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Posted on 09/28/2023 6:52:57 PM PDT by DoodleBob
Longtime and esteemed rock journalist Steve Rosen, who recently released a book about his unique friendship with Edward Van Halen, "Tonechaser - Understanding Edward: My 26-Year Journey With Edward Van Halen", was a guest on Ted Nugent's "Real America Voice" podcast on September 22. During the chat, which can be seen below, Ted stated about his love of VAN HALEN (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "When I first saw VAN HALEN, they opened up for me. I think the first gig was either Omaha or Des Moines, Iowa. But I heard that guitar, and I was aware of the 'You Really Got Me' guitar solo. But let me tell you, Eddie Van Halen stood out because he hit such heretofore uncharted frequencies and patterns. He obliterated the predictable scales. He went places that no one had ever gone in the noises, in the use of the flanger and the tone of this amplifier that he made in his basement and a guitar that he made in his basement.'
He continued: "But let me show you, as a music lover, as frontal and as apparent as Eddie's guitar impact was, I give equal power and virtuosity to David Lee Roth as a vocal adventurer and vocal stylist and a frontman, energized leader of the pack. But I also give equal props to Michael Anthony as a foundational inescapable groove, rhythm bass player, and I believe unequaled background and harmony vocalist.
"So I give Eddie Van Halen 10, David Lee Roth 10, Michael Anthony 10, Alex Van Halen 11," Ted added. "I mean, these guys —I know what it takes. And here's the term that is not properly applied to the musical world: work ethic. Those guys practiced like addicted animals. My band, we practiced every day, 'cause we wanted to deliver a tight, authoritative beast of song after song. And then David Lee Roth put the frosting on the cake and the cherry on top with his showmanship and his virility, dare I say, his effervescent masculinity.
"In hindsight, now that Eddie is gone and that band will never appear on stage again, I'm right, aren't I? There would not have been that VAN HALEN impact without those four monsters of dedication, gifted virtuosos that laid the groundwork for Eddie's uncharted histrionics."
Back in August 2022, Nugent reflected on his friendship with Eddie Van Halen during an appearance on SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk". He said: "What a great man he was. What a force to reckon with, how he enriched our lives with his musical genius.
"And let me clarify, in case Howard Stern, his lying punks are listening, because they made up a dirty f——— lie on 'The Howard Stern Show', that I was jealous of Eddie and that we had a contention because of the way we played guitar. What a bunch of f——— liars.
"Eddie and I were dear friends," Ted continued. "When Eddie became clean and sober, guess who his first phone call was. To me. Because I lovingly prodded him to get the drugs and alcohol and tobacco out of his life. I did it in a loving way, and he was resistant, as most people are, but we had a wonderful relationship."
Nugent also recalled a conversation he had with Van Halen when VAN HALEN first opened for Ted 46 years ago.
"On that stage, I was fascinated to see what this guy was doing with a handmade guitar, back in '77," Nugent said. "And I went up and I said, 'Hi, Eddie. I'm Ted. What is this rig? It's awesome.' And he whipped out those unbelievable, unique licks of his. And he handed me his guitar. And even though it was this unique rig and the amplification and all these effects and just one of a kid, as soon as I started playing his bastard Stratocaster, it sounded like me, because of the way I touch the instrument. But not quite like a [Gibson] Birdland, because a Birdland just feeds back uncontrollably [laughs] — it's like an angry, pissed off beast. And I handed him the Birdland and it fed back and fed back.
"But here's the takeaway: it's in the hands and in the heart. It's in the spirit of the musician," Ted continued. "And when Eddie played my Birdland, and I was able to back it down a little bit so it wasn't so out-of-control feedback, on my Gibson Birdland through my Fender amps, it sounded like Eddie f——— Van Halen, because he is it. And even with his rig — I would play some of my licks; I played the 'Cat Scratch' lick and I played the 'Free-For-All' lick — it sounded like Ted f——— Nugent.
"But my point is: Eddie Van Halen, we all worship the gift he gave us," Nugent added. "There was never a negative moment between Eddie and I. He and I got along just great. And we loved the same kind of music. And he had a miraculous touch on the guitar, and I had my own touch. And that moment, with those two different guitars and two different rigs, it proves that it really is in the hands of the individual. And it was a great, great moment. I cherish that moment."
In May 2022, Nugent named Van Halen the best guitar player he has ever seen. "He was so diverse in not only his histrionics but his groove," he said about Eddie. "He had an unbelievable organic sense of rhythm in his delivery of not just exciting lead guitar parts but his grind of a grooving rhythm as a white kid. He really defied the history of who can groove like that. 'Cause I come from the world of the Funk Brothers of Motown, so I know what the gods of groove look and sound like. And Eddie Van Halen, the times I jammed with him, and just listening to the records, you can tell he had an unbelievable, uncannySuperman sense of rhythm beyond just his outrageous athleticism on the guitar neck."
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He was outstanding:
Van Halen - Unchained - 6/12/1981 - Oakland Coliseum Stadium
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cn8APTMyKsg
They may have singularly been responsible for Ozzy's solo career!
Michael Anthony was definitely an under-appreciated member of the band.
I always appreciated Michael Anthony’s incredible backup vocals. He had some pipes. I first noticed it on you’ve really got me.
Interesting article, though I never particularly cared for the music of VH or Ted Nugent.
Michael Anthony was the lead singer and bassist of his own band. Van Halen recruited him - I think when they were still “Mammoth.”
His backing vocals are phenomenal and part of their sound.
This article is clearly much more about the relationship between Ted and Eddie than Michael Anthony, with all respect to Michael. But Ted is well known for being a great all around guy who was never jealous of anyone, but rather has always been about making friends, and having fun.
It would have been easy for Ted to have been jealous of Eddie, like so many others were, as Ted was somewhat the “Jimi Hendrix Experience of America” when Eddie came along, and Eddie stole the title of best guitar hero away from him. No one could compete with Van Halen, as an overall band, and rather than simmer in jealous hate as so many other bands did, Ted just smiled and was thankful of the innovation that Eddie brought to the guitar.
While Eddie proved he was indeed a better guitar player, none of the other guitar greats can compete with Ted on personality. He is one of a kind. Honest, open, generous, and a true lover of America. My favorite tune by him is The Great White Buffalo. Here’s an amazing live extended version, including some of that signature commentary by Ted, that’s worth the time if you love good guitar and showmanship:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mlAr3kUdBqI
Sorry Uncle Ted, I’m a Sammy fan. While he didn’t have the karate kicks that DLR had, his vocals and lyric writing were beyond compare. And really, look back at those old VH videos again now.. .DLR actually comes off kinda ghey.
Great vid! Shows both what Nugent did for rock and how EVH changed it.
Ugliest bass ever.
Thanks! Great comment too, exactly right.
Did another one I remember that was pretty hairy. More of one of our promoters fault than them. But their management should've saw it coming none the less. Booked into a facility they never should've been playing in with the size of their production. I will say that between us, me and our production people and their production people we managed to pull it off. The only thing that went smooth was the M&M thing. Long story for a different day.
One night I when was still handling merchandising we were doing Ted, The Cars & Pat Benatar in a stadium. Ted's brother John was handling his stuff. The bands had to check all merchandise in with me and we ran the concession stands for those sales. Anyway, John ask me how safe the product room was. A LOT of cash would be in there. I called my 2 guys over and we showed John our safety plan. I had a Walther 9mm, one of my guys a S&W .357, the other a Colt .45. John chuckled and pulled a concealed Colt .45. We all decided everything was cool. Cops would be in the area, but, you never know.
On a funny side note, when the Allman Brothers went out right after the VH tour that year the last line of their dressing room catering rider said,
All the brown M&Ms from the Van Halen tour. :O)
Great article!
Banned from the radio for a time!
Check out the funny looking Nuge here!🤣
The man can play!😁
https://youtu.be/mrUH9pGk90w?feature
I’ll concede he has a decent voice and is a competent vanilla bass player.
His bass solos absolutley suck.
Anyone that plays an instrument is totally not wow’d by anything he’s done.
He’s as vanilla as they come
I will say one good thing about him…
He didn’t do the last Roth tour.
I expect rock stars to bang groupies, do tons of drugs and generally…ROCK.
Van Halen playing on Ellen was absolutley embarrassing, lame and came off as totally limp wristed soy. It was pathetic.
The video of Dance the Night Away on Ellen is pure Spinal Tap cringe
You are correct, madam.
Sammy Hagar is amazing. DLR, while hilarious, is sort of like a Heavy Metal Liberace.
Loved Sammy’s solo stuff in the early 80s.
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