Few guitar stars have had as much of an impact on the instrument as the late Eddie Van Halen had. Through his stellar tone and unrivaled technical prowess, the electric guitar legend inspired legions of aspiring players, and continues to be a go-to resource for those who simply want to listen to, and learn, from a master.
As it turns out though, a young Van Halen also had an immediate impact on his very own seasoned contemporaries, and was so good that his live performances once even convinced late blues guitar titan Gary Moore to broaden his already extensive technical horizons by adding Eddie’s trademark tapping to his arsenal.
As revealed in an excerpt from Paul Brannigan’s upcoming book Eruption: The Eddie Van Halen Story, shared with Louder, Thin Lizzy’s Phil Lynott, Scott Gorham and Gary Moore all attended a Van Halen concert on September 14, 1978 to find out first-hand what all the hype surrounding the then-up-and-coming rock outfit was about.
Recalled Gorham, “We were on the same label in America, Warners, and whenever we hooked up with anyone from the label, you always heard, ‘Wow, man, I was just with Van Halen – what a fucking band!’
“It got to the point where Phil would tell them, ‘Look, if you get into this fucking car, you’re not going to talk about Van Halen, all right?”
The trio were soon to find out for themselves that all the furor and craze surrounding Eddie Van Halen and his group was more than justified, after they witnessed them in action for the first time at Detroit's Cobo Hall.
“So we were interested in this band we’d heard so much about,” continued Gorham, “and these boys came on and just shredded everybody a brand-new asshole.
Get The Pick Newsletter
All the latest guitar news, interviews, lessons, reviews, deals and more, direct to your inbox!
“They were amazing. When Eddie started doing his tapping thing, I turned to Gary and said, ‘What the fuck is that? What is he doing there?’ Gary was just staring at him, and he said, ‘I don’t know.’
“Ten minutes later, I went to ask Gary another question, and he was gone. The next day, I was standing in his hotel room, and he said, 'Hey, check this out...' and he started tapping away. He’d gone back to the hotel the night before to teach himself how to do it."
Sounds like practically everyone else’s first time listening to Van Halen ever – an initial sense of disbelief, a prolonged feeling of awe, then a frantic attempt to copy everything and anything that left his fretboard. Of course, Gary Moore probably coped a helluva lot better than most of us did…
Thank you for reading 5 articles this month**
Join now for unlimited access
US pricing $3.99 per month or $39.00 per year
UK pricing £2.99 per month or £29.00 per year
Europe pricing €3.49 per month or €34.00 per year
*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription
Matt is a Senior Staff Writer, writing for Guitar World, Guitarist and Total Guitar. He has a Masters in the guitar, a degree in history, and has spent the last 16 years playing everything from blues and jazz to indie and pop. When he’s not combining his passion for writing and music during his day job, Matt records for a number of UK-based bands and songwriters as a session musician.
“I played and sang Suffragette City and everyone else was doing Foxy Lady – I was so drunk, I didn’t even know”: The Cure’s Robert Smith on his disastrous first show as a singer and guitarist... when he butchered a Jimi Hendrix classic
“Jimi Hendrix came in with an old Duo-Sonic. I had just put together a Strat I’d strung up left-handed, and I went, ‘I’ll trade you.’ I was docked three weeks’ pay”: Jeff ‘Skunk’ Baxter recalls the questionable guitar deal he made when he met Jimi Hendrix