More DLR on guitar

[DLR Bridge]

I was listening to the Golden West Ballroom bootleg the other day and I caught something I hadn't picked up on in the past. A semi stoned or loaded DLR is tuning his acoustic guitar before Ice Cream Man, and he mumbles into the mic, "ya see, sometimes, I don't know why I bother tuning this thing if I can't play it." I now totally picture him giving Ed a playful side eyed glance and a smile with that barb. As early as 1976, he may have been wondering why his little finger picking delights weren't being put to use anywhere else in their act besides that one song.

Now I ain't kicking up 36 year old dirt here, but, aside from Could This Be Magic and maybe The Full Bug (the jury's still out on who's playing that intro, no?), it confounds me that his 6 string abilities weren't more employed. It's a bit to knee jerk of a reaction to blame Ed's fragile ego. It's not like Dave's abilities were a threat to Ed's. In any case, thank God for Stay Frosty! May we get more like it!

Who here wouldn't mind seeing Dave's skills be utilized more in this sense? Hell, I would even like seeing him bang out some rhythm on a Fender Tele at some point. A singer with an axe is never a bad visual either. Any thoughts?

[chefcraig]

The best "Dave on guitar" clip ever made, from a goofy Jim Ladd interview that appeared on some radio stations 1982. Bits were also broadcast on Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert the same year. "79th & Sunset" is a reworked version of a Humble Pie track from the album Rock On.

For those with limited attention spans.

The original version.

[DLR Bridge]

Forgot about that one. Good ol' "nut crushing boobs". That should've been on a VH record.

[Monkeeman]

If Ed is the reason DLR doesn't play much guitar with VH, why didn't Dave play loads of guitar on his solo albums?

[TJMKID]

Dave's acoustic skills are nothing to sneeze at ---- he knows his limits ---- but with some work he could be a great blues picker

[damngoodtimes]

"ya see, sometimes, I don't know why I bother tuning this thing if I can't play it."

I think you completely mis-read that comment. I think it is a self-deprecating remark by Dave.

If Eddie Van Halen was your guitar player, would you spend a whole lot of time trying to find opportunities to play more guitar? Only if your name was Sammy Hagar.

[DLR Bridge]

I think you completely mis-read that comment. I think it is a self-deprecating remark by Dave.

If Eddie Van Halen was your guitar player, would you spend a whole lot of time trying to find opportunities to play more guitar? Only if your name was Sammy Hagar.

Nope. Have you heard the particular recording? He's not pissed by any means, but he is clearly joking about not bothering to take care of his "box" as Ed later called it, for it's lack of use. Dave was never one to self deprecate.

[VHscraps]

One of my favourite bootlegs is Greensboro '81, and one of the best performances on it is Ice Cream Man. But before it gets into the song, Dave does his monologue / rant against newspaper critics with the band behind him playing a slow blues. Dave picks out some really very nice lead lines over it all - you can tell he is using his fingers. It is Dave, cos Ed is grooving away in the background with his recognisable tone and fills here and there.

It is nothing mind-blowing, I'll grant you that, but proof enough that Dave can jam the blues playing lead if he is minded to, and play it in a style that is redolent of country blues (for those fans of da blues).

And - 'The Full Bug'. Dave has said on the record that the intro was by him. I don't think he'd lie about that.

Look, Dave is no musical maestro as an instrumentalist, but we shouldn't underestimate his musical ability in a more general sense. He arguably knocked Eddie's ideas into songs (see VHIII for an example of Eddie without a songwriting collaborator - I imagine Cherone wrote the lyrics, but didn't shape the songs as Dave did).

That unreleased tune 'Angel Eyes', which was cut for VHII, was written entirely by Dave (I have the interview where Eddie said, 'it is all Dave'). And ... he played the synth on Intruder, and said in an interview - 'I wrote that'.

So, c'mon guys. Give old Dave a break.

[VHscraps]

Come to think of it, what else do we know about Dave's musical instrument skills? I'm no expert, but he sounds like a decent harmonica player.

In one of the recent Vimeo interviews with Ed and Alex, didn't he say he played sax - or took lessons?

He also took lessons - I'm not sure how seriously - on the bagpipes! He mentioned that a few times in interviews in the early 80s.

[DLR Bridge]

I have a poor cassette copy of that '81 show. I'm gonna dig that out. Thanks about the Full Bug confirm. You really have an interview where Ed even so much as mentions Angel Eyes!? Holy crap, please post that!

[DLR'sCock]

love that tune....

[DLR Bridge]

love that tune....

Shit yeah! And you know Axl had a copy of it and stole Dave's "CHAAAhhh..."

[BumBahDeeDah]

Dave was never one to self deprecate.

You think so? Even back then as confident as he was I felt everything was with a wink. I know hes definitely more self deprecating now.

[DLR Bridge]

I agree about the now. The then? Not so much.

[damngoodtimes]

Nope. Have you heard the particular recording? He's not pissed by any means, but he is clearly joking about not bothering to take care of his "box" as Ed later called it, for it's lack of use. Dave was never one to self deprecate.

Yes, I have the recording. I instantly knew what line you were talking about when you brought it up. He is absolutely making fun of himself. Dave has always been able to poke fun at himself, even back in the hey day when he had built himself up into the image of an Action Figure. Perhaps, because we were younger, we all bought into Dave's image as larger than life so much that we couldn't see him as admitting any flaws, but it's always been there.

What do you think is more likely in 1976: a) the scenario I describe where he is making fun of his guitar abilities (which, even if he would self-evaluate as a "good" player, he certainly would recognize that the other guy in the band was far superior, so some of the self-deprecation is in the context of Ed's skill set).
-OR- b) Dave admitting in public that Ed had the power over him to decide whether or not Ed would allow Dave to play the thing (your interpretation of "I can't play it" being that his superior (Ed) won't allow him to)?

By the way, I recognize how silly it is to argue over some throw-away line by Dave from almost 40 years ago, but I do think the interpretation of that dynamic is interesting.