Randy Rhoads on Eddie Van Halen:
“I have my own personality on the guitar but as of yet I don’t think I have my own style. For instance, I do a solo guitar thing in concert, and I do a lot of the same licks as Eddie Van Halen. Eddie is a great player, but it kills me that I do that.
For me it’s just flash that impresses the kids. I’m trying to make a name for myself as fast as I can. I wish I could take time and come up with something that nobody else has done. But that’s gonna take a few years yet.
Eddie Van Halen on Randy Rhoads (after his tragic death in 82)
“Yeah (I knew him), God damn, f*cking poor guy. He was one guitarist who was honest anyway. I read some interviews that he did and he said that everything he did he learned from me.”
He added: “He was good and God damn, way a fucking way to go, you know. I mean, obviously they must have been fucked up, jerking around with the plane, you know. That wasn’t an accident, it was an accident but they were definitely fucked up when it happened. They had to have been. You don’t fly that low and smash into a crew bus and then hit the house. They were jerking off (with the plane).
That’s just plain stupidity. I feel sorry for him. I mean, you never know man. He might be up there jamming with (John) Bonham and everyone else who kicked the bucket.”
Then the interviewer said that Roads was probably the first guy who appeared after Eddie started that whole movement of players inspired by the way he played. To that, Eddie said: “Oh sure, but I don’t really think he did anything that I haven’t done. Anyone else that does the things that I do obviously gonna sound a little different.”
“I can tell when someone is topping my technique and there’s nothing wrong with that. I mean, I learned from other people too. There ain’t nothing wrong with it, I copied other people,” Eddie Van Halen said.
