“Eddie was still a great player, but I just didn’t care anymore”: Why Kerry King stopped going to Van Halen shows
Slayer axeman Kerry King has revealed the reason he stopped going to Van Halen concerts, despite having attended many shows early on to “nerd out on” Eddie Van Halen’s every move.
Speaking on the Lipps Service podcast, King shares how the late Van Halen legend is one of the few guitar players he’s never crossed paths with outside of the band’s shows.
“It’s funny [because] that’s somebody I never met. There’s not too many people like that but Eddie’s one,” says the guitarist. “It’s just a different circle kind of thing, you know. Dime [Dimebag Darrell of Pantera] was tight with him, I was tight with Dime, but I never met Ed.”
READ MORE: “They weren’t trying to be intellectual”: Billy Sheehan explains what set Van Halen apart from other bands
Asked about Eddie’s impact on his own playing growing up, King explains: “In the beginning, for sure. I think I saw them six times on the first four records. I didn’t go to the first album [tour] because I was too young.”
“I would always sit in the first-row lodge with binoculars, so I could go there and not just have fun listening to the songs I like, but I could actually nerd out on what he’s playing, and try to get a grasp on what he’s throwing at us.”
Though the guitarist says he eventually lost interest when Van Halen adopted a more pop-oriented sound later on.
“I went a bunch, and then they became more of a pop band, and I stopped going,” King states. “Eddie was still a great player, but I just didn’t care anymore.”
In other news, a recently unearthed Guitar Player interview has shed light on how the late Eddie Van Halen had honed his incredible musical skills early in his career.
“I had this Russian teacher who couldn’t speak a word of English, and he would just sit there with a ruler ready to slap my face if I made a mistake,” said Eddie, who was originally trained as a classical pianist.
“This started in Holland, and both my brother and I took lessons,” he added. “Then when we got to the US my dad found another good teacher. Basically, that’s where I got my ears developed, learned my theory, and got my fingers moving.”
The post “Eddie was still a great player, but I just didn’t care anymore”: Why Kerry King stopped going to Van Halen shows appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
Source: www.guitar-bass.net
