Photo of Eddie Van Halen outside the Pasadena Civic Auditorium in 1993 by Alan Light. (Image reproduced under Creative Commons license https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)
The Pasadena City Library is honoring former Pasadena resident Eddie Van Halen, who with his brother Alex and friends set up the legendary band Van Halen in Pasadena in 1972, by having all of his music, and some memorabilia, available to the public.
Born in Amsterdam in 1955, Eddie Van Halen and his family left the Netherlands in 1962 and settled in Pasadena, where he grew and attended Pasadena High School and Pasadena City College. He and brother Alex launched their music career here, where they also met David Lee Roth who was then studying at Pasadena City College.
Eddie Van Halen, or Edward Lodewijk van Halen in full, was widely recognized as a virtuoso guitar player and songwriter. The band was iconic in rock and pop music in the 1980s and 90s.
Van Halen was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012. He passed away at his home in Santa Monica on Tuesday. He was 65.
This week, the Pasadena City Library’s collection of 19 Van Halen albums and recordings are available on hoopla, the online streaming platform. To use hoopla, first create an account with an email address and password, then select “Pasadena Public Library” and enter your library card number. Pasadena Public Library card holders can check out up to six items, of any format, per calendar month.
At the library curbside, Van Halen fans can pick up “Eddie Van Halen: Photographs by Neil Zlozower,” which contains more than 200 images of Eddie Van Halen in action, both classic and never before seen. The book focuses on the innovative early years of the band Van Halen, when Eddie burst onto the scene and changed the face of electric guitar playing and melodic hard rock. The photos are complemented by text and testimony from some of the world’s great guitarists, music writers, and many others.
Also available for curbside pickup is the book “Runnin’ with the Devil,” by Noel E. Monk with Joe Layden, a backstage pass to the wild times, loud rock, and the down and dirty truth behind the making of Van Halen; and “Guitar Virtuosi,” which features nine of Eddie Van Halen’s classic guitar solo instrumentals. Presented in fi-kasino-online.net, this book shows you how to play each guitar solo as Eddie Van Halen recorded them.
Finally, the CD “Beat It,” from the Michael Jackson “Thriller” album produced in 1982, is also available for pickup. Eddie Van Halen was a guest performer on the global hit album, which remains the best-selling album of all time. His guitar solo on “Beat It” was a highlight, and along with the accompanying video, helped make the track one of the most recognizable, successful and celebrated songs in pop music.
For more information, visit www.pasadena-library.net/
The Pasadena Central Library is located at 285 E. Walnut Street.
