Dweezil, I have a question. I’ve noticed that you, Steve Vai and your father have all consistently used the name “Edward” instead of “Eddie” when referring to the man, when everyone else uses “Eddie”. I’ve always used his formal name, too, out of respect for him as a composer. I’m just curious if that the reason you three have as well, or is there another reason besides ‘because that is his name’? Thanks!
Thanks, Deeezil, this was well worth the wait! Fantastic analysis. I particularly like when you notice passages in Ed’s solos that were similarly used before in CVH. I’ve heard these songs a hundred times and never even noticed, myself.
I don’t have a bass six guitar yet, but my best guess is that Eddie used yet another one of his tuning offsets for the overdubbed bass six guitar sound both live AND on-record. This is why he sounded in-tune across the fingerboard. Tuning to straight chromatic pitch will guarantee problems. It wasn’t that Eddie was from outer-space and did things that we can’t do…he just used tuning offsets which are available for all of us to use!
Dweez makes a great observation on the “Runaround”/“Would I Lie To You” similarity…I hear it!
To the best of my understanding, it was Jerry Cantrell that got Eddie back into the wah-wah and it certainly is possible chronologically.
Thank you Dweezil, episode 16 was great. I really like the 'DVD commentary' style of you talking over the solos and song snippets, it worked out really well.
The song analysis is brilliant! such clear guidelines that are so helpful to my music research, thank you so much Dweezil and the mighty Van Halen, just inspiring and energizing stuff! Fuck Yeah !!!
Another great episode Dweezil. Loved all the little bits you added to construct the album. Others might have just said, you get these songs but you gave us something on every song. Thank you!
One of the reasons I love this one as well as the previous episode is hearing Joe's experience with Sammy and Michael ( and Andy Johns ), in terms of recording. The previous shows have wonderful people who knew/knew about Edward and the band but from more of outsider perspectives. Joe worked exclusively with Sam/Michael which gets us closer to one aspect of the Van " Hagar " recording experiences. In some ways, Chickenfoot's " Dubai Blues " is like a newer version of VH's " In and Out " ( funny enough, both of these songs deal with the subject of money! ).
To me, the F.U.C.K album is still the best recorded/sounding version of Van Halen. As much as I enjoy the previous albums with Sammy and Roth, F.U.C.K sounds like the album that Edward ( probably ) wanted VH to sound like from the band's beginning.
If I'm not mistaken, I want to say Edward used a bass Danelectro on " Spanked " plugged through a Soldano and not an exclusive baritone guitar. Of course, I'm writing this from memory but I think there was a '91 Guitar World Magazine interview where his tech, Matt Bruck, confirmed the Danelectro bass guitar for both " Spanked " and " Runaround. "
Factoid: Steve Lukather of Toto contributed some background vocals for some tunes ( he did a podcast last year stating his contributions to the disc ).
Hi Dave , great comments , and I'm certain you are correct about the Danelectro bass , as I am reading Eruption ( Conversations with EVH ...) for the second time and in the last few pages ,Ed mentioned this.
If you listen from the player on the page from your bundle you should be able to hear the complete episode. If you own 5150 then would would listen from the 5150 page and same for the Right Here Right Now bundle owners, you'll need to listen from that player. If you own either bundle and still cannot hear the complete episode, make sure you are logged in. If you still can't hear the complete episode I'll help you get to bottom of it with support. Please try those things first.
Dweezil, any way you can get to the bottom of how this track (and the other two on Rich Wyman’s album) came about? “The Water Sings” is another stand out. The liner notes say Eddie and Andy Johns produced these tracks in ‘93. It’s that weird interim between Carnal Knowledge and Balance. The DNA of “Right Now” is all over this one, and I must say Eddie’s awesome solo comes at such an uplifting moment in the song. Ed and Andy playing around. It’s like Van Halen with Peter Gabriel on vocals lol!
While we're patiently waiting for part 2 of the Satch episode, I thought I'd contribute a fun bit of geeking out for the whole community here: I was just listening to the Jennifer Batten episode where she's talking about Panama and mentions the fun harmonic choices Eddie makes on that song that are "not normally in rock".
(disclaimer: next bit is written as fingered in Eb tuning, so the notes sound a half step lower than I'm calling out)
She talks about the FM7b5, which I love but there's more that Jennifer and Dweezil didn't touch on that I think is one of the coolest things: the chromatic walkup during the breakdown (starting at "She's blinding, I'm flying"...).
You'd think it's just chromatic power chords but no, instead he plays E5, F, D/F#, G, E/Ab, A5, and then--my favorite--a chord that sounds like a Bb6b5 (because he hits the E on the bottom) but (I think) is actually an inverted Gm6/E before he hits the B5 (V chord). vi-V-i, what a way to get back to E! What made him think of that?
@Dweezil--maybe a fun bit of geekery to explore in a future bonus episode?
I totally agree…the walk-up part is amazing and not at all what it appears on casual listening. The tuning is also one of the most unusual in the catalog which was never repeated again:
I’m of the opinion that Ed used the Frankenstein to record the ‘1984’ album version of “Panama” and I have lately begun to theorize that the condition of that guitar at the time of the recording might have led to this unusual (even for Ed) tuning offset.
The FRT-5 Floyd Rose bridge on it at the time was not installed in the proper position and regardless of what neck he was using, the intonation would have been off and extremely difficult if not impossible to adjust with any great accuracy as a result of the placement of the bridge. I think this is part of why the guitar was retired shortly after the recording of ‘1984’. Tom Anderson repaired the bridge placement on the Frankenstein in 1985 which would have likely made the guitar work much better intonation wise, but by that time Eddie was well into the Kramer endorsement and the 5150 Kramer became his new main guitar.
At any rate, I think the VERY whacky tuning offset on what was likely the Frankenstein on the ‘1984’ recording of “Panama” might very well have been at least partially a result of this botched FRT-5 bridge installation.
Allen, thanks for this! I tried this tuning and it sounds way more in tune than when I was tuned to A440 and then dropping to Eb standard using the Fractal's virtual capo. :-)
And if you have a Peterson Strobo HD series strobe tuner, you can download all of the Van Halen tuning offsets that I’ve found and notated directly to your tuner with ease!
Hey Dweezil this has been such a passion project for you. A huge undertaking for just one person to do. In addition to editing your existing interviews, you liberally intersperse relevant (often rare) sound clips to illustrate the points being made. My question for you is do you need help logging time codes, or finding the relevant sound clips you need? I imagine just getting all the pieces in order before you even start editing must be a daunting task. You have a loyal community of friendly fans/friends here that might be able to help lessen the load if you ever needed it. Take care.
Thanks so much Mike! I'm sorry the wait times have been so excruciating! I'm at the very end of the process for Joe Satriani part 2 and I expect to be able to upload it by the weekend.
My computer has not been cooperating and keeps crashing every 20-30 minutes so that's been fun! You'll also hear it overheating on the episode, the fan is really loud in the background as I'm talking, also fun.
I was finally able to order a new laptop which will arrive in April. That is going to be a very good thing.
As for your question, I often don't know what clips will be needed until I start editing but I'm always open to seeing and hearing clips I may not have ever seen or heard so please do feel to post some links in the comments. Best, DZ
Looking forward to hearing what else is coming with the rest of the RWTD series… I’ll admit it’s been frustrating having to wait for such a time but it’s more the fact these interviews have been so glorious that we all selfishly just want more.. it’s been an amazing insight with your own anecdotes as well as the other great guitarists that have been graced by his presence..
Dweezil, I have a question. I’ve noticed that you, Steve Vai and your father have all consistently used the name “Edward” instead of “Eddie” when referring to the man, when everyone else uses “Eddie”. I’ve always used his formal name, too, out of respect for him as a composer. I’m just curious if that the reason you three have as well, or is there another reason besides ‘because that is his name’? Thanks!
Thanks, Deeezil, this was well worth the wait! Fantastic analysis. I particularly like when you notice passages in Ed’s solos that were similarly used before in CVH. I’ve heard these songs a hundred times and never even noticed, myself.
I don’t have a bass six guitar yet, but my best guess is that Eddie used yet another one of his tuning offsets for the overdubbed bass six guitar sound both live AND on-record. This is why he sounded in-tune across the fingerboard. Tuning to straight chromatic pitch will guarantee problems. It wasn’t that Eddie was from outer-space and did things that we can’t do…he just used tuning offsets which are available for all of us to use!
Dweez makes a great observation on the “Runaround”/“Would I Lie To You” similarity…I hear it!
To the best of my understanding, it was Jerry Cantrell that got Eddie back into the wah-wah and it certainly is possible chronologically.
Thank you Dweezil, episode 16 was great. I really like the 'DVD commentary' style of you talking over the solos and song snippets, it worked out really well.
Thanks Joe! I hadn't planned on doing that but Joe had another interview to do so I ended up doing that out of necessity. Glad you enjoyed it.
The song analysis is brilliant! such clear guidelines that are so helpful to my music research, thank you so much Dweezil and the mighty Van Halen, just inspiring and energizing stuff! Fuck Yeah !!!
"Pat Boone, Debby Boone, Johnny Winter" LOL
Loving this episode. Pleasure Dome has always been my favourite song from this album, great to hear you dissect it Dweezil!
Thank you so much for this dweezil!!!
Another great episode Dweezil. Loved all the little bits you added to construct the album. Others might have just said, you get these songs but you gave us something on every song. Thank you!
Thanks for the latest episode!
One of the reasons I love this one as well as the previous episode is hearing Joe's experience with Sammy and Michael ( and Andy Johns ), in terms of recording. The previous shows have wonderful people who knew/knew about Edward and the band but from more of outsider perspectives. Joe worked exclusively with Sam/Michael which gets us closer to one aspect of the Van " Hagar " recording experiences. In some ways, Chickenfoot's " Dubai Blues " is like a newer version of VH's " In and Out " ( funny enough, both of these songs deal with the subject of money! ).
To me, the F.U.C.K album is still the best recorded/sounding version of Van Halen. As much as I enjoy the previous albums with Sammy and Roth, F.U.C.K sounds like the album that Edward ( probably ) wanted VH to sound like from the band's beginning.
If I'm not mistaken, I want to say Edward used a bass Danelectro on " Spanked " plugged through a Soldano and not an exclusive baritone guitar. Of course, I'm writing this from memory but I think there was a '91 Guitar World Magazine interview where his tech, Matt Bruck, confirmed the Danelectro bass guitar for both " Spanked " and " Runaround. "
Factoid: Steve Lukather of Toto contributed some background vocals for some tunes ( he did a podcast last year stating his contributions to the disc ).
Great conclusion to this album!
Hi Dave , great comments , and I'm certain you are correct about the Danelectro bass , as I am reading Eruption ( Conversations with EVH ...) for the second time and in the last few pages ,Ed mentioned this.
When I first heard In and Out, I immediately thought “Eddie’s been listening to Satriani”!
Yea! thanks! it is here!
Ahh, it's up there now. Cheers, D.
Ep. 16 still not there?
It’s definitely on there right now. Somehow it was getting stuck while uploading. I see it there now.
I agree with Dr. pooper. The latest Satriani episode is not 5150 bundle.
Fixing the issue right now!
See the new episode in the right here right now section but not here in 5150.
Just checked on the admin side and the file shows as processing. I'll keep an eye on it. I may need to re-upload it.
Hello Everyone, I just posted part 2 of Joe Satriani! So sorry for the delay in production. I hope you enjoy the episode.
Just got to hear the preview. Episode number 16 does not appear in my bundle order. The only option is buying it, but I've payed for it. Right?
If you listen from the player on the page from your bundle you should be able to hear the complete episode. If you own 5150 then would would listen from the 5150 page and same for the Right Here Right Now bundle owners, you'll need to listen from that player. If you own either bundle and still cannot hear the complete episode, make sure you are logged in. If you still can't hear the complete episode I'll help you get to bottom of it with support. Please try those things first.
Dweezil, any way you can get to the bottom of how this track (and the other two on Rich Wyman’s album) came about? “The Water Sings” is another stand out. The liner notes say Eddie and Andy Johns produced these tracks in ‘93. It’s that weird interim between Carnal Knowledge and Balance. The DNA of “Right Now” is all over this one, and I must say Eddie’s awesome solo comes at such an uplifting moment in the song. Ed and Andy playing around. It’s like Van Halen with Peter Gabriel on vocals lol!
While we're patiently waiting for part 2 of the Satch episode, I thought I'd contribute a fun bit of geeking out for the whole community here: I was just listening to the Jennifer Batten episode where she's talking about Panama and mentions the fun harmonic choices Eddie makes on that song that are "not normally in rock".
(disclaimer: next bit is written as fingered in Eb tuning, so the notes sound a half step lower than I'm calling out)
She talks about the FM7b5, which I love but there's more that Jennifer and Dweezil didn't touch on that I think is one of the coolest things: the chromatic walkup during the breakdown (starting at "She's blinding, I'm flying"...).
You'd think it's just chromatic power chords but no, instead he plays E5, F, D/F#, G, E/Ab, A5, and then--my favorite--a chord that sounds like a Bb6b5 (because he hits the E on the bottom) but (I think) is actually an inverted Gm6/E before he hits the B5 (V chord). vi-V-i, what a way to get back to E! What made him think of that?
@Dweezil--maybe a fun bit of geekery to explore in a future bonus episode?
I totally agree…the walk-up part is amazing and not at all what it appears on casual listening. The tuning is also one of the most unusual in the catalog which was never repeated again:
1st string: Eb +35.7 cents
2nd string: Bb +30.9 cents
3rd string: F# +28.6 cents
4th string: C# +39.0 cents
5th string: Ab +30.0 cents
6th string: Eb +29.7 cents
I’m of the opinion that Ed used the Frankenstein to record the ‘1984’ album version of “Panama” and I have lately begun to theorize that the condition of that guitar at the time of the recording might have led to this unusual (even for Ed) tuning offset.
The FRT-5 Floyd Rose bridge on it at the time was not installed in the proper position and regardless of what neck he was using, the intonation would have been off and extremely difficult if not impossible to adjust with any great accuracy as a result of the placement of the bridge. I think this is part of why the guitar was retired shortly after the recording of ‘1984’. Tom Anderson repaired the bridge placement on the Frankenstein in 1985 which would have likely made the guitar work much better intonation wise, but by that time Eddie was well into the Kramer endorsement and the 5150 Kramer became his new main guitar.
At any rate, I think the VERY whacky tuning offset on what was likely the Frankenstein on the ‘1984’ recording of “Panama” might very well have been at least partially a result of this botched FRT-5 bridge installation.
Allen, thanks for this! I tried this tuning and it sounds way more in tune than when I was tuned to A440 and then dropping to Eb standard using the Fractal's virtual capo. :-)
Thanks Benjamin, I’m glad the offset was useful…I’ve found it makes a huge difference. For more information on Eddie’s use of tuning offsets, please check out my forum thread on the subject here: https://www.vhlinks.com/vbforums/threads/62695-Van-Halen-tunings-with-Peterson-strobe-tuner-reference
And if you have a Peterson Strobo HD series strobe tuner, you can download all of the Van Halen tuning offsets that I’ve found and notated directly to your tuner with ease!
Hey Dweezil this has been such a passion project for you. A huge undertaking for just one person to do. In addition to editing your existing interviews, you liberally intersperse relevant (often rare) sound clips to illustrate the points being made. My question for you is do you need help logging time codes, or finding the relevant sound clips you need? I imagine just getting all the pieces in order before you even start editing must be a daunting task. You have a loyal community of friendly fans/friends here that might be able to help lessen the load if you ever needed it. Take care.
Mike
Thanks so much Mike! I'm sorry the wait times have been so excruciating! I'm at the very end of the process for Joe Satriani part 2 and I expect to be able to upload it by the weekend.
My computer has not been cooperating and keeps crashing every 20-30 minutes so that's been fun! You'll also hear it overheating on the episode, the fan is really loud in the background as I'm talking, also fun.
I was finally able to order a new laptop which will arrive in April. That is going to be a very good thing.
As for your question, I often don't know what clips will be needed until I start editing but I'm always open to seeing and hearing clips I may not have ever seen or heard so please do feel to post some links in the comments. Best, DZ
Looking forward to hearing what else is coming with the rest of the RWTD series… I’ll admit it’s been frustrating having to wait for such a time but it’s more the fact these interviews have been so glorious that we all selfishly just want more.. it’s been an amazing insight with your own anecdotes as well as the other great guitarists that have been graced by his presence..