![]() ![]() While his younger brother was pedalling his bicycle all over the neighbourhood flinging papers on to front lawns, Alex was “banging away with the drums”.Įddie would return home from his route, see his brother pounding on the drum kit and just naturally picked up the Teisco Del Rey, plugged it into the Silvertone amp his parents had purchased and begin strumming. In the meantime, Eddie had signed up for a paper round in order to be able to buy a drum kit. “No matter what I tried,” Alex said, “it wasn’t happening, man.” He took flamenco lessons for a while but, try as he might, six strings proved to be half a dozen too many. Alex abandoned piano and picked up a Teisco Del Rey guitar his parents bought for him. They were digging the Dave Clark Five and Jan & Dean. Beethoven was replaced by The Beatles, and classical gave way to Cream. Like many other kids their age, the Van Halen boys wanted to rock. But a sea change was coming, one that would wash over the brothers like a tidal wave. Eugenia was adamant that her sons kept up with their piano studies. (Image credit: Lynn Goldsmith/Getty Images )Īfter landing on American soil, the Van Halens took up life in Pasadena, a quiet suburb about 11 miles north-east of Los Angeles. “Ed was this little kid whose feet barely touched the ground,” Alex recalled. Jan Van Halen was able to underwrite some of the cost of passage by playing on stage with the ship’s house band, while Eddie, seated next to the musicians, pounded out chords on the Rippen. Still, it was a good thing they had brought it along. ![]() “We were broke, and the last few pennies that we did have we had to pay for the extra cartage on the piano, which was damaged.” Although Van Halen Sr had only $25 in his pocket, there was never a question about bringing the family’s most prized possession. She had a sister living in California, and in 1962 the Van Halens locked the doors and embarked on a seven-day voyage to the US aboard a Dutch cruise ship. Eugenia, sensing that life was going nowhere in Nijmegen, declared the family was moving to America. I was never into playing piano, but I’ll never forget that my mom would always say: ‘Some day you’ll thank us for this.’” She played piano but didn’t play well and was very interested in music and always told us to go out and practise. We were surrounded by music by our mother. “The earliest memories I have musically is that our father was into music and you couldn’t help be touched by it,” the elder Van Halen brother told me. But still, there was little left at the end of the day. Money was tight, even though Jan Van Halen, the family patriarch, was a first-chair jazz saxophone and clarinet player in the Dutch Air Force, making records and playing at some of the most prestigious halls in Holland. “She could barely afford it,” Alex said, years later. ![]()
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