First, we want to thank Greg Renoff, author of Van Halen Rising, for unearthing this absolute gem of a photo! This was posted on the VHR Facebook page yesterday.
In this photograph from 1975, a 20-year-old Edward Van Halen plays acoustic guitar at a wedding. The piano player is Kenny Smith, who went on to become a music industry sales guru. Kenny and Eddie were playing for their newlywed friends, Dave and Monica Kirk.
When you think about it, it turns out Dave and Monica sure got a helluva deal on their wedding band performers! Just a few years later, hiring that guitar player alone could’ve cost more than the entire wedding!
You know, the cardinal rule of weddings is to not overshadow the bride .… so hopefully young Eddie didn’t get too crazy!
This photo got us thinking … we wonder who’s guitar that was? Remember the story of Nancy Wilson from Heart giving Eddie his first acoustic? That didn’t happen until years later. Before that happened, Ed recorded the masterful “Spanish Fly” on acoustic, but that guitar was burrowed for the session. Of course, Eddie could’ve been borrowing this guitar. Or perhaps he went to the wedding reception, saw the guitar there, and just started noodling.
In any case, we’d love to hear an audio recording of this…