Does Edward Van Halen Get The His Rightful Due As The Greatest Guitarist Of All Time?

[theodore templeman]

I think not. His contribution to the to the genre of classical music known as 'rock' is overlooked.

As great as Hendrix was, he didn't change the sound of contemporary music the same way Van Halen did. I mean, how many Hendrix clones emerged from the woodwork in his wake. Very few. Stevie Ray and a handful of others.

Yet Edward spawned a fucking industry, no not an industry - he spawned an international guitar movement that lasted for over a decade.

Roth or Hagar...I think it is safe to assume that all here are in agreement that he is the greatest guitar player of all time...

[Brett]

Well this is no fun, Theo you're not supposed to make a non-Dave advertising post. I am truly disgruntled. [img]smile.gif[/img]

[muffdiver]

yep...i taught him well....

[Edeble Ed]

It is odd. How do you measure the greatest guitarist? Most influential? I would say Page. Most technical? Who knows. They all deserve to be considered great, but I always looks at those "Greatest" charts with skepticism. I think it is pretty impossible to say who it would be.

[I8OU812]

Greatest guitarist should IMHO be measured in innovation and invention, not to mention the impact of their playing and technique.

eddie is definitely up in the top 3. If he had died in 1985, he'd be #1.

[Brett]

I've said that before. If Ed died in 1985 he'd be #1 bar none, even the mighty Hendrix.

[el_jalepeno]

Ed's awesome, no doubt about that, but if it wasn't for the others, Ed wouldn't have come along. Check out those interviews where Ed gives the nod to Page for the finger tapping. Sure it was incredible what Ed did with it, but hands down credit goes to Page as the inspiration on that, and think about it... All the hammer ons Ed does... I say it again, Ed's awesome, but give credit where credit is due. [img]graemlins/thumb.gif[/img]

[el_jalepeno]

Originally posted by el_jalepeno:
Ed's awesome, no doubt about that, but if it wasn't for the others, Ed wouldn't have come along. Check out those interviews where Ed gives the nod to Page for the finger tapping. Sure it was incredible what Ed did with it, but hands down credit goes to Page as the inspiration on that, and think about it... All the hammer ons Ed does... I say it again, Ed's awesome, but give credit where credit is due. [img]graemlins/thumb.gif[/img]

BTW, Ed is definatly in the top 5, but Hendrix has got to be way up there along with Page...

[jimmy]

Ed's a great guitar player....but he's an even better songwriter. That's where he succeeds and others fail. He's got the chops, plus the ear for a great tune.

What Billy Joel is to the piano........Ed is to the guitar.

[Rokgtar]

Originally posted by theodore templeman:
As great as Hendrix was, he didn't change the sound of contemporary music the same way Van Halen did. I mean, how many Hendrix clones emerged from the woodwork in his wake. Very few. Stevie Ray and a handful of others.

You sure 'bout that? How old are you, 20? You're showing your age a bit [img]smile.gif[/img]

Nobody copied Hendrix? How about Johnny Winter, Robin Trower, Frank Marino, bands such as Grand Funk Railroad, Montrose, Free, Bad Company, and probably every other 70's guitar based band out there. Hendrix was all over the place, man! Everybody wanted to play like Hendrix. Hell, I still want to play like Hendrix (and Eddie, and Rhoads, et al).

Hendrix-influenced hard rock bands in the 70's were just as prevalent as Van Halen-influenced hair metal bands from the 80's trying to cop Van Halen's look and sound.

Look at it this way - Hendrix brought the ball to the 50 yard line, Eddie picked it up and ran it in for the touchdown. There is no disputing who wrote the book on modern rock guitar. But don't dismiss Hendrix's contribution by making a straight comparison to Eddie; that's just ignorant. Rock scholars know that there was a direct path from the old blues to Vai, etc... It runs through Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters, The Alberts (King and Collins), Chuck Berry, through Jimi Hendrix, through Eddie Van Halen, and straight to CC Deville . Others have added their own styles, but these folks have each contributed directly to the forward growth of rock guitar music through their innovative playing styles and techniques. Just because Hendrix is now a few music generations back doesn't mean that he didn't play an important part in bring modern music to where it is today.

Hendrix's legacy is like most people's grandparents and great-grandparents - they may not be too relevant today, but because of their actions, we are here [img]smile.gif[/img]

[theodore templeman]

Originally posted by Rokgtar:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by theodore templeman:
As great as Hendrix was, he didn't change the sound of contemporary music the same way Van Halen did. I mean, how many Hendrix clones emerged from the woodwork in his wake. Very few. Stevie Ray and a handful of others.

You sure 'bout that? How old are you, 20? You're showing your age a bit [img]smile.gif[/img]

Nobody copied Hendrix? How about Johnny Winter, Robin Trower, Frank Marino, bands such as Grand Funk Railroad, Montrose, Free, Bad Company, and probably every other 70's guitar based band out there. Hendrix was all over the place, man! Everybody wanted to play like Hendrix. Hell, I still want to play like Hendrix (and Eddie, and Rhoads, et al).
[img]smile.gif[/img] </font>[/QUOTE]Sorry dude, Hendrix was a musical oddity. A genius yes, but still an oddity.

I'd give the nod to Zeppelin as being the significant influence to most of the bands you mentioned, not Hendrix. Trower and Marino sure, but that's about it.

And if we use the pop charts to measure influence, Edward kicks Hendrix's black ass into the gutter.

[el_jalepeno]

I see the Hendrix argument... He didn't gain popularity until he went to England to hit it big then come back stateside. But Hendrix was the precursor to what a lot of the modern lead guitar playing evolved into, and you just can't take that away... [img]graemlins/thumb.gif[/img]

[Hoobastank6]

These kind of statements, whether they're true or not, always "seem" invalid just because it's normally a fan with a biased opinion doing the talking. It's like asking a soccer mom if they're child is a smart kid or a retarded idiot. We obviously know what she's going to say. I really don't understand why people say stuff like "Edward does not get his due as a great guitar player." What are you talking about? Ok fine, he's not in the papers these days and isn't on the cover of every guitar magazine like he was in 1985 but he was in the forefront of the public eye for a good 15 years. What would make you happy? If everyone in the world were to set up a shrine and bowed to it every night? I hate to say it, but Eddie had his day and it's over now. It's not 1984 anymore and believe it or not, they ARE other guitar players who exist outside of EVH that make good music. In 2002, guys like Adam Jones and Tool are more relevant than Eddie or Van Halen is.

[Crystalfish]

I don't think Tool or Adam Jones in the least compare to Ed as an "influence" on the rock world.

[Puddin and Pie]

Tool? Over Eddie's influence? [img]graemlins/drunk.gif[/img] No one will know who Tool is in the next three years. In fact, I still know a majority people today who can not name one Tool song.

I am very sorry to all you supporters of the overated dead guy. Jimi Hendrix should not receive half the kudos that Edward is entitled to. As a guitar player and music fan, I think it is an outrage that the guy who was booed off stage opening up for The Monkees, [img]graemlins/scared.gif[/img] the guy who had to leave his own country because he could not headline or sell records here, [img]graemlins/scared.gif[/img] and the guy who never had a platinum album and only one top ten hit while he was alive, should not be considered the greatest guitar player.

Even when Jimi Hendrix left the states to start his fledgling career in England, which it was at that time, he was greeted by graffiti that read "Clapton is God." At that time, Clapton, Page, Townshend, and Beck were way more established guitar players. Jimi was this experimental guy who received credit for his work with feedback ( Done a decade before him) , his work with distortion ( Done a decade before him, more associated with the Kinks) , and for the wah pedal. ( ( Invented years before Jimi used one.)

I also want to follow up on the discrepency regarding the Jimmy Page recognition for tapping. I remember reading in The Inside publication where Jimmy Page was quoted saying," That style was all his (Eddie's) own." "I can't play like that." "I don't have the fingers for it." " I also can't smile like him either." Do you all know this quote or something like this?

Bottom line:

Eddie sold 30 million more albums than Jimi in the US alone.

Eddie has 5 #1 albums and 13 that made the Top 20. Jimi never had a number one album and only four that made the Top 20.

Eddie has a #1 single and a #3 single. Jimi never cracked the top five and the only hit he ever had that cracked the top ten was a cover.

Oh yeah. And guitar?

Did Jimi even think of double hand tapping?
Did Jimi ever use whammy bar dives and screams?
Did someone patent the Floyd Rose because of Jimi?
Did Jimi ever use artificial harmonics?
Did Jimi ever come up with the "shred" generation?
Did Jimi ever have his musical sound called "The Brown Sound?"
Did Jimi ever build his own guitars?
Did Jimi ever come up with a Drop D Tuning device?
Did Jimi ever think of volume swells?
Did Jimi ever use a drill or copper picks?
Did Jimi ever have guitar lines or amps build specifically after him?
How many soundtracks use Jimi's music?
How many Grammy's has Jimi gone home with?
How many MTV, Billboard, or American Music awards for Jimi?

If we want to petition for Eddie I'll put my name in the hat first. I can debate this all day. The difference here is What might have been ( Jimi) against what has been done. ( Eddie.)