Eddie Van Halen had his fair share of copyists. While he wasn't happy about it, he accept it as a byproduct of his rapidly rising stock.
But one player he cut too close to the bone. Shockingly, it was a guitarist whom Ed had once idolized.
Eddie’s son, Wolfgang Van Halen, once suggested that his father “kind of ruined the musical landscape” of the 1980s, alluding to how his scintillating tapping licks and dive bomb trickery inspired a generation of players to mimic his style.
His imprint was felt on the electric guitar market, too. The prominence of his Frankenstein guitar and the shred-enabling instruments he wielded across the rest of the decade saw a score of firms trying to cash in on everyone wanting to have instruments like Eddie's. Even Gibson skewed its tradition for a Super Strat-style build that, though a failed experiment, has recently been revived.
But in the case of the player that angered Eddie, not only did he feel he took matters too far — he did it right in front on his eyes.
“Rick Derringer opened for us last year, and he did my exact solo,” Eddie told Guitar Player’s Jas Obrecht in 1979. “After the show, we’re sitting in the bar, and I just said, ‘Hey, Rick. I grew up on your ass. How can you do this? I don’t care if you use the technique — don’t play my melody.’ And he’s drunk and stupid and going, ‘Yeah, yeah, yeah.’”
Derringer first broke out in the 1960s with the McCoys, performing their hit cover of Wes Farrell and Bert Berns' "Hang on Sloopy." By the 1970s, after he became a key figure in both Edgar and Johnny Winter's bands, he branched out as a solo artist.
But despite his own immense talents as a guitarist, he couldn't help lifting a page or two from EVH's book.
“The next night, he does my solo again,” Eddie moaned. “He ends the set with ‘You Really Got Me,’ which is exactly what we do.”
Van Halen had released their hell-raising version of the Kinks' hit single on their debut album just one year before. The song is widely regarded as a pivotal precursor to heavy metal, thanks to Dave Davies’ distorted guitar tone — achieved by slicing the speaker cone of his amplifier. It became, and remained for years, a staple of the band’s live shows.
“So I hate to say it, but I just told him, ‘Hey, if you’re going to continue doing that, you ain’t opening for us,’” Ed added.
Derringer was defiant, though. Eddie stayed true to his word, and he was booted from the tour.
“It’s fucked,” Eddie spat. “Because I’ve seen him plenty of times. I’ve even copied his chops way back then.”
However, Derringer wasn’t the only guitarist to be singled out. Boston’s Tom Scholz was also in the firing line.
“We played right before them — I forget where — and I do my solo. And then all of a sudden he does my solo,” he claimed. “I got pissed.”
They weren't the only guitarists Ed reportedly had problems with. Yngwie Malmsteen claimed Eddie was intimidated by his talents and would avoid him every chance he got.
What's evident is that Eddie was at times overwhelmed by the attention that went with his fame. As Gene Simmons has claimed, Ed was so burned out from it all that he once implored the bass guitar player to let him join Kiss when the group was considering getting rid of Vinnie Vincent, one of their early lead guitar replacements for the late Ace Frehley.
