I use to live in Easton, PA and I would see Greg a lot in town, at grocery stores, hot dog places.....this was about 20 years ago and he would chat up anyone who asked him about his guitar travels and he would sign autographs with ease.
This is THE secret sauce of EVH's playing. Millions have copped the whammy bar dives, crazy harmonics, and tapping stuff but they never capture the feel. Swing, groove, pocket, whatever you want to call it, Eddie had it and few others do.
Jump start is one of the most amazing and estonishing guitar instrumentals ever played and written. Greg Howe has exactly that swing he's talking about. A genius
"if I'm hung over and can't swing" Okay, now I would have never have thought or said that, but I sure as hell felt and understood it lol when I'm runnin on fumes and outta gas ;-)
Dweezil and Greg nailed it. Eddie could flat out swing and groove. Of course Alex was the perfect drummer to compliment his style. Huge props to Greg's playing as well. I had his first album on cassette, and it was in my car deck for a couple months straight. I thought wow, finally there's a Shrapnel guy laying down the funk!
Hi Dweezil, very nice Podcast to listen to!!It is very faszinating that sooo many years after listening the first time toVan Halen-Songsthere is such a Podcast online sharing and explaining exactly my feelings for that great impact for my life!!!This was the biggest impact and lifechanger for me. Thank you so much!! Greetings from Germany, KREUZZER
I’ve always heard swing in a lot of their early stuff. You could almost picture a big swing band playing those tunes. Hot for teacher is a perfect example.
100%!!! Stevie Ray and Eddie just NAILED the swing feel. Vai has it too. Great playing Greg. And wow that ESP is just asking to be played! Omg its beautiful
The first Greg Howe album (even though he's knocked it in interviews) had a rawness and feel on it that set him apart from most shredders. There's huge power and adrenaline in most of his playing. He's always great, but some of the later stuff is so slick and pretty that it almost veers into fuzak territory. Can't wait to check out the tour this summer.
Eddie's swing it attributed to his father's clarinet performance .. That's all he ever heard growing up. Listen to the song Big bad Bill is Sweet William now his father does a clarinet solo and Eddie mimics and has internalized his groove and swing ..
Good conversation. Listen to Benny Goodman doing "Sing, Sing, Sing", a Louis Prima song with Gene Krupa on drums. That's the kind of feel that EVH has.
DIXIELAND JAZZ: It was birthed in New Orleans, where "If you ain't got swing, you ain't got that thing." EVH got it from his dad who demonstrates it perfectly on Big Bad Bill (Diver Down) ripping his clarinet. If you listen for the feel of Jan Van Halen's lines, the mystery of EVH unique swing playing ability is solved. Alex HAD to be the drummer because he has the same natural swing in spades. They both grew up playing (SWINGING) with their dad at his gigs. DLR was the perfect front man because he doesn't know how NOT to swing, and Mike Anthony stepped into the greatest gig with one of the best harmony vocal gifts in Rock & Roll history.
@VanHalensGuitarPick Thanks, friend. My pops also played horns, gigging dixieland music with a Hawaiian melodic bend for 30+ years. They were the Van Halen of Honolulu in the 50s and 60s and kept going thru the late 70s. One other critical ingredient I wasn't aware of until recently were the 5th members of Van Halen, Ted Templeman, and Don Landee. If you listen to VH's pre-Templeman songs, you can really understand how crucial that team was to VH's finished song arrangements and "sound." I guarantee every member of VH (especially EVH and DLR) learned a ton of valuable production knowledge from Ted through those inital 3-4 albums. There was a production formula VH established that set the marker for pretty much every L.A. hair band that followed, which wasn't exclusive to just shredding guitars. Same can be said with Jimmy Iovine's first album with Tom Petty. Rock & Roll sonic landscape momentum shifts....
Ed plays like he is playing the hi-hat on drums with the swing mentality, probably from his drumming days thus he’s picking it up from Alex’s rhythm playing
Yeah....EVH...has a (r n b) or funk groove...I know my whites brothers may not like this but it's a groove... a black thing people of color know when they hear it...And I hear it in EVH'S phrasing and it's not forced... It's in him 🍻
Crazy thing is that when ya think about how he grew up...he, and Alex, were hearing their dad practice clarinet...and that was music from "the swing era"...so was in his DNA?.
I'm The One is hardcore Swing like Tiny Bradshaw, Well, Oh, Well. He's exactly right. It's not Boogie. He probably picked it up from his Dad, not even realizing that's what it was.
In their pre-fame days, backyard party gigs, Dave is always urging people to get up and dance. I wonder if this resonated in Eddie's sub conscious to play the music this way, in an attempt to facilitate a response from the crowd ? His sub conscious desire, working through his physical body, producing that swing feel coming out from his guitar ?🤔
Ed's dad was a vaudeville style swinger & played the clarinet, piano, & drums. You can hear him play the clarinet solo on "Big Bad Bill". THAT is where Ed got his swing, from listening to his dad play for years. There are articles about it..
To hear the full episode subscribe here: bitly.com/DweezilVHPod
I use to live in Easton, PA and I would see Greg a lot in town, at grocery stores, hot dog places.....this was about 20 years ago and he would chat up anyone who asked him about his guitar travels and he would sign autographs with ease.
This is THE secret sauce of EVH's playing. Millions have copped the whammy bar dives, crazy harmonics, and tapping stuff but they never capture the feel. Swing, groove, pocket, whatever you want to call it, Eddie had it and few others do.
Jump start is one of the most amazing and estonishing guitar instrumentals ever played and written. Greg Howe has exactly that swing he's talking about. A genius
Greg Howe is no joke. For Real. To hear him looking up to EVH just shows that Eddie is the 0.1 percent. Mad Props to Dweezil and Frank Z as well.
"if I'm hung over and can't swing"
Okay, now I would have never have thought or said that, but I sure as hell felt and understood it lol when I'm runnin on fumes and outta gas ;-)
Man the sound and playing Howe just did on I'm The One was awesome!!!
These little discussions are just so perfect. And that's what they are: discussions. Not interviews.
Take your whiskey home!!!
Thank you for giving Michael Anthony his props 🥃🥃🥃
Dweezil and Greg nailed it. Eddie could flat out swing and groove. Of course Alex was the perfect
drummer to compliment his style.
Huge props to Greg's playing as well. I had his first album on cassette, and it was in my car deck for a couple months straight. I thought wow, finally there's a Shrapnel guy laying down the funk!
Hi Dweezil, very nice Podcast to listen to!!It is very faszinating that sooo many years after listening the first time toVan Halen-Songsthere is such a Podcast online sharing and explaining exactly my feelings for that great impact for my life!!!This was the biggest impact and lifechanger for me.
Thank you so much!! Greetings from Germany, KREUZZER
Howe I think will always be my favorite composer for guitar ..
Greg has a real bop feel at times...just a great player.
GREG HOWE is amazing!!!!!
Dude's got spider's for fingers!
I'm blown away Mr Howe and will voraciously devour your entire tasty library henceforth!
Long live the King!..EVH✌💛🤘
Awesome.
Dweezil is awesome too. Love that vega bridge on the new guitar
Bottoms up-Loss of control-Sinners swing-Full bug-Hot for teacher
Eddie left his mark of Greg Look up Greg's Band Howe II on TH-cam
Eddie got that feel from playing with Alex.
Bingo
Which they both got from their dad, Jan.
Actually their dad who was a pro jazzer
Edward was the man! All others knew it or didn’t want to admit it. As good a human as he was a phenomenal guitarist
great stuff
Michael Lee Firkins is another player who has exceptional swing lines.
I’ve always heard swing in a lot of their early stuff. You could almost picture a big swing band playing those tunes. Hot for teacher is a perfect example.
Sweet experience.. with you......
Loved this
100%!!! Stevie Ray and Eddie just NAILED the swing feel. Vai has it too. Great playing Greg. And wow that ESP is just asking to be played! Omg its beautiful
That's Greg's Signature Kiesel guitar
The first Greg Howe album (even though he's knocked it in interviews) had a rawness and feel on it that set him apart from most shredders. There's huge power and adrenaline in most of his playing. He's always great, but some of the later stuff is so slick and pretty that it almost veers into fuzak territory. Can't wait to check out the tour this summer.
Eddie's swing it attributed to his father's clarinet performance .. That's all he ever heard growing up. Listen to the song Big bad Bill is Sweet William now his father does a clarinet solo and Eddie mimics and has internalized his groove and swing ..
Thats absolutly true, kind of Electric swing!
Edward and Alex were the Everly brothers rhythm.
Brian May is a massive EVH fan , nuff said
Good conversation. Listen to Benny Goodman doing "Sing, Sing, Sing", a Louis Prima song with Gene Krupa on drums. That's the kind of feel that EVH has.
DIXIELAND JAZZ: It was birthed in New Orleans, where "If you ain't got swing, you ain't got that thing." EVH got it from his dad who demonstrates it perfectly on Big Bad Bill (Diver Down) ripping his clarinet.
If you listen for the feel of Jan Van Halen's lines, the mystery of EVH unique swing playing ability is solved.
Alex HAD to be the drummer because he has the same natural swing in spades. They both grew up playing (SWINGING) with their dad at his gigs.
DLR was the perfect front man because he doesn't know how NOT to swing, and Mike Anthony stepped into the greatest gig with one of the best harmony vocal gifts in Rock & Roll history.
The single best explanation I’ve heard from someone other than, say, Phil X or Greg Howe. Brilliantly put!
@VanHalensGuitarPick Thanks, friend. My pops also played horns, gigging dixieland music with a Hawaiian melodic bend for 30+ years. They were the Van Halen of Honolulu in the 50s and 60s and kept going thru the late 70s.
One other critical ingredient I wasn't aware of until recently were the 5th members of Van Halen, Ted Templeman, and Don Landee. If you listen to VH's pre-Templeman songs, you can really understand how crucial that team was to VH's finished song arrangements and "sound."
I guarantee every member of VH (especially EVH and DLR) learned a ton of valuable production knowledge from Ted through those inital 3-4 albums. There was a production formula VH established that set the marker for pretty much every L.A. hair band that followed, which wasn't exclusive to just shredding guitars.
Same can be said with Jimmy Iovine's first album with Tom Petty. Rock & Roll sonic landscape momentum shifts....
One of the first songs I learnt was Guitar Boogie by Arthur Smith.
Ima look it up brother!✌💛🤘
Ed plays like he is playing the hi-hat on drums with the swing mentality, probably from his drumming days thus he’s picking it up from Alex’s rhythm playing
They grew up listening to their Dad in Benny Goodman cover bands. That contributed to their sense of swing.
Swing = Extra FUNKY!!!!!! ✊🏾💪🏾🏁💯✔️🎶🎧🎛️🎙️🎸🥁👌🏾👑
I knew I Am The One would get mentioned with swing.
Sinners swing???😉
It's the hardest song to replicate for me personally.
Greg Howe is the shit
Anyone have an idea where I can find this without paying an exorbitant amount of money?
25 bucks???
Can’t remember hearing a guitarist who’s able to catch Eddie’s swing in I’m The One like Greg Howe.
Yeah....EVH...has a (r n b) or funk groove...I know my whites brothers may not like this but it's a groove... a black thing people of color know when they hear it...And I hear it in EVH'S phrasing and it's not forced... It's in him 🍻
Crazy thing is that when ya think about how he grew up...he, and Alex, were hearing their dad practice clarinet...and that was music from "the swing era"...so was in his DNA?.
I'm The One is hardcore Swing like Tiny Bradshaw, Well, Oh, Well. He's exactly right. It's not Boogie. He probably picked it up from his Dad, not even realizing that's what it was.
In their pre-fame days, backyard party gigs, Dave is always urging people to get up and dance.
I wonder if this resonated in Eddie's sub conscious to play the music this way, in an attempt to facilitate a response from the crowd ?
His sub conscious desire, working through his physical body, producing that swing feel coming out from his guitar ?🤔
Tony Robbins. My thoughts too. DLR was well into the vaudeville thing,swing ,costumes etc. I think they fed off each other.
Ed's dad was a vaudeville style swinger & played the clarinet, piano, & drums. You can hear him play the clarinet solo on "Big Bad Bill". THAT is where Ed got his swing, from listening to his dad play for years. There are articles about it..
EVH never sounds right without AVH.
Mark Knopfler had the swing. Just sayin.
King of swing for sure, weird that he's not from the south and could swing like that