Eddie Van Halen At His Meanest | Runnin' With the Dweezil

[@premierguitar]

To hear the full episode subscribe here: bitly.com/DweezilVHPod

[@miked7795]

Fair Warning is my absolute favorite, and I love them all. So great to hear that dark mean stuff.

[@420captain]

Even though it doesn't matter what I think about Billy, I want to say it anyway. I really like the guy. He is thoughtful, intelligent and a great artist. Very cool.

[@ThatKa5p3r]

Agreed. He's insanely perceptive on a human level, not just musically. A true artist & poet too, doesn't get near enough credit for his genius.

[@MRCATL3]

Gish, Siamese Dream are incredible records. Corgan is a genius and Jimmy Chamberlain made incredible music.

[@Mr.CliffysWorld]

Some one who actually thinks before he speaks in this business is very refreshing .

[@gktde9874]

3:58 Billy Corgan: "I`ve had high standards from my father" Dweezil....Hold my beer!

[@devlhstrat8849]

lol

[@adrianlee3497]

Yeah well sometimes it isn't all about being a celebrity

[@Thelajets]

Ha! So perfect!

[@daver5150]

The best guitar world issue, that was a fantastic interview Billy, every question I would have asked him.

[@srhatfield]

When guitarists heard eruption for the first time… It blew their mind. When they heard Mean Streets for the first time he blew their heads right off!

[@walterevans2118]

When Ed put Meanstreet Intro down in 1981 most other players couldn't understand how it was even a GUITAR being played...The rapid fire octave jumps in small time frames with the right hand harmonics & left hand lower notes fast alternated were so BIZARRE to the ear that ED made the guitar sound like some kind of ALIEN DEMENTED MACHINE....lol (Paul. Sharing a profile with his Pops Walter)

[@c.e.anderson558]

I think Ain't Tlking Bout Love finished off the job.

[@jamesmorris9384]

The guitar intro to Unchained is an all time classic! I truly believe that Fair Warning was Van Halen's best album!

[@subwooferjl]

I totally agree. I also must mention the song Dirty Movies.

[@SkunkBearTK]

Funny, the reason Animals is my all time favorite Gilmour work is because I always felt he is playing "angry". It just cuts through like a shard of glass to the heart. Same for the early VH days.

[@johntierney387]

Oh yes, Animals is heavy af.

[@jonspeas1506]

Exactly- ppl look at me funny when I say Animals is my favorite Floyd album- just like they look at me when I say Fair Warning was my favorite VH album- they were so raw and angry and real-

[@johntierney387]

@@jonspeas1506 spot on and great taste. My favorite is Piper at the Gates of Dawn because Syd Barrett changed my life with his tone and technique. But, Animals is my second favorite. Practically different band by that point, though. I just discovered Fair Warning and I’m digging into VH’s deep cuts right now. Mean Street is incredible.

[@jironthunder7519]

Good answer!!! Same here Animals is the best

[@1XDroidX1]

Love this kind of stuff. I was surprised Corgan didn't mention SRV when he was talking about digging in and playing mean. Eddie taught me everything starting in '77. I was only 5, but I have natural ability, ear, etc. blah blah, so I was like WTH is that!? I love it! I want to disect all of that. I was a walking sponge soaking it all in and learning amazing stuff! lol I had to hear everything he ever did from then on. I thought, holy hell, I want to be able to play like that! He unlocked my mind in an instant. Not that I don't have 5 million other influences, but Eddie, he will forever be the king. He produced a mountain of the greatest records off all time for decades. A new album every 2 years, and boom, another bomb dropped. In a good way. lol. Even with guys like Steve Vai (also very cool in person) around, Eddie was the true king that inspired us all so deeply. 🤘😎🎸 My dad pushed everything other instrument on me because I could play them, and his band needed a good bassist, but EVH changed my life. Like a million other players. lol He really was a very generous and nice guy in person. Even wasted. 🤣 Fun to just talk to about anything with him. I could flap my gums about this endlessly, but I already typed a ton of stuff. RIP EVH, and thx for everything man. _____________ No bozo's! 🤡

[@peachmelba1000]

Billy knows the history. That's legit. I don't care for his music, but respect.

[@wi11.0w1sp]

Hell yeah man.. Nice! Running with the Dwezzil!! So happy to find this.

[@Zebula77]

This was such a cool listen. Totally agree with absolutely everything said here. :)

[@DVincentW]

That summer of 1981 was really cool.. Fair Warning made it so. Saw them too. 12 times I saw VH play live. Went to art school in the summer .. Dirty Movies man!

[@leonardomattarmonteiro2824]

Maaaaaaaan You saw VAN HALEN TWELVE TIMES In 1981 IF there's a heaven,you've bought your stairway to the place 👏👏🤘🤘🍻✨🤜🏼🤛🏽

[@b.scottfarthingsworth]

DIRTY FUCKIN MOVIES. When they come in from intro into that descending riff to the D?? It is like King Kong bust into the room through the speakers. It is GARGANTUAN, HUGE, ENORMOUS, GIGANTIC. And all while laying down a solid groove that just bores a tunnel through a mountain... it's amazing.

[@akfreed6949]

That was Halen at their best "live"

[@boofert.washington2499]

Just the mention of Gibbons and Darrell make me want to blast the Tres Hombres and CFH albums all night. They boogie.

[@kxmrock]

I remember That Guitar Magazine with Billy & ED on the Cover

[@billybobtexas]

I have it. I remember thinking huh? This is interesting. But its a great interview. I read that cover to cover.

[@mpesta]

The Push Comes To Shove solo is EVH perfection!

[@wrallpaul66]

I agree 100%

[@mrray6983]

Without a doubt.

[@Mr.CliffysWorld]

So is the intro to Mean Street .

[@flappospammo]

Yes a masterpiece solo

[@707Berto]

Don't forget "So This Is Love".

[@craiglizt8074]

Such a great interview.

[@luisalextorres]

One foot out the door solo is probably one of the most aggressive evh takes I’ve ever heard besides on fire. He really digs into the strings. A habit I picked up from Ed before I learned scales

[@helterskelter1178]

Fair Warning is my favourite VH album. The unmistakable Brown Sound.

[@daver5150]

that was a great interview, I have a copy of that mag.

[@paulus3317]

I bought that one as well! Great issue.

[@billybobtexas]

This was a great interview. Thank you.

[@Buzzode]

Can’t Get Enough of Listening to Ed’s POUNDING Outro Rhythm Riff on Mean Streets , right after Aggressive Pick Slide , He Thumps on that Low E String and it’s just the most Sinister - Mean - Aggressive thing I’ve ever Heard , and it sounds,like a Power Chord ! Its just Freaking Amazing ! Eddie Doing What He Says He Does , Just Pushing Stuff To The Absolute Limit and Beyond The Stratosphere , I can go on and on … Long Live King Edward !!

[@Buzzode]

Whoops , I Mean ( No Pun Intended ) The A String , He Pounds on The A String in that Riff

[@wi11.0w1sp]

Everything in the first 3 to 4 minutes got me hooked!

[@Star-Explorers]

Attitude! Effort! Experience! All coming together perfectly to create the best music imaginable.

[@john2357]

As someone who has been played guitar for more than 10 years and has spent countless hours learning Van Halen riffs and solos I can say for sure that the Mean Street intro is by far the hardest and most unique thing he ever did

[@john2357]

@Eric Andrews and by thin air I suppose you mean a lethal dose of cocaine

[@kennethfrazee2540]

That one was a pain

[@RobertMJohnson]

The hardest thing he ever composed is the intro to I’M THE ONE, not mean Street. The intro to MEAN STREET is entirely easier to play than the intro to I’M THE ONE

[@babayaga1767]

he didn't want an army of players playing like him. ladies and gentlemen i give you the 80s

[@maximummatt73]

*shudder*

[@Aaron-zh4kj]

It's so cool to hear great players dive deep into their perceptions of other great players. Also, such a challenging thing to hear what Corgan saw concerning the ease with which Edward played. There's definitely something to bettering ourselves as players, but the things that are in our wheel house and things we can easily latch onto at our skill level may be our best. Interesting for sure.

[@jfrockon]

Great interview.

[@johntierney387]

I love this! As a fellow indie/alternative rocker, Metallica, Slayer, GnR... made some of the greatest albums of all time so it’s nice to hear this.

[@looseunit9180]

This is gold

[@walterevans2118]

Excellent points from Billy and Dweezil.... Ed was someone who loved to experiment the the instrument to make it do unusual things..He was always trying to break new ground on this...During Fair Warning he was taking this to delightful extremes...He loved Allan Holdsworth because he found him to be an ORIGINAL like he was...A kindred spirit who was breaking new ground rather than copying...I know exactly what Billy means about the ATTACK in Eds playing..It was aggression but ARTICULATE aggression , not inarticulate ham fisted thud rock thrash but sheer IRON FIST IN VELVET GLOVE delivery in every sound he made & he did...I also know exactly what he means talking about how he put ideas within chords. Ed's rhythm playing was never a dull moment because unlike most heavy metal players he would create NOODLES during monotonous chords which would keep things interesting. For evidence of this listen to whats going on in his isolated guitar track on Hang Em High..He throws in everything in the kitchen sink...lol..Ed would put in every dive bomb, scrape, tap,,,harmonic run, moan, 2 hand Bach ,,,abrasion rub and chatter into every rhythm guitar part on all of those VH albums down the years...Without missing a beat ! ....lol.... That is why when Ed went into Sunset Sound in 1977 to record VH 1 unlike with the Gene Simmons demo earlier Ted Templeman listened to Ed playing the live guitar part of You Really Got me & he just went - 'WOW ! ...It doesn't even NEED another rhythm guitar behind it' !....Because Ed could go from riff to noodle in a nanosecond with such precision that it kept things so interesting that it didn't NEED overdubs. This was how Ted & Don managed to capture VHs LIVE sound in the studio & do it justice on vinyl.

[@StevenBrown-me]

+10, insightful 🤘

[@devlhstrat8849]

Props to both of them for knowing their guitar history and having reverence for those who came before. After all it is a big part of their job.

[@pf100andahalf]

I've been saying this for decades about how great and dark Fair Warning is. The leads are just brutal.

[@HollisAudioLabs]

Great interview!

[@johndef5075]

Saw them on the Fair Warning tour. General admission. Craziest show Ive ever been to. Hara Arena, Dayton Ohio.

[@andrewwilson888]

Billy Corgan's assessment of Edward's pick attack is brilliant.

[@showtime951]

Any time I have an opportunity to listen to someone like myself who has a PhD in EVH I jump on it. Dweezil is one of my all-time favorite people. He's an incredibly nice guy, a total class act, and not recognized enough for being one of the baddest f-ing guitarists on this Egg spinning around the Sun.

[@martinmummert5614]

The earth is flat. The surface of contained bodies of water do NOT bulge upward in the center...not in a cup, not in a lake, and not in the ocean. Please don't believe the ball earth lie! Water seeks its own level.

[@rockinvida1960]

Billy Corgan played one of the greatest “outside” guitar solos ever in “Cherub Rock.” Sheer genius on that track.

[@cdreyes81]

I agree but to me, better still, is Quiet, hummer, mayo, geek solos, just keeping it on S.D. but then some vicious solos on MC.

[@stephenfiore9960]

Genius work

[@mikep4891]

These are great! Thank you

[@stephenfiore9960]

Billy is quite the guitar historian. I didn’t think his palette was so wide.

[@bobkaiser8782]

My first exposure to VH was the Fair Warning tour. I was 11. Fragile little mind successfully warped.

[@jironthunder7519]

Fair Warning is my favorite album, should be every serious Van Halen fans favorite

[@TheKitchenerLeslie]

It was really the first VH album that didn't have that goofy, party-time vibe. There's no covers or joke songs like Happy Trails or Big Bad BIll on it either. It has a thematic feel to it like it's a movie for your ears.

[@cdreyes81]

I really wish that Billy Eddy interview was on tape or if it is, released

[@jimmyfreeman9133]

Kick-ass as well that B.C. mentions Dime 🤘.

[@bobjames5264]

As long as I’ve been into Van Halen, I never knew about the thin picks. Perhaps that explains the ease with which he pulled off those pinch harmonics on the fade in “The Little Bug” while still keeping the (upstroke) ghost notes going. That has always mystified me!

[@NitroModelsAndComics]

Great insights. I took hear Ed's agressipn similarly. Let's face it. Listen to VH for 2 minutes and if your toa ain't tapping there are issues we cannot help you with.😊

[@richevans609]

Fair Warning Rules! My favorite!

[@DesignRhythm]

Wow that was well worth the time.

[@DVincentW]

Eddie was great at everything - esp the funny.

[@Thelajets]

Dark Van Halen!! Love it! True!

[@michaelc7110]

I thought Corgans stuff was a bit more advanced than his peers at the time. " Oh you can play" lol.

[@cisco680]

I would have loved to watch him interview Edward. I would have watched the entire 41/2 hours.

[@C8geyB]

I saw that tour.

[@crsantin]

The only thing I would disagree with here is the idea that Eddie’s playing was effortless. It was on the surface but he played hundreds of thousands of hours from a young age to get to the point where it looks effortless. Eddie was truly gifted and a musical genius but he devoted his life to it. Maybe in the full podcast they address this but effortless only happens through incredible devotion and single minded dedication. Michael Jordan made it look easy but there was a lifetime of playing that went into that. Regular humans don’t have that type of focus.

[@rightchordleadership]

Fair point 👍🏻

[@MagnumMuscle1000]

But that is kind of the point. "Regular" people could practice as much, but without the gift, they will never be as good as Eddie (or Jordan or Pavarotti).

[@atticussampson776]

Respectfully, and busting your balls, there's 8,760 hrs. in a year so at ten yrs of playing without stopping that would be 87,760. But point taken, he practiced a lot.

[@jasonbates2687]

when you love the instrument so much and you have done it for so long it is effortless, its like breathing you dont even think about it, I can close my eyes and play guitar and do it well, not nearly as good as EVH

[@walterevans2118]

Carlos Santin ..True. What was difficult was working so hard at it for a long time down the years to MAKE IT EASY. What DLR would have called doing your 50 thousand hours.

[@andreaslandgren1681]

I discovered it last year.

[@SquirrelTheater]

Billy Corgan has lived my dream. 😳😳

[@saxmidiman]

"Well..." hahahahahahahahahhahhahahahaha!🤣😁😎

[@void0094]

I love Zappa and Wpc

[@DVincentW]

Its in your fingers. Ultimately, your attack is you how you sound. If your are timid, it can be heard.

[@adrianlee3497]

Once a upon a time I used to play with a paper thin tortex in a band and people were wondering how I got such an attack out of it.

[@pedrobarnez5502]

Billy danced around SRV like he was avoiding it on purpose lol, the most aggressive attack I have ever heard.I play a strat with 11s tuned to 440 and a 1 mm pick and I have to bang the heck out of those strings to even get close to getting the flavor right.

[@shnoop123jimbo7]

srv was a god

[@VH-Fan-007]

I’m not a fan of Billy usually, their music just hasn’t been my jam. But, really enjoyed his approach to this interview and stories and how EVH impacted his playing. Well done, Billy Corgan!

[@oaktowndimond668]

Billy and eddie do have some similar astetics In the sense that it's not all about shredding... It's about creating an atmospheric sonic wall of sound.

[@aquilomanganelli175]

you guys speaking of attack brings to mind the opening notes Johnny Winter plays on "Rock Me Baby" or "Still Alive and Well."

[@ericstrat3579]

Fair Warning is an awesome album...

[@toivonencresto]

It’s said in this video the perfect point that Makes EVH SO great: is one of the very fews that played that incredible good way not because they try to, but because they GOT it. Same for SRV, same for Gary Moore. Even in the shred era, you see the incredibly hard stuff, but you see the study and preparation below that. These giants simply GOT it. Ps Pavarotti? Billy listen to Corelli ;)

[@JeffreyTheTaylor]

I have no idea if the timing could have worked, but I often think about a Fair Warning with Cathedral/Secrets, Little Guitars etc added to it and the fluff Alex, EVH noodles deleted and then Diver Down as a total covers EP. Hard to argue that anything needed changing as Pretty Woman went to no. 12 and the relative breather of DD set the stage for the triumph of 1984. But in terms of knock out guitar tour de force album, that Alt Fair Warning would have been an all-timer. Guess I'll just make a playlist and dream.... thanks Dweez.

[@treykook]

I tracked the DD originals with 1984 and loved how that came out. I’ll have to try it with Fair Warning and see how that goes. My tracking went 1984/Jump, Hang Em High, Panama, Top Jimmy, Cathedral/Secrets, Drop Dead Legs, Intruder/Pretty Woman (this was too big a hit to leave off and why they put it on DD even though it was a bridge single) Hot for Teacher, Little Guitars suite, I’ll Wait, Girl Gone Bad, The Full Bug and House of Pain.

[@nonsuch]

I agree with Eddie on his pick choice. I believe a thin pick is paramount to getting a good sound on guitar and bass. Anything thicker just kinda moves the string rather than strike it and you can't really get a "follow through".

[@BodhiSoftMobileApps]

IMO the EVH and Billy Gibbons meanness I feel like comes from not just the pick attack but also the slinky phrasing, the pinch harmonics, and the yank it, choke it, and flog it vibrato.

[@robertdefex9544]

I love the opening sounds like bowie doing pink floyds see Emily play

[@gcrauwels941]

FW is my favorite too. Ed was off the chain.

[@jimmyjennings4089]

It seemed like eddie knew how to hit all the right chords and notes in his rhythm and his solo's just bad ass choices he made on what to play on the guitar.

[@rodneyhurst6019]

Who is the acapella group covering Running with the devil at the top of the show?

[@stevewarren4813]

Fair Warning is my favorite, as well.

[@leonardomattarmonteiro2824]

THE BEST In terms of savagery,the only VH Album comparable to it is the debut one. In terms of awe inspiring music,maybe (MAYBE) "Women&Children First". Sorry man if I misspelled anything. Drinking CACHAÇA! (just like SENSEI DAVE LEE ROTH in 1983 here in BRASIL-1st&last VAN HALEN gig here in my country 🇧🇷🤘🤘🍻)...

[@STETTRACE]

Fair Warning IS the best VH album

[@DevilMaskMedia]

Where the hell is this interview between Eddie & Billy?

[@REPVILE]

I wonder if Dweezil still has the Dr. Suess guitar

[@Paul-dw2cl]

I laughed out loud @ 3:14

[@christeuma]

"The way he kinda interphrases on the chords" CHORD VOICING! Voicing the chord! "We all know what I'm saying", I did! But didn't for decades. Needed the term, CHORD VOICING. How you voice that 1-3-5 across the octaves. Going from 2 to 3 voices to get control over that power chord 5-1 bzzzzhhh.

[@dpepe416]

Siamese Dreams was and is one of the best albums of all time... Not grunge just good rock. From top to bottom a fantastic eargasm

[@jnh73]

I'm not a fan of Billy's singing voice. His guitar tone grates on me more often than not. I'm a fan of only a handful of Smashing Pumpkins tunes. I could listen to Billy talk about music all day, any time, anywhere. I did not expect that from this episode, wow.

[@MRCATL3]

His voice isn't the best, but Gish, Pieces Iscariot, Through the eyes of Ruby...bad ass.......

[@thecreature1281]

Yeah.. "Unchained" and "So this is Love" are on Fair Warning.. So.. something is so musical about that album just from those two songs alone.. kind of takes your breath away to hear it - esp. on vinyl..

[@boofert.washington2499]

The phaser on Unchained really makes it growl. I fucking love that song. It has chug.

[@offbeatbassgear]

Any idea why Billy Corgan is dressing like Gandalf??

[@cerclesvicieux]

Billy Corgan comparing himself to Dimebag Darrell.... for some reason I just can't wrap my head around that.

[@stephenfiore9960]

The KZbin thumbnail has a spot the looks likes like a cigarette tip. Too bad, I believe that was one of the main reasons for Eddie’s early demise.

[@michaelschweitzer6718]

Is 13 minutes all there is???

[@SIXX49ER]

No.Go to Dweezils website and you can pay to hear all the WHOLE interviews.

[@dimethedude]

It’s Ajax!

[@xpicklepie]

I thought Ed used a Fender Medium .73 pick.

[@5664788]

"He's not sweating it,...& neither should you" great great point

[@ROOKTABULA]

“It was almost a form of violence,”: Pretentious much Billy? Dweezil wheezed at how stupid that statement was.

[@akfreed6949]

Did Eddie make it dark because the lead guitarist of AC/DC call Van Halen a pop band ? There's a video clip of him mention it on KZbin somewhere . I think FAIR WARNING is the most Halen album .

[@joeblow2668]

The leads on gish are specfuckintacular

[@notsure1135]

Dave Mustaine plays pretty mean, BC

[@edsnotgod]

oh, so we're not talking about how Ed was nasty to people. Ed forever jumped the shark with that odious pop fluff "Jump" which showed "Karma Chameleion" and thing or two, eh, and then did a sequel to it "Tattoo" on ADKOT. The nastiest corporate pop rock ever.

[@roachrip]

It really was darkhalen!

[@darthslater6077]

BILLY PICKED THE WRONG MUSIC IS ALL...HE MOST LIKELY WOULD HAVE GONE MUCH FARTHER IN ROCK INSTEAD OF ALTERNATIVE.

[@buzzedalldrink9131]

his meanest was the way he treated Micheal Anthony

[@catfishcooler1566]

And Gary Cherone, and Sammy, and even David Lee Roth. Three (3) radically different personalities that Eddie couldn't get along with.

[@buzzedalldrink9131]

@@catfishcooler1566 From what I’ve seen Alex is no prize either the two of them were pretty destructive to their own careers and the band

[@billybobtexas]

And yet all you hear are stories about how sweet and warm he was.

[@buzzedalldrink9131]

@@billybobtexas saddest part is they seem to come from Sammy and Micheal the two everyones knows he screwed over Changes my opinion of them now

[@pilotpete405]

Where’s your glasses, billy?

[@icepick859]

Billy gibbons didn't play anything like eddie, attack wise. Billy gibbons used 7 Guage strings and picks light as a feather. he literally is just barely touching the strings. I actually find his technique fascinating, like what levels of self control he must have to play that delicate. Not only that but Gibbons plays his amps set like super gain heavy metal amps, but with his light attack it comes out more blues rock. I dont think it could get any more different than eddie who did play super aggressive.

[@jasonprice9707]

Did you just call me your father and ask for forgiveness