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Imagine if Beethoven had a tape recorder. Then you'd know exactly what he meant. Maybe he meant 'Da da da da' instead of 'Boom boom boom boom!' Who knows?

Eddie Van Halen

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Eddie Van Halen
Age: 65 †
Born: 1955
Born: January 26
Died: 2020
Died: October 6
Composer
Guitarist
Musician
Record Producer
Singer
Songwriter
Amsterdam
Netherlands
Edward Van Halen
EVH
Edward Lodewijk van Halen
Edward Lodewijk Van Halen
Maybe
Recorders
Beethoven
Boom
Tape
Meant
Exactly
Instead
Imagine
Recorder

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Nirvana was huge, but it didn't appeal to everyone.
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A good producer brings out the best in the artist he's working with. You shouldn't be able to listen to something and say, 'So-and-so produced this album.
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We make music for a living. Like I've always said, if you like what you're doing, you're halfway there if someone else likes it, that's even better. If they don't like it, at least you like it. Not to be selfish, but you kind of have to be.
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Actually, if I could deliberately sit down and write a pop hit, all my songs would be pop hits! Let's put it this way. I play what I like to hear. And sometimes I like to hear something poppy, and sometimes I don't.
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For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge' took a year to record that's why the playing on it might sound somewhat labored. 'Balance,' on the other hand, was written and recorded in only four months, so the whole process was quicker and more immediate.
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The one thing I do have is good ears. I don't mean perfect pitch, but ears for picking things up. I developed my ear through piano theory, but I never had a guitar lesson in my life, except from Eric Clapton off of records.
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Holdsworth is so damned good that I can't cop anything. I can't understand what he's doing. I've got to do this [does two-hand tapping], whereas he'll do it with one hand.
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I've had a hip replacement, I've beaten cancer, I had my hand operation, and I stopped drinking. Something inside of me just went, 'I'm done.'
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Rock stars come and go. Musicians play until they die.
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Jimmy Page is an excellent producer. Led Zeppelin I and II are classics. As a player he's very good in the studio, but I've never seen him play well live. He's sloppy. He plays like he's got a broken hand and he's two years old. If you put out a good album and play like a two year old, what's the purpose?
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Eventually you'll take the phrases and rhythm patterns you've copped and begin to put your own mark on them
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Some people think a song without words isn't a real song. Tell that to Beethoven and he'll kick your ass!
Eddie Van Halen
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It's always about the music, never about anything else.
Eddie Van Halen
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I never dreamt of being a musician for my livelihood. I certainly never would have wanted to be in the business that I'm in, meaning the fame and the glory, the glitter, the rock star, the famous part.
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I'm not a rock star. Sure I am, to a certain extent because of the situation, but when kids ask me how it feels to be a rock star, I say leave me alone, I'm not a rock star. I'm not in it for the fame, I'm in it because I like to play.
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I'm writing, and just doing the same thing I always do.
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I'm just a normal schmo like anyone else.
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Before the operation on my left hand I wasn't able to stretch my fingers open all the way. I've never had very big hands, but I could do the splits with them. Eventually I couldn't any more. I had a twisted tendon in my little finger that prevented me from being able to stretch.
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Everything comes to me while I'm sitting on the pot.
Eddie Van Halen
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When I'm home on a break, I lock myself in my room and play guitar. After two or three hours, I start getting into this total meditation. It's a feeling few people experience, and that's usually when I come up with weird stuff. It just flows. I can't force myself. I don't sit down and say I've got to practice.
Eddie Van Halen