An archive classic from December 2020.
Brian May and Eddie Van Halen first met in the late 1970s. At the time, May was at the helm with Queen and Van Halen, making a name for himself with the revolutionary guitar riffs of his debut album.
As close friends, they had a strong influence on each other’s music and knew each other inside out. Brian May honors Eddie Van Halen’s legacy and puzzles over the recently deceased’s favorite song in an interview.
“Ed once explained to me that I had a huge influence on him and his music,” the 73-year-old told “Total guitar“. He recently came across a Van Halen recording. In 1975, his good friend covered the Queen song “Now I’m Here”. In 2020, May is now addressing the claim that Van Halen often sounds like Eric Clapton with his guitar.
“When the song goes into the guitar solo, you’re hearing Edward Van Halen, there’s no fucking doubt about it. At this point it becomes clear in which direction Edward was developing as a guitarist and he sounded great back then.”
When he heard the cover for the first time, he noticed that they both interpreted the song differently. Back in 1983, when they collaborated on a mini-album, Van Halen played “Blues Breaker” in a different way than May.
Return to the blues
As he admits in the interview, both of them would sound like Eric Clapton on this recording. He was a great role model for May. Nevertheless, Clapton himself had role models – this line can be traced back to the beginnings of the blues.
May still remembers what Van Halen said to him about their project: “I’m glad we’re playing together because you take me back to my roots. I love playing blues. At the same time, I love not doing Eddie Van Halen stuff all the time.”
What Van Halen loved about “Blues Breaker”? Not just tapping into the sides of a guitar, but turning them into fireworks. It felt great for him to play with soul again thanks to Brian May.