Van Halen are undeniably one of the most influential bands in hard rock. They were really one of the true super groups right from the outset and their first album is almost perfect from start to finish. Furthermore they had probably the greatest living rock guitarist at the helm. Eddie Van Halen has single handedly shaped modern rock guitar and has spawned thousands of clones since he burst onto the scene. How many guitarists can truly forget the first time they heard Eruption?

Eddie’s trademark ‘brown’ guitar sound was something to behold and has for the most part proved elusive for many guitarists. Although he’s known for his memorable guitar riffs and flawless tapping technique, Eddie had incredible feel and was able to play with enormous subtetly when it was required. He could also play with less gain than people give him credit for and this led to him creating a far more dynamic sound than many bands at the time.

Eddie Van Halen with his rare black and white custom strat

Eddie performing the incredible Eruption

Despite Eddie being a strong driving force behind Van Halen,  the band’s sound was also shaped by some world class drumming from Eddie’s brother Alex Van Halen. Drummers very rarely influence their bands sound however he also had a distinctive feel and his drum breaks on tracks like ‘hot for teacher’ (1984) and Jamie’s cryin’ (Van Halen I) are iconic.

One of Van Halen’s first music videos – Running with the devil

Micheal Anthony, despite sitting in the background as their bassist provided some incredible high pitched background vocals that surprisingly provided the perfect foil to David Lee Roth’s gruff yet soulful lead vocals. Check out ‘Running with the Devil’ or ‘Ain’t Talkin about Love’ to see what we mean.

Van Halen’s classic early line-up with David Lee Roth

Then you come on to the man himself, David Lee Roth, their iconic and hugely charismatic frontman. Roth has initially rejected as their singer due to Eddie not liking his vocal work. However as the band were constantly renting Roth’s PA, they eventually decided to let him front the band (Eddie had reluctantly taken lead vocals for a while). Very few bands can say they have a true frontman and David Lee Roth had it all, from flamboyant wardrobe to karate kicks and epic screams. Furthermore he always had plenty to say about himself and the band. You get the feeling that if this guy sold cars he’d have the biggest car dealership in the world!

The band struggled to get signed in their early day with some promoters (Bill Gazzarri) even claiming  they were “too loud”. However managers, Mark Algorri and Mario Miranda eventally got them the record deal they needed. They were signed to Warner Brothers Records and released their debut ‘self titled’ album in 1978. When you think about how fresh this album still sounds it’s incedible that the band were able to capture such a dynamic energy in the studio during the late 70′s. A sound that would eclipse even bands like Black Sabbath who the band later toured with.

“The crowds got bigger and Van Halen were able to draw 3,000 people to a gig they threw themselves. Kiss’ Gene Simmons paid for their original demo sessions, and Mo Ostin, chairman of the board at Warner, and Ted Templemen, V.P. of A&R, caught their act at the Starwood Club. They were signed the next day. Three years ago they played the bar scene, today they headline arenas.”

Interview from the January 1981 issue of Guitar World

They returned to the studio rapidly in 1978 for Van Halen II which was very similar in style to their debut. This album however brought the band’s first hit single, “Dance the Night Away”.

Their ‘Women and Children First’ album was released in 1980 and further cemented Van Halen’s status. But in 1981, during the recording of the ‘Fair Warning’ album, tensions started to rise. Eddie and David’s musical style was increasingly at odds and this started to show in the very lacklustre ‘Diver Down’ album in 1983.

Van Halen’s controversial 1984 album cover

However Van Halen’s next album, ’1984′ was a huge commercial sucees. Recorded at Eddie Van Halen’s newly-built 5150 Studios, the album featured heavy use of keyboards (laid down by Eddie). The lead single, “Jump”, also featured a massive synthesizer hook and anthemic lyrics, and became the band’s first and only no 1 hit, gaining them a Grammy nomination.

“According to the Recording Industry Association of America, Van Halen is the 19th best-selling band/artist of all time with sales of over 56 million albums in the United States alone, and is one of five rock bands that have had two albums sell more than 10 million copies in the U.S.”

Van Halen’s Wikipedia Page

The album, however, was also to be their last and during the 1984 tour, tensions among the band reached breaking point. Although reasons for the breakup vary based on which band member is interviewed, they were ultimately driven by a clash of egos and musical differences.

David Lee Roth however went on to have a successful solo career starting with a remake of The Beach Boys classic “California Girls” and the old standard “Just a Gigolo”. Eventually Roth would form his own super group featuring the awesome Steve Vai and Billy Sheehan (the subject of a separate post) and create one of the eighties best guitar albums , ‘Eat Em and smile’.

Eddie eventually started talking to Sammy Hagar, formerly of 1970s band Montrose, and the resulting 5150 album was to be a new high for the band during the mid eighties. That however is for part two of our Van Halen Retrospective which will be coming soon.

A VH super fan named Midnight Phil has put together a very thorough and highly amusing two part retrospective about the rock legends. He focuses the first video on the classic early years with Roth and the second on the Van Hagar years. The funniest part for me was the damning verdict on the Van Halen III album with Extreme’s Gary Cherone. Poor guy, that was a car crash waiting to happen really, still who would turn down the chance to sing with Van Halen?

Part One – The David Lee Roth Years

The remaining members of Pink Floyd are amongst some of the rockstars (Kings of Leon, Status Quo, and James Blunt.) that have donated guitars in order to raise funds for the Crisis charity. The guitar is incredibly striking due to being individually painted by the visual mastermind behind The Dark Side of The Moon, Ian Emes and features the iconic artwork from the ‘Time’ sequence. It’s also autographed by Pink Floyd members Roger Waters, Nick Mason, David Gilmour and artist Ian Emes!

The guitar auction is now live, and it will run for two weeks, until Thursday 14 July. Members of the public can place their bids by visiting the webpage for each guitar on Charitybuzz.com. The current bid stands at 15,500 and looks like it will easily be the most popular guitar in the auction!

A mysterious countdown has recently begun on Jimmypage.com that has many guitarists salivating at the prospect of some kind of anouncement from the master of classic rock guitar. Counting down from 15, the timer is due to expire on the 14th July. Given that it would have been almost impossible for Page to have kept the recording of a new album secret I think we’ll see a new website first before any new material is released. Given the fact that he supervised the remastering of the entire Led Zeppelin discography and the quality of the Led Zeppelin DVD packages in the past I hope we’ll see a website worthy of this musical legend.

Page has mentioned in interviews in the past that he has something big planned so I’m hoping we’ll get a major annoucement when the new website goes live. Jimmy could easily follow the same path as Slash or Carlos Santana and produce a collaborative album. Supernatural was absolutely massive for Carlos Santana and the list of artists lining up to work with Jimmy Page would be practically endless. On the other hand maybe he’ll surprise us all and go for something completely different.

You can register at Jimmypage.com to be notified when the website goes live.

David Lee Roth, Eddie Van Halen, bassist Wolfgang Van Halen and drummer Alex Van Halen have been working on a new album with producer John Shanks since the start of the year and it looks like we may hear some of the new material pretty soon. David Lee Roth has posted a message on his website saying “Get ready” so I suspect we’ll get a single any day now.

I’m in two minds about what to expect, on one hand this could be epic if the material from the Best of Volume 1 was anything to go by. This brief reunion brought us “Me wise magic” and “Can’t get this stuff no more” which were superb. However I also think this could end up being a huge flop (i.e. Van Halen III) given the turbulent history between David and Eddie. Personally, as a true Van Halen fan I’m hoping for the former.

The allbum is expected out during the autumn.

“John Denner was virtually unseen and unheard until his stunning performance on the Howard Stern Show in April of 2007. Now, John is recognized internationally as the unconventional guitarist whose Eddie Van Halen-style playing is both amazing and inspiring.”

John Denner Official Website

There are quite a few iPhone apps for guitar players on the market however this latest one from Legacy Learning Systems sets a new bar in how guitarists can learn this instrument. In partnership with the mighty Gibson Guitars, Learn and master guitar have produced a kick ass iphone app that features some of the most essential tools and features that guitarists will need including a state of the art guitar tuner, metronome, chord chart and high quality guitar lessons from Learn and master guitar.

The iPhone App is probably the most comprehensive on the market and whats more is completely FREE! This has no doubt ensured it’s success and it has already become massively popular with over 125,000 downloads already putting it in no 1 position, ahead of Pandora, in the iPhone music apps category. The app has even attracted celebrity endorsements in the shape of Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Sammy Hagar.

Gibson Learn and Master iPhone App Features

• A professional quality Chromatic Tuner that will allow you to tune any instrument using the iPhone microphone (or iPod Touch with microphone attachment)
• Alternate Tuning settings so you can quickly and easily tune your guitar to various alternate tunings, including Open G, Low C, Drop D, Eb and others.
• A Standard Mode Tuner that allows you to tune each string to a sample tone
• An accurate Metronome with multiple time signatures, visual and audio options, and a set-your-own tempo tap pad
• A Chord Library with a sample of the essential chords for every player beginner to advanced
• Free Videos Lessons – Watch full length lessons from the Award Winning Learn & Master Guitar course.

Overall It seems that learning the guitar via mobile devices such as the iPhone is proving to be a growing trend that seems set to continue. With guitar manufacterurs and instructional companies increasingly using the internet and other digital channels to provide content and multimedia for guitar players worldwide it can mean only good things for guitarists. This iPhone app demonstrates that its never been easier or faster for people to learn the guitar.

Find out more about the Gibson Learn & Master Guitar iPhone App.

Phil Collen

Phil Collen joined Def Leppard in 1981 from the London music scene when he was asked to replace Pete Willis as lead guitarist of Def Leppard.His playing ability to play guitar impressed producer Mutt Lange and the rest of the band after he performed a guitar solo for the hit song  “Photograph” during the band’s Pyromania sessions.

He quickly bonded with fellow guitarist Steve Clark, with whom he created Def Leppard’s trademark dual-guitar sound.  Phil and Steve were even known as “The Terror Twins” during this particular successful part of the band’s history. After Clark’s tragic death in 1991, Collen was faced with the burden and responsibility of the Adrenalize recordings.  Sadly the album wasn’t well received and it wasn’t really until 2002′s X that the band returned to some sort of form. Collen’s now forms a powerful guitar partnership with Vivian Campbell, the ex Dio and Whitesnake guitarist and the band are well worth seeing live for the incredibly tight and melodic guitar playing on display.

Most recently, Phil organized a band of his own called Man-Raze, which included former Girl bandmate, Simon Laffy, and the drummer from the Sex Pistols, Paul Cook. Their 2008 release “Surreal”was received great reception.

Phil Collen Videos

Behind the scenes with Phil Collen

Phil Collen Demonstrates his Jackson PC1 Signature Model

Phil Collen Singing Miss You In A Heartbeat!

Richie Kotzen lesson featuring some great chordal work

Richie Kotzen “Feed my head” SOLO

Richie Kotzen demonstrating a funk jam

Susan Tedeschi

In the years since she captured the public’s musical imagination with her 1998 breakthrough album Just Won’t Burn, the multi-talented musician has established a formidable reputation as a deeply expressive singer, a prodigiously talented guitarist and distinctive songwriter. She’s won a large and loyal audience for her ability to craft elements of classic blues, rock, R&B, folk and gospel into a distinctly individual style that honors rootsy musical traditions without being subservient to them.

After establishing herself as one of New England’s top-drawing live acts, and making her recording debut with her embryonic 1995 album Better Days, Tedeschi achieved an impressive musical and commercial breakthrough with Just Won’t Burn. The album, on the independent Tone-Cool label, became a massive grass-roots success, with a minimum of hype and plenty of old-fashioned word of mouth. Just Won’t Burn achieved Gold sales status and won Tedeschi a GRAMMY® nomination for Best New Artist, alongside such unlikely company as Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Macy Gray and Kid Rock. Tedeschi’s next release, 2002′s acclaimed, two-time GRAMMY®-nominated Wait for Me, was produced by legendary studio veteran Tom Dowd, and coincided with her marriage to Trucks and the birth of the couple’s son Charlie.

Susan Tedeschi Videos

Susan Tedeschi Soloing

Susan Tedeschi – Voodoo Woman

Joe Bonamassa

Blues-rock guitar virtuoso, vocalist and songwriter Joe Bonamassa kicked off 2007 with the honor of being named Best Blues Guitarist by Guitar Player Magazine’s readership in their annual Reader’s Choice Awards.

Widely renowned for his insanely fluid phrasing and post-modern fusion of electric British blues, traditional Delta blues and rock ‘n roll chops, Bonamassa Told Guitar Player in ’05, “When I play blues, I try to think a little outside the box, while still paying tribute to the founding fathers like Muddy Waters and Robert Johnson.”

Sloe Gin, Bonamassa’s seventh solo album, and fourth on his own J&R Adventures label is a mix of heavy blues, big rock and textured acoustic tracks that Joe says was in part inspired by Rod Stewart’s legendary 1969 debut solo LP, it reunites him with producer Kevin Shirley (Joe Satriani, Black Crowes, Aerosmith, Led Zeppelin).

Joe’s influences are evident in his music, but Joe has been influenced by other artists; notable examples include Stevie Ray Vaughan, B.B. King, Robert Johnson, Danny Gatton, Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, Eric Johnson, and Buddy Guy. Bonamassa’s style of playing incorporates the wide range of genres these influences cover: Rock, Blues-Rock, Jazz, Country, Delta Blues, and Electric Blues.

Website: www.jbonamassa.com

Joe Bonamassa Videos

Sloe Gin at the North Sea Jazz Festival 2007

Joe Bonamassa Guitar Lesson

Joe Bonamassa Soloing