dunno why but this subject has been turning up just recently ,fortunately or unfortunately cos it means im old! i saw both guitarists live they are and always will be a huge inspiration ,but i remember a guitar player magazine interview (circa 1983) where eddie on being asked about randys playing said "oh yeah he did me to death"at the time not being too familiar with americanisms i took this to be a compliment ie Eddie thought he was great .
It now seems on further reading that Eddie thought Randy ripped him off!
I remember at the time when Eddie broke everyone tapped me included ,so i learnt eruption ,spanish fly etc .but after a while ithought "this is just a gimmick "everyones doing it even guys that have been playing five minutes to the uneducated ear seem like some kind of guitar genius so i stopped .
Randy Rhoads even said in a interview that he included it in his playing because it was what people were wanting to hear and that it was nothing more than a bit of
flash ,maybe Eddie saw the interview and took it to heart but i thought Eddies critique so soon after Randys death was very disrespectful .
So in conclusion all im gonna say is if you were to take the finger tapping away from Eddie Van Halen youve got me and a million others ,if you take the tapping away from Randy you still have RandyRhoads .
God bless them both,
Tim Hayes.
