During a recent appearance on The Howard Stern Show, Pearl Jam guitarist Mike McCready expressed his love of Van Halen and his chance meeting with Eddie Van Halen.
From Ultimate Guitar (contributed to the VHND by Greg Prato):
Pearl Jam guitarist Mike McCready is best known for his Jimi and SRV soloing style played on a variety of battered Strats. So it may come as a surprise to some that Eddie Van Halen is also one of his favorite guitarists, as well.
During a recent interview with his bandmates on the Howard Stern Show in support of Pearl Jam’s new album, “Dark Matter,” McCready started a VH discussion when the show’s host played a snippet of “Eruption.” The guitarist then shared memories from his childhood (transcribed by Ultimate Guitar).
“It’s music from another planet to me. I started playing guitar again at 12, it’s like right when this record [Van Halen’s self-titled debut] came out. So, it didn’t really make any sense to me, but I thought it was the greatest sounding thing I’ve ever heard.”
“I luckily got to see him four times with David Lee Roth. Stone [Gossard] and I will talk about Van Halen all the time. So, just incredible, the energy to them. When they would come to town in Seattle, it was it was like the summer was here.”
McCready also explained the one and only time he was able to meet EVH, which would have occurred sometime around 2011-2013. And what Van Halen said to McCready took him by surprise.
“When we were doing our ‘Lightning Bolt’ record in Los Angeles, California, he happened to be in the hall one day. And I just happened to be listening to the first record on the way to the studio, and I was like, ‘Eddie Van Halen! I’m Mike McCready!’ Y’know, just giving him my resume, just because I’m fawning about the whole thing.”
“And I said, ‘Man, I was just listening to the first record. It’s so incredible.’ And he’s like, ‘Ah…I never really liked the sound of that record.’ And I’m just thinking, ‘That record’s incredible! You’re the greatest!’ Anyways, took a picture with him and that was the only time I ever met him.”
McCready then, as Joe Satriani had done several months earlier on the Stern show, played some off-the-cuff EVH licks on his battered Strat. Will he endure the same wrath Satch did by EVH purists? Watch the McCready clip above and you be the judge.