Eddie Van Halen Jamming at his house in 1974

[NPRMc]

I think any older VH listeners may understand this, (I've been listening to VH since I was 5. I'm 38 yrs old now, so 33 yrs of being a VH listener), at this point I can hear beyond the technical skill and just feel it. I can say...yes this has that Eddie feeling rhythmically, so I know it's him. Something completely overlooked and under appreciated is Eddie's rhythm. If you are drawn to it as I am, you can feel it. Only Eddie can play like this.

[astralmarmoset]

If you don't think this is genuine, go listen to the "76 demo, and then come back here.

[xxwantedxx]

awesome riff!

[ElZappata]

I can hear the Johnny Winter boogie in it which a lot of Eddie fakes totally over look,I think its him.

[dukesduree]

Eddy at it again

[OFR]

I used to record parts plugged into an old reel to reel in the 70s, it sounded EXACTLY like this. Fuzzy machine distortion. It's what you do when working out songs. NOT soloing. I believe this could be real. Both Andres Segovia and Steve Hackett of Genesis were doing "tapping" long before Gibbons or Eddie. No one "invented it", it's how you use it.

[UltraRareBreed]

@OFR STEVE HACKETT..........YESH!!!  Glad to see others appreciate Vintage Genesis.

[jasonlikesdeathmetal]

damn that sounds like shit

[scottfree6]

@jasonlikesdeathmetal you must be a genious!! that was a brilliant observation!

[jasonlikesdeathmetal]

@scottfree6 and you must be a faggot stop sucking so much cock!

[jasonlikesdeathmetal]

@scottfree6 wow your guitar playing sucks shit fucking coke head loser

[Proton2112]

Is this real? How would anyone get his or her hands on this?

[Proton2112]

Eddie got the idea for tapping from Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top, when seeing them live. However, Billy would only tap a note after a whole-step bend. Eddie turned tapping into a technique. Hie tells the tale of tapping in early guitar magazine interviews.

[billyfan8305]

@Proton2112 gee, whata co-inky-dink...Billy Sheehan did the same thing..Billy saw ZZ in'74....

[EPI6fingers]

Van halens first album was released febuary 10th 1978. The world tour started in march 1978.

[EPI6fingers]

Eddie van halen has been playing guitar since 1963.this is not the master.

[dsvet]

4:00 is Somebody Get Me a Doctor. To me this tone is what Ed describes as the "brown sound".

[versatilians]

It's PANAMA sped up a bit....listen closely!! :D

[grinder2ful]

at about 1:30 got a little zz flavor to it!

[DVincentW]

Very great rythm playing you could count on that percision:)

[axekiller58]

rock on evh

[ROCKNESSIFIED]

Anyone know what the first riff is?

[jokerstyle666]

@ROCKNESSIFIED sounds like what became "Cabo Wabo" but much faster

[codyjt5150]

@ROCKNESSIFIED sounds kinda like the ending to light up the sky from VHII

[dmcelreath406]

One Reason this may not sound like ed is that he used an old fender bassman at his house instead of his marshall

[dmcelreath406]

Can Anyone tab this out

[alwaysopen]

@dmcelreath406

Can you pull the tampons from out of your ears?

[thejokealive]

at 5:20 you can hear a primitive version of unchained

[hookups]

i wonder if anything we hear finds its way to the new record?

[BuddahMonk79]

actually it is eddie

[TerminatorARB]

its not eddie, it doesn't even sound sort of like his tone in the seventies OR eighties. the recoding has too good of a quality. there's no noise in the background. how is it at his house? you blow dog.

[codyjt5150]

@TerminatorARB dude this was before they were signed to warner bros and there doesn't have to be background noise, maybe he was alone at his house at 2 in the morning

[VHalen2112]

Yeah pretty sure thats not eddie... he would be soloing and making weird noises in between.

[Video24Maker]

@VHalen2112 its eddie. he didn't like doing solos at first and focused more at riffs. he got into solos because the LA scene at the time demanded huge solos so he had to deliver.

[malagrrl]

I'm inclined to believe this really is Eddie precisely BECAUSE there's no soloing. The riff from "Somebody get Me a Doctor" is unmistakable, and if somebody was gonna make a bogus Ed practice tape they'd be soloing and tapping all over the place. This is probably just a bunch of rhythm riff ideas he'd been messing with and decided to record for future reference.

[metalfiend124]

@malagrrl I don't think anyone could have faked this, it sounds like eddie and it shows how far along he was at the time. Maybe he learned to tap later.

[maxinpains]

Dudes...I listened to this very seriously...;)

[Thrashzone005]

Somebody get me a doctor riff 4:05

[someweirdkid95]

Just close your eyes and don't think of anything else but the sound. Who does it sound like?

[cbyss1]

THE COOLEST AMAZING GUITAR SOUND EVER!!PERFECT!!

[chanchonino]

Read up on this, it's well documented by the Van Halen brothers. Eddie would practice in his bedroom, Alex would go out and party all night and he'd come home in the wee hours and Eddie would still be playing his guitar. That's how you become greatest guitar player or top five. PRACTICE! VH rules!

[clifhaley]

I'm certainly not saying this is legit, however, I definitely have to poo poo the folks saying this isn't real simply because there is no "lead" playing. MOST of Ed's brilliance is in his composition, arrangement, and unique approach to the more understated parts of rock music, namely, the verse and chorus riffs. As a guitarist of 25 years, I can attest to the fact that ALL PARTS OF A SONG are worth practicing hours on if you want them to be truly yours, not just lead guitar.

[tweetert1]

@clifhaley ....I Agree ,Well Said.

[BrianJSimpson]

I don't think it's authentic, simply because of what is being played. He was influenced in a big way by Clapton, I'm sure we would have heard that. There are also subtle clues in the attack. The biggest piece of evidence that its, in fact, NOT EVH - no lead playing. We would have heard something a bit more experimental (tapping). I'm sure he would have played at least one run, if it were actually him. Its not.

[perceptivum]

@BrianJSimpson ,,,,aaaa,,,,Eddie didnt like playing solo in the beginning, He was a rythm guy and lick player. You can even hear that on his solo playing, its licks all over perefectly mixed together. Im not shure but can recall an other part of this recording actually David is asking him hanging out,,,I think this is the real deal.

[chrismacry]

How did you happen to get a hold of these recordings?

[Eliteguitarschool]

Nice slide show... Thank you!

[clocktime11]

too bad this is as fake as i think it is....sorry but it isn't Eddie...its some idiot fooling around on the guitar, probably 80s or90s ,and they are trying to make a buck off of this....

[BassFever74]

sounds like a strat he's playing btw.

[BassFever74]

I think I heard this at the VH News Desk last year. thanks for posting

[johnsone7777]

where did you get your guitar?

[johnsone7777]

@johnsone7777 weird...i commented on the wrong page....

[sw1tched]

this is 100% ed playing .... if you don't think so, you don't know him or his playing as well as people who do

[AdamBa17]

@CharveI are you serious? if it was him recording at home he would have to be the worlds greatest unsigned guitarist ever, ive been playing over 10 years and i cant play this well! the accentuations, the rhythm, this guy was just born to be the GOAT

[SOBRANTE409]

I have a recording of Ed in '75 and his tone is in full effect. His "outer space style" guitar solos which resembled more of Hendrix, were calmed down and more refined after their debut album. His signature arpeggios, dive bombs and tapping are not present. Despite the 40+ songs which were recorded in demo form, this isn't anything familiar by far.

[h4ckb0x7]

@SOBRANTE409 Can you upload the '75 recording?? Or e-mail it to me?

[shredsaxes]

@SOBRANTE409 I WANNA hear it real bad as im sure everyone else here does please upload or just send me link:)

[TNMinuteMan]

@SOBRANTE409 Upload the '75 recording bro.

[chez117]

@SOBRANTE409 If you listen to beginning riff.. it's basically the same riff as "Cabo Wabo". This is deff Ed, and do you expect to get great sound quality from 1974? Not necessarily! Ciao! -Chez

[MrBenCleaver]

An amazing insight into what was going through his mind in the early beginnings..

[rrguitar1]

@SOBRANTE409 your wrong. It is documented that this is Ed playing. And as far as it not being the "brown sound," this recording is before his acquiring of the plexi head. It was made at home on a cheap recorder. Read up on it, its everywhere dude. This is indeed him playing.. keep in mind that this is 74 and his style was in its early stages.

[Chaunceylola]

WTF really!!

[Chaunceylola]

Ummmmm... Where'd this come from? Who are you?

[don2neptune]

first comment! damn, to a true VH fan this is pure gold! I love it, you can hear some very rough "somebody get me a doctor" at around 4:05. He had the groove and feel back then before anyone knew anything about van halen. Dare I say this is even Pre Mammoth days? Great audio and vid.