Marvin Gaye, Eddie Van Halen, and a fine northern Medoc...

[JimHow]

If life has you down, queue up What's going On, the original version, not the deluxe, in celebration of Rolling Stone's designation as #1 in its updated Top 500 Greatest album list.

But find some time to listen to some Eddie Van Halen tonight, gone much too young at age 65, one of the truly, truly greats, I saw him years back in Worcester, Mass., with Sammy Hagar in the lead and his son up on stage.

Perhaps a Montrose?

Had a '16 La Dame the other day, quite stunning, actually.... 2016? 2014? I go back and forth on which is my favorite vintage.

[William P]

Some would say that Eddie was the best of this generation and equal to or better than Clapton, Page, and Beck. Sadly his later years were destroyed by drugs and alcohol.

Bill

[JimHow]

Amen, Bill.

He was a great, by any measure.

[Racer Chris]

I really only liked one Van Halen recording, and it wasn't even their own. It was a cover - You Really Got Me.
But you can count me as a fan of La Dame de Montrose.

[Jay Winton]

I listened to the first VH album in 24/192 high resolution last night-the ultimate. I was by myself so volume was appropriate. RIP Eddie. I recently read Ted Templeman's autobiography who produced the core VH recordings. Lots of fun stories. He also produced the Tom Johnston Doobie Brothers recordings which were recently released with the original quad mixes-stunning. I drank a school night CDR 2018 Autard-a real bargain for $13. 10% mourvedre adds elegance.

[Claudius2]

Guys
Yes sad to hear that EVH has passed away at 65.
As for Montrose I liked Ronnie Montrose’s guitar playing and again, he died prematurely a few years back. I learned to play several Montrose songs in the mid to late 70s even if he did not come from St Estephe!
The obvious connection is that both bands had Sammy Hagar as singer for some time.
I was never a real VH fan though could listen occasionally, particularly the Hot for Teacher video.
Anyway no wine for me today - back to hospital again but at least my last cancer test was okay.

[Michael-P]

Jim:
When I first read "16", I thought you meant 1916.
RIP Eddie. Good times.
Ronnie was a good friend of one of my closest friends. I met him a few times and he seemed a nice guy. Too bad he apparently had demons he could not manage. After Ronnie's death, my friend helped produce the final Ronnie album (but no one knows about that one).
Michael-P

[JimHow]

My brother Tom sent me this video of Van Halen from September 1978.

I think some of my hearing loss is from those concerts from the 70s and 80s... worth every decibel!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BR4S1FqHZzQ