Dweezil, I know you mentioned that we are coming to the "end" of this great series of podcasts in the one you did recently. (I second the "Push Comes To Shove" deep-dive, BTW) But I was wondering if you thought about Ben Eller as a guest? His deep-dive into the Hang Em High riff and what makes it, in his words, impossible is a great watch. And while I know you have had some HUGE guitarists on as guests, I think Ben's love/respect of EVH would make him a great guest. Anyway, love this series, and I don't care HOW LONG it takes for these to come out, each one is golden.
Ben is great…though I have to take exception with his “Hang ‘Em High” tutorial. He makes it way harder than it has to be and he makes something that is actually easy into something confusing.
The pattern that Ed uses is as follows. There is no video evidence of him playing it in any way other than this. My friend Doug Steele also made a video that gave that “absurd stretch” placing the riff on adjacent strings as an option…and while he said that was an OPTION it must be made clear that Eddie never played it that way.
This should make that riff crystal clear. Be sure to use the left hand fingers that I have notated here because these are the fingers that Ed used in all available footage and that goes for the simple picking directions that I have included.
Allen I love all your posts/content, especially the fact that you pore over live vids as well to document the actual way Ed played. I appreciate that the actual riff is "easier" than what Ben was trying to do, what I thought was so cool about the vid was the last part where he realized the riff is swung instead of straight 16th notes. It explains the "galloping" of the low notes that I always heard in the isolated riff parts of the song.
Gotcha…yes, but I will say that nearly everything Eddie played was in his own timing. So one could make a very good case that everything he did was in swing time!
Hi everyone! Most or many of you may already be aware of this, but I thought I’d post it here for those that might have missed it…
My pal Greg Renoff did a historic interview with Dweezil’s pal and quantum level engineer Donn Landee a while back for ‘Tape-Op Magazine’. I can’t stress enough how important this is. To have Donn interviewed to this depth was a dream I thought unattainable, but Greg made it happen finally! His superb research, dedication and tireless interest in Van Halen and the music that Ted and Donn were an integral part of over their careers is served so well in this interview and it is a must read. Part One came out a while back and Part Two just dropped yesterday.
Hi Dweezil, thank you for your incredible dedication to this podcast! It’s been a real pleasure to listen and learn!
I was wondering if you’d be willing to do a “Challenger Deep” dive into the structure and nuances of arguably one VH’s deepest tracks: ‘Push Comes to Shove’.You’ve mentioned that it contains your favorite EVH guitar solo…and I assume it’s one of your overall favorite VH songs (certainly your fave VH album!)
I can’t think of anyone who does a better job than you of articulating not only technical nuances of a piece of music but also emotional nuances, aka the “Fuck Yeah” factor!
It’d be great to hear you pick apart everything from the background (disco-reggae vibe), the intro, overall song structure, the solo, the outro, and any known info on how it was recorded.Perhaps do this as part of another listening party?
A couple of the many things I love about the song are: 1) Dave’s scream during the outro which seems to slowly take up all the oxygen in the room (in the best possible way).2) Mike’s bass fill right before Dave’s scream. It sets up the scream perfectly.And it reminds me of his bass fill in ‘Romeo Delight’ right after Ed’s tapped harmonic intro.
Anyway, keep up the fantastic work and thanks again!
David, Alex, and Michael should play a couple of tunes with Jacob. Do this on this SAMMY 2024 tour. When they come to California.
It would be cool to have Wolf play as well with two guitars and singing backups so Dave doesn't have to stretch. You would have 4 singers. Dave, Jacob, Michael, and Wolf.
The other guitar players that I see doing this could be Dweezil, Nuno, Gilbert. Id have each do a song with the above band.
As soon as I heard the Runnin With the Dweezil at the end of the first episode I had hopes Jacob would also be a guest... I knew it was him. I even mentioned it to Dweezil in private. I was introduced to Jacob's playing leaving an arts festival with his awesome cover of On Fire... A stuffy lady on the bus told me to turn it down. I was so in the moment I looked her in the eye and said, no... My wife pretended to be mad at me until later when she laughed at me like we were kids again. Great episode! I have been waiting literally years for this!
Fantastic episode with Jacob! I’ve been following his YouTube channel for many years and I’ve always been awed at his incredible work ethic and his truly unbelievably great vocals and as Dweezil mentioned his mastery of doing what I had heretofore thought was intrinsically impossible…singing and playing Van Halen music on guitar at the same time with a great command of both in detail. If I hadn’t seen Jacob doing it, I would have told you it was impossible.
I encourage anyone that is able to see his band play in The Great White North or elsewhere to do so. If nothing else, please watch his band’s live footage. It isn’t really apparent from this interview, but Jacob is an incredible showman…every bit as cocky as David Lee Roth and dedicated to bringing the party rock to a MILF near you! He’s scary good and I’m really a fan!
On another note, I had been wondering what song was being played by Mammoth on the snippets that were shared near the end of the Billy Corgan episode. “War Pigs” and “Funk #49” were pretty obvious, but I was perplexed by the first song. I’d asked around to everyone I could think of, including Dweezil, but I could find no joy for months.
At last, I figured out that this song is the very obscure gem called “Double Cross” by the local Dallas/Ft. Worth area late 60s/early 70s band Bloodrock! Edward’s singing sounds EXACTLY like the vocalist in that band Jim Rutledge. I think this is a badass heavy song of the late 60s/early 70s, which was officially released in March of 1970.
I spoke with Greg Renoff (who is, as most fans should know by now, the author of ‘Van Halen Rising’ and ‘Ted Templeman: A Platinum Producer’s Life In Music’) about this tune and he believes (and I concur) that this very obscure song was likely brought into the cover repertoire of Mammoth by the late bassist Mark Stone. Still, a very cool “ZZ Top meets Black Sabbath and Cream” tune!
The episode with Greg Kurstin is super cool! I really love that a keyboard player could be such a fan of Van Halen though it is obviously guitar based music. It was wonderful to hear “Unchained” on piano just as Edward wrote it! It just sits right as Dweezil and Greg mentioned. And to think “Hear About It Later” was also written on piano. Two drop D masterpieces on what is generally acknowledged to be the band’s greatest album with the best guitar work! Thanks again!
Thanks Dweezil so much for including Pete in this incredible podcast series, these past 2 episodes were certainly a feast for the ears. An EVH aficionado, a great player and a good Canadian boy, Pete is certainly "one of us"!
I so enjoyed the episodes with Pete! Outstanding. Always respected Pete's videos on gear ( and his playing is superb! ). But, these recent episodes with Pete went to the " microscopic " level for me, personally. I truly believe this set of shows really gets closer to understanding the little " inflections " of Edward's musicianship. One of the most important reasons why I so love these shows has to do with everyone in the same room, trading their perspectives on Edward's licks ( at least the shows where the guests were together ). Understandably, with the earlier pandemic restrictions as well as the distance of some folks in other places, it's more challenging to have in depth interviews with guests in the same spot. But these episodes with Pete make feel like I'm in the room with the guys! In the last few weeks, I've turned my guitar buddies on to this set of shows ( some of them didn't even know Dweezil had a web site! ). So, hopefully DZ's audience is growing as a result. Thanks to recent events ( which has inspired me to stay away from social media ), I've been spending more time studying more recordings ( lately, I've been checking out Ritchie Kotzen's solo work, namely " Electric Joy " and Allan Holdsworth's 80s live recordings ). I can also confirm the recent VH " Collection 2 " set has been remastered and it sounds LARGER than previous releases ( you can really hear Alex's snare and Mike's bass lines more in the forefront, especially on the " 5150 " disc ). Happy holidays everyone and please be safe. Looking forward to 2024 and more guitaristic adventures with Dweezil!! Peace.
Oh man…I LOVE how you described what’s going on in Van Halen music writ large…mainly the Ed and Al THING that people have so much difficulty comprehending and executing, including of course myself! It is tempo and FEEL intertwined, pushing and pulling…but isn’t that part and parcel of great music? From Led Zeppelin to Dave Brubeck and just beautiful music in general?! It isn’t locked to a grid as you say as virtually all modern music is.
I’m currently working on creating tempo maps for “I’m the One” going bar-by-bar to try to quantify the exact changes in bpm as Al and Ed engage in their push and pull…while Mike is keeping up as best as he can! What I’m finding is what I guessed and sort’ve “felt” about this “swing” to use an overused and often misunderstood word to describe it. This isn’t necessarily about the varying tempo, though that is a part of it…it is the FEEL that is going on with this push and pull of tempo between Ed and Al. And what I see most often is that it is Ed that is pushing the tempo and Al is “pulling” him back…reining him in so to speak. I find this going on a lot…but it is this telepathy that the great rhythm sections have that makes things so full of feeling and so difficult to capture.
As Van Halen fans often recognize, the band is about how the guitar and drums lock in…whereas with most other rock, blues and soul bands it is about the bass and drums locking together and driving the rest of the band. It seems so obvious to say this stuff, but a lot of people miss this point. People who study Edward’s playing so often give up on unlocking this part of Van Halen music because it is so damned difficult to play along with these “swinging” tempos as you learn the material. That’s a Rubicon that people can’t or won’t cross…I see a lot of people, including myself at times, just get frustrated and say “No one swings like Edward! I can’t do it…I give up and I’ll just play some nonsense that kind’ve seems close enough!”.
But if you persevere and really get into the true magic of instrumental Van Halen music which is really about Al and Ed’s synergistic push and pull of tempo, dynamics and feeling, there’s so much beauty in that one aspect to behold apart from the other great pieces of the musical Russian nesting doll of Van Halen music like Dave and Sammy’s great singing and vocal melodies and Mike’s killer backing vocals and truly perfect for the music bass parts. This music is so intricate and I think you’ve really hit on some perfect words to describe what is almost indescribable!
I love how you and Pete actually touch on the “meta” part of the music going beyond the technique and the technical and the gear…that higher thing is what it’s all about!
I think you also totally nailed the Van Halen process of writing, recording and playing the music live. They eventually settle on what gets committed to the recording and then when they play live, they essentially settle on a live arrangement and then play it pretty much the same way every time barring any unforeseen circumstances. This isn’t free jazz…it is Van Halen!
And for the record, I think Ed is doing alternate picking on the “Light Up the Sky” main riff! I’ve found that Ed did do Downstroke metal style chugging on rare occasions for a few notes here and there, but more often than not, I really hear and see in live videos that he’s just straight alternate picking. In fact, you can clearly see him using alternate picking right here in 2015 and from what I can see in the Fresno 1979 footage he’s doing the same there:
Best $51.50 I ever spent. This gift keeps on giving! Super fun two episodes getting into the nuts n bolts of EVH style and genius. Thanks for diving into this Dweezil and Pete. I felt I was right there in the studio with y'all sharing licks and geeking out. Hope the series continues.
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I’ve just completed my “On Fire” transcription and I thought I would share it here with any of you guitar players that are interested. As I always do with my transcriptions, I used all available footage and the raw mic track helped a great deal.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1kLobmynnf1wGMePMddkjnLrjyBDTPiVX/view?usp=drivesdk
Hey hey! Which episode is the reverse engineering the brown sound?
We are still waiting for it.
I always wished final episode would be wolfgang.
Dweezil, I know you mentioned that we are coming to the "end" of this great series of podcasts in the one you did recently. (I second the "Push Comes To Shove" deep-dive, BTW) But I was wondering if you thought about Ben Eller as a guest? His deep-dive into the Hang Em High riff and what makes it, in his words, impossible is a great watch. And while I know you have had some HUGE guitarists on as guests, I think Ben's love/respect of EVH would make him a great guest. Anyway, love this series, and I don't care HOW LONG it takes for these to come out, each one is golden.
Ben is great…though I have to take exception with his “Hang ‘Em High” tutorial. He makes it way harder than it has to be and he makes something that is actually easy into something confusing.
The pattern that Ed uses is as follows. There is no video evidence of him playing it in any way other than this. My friend Doug Steele also made a video that gave that “absurd stretch” placing the riff on adjacent strings as an option…and while he said that was an OPTION it must be made clear that Eddie never played it that way.
This should make that riff crystal clear. Be sure to use the left hand fingers that I have notated here because these are the fingers that Ed used in all available footage and that goes for the simple picking directions that I have included.
Allen I love all your posts/content, especially the fact that you pore over live vids as well to document the actual way Ed played. I appreciate that the actual riff is "easier" than what Ben was trying to do, what I thought was so cool about the vid was the last part where he realized the riff is swung instead of straight 16th notes. It explains the "galloping" of the low notes that I always heard in the isolated riff parts of the song.
Gotcha…yes, but I will say that nearly everything Eddie played was in his own timing. So one could make a very good case that everything he did was in swing time!
Hi everyone! Most or many of you may already be aware of this, but I thought I’d post it here for those that might have missed it…
My pal Greg Renoff did a historic interview with Dweezil’s pal and quantum level engineer Donn Landee a while back for ‘Tape-Op Magazine’. I can’t stress enough how important this is. To have Donn interviewed to this depth was a dream I thought unattainable, but Greg made it happen finally! His superb research, dedication and tireless interest in Van Halen and the music that Ted and Donn were an integral part of over their careers is served so well in this interview and it is a must read. Part One came out a while back and Part Two just dropped yesterday.
Behold!
https://tapeop.com/interviews/157/donn-landee/
https://tapeop.com/interviews/159/donn-landee/
Thanks so much for posting these links to the Donn Landee interviews, have always wanted to get some his perspective on "how it all went down."
Hi Dweezil, thank you for your incredible dedication to this podcast! It’s been a real pleasure to listen and learn!
I was wondering if you’d be willing to do a “Challenger Deep” dive into the structure and nuances of arguably one VH’s deepest tracks: ‘Push Comes to Shove’. You’ve mentioned that it contains your favorite EVH guitar solo…and I assume it’s one of your overall favorite VH songs (certainly your fave VH album!)
I can’t think of anyone who does a better job than you of articulating not only technical nuances of a piece of music but also emotional nuances, aka the “Fuck Yeah” factor!
It’d be great to hear you pick apart everything from the background (disco-reggae vibe), the intro, overall song structure, the solo, the outro, and any known info on how it was recorded. Perhaps do this as part of another listening party?
A couple of the many things I love about the song are: 1) Dave’s scream during the outro which seems to slowly take up all the oxygen in the room (in the best possible way). 2) Mike’s bass fill right before Dave’s scream. It sets up the scream perfectly. And it reminds me of his bass fill in ‘Romeo Delight’ right after Ed’s tapped harmonic intro.
Anyway, keep up the fantastic work and thanks again!
Paul
Hi Paul,
Glad you're enjoying the podcast. I like your idea. I just need 17 more hours in each day in order to get stuff done. I'll keep it in mind! Best, DZ
Great Episode!
Here is a fantasy.
David, Alex, and Michael should play a couple of tunes with Jacob. Do this on this SAMMY 2024 tour. When they come to California.
It would be cool to have Wolf play as well with two guitars and singing backups so Dave doesn't have to stretch. You would have 4 singers. Dave, Jacob, Michael, and Wolf.
The other guitar players that I see doing this could be Dweezil, Nuno, Gilbert. Id have each do a song with the above band.
Thoughts?
Regards,
Jimmy
As soon as I heard the Runnin With the Dweezil at the end of the first episode I had hopes Jacob would also be a guest... I knew it was him. I even mentioned it to Dweezil in private. I was introduced to Jacob's playing leaving an arts festival with his awesome cover of On Fire... A stuffy lady on the bus told me to turn it down. I was so in the moment I looked her in the eye and said, no... My wife pretended to be mad at me until later when she laughed at me like we were kids again. Great episode! I have been waiting literally years for this!
Fantastic episode with Jacob! I’ve been following his YouTube channel for many years and I’ve always been awed at his incredible work ethic and his truly unbelievably great vocals and as Dweezil mentioned his mastery of doing what I had heretofore thought was intrinsically impossible…singing and playing Van Halen music on guitar at the same time with a great command of both in detail. If I hadn’t seen Jacob doing it, I would have told you it was impossible.
I encourage anyone that is able to see his band play in The Great White North or elsewhere to do so. If nothing else, please watch his band’s live footage. It isn’t really apparent from this interview, but Jacob is an incredible showman…every bit as cocky as David Lee Roth and dedicated to bringing the party rock to a MILF near you! He’s scary good and I’m really a fan!
On another note, I had been wondering what song was being played by Mammoth on the snippets that were shared near the end of the Billy Corgan episode. “War Pigs” and “Funk #49” were pretty obvious, but I was perplexed by the first song. I’d asked around to everyone I could think of, including Dweezil, but I could find no joy for months.
At last, I figured out that this song is the very obscure gem called “Double Cross” by the local Dallas/Ft. Worth area late 60s/early 70s band Bloodrock! Edward’s singing sounds EXACTLY like the vocalist in that band Jim Rutledge. I think this is a badass heavy song of the late 60s/early 70s, which was officially released in March of 1970.
I spoke with Greg Renoff (who is, as most fans should know by now, the author of ‘Van Halen Rising’ and ‘Ted Templeman: A Platinum Producer’s Life In Music’) about this tune and he believes (and I concur) that this very obscure song was likely brought into the cover repertoire of Mammoth by the late bassist Mark Stone. Still, a very cool “ZZ Top meets Black Sabbath and Cream” tune!
The episode with Greg Kurstin is super cool! I really love that a keyboard player could be such a fan of Van Halen though it is obviously guitar based music. It was wonderful to hear “Unchained” on piano just as Edward wrote it! It just sits right as Dweezil and Greg mentioned. And to think “Hear About It Later” was also written on piano. Two drop D masterpieces on what is generally acknowledged to be the band’s greatest album with the best guitar work! Thanks again!
ok
I'll be so sad when this series ends.
Loving all the recent episodes, Dweezil! Looking forward to the one with Jacob Deraps too
So I have to email premier guitar for the subscription info?
Thanks Dweezil so much for including Pete in this incredible podcast series, these past 2 episodes were certainly a feast for the ears. An EVH aficionado, a great player and a good Canadian boy, Pete is certainly "one of us"!
I so enjoyed the episodes with Pete! Outstanding. Always respected Pete's videos on gear ( and his playing is superb! ). But, these recent episodes with Pete went to the " microscopic " level for me, personally. I truly believe this set of shows really gets closer to understanding the little " inflections " of Edward's musicianship. One of the most important reasons why I so love these shows has to do with everyone in the same room, trading their perspectives on Edward's licks ( at least the shows where the guests were together ). Understandably, with the earlier pandemic restrictions as well as the distance of some folks in other places, it's more challenging to have in depth interviews with guests in the same spot. But these episodes with Pete make feel like I'm in the room with the guys! In the last few weeks, I've turned my guitar buddies on to this set of shows ( some of them didn't even know Dweezil had a web site! ). So, hopefully DZ's audience is growing as a result. Thanks to recent events ( which has inspired me to stay away from social media ), I've been spending more time studying more recordings ( lately, I've been checking out Ritchie Kotzen's solo work, namely " Electric Joy " and Allan Holdsworth's 80s live recordings ). I can also confirm the recent VH " Collection 2 " set has been remastered and it sounds LARGER than previous releases ( you can really hear Alex's snare and Mike's bass lines more in the forefront, especially on the " 5150 " disc ). Happy holidays everyone and please be safe. Looking forward to 2024 and more guitaristic adventures with Dweezil!! Peace.
Oh man…I LOVE how you described what’s going on in Van Halen music writ large…mainly the Ed and Al THING that people have so much difficulty comprehending and executing, including of course myself! It is tempo and FEEL intertwined, pushing and pulling…but isn’t that part and parcel of great music? From Led Zeppelin to Dave Brubeck and just beautiful music in general?! It isn’t locked to a grid as you say as virtually all modern music is.
I’m currently working on creating tempo maps for “I’m the One” going bar-by-bar to try to quantify the exact changes in bpm as Al and Ed engage in their push and pull…while Mike is keeping up as best as he can! What I’m finding is what I guessed and sort’ve “felt” about this “swing” to use an overused and often misunderstood word to describe it. This isn’t necessarily about the varying tempo, though that is a part of it…it is the FEEL that is going on with this push and pull of tempo between Ed and Al. And what I see most often is that it is Ed that is pushing the tempo and Al is “pulling” him back…reining him in so to speak. I find this going on a lot…but it is this telepathy that the great rhythm sections have that makes things so full of feeling and so difficult to capture.
As Van Halen fans often recognize, the band is about how the guitar and drums lock in…whereas with most other rock, blues and soul bands it is about the bass and drums locking together and driving the rest of the band. It seems so obvious to say this stuff, but a lot of people miss this point. People who study Edward’s playing so often give up on unlocking this part of Van Halen music because it is so damned difficult to play along with these “swinging” tempos as you learn the material. That’s a Rubicon that people can’t or won’t cross…I see a lot of people, including myself at times, just get frustrated and say “No one swings like Edward! I can’t do it…I give up and I’ll just play some nonsense that kind’ve seems close enough!”.
But if you persevere and really get into the true magic of instrumental Van Halen music which is really about Al and Ed’s synergistic push and pull of tempo, dynamics and feeling, there’s so much beauty in that one aspect to behold apart from the other great pieces of the musical Russian nesting doll of Van Halen music like Dave and Sammy’s great singing and vocal melodies and Mike’s killer backing vocals and truly perfect for the music bass parts. This music is so intricate and I think you’ve really hit on some perfect words to describe what is almost indescribable!
I love how you and Pete actually touch on the “meta” part of the music going beyond the technique and the technical and the gear…that higher thing is what it’s all about!
I think you also totally nailed the Van Halen process of writing, recording and playing the music live. They eventually settle on what gets committed to the recording and then when they play live, they essentially settle on a live arrangement and then play it pretty much the same way every time barring any unforeseen circumstances. This isn’t free jazz…it is Van Halen!
And for the record, I think Ed is doing alternate picking on the “Light Up the Sky” main riff! I’ve found that Ed did do Downstroke metal style chugging on rare occasions for a few notes here and there, but more often than not, I really hear and see in live videos that he’s just straight alternate picking. In fact, you can clearly see him using alternate picking right here in 2015 and from what I can see in the Fresno 1979 footage he’s doing the same there:
Best $51.50 I ever spent. This gift keeps on giving! Super fun two episodes getting into the nuts n bolts of EVH style and genius. Thanks for diving into this Dweezil and Pete. I felt I was right there in the studio with y'all sharing licks and geeking out. Hope the series continues.