Rick Allen: Black Sabbath Should Have Opened for Van Halen

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RICK ALLEN Remembers Watching VAN HALEN Open For BLACK SABBATH In 1978: 'They Should Have Been The Headliner'
June 17, 2021 0 Comments

BLABBERMOUTH.com


RICK ALLEN Remembers Watching VAN HALEN Open For BLACK SABBATH In 1978: 'They Should Have Been The Headliner'
DEF LEPPARD drummer Rick Allen, who has been expressing himself in recent years through his artwork, spoke to Pat's Soundbytes Unplugged about his "Legends" series, which consists of lifelike-yet-impressionistic portraits of musicians who have influenced him, from Jimi Hendrix to Freddie Mercury to John Lennon.

On the topic of how he gets the inspiration for his "Legends" paintings, Allen said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I remember over a year ago now losing Neil Peart [of RUSH], so it was obvious. My way of paying homage to one of the greatest drummers of all time was to paint him, and that's exactly what I did. And then the same with [VAN HALEN guitarist] Eddie Van Halen more recently."

Allen went on to reflect on the first time he heard VAN HALEN's music back in 1978, shortly after the release of the band's debut album.

"My best friend, he calls me and he says, 'I want you to come and listen to this record,'" Rick said. "So I go to his house and listen to 'Van Halen I' for the first time and was completely blown away. A couple of months later, they're coming through town with BLACK SABBATH — they're opening for BLACK SABBATH. And quite honestly, VAN HALEN owned that show. The BLACK SABBATH camp, you could see the wheels kind of coming off. But, yeah, VAN HALEN, they should have been the headliner.

"And then, I moved to the States in '91, became really good friends with Steve Lukather from TOTO," he continued. "He called me one night and he said, 'We're having a get-together. We'd love for you to come. I'd love to introduce you to my friend Eddie Van Halen.' So [as] this huge VAN HALEN fan from way back, I actually got to meet him. [He was] very unassuming. You wouldn't have thought he did what he did for a living, and especially play guitar like he does. So, again, my paying homage to Eddie was, really, to paint him. And my thoughts really went out to his family and, obviously, all of his fans worldwide."

Last month, Allen told CBS12 that he "really looked up to" Eddie Van Halen as a musician. "I think he changed guitar playing forever," he said. "I think between him and Jimi Hendrix, they inspired other musicians. It's just a massive loss."

As for his painting of Eddie, Rick said: I just wanted to capture that smile. He just seemed to be in his element. It's really paying homage to him. And I really felt for his family as well, of course."

In a 2018 interview with The Hype Magazine, Allen, who started painting at an early age before he ever picked up the drums, stated about his use of light or some sort of bright object in his art: "Reality is very difficult to do, but it's my attempt to painting the object or whatever it is. It's a study of how the light bounces off of the object. Some of the more recent pieces — there was one that I did of [late DEF LEPPARD guitarist] Steve Clark; then there was one I did of John Lennon; I did one of Jimi Hendrix, the 'Legends' pieces — that, to me, was a study at how you're really not painting the person's face, you're painting how the light bounces off of the person. If you look closely at some of the pieces, they make no sense when you look at them up close. When you stand back and you start to view it from a distance, it's almost like your mind fills in the blanks and it creates the illusion of reality."

Two years ago, Rick told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution about his artistic process with his paintings: "I take a photograph I really like of the person, and I'll poster-ize it and sketch the poster-ization onto the canvas, and that's when I can come up with my whites, blacks and grays. After I do the under painting, I'll start to choose colors. When I do the 'Legends', I normally listen to the music of the artist I'm painting."

[Terry]

I dunno...I can't really say Eddie's passing, coming when it did, was really a massive loss for rock music when it happened.

I could say that was true in the case of Jimi Hendrix, because when [Hendrix] died he still seemed to have an ample supply of creative juice left in the tank. When listening to the late 1990s First Rays Of The New Rising Sun release, hearing the stuff Hendrix had been recording post-Electric Ladyland and planning to release as a follow-up...even though much of the album was comprised of stuff that had been put out on posthumous 1979s albums (Crash Landing, War Heroes, Midnight Lightning, etc.), it was a reminder that Hendrix was still developing and to my ears coming up with material that for me was just as compelling as any of the stuff that was released between 1967 and 1970.

Eddie's passing was a different kettle of fish for me. I suppose one could say that Eddie was developing as a musician up to and including the Van Halen III album. While I personally didn't care for the majority of what he had come with post-1985, at least there were new musical ideas being offered. From 1999 onward, Van Halen as a band in terms of making new music...it wasn't exactly a flurry of activity, was it? A few new tracks for the 2004 BOV2 release. A half-dozen or so for the ADKOT album. So that's...what...around ten new tunes released in twenty years? And to be frank, I'd look sideways at anybody who claimed any of those tracks added much of anything by way of excellence to what Eddie as a musician hadn't achieved already years ago. Doubtless, Eddie's passing was devastating to his family as one would imagine it would be. As a pretty big fan of the man and what he did as a musician, I thought it was a shame when he passed, even though given his longtime health struggles it wasn't surprising. In terms of Eddie's passing being a 'tremendous loss' to rock music or whatever...no, I don't think so. A careful, thoughtful approach based on the actual output in terms of what was released would lead a reasonable person to conclude that the vast bulk Eddie's contributions to rock music (and they WERE massive, of that there is no doubt) - the contributions that cemented his legend - were literally decades behind him when he died.

[Seshmeister]

A careful, thoughtful approach based on the actual output in terms of what was released would lead a reasonable person to conclude that the vast bulk Eddie's contributions to rock music (and they WERE massive, of that there is no doubt) - the contributions that cemented his legend - were literally decades behind him when he died.

That is not uncommon and there is nothing wrong or unusual about it.

Michelangelo died 50 years after painting the Sistine chapel.

[Kristy]

Sabbath was on Warner Brothers who by the way, was a struggling label in the 70's when compared to Elektra, Polygram, Parlophone, EMI, Mercury, Reprise, and most of all, Columbia who signed the biggest acts of that time. Can you say Bob Dylan? Sabbath along with Deep Purple pulled that label up from he doldrums and even acts like Bonnie Raitt and Little Feat give their success to Sabbath because they label now had the money to promote them. Van Halen (also signed to Warner Brothers) would not have the promotion without the success of Sabbath and seeing Rick "Dumbfuck" Allen doesn't know do-fucking-squat about how labels sign and promote bands he can suck my F A T cock while giving himself anal with his good arm. Van Halen at the time had yet to prove themselves worthy of a headliner of any band on the same label. Typical fucking limey idiot.


Yes, I know Reprise was the sister label of Warner Brothers but only after Sinatra had chosen to sign rock and roll acts.

[Kristy]

Oh, and who was Def Shittard signed to? That's right, Mercury. Know who else was signed to Mercury? That's right, Rush. Now can you picture Rush opening for Def Shittard? Gawd, these fucking limeys just piss me off. Every one of them is fucking retarded beyond belief.


By the way, Rush went to Anthem which was a Canadian label owned by Atlantic who fucking suck dead dog balls because they signed Zeppelin.

[FORD]

Oh, and who was Def Shittard signed to? That's right, Mercury. Know who else was signed to Mercury? That's right, Rush. Now can you picture Rush opening for Def Shittard? Gawd, these fucking limeys just piss me off. Every one of them is fucking retarded beyond belief.


By the way, Rush went to Anthem which was a Canadian label owned by Atlantic who fucking suck dead dog balls because they signed Zeppelin.

Technically incorrect. Rush was ALWAYS signed to Anthem. The label was actually called "Moon Records" when Rush first signed in 1973, but changed it's name later.



The owner of the label was our old friend & Rush's manager Ray Danniels. Anthem had a US distribution deal with Mercury. They later signed a distribution deal with Atlantic, who chose to use the "Anthem" imprint on their US releases.

Living in a "border" state as I do, probably about half the Rush albums I have are on the Anthem label. Picked 'em up while in the Great White North, of course.

[Seshmeister]

I'm 99% sure In the UK Rush had Mercury on their albums, at least in the 70s and 80s.

[Terry]

That is not uncommon and there is nothing wrong or unusual about it.

Michelangelo died 50 years after painting the Sistine chapel.

To be sure, and it wasn't to infer that there was something wrong with it. It certainly was a shame when Ed passed. By the time Ed did pass, strictly in terms of Van Halen's musical output over the last twenty-odd years of his life (both quantity and quality), I don't really think his passing was a massive loss within the limited parameters of the rock world and Van Halen's contributions to it as an ongoing thing.

[Seshmeister]

We were listening to ADKOT in my garage last night!

[ELVIS]

You got kicked out of the house ??