Previously unreleased footage of a jam session between Eddie Van Halen and Mountain‘s Leslie West has surfaced online, courtesy of Lightyear Entertainment.
The six-string showcase took place at the Hollywood House of Blues on Aug. 10, 2002, where both guitar legends tore through Mountain’s 1970 track “Never in My Life.” You can watch the performance, along with an interview with West in which he discusses his friendship with Van Halen, below.
“I was going to rehab in Milwaukee,” West recalled. “And I stopped playing for six months. So I met Ed, and I introduced myself. After I saw him, it got me playing again. [He was] kicking me up a notch. So I called up Randy Bachman and I said, ‘How would you like a rhythm guitar player for nothing? I just want to get on the tour.’ He said, ‘Great.’ And I went out on the tour, and Eddie and I played every night in the room afterwards, and we became friends.”
READ MORE: Eddie Van Halen Broke a Band Rule to Play on ‘Beat It’
Leslie West Discusses Eddie Van Halen’s Impact on His Playing and Pop Music
West further praised Van Halen for revitalizing his own playing and helping to elevate a certain pop star. “I just think the world of this guy. I can’t explain it to you,” he enthused. “Eric Clapton was my original influence in that first tier. But then when Eddie came along, he breathed new life into my playing. I mean, I think he’s singly responsible for making Michael Jackson cross over to the white audience with ‘Beat It.’ Quincy Jones asked Eddie to play that solo, and that’s a motherfucker of a solo, man. It made that record.”
“There is nobody else, I’m telling you right now, that comes close to what he knows on the guitar,” West added. “He doesn’t even know it. He’s so talented.”
Van Halen died in October 2020 at age 65. West died two months later at age 75.
Eddie Van Halen Year by Year: 1977-2017 Photos
You’ll see him with long hair, short hair, a variety of his most famous guitars and all three of his band’s lead singers.
Gallery Credit: Matthew Wilkening