right . Alan’s playing , also shows that he wanted nothing to do with what all others were doing . The truth is Alan , is still beyond a lot of us today and Eddie , gave us so much for kick ass melodic rock . I for one feel , that after the FUCK , album , his soloing was just ok and his rhythm playing , was the real power , he always wielded . Either way . To compare him to anyone , is foolish . There are great tappers even better . There are great shredders , even better but all in all Eddie gave us Eddie and that , I am truly thankful for . I play and build guitars because of this man . I have good vibrato and clean in tune bending , because of this man and most of all , EVH , made music and guitar playing fun .
One of the unique things about Brian's guitar was the way the pickups were wired. In the first they were wired in series (usually guitar pickups are wired in parallel), so he got a different kind of tone when he used two pickups together than one would get on say a Strat or a Tele. He also had individual on/off switches and out of phase switches for each pickup. With two pickups on, with one of the out of phase switches engaged, you get the same electronic circuit as a humbucking pickup.
It's too bad that there's no video. At least we get to hear it. I've seen all these photos of Eddie with that purple Kramer Strat. That's the one with the Rockinger tremolo and later with all the tape all over it. I wondered whatever happened to that guitar. I heard that it was given away to someone but I don't remember who. It's too bad that some much stuff happened that we all missed out on. I'm just glad that this isn't one of them!
If you listen closely Eddie is doing variations from his 'one-trick-pony' show, Eruption....so,ya you have heard Eddie,the only "rarity" is the context.
@@songsabai3794 ...a lot of times, that would be the case and you would be correct. However, this time you aren't. Seems the only one trick pony is this regurgitated comment that you likely use over, and over, and over, ad nauseam.
WAY COOL..the one thing that led me to discover Holdsworth was the EVH quote back in the 80's that Holdsworth was the one guy who he was a big fan of and how great he was. That led me to check out all of his stuff. The rest of the world may take a few more decades to catch up with how brilliant he was (or never). Btw, how awesome would it have been to witness this show?
