Pasadena, California. 1964.
“Edward! Stop banging on the pots and pans! You’re giving me a headache!”
Eugenia was at her wits end. Young Edward was once again giving one of his infamous “concerts” in the family kitchen.
“Jan,” Eugenia said with an exasperated sigh, “can you please corral your son so that I can turn the theater back into a kitchen and cook dinner?”
Jan let out a chuckle and kissed his wife softly on the head.
“Don’t worry dear. I’ll take care of it,” he told her reassuringly.
“Edward, your mother has to make dinner. What say we give the drums a break and go see what Alex is doing,” Jan said to his youngest boy.
“When I grow up I want to play music just like you, Dad!”, Edward said with a wide, beaming grin.
“And I am sure you’ll be a fantastic musician, son,” Jan said as he tousled Edward’s hair. “Come on. Let’s go find your brother.”
“Ed! Ed! Come quick! You’ve gotta see this!”, young Alexander exclaimed loudly from the living room.
On the small black and white TV, Ed Sullivan had just introduced the Dave Clark Five, who were performing their hit song “Glad All Over” for the first time on national television.
The boys jumped and danced around the room excitedly, bobbing their heads up and down with the beat of the music. The reveled in the energy, the screaming crowd, and the sheer delight of live music.
At the dinner table, the boys raved about the performance. This is exactly what they wanted to do with their lives.
“Please, please! Can we, Dad? Mom? We’ll practice every day! Promise!”, the boys eagerly assured their parents.
“And just what instruments do you think you want to play?”, Jan asked his two young sons.
“I want a guitar!”, Alex shouted as he mimed the DC5 guitarist’s performance of a few minutes ago.
“And what about you, Edward?”, Jan asked his youngest son.
“I want…DRUMS!”, Edward exclaimed excitedly.
The preceding is a somewhat fictionalized account of the brothers Alex and Edward Van Halen, and their introduction to the world of rock music.
It was the DC5 that first made them want to chase their rock and roll dreams. Up to that point, the brothers had been taking piano lessons.
The Van Halen family was a highly musical one. Their father Jan was a professional musician, and he even appeared with his sons on the track “Big Bad Bill (Is Sweet William Now)” off 1982’s Diver Down, contributing a clarinet solo.
The brothers did indeed start out on different instruments.
Alex started out playing guitar, and Eddie on drums. The story goes that when Eddie was out on his paper route, Alex would play his drums and became very adept at them.
At this point, Eddie decided he might as well play Alex’s guitar, and the rest, as they say…
RIP, Eddie. Always missing ya.
The Beginning At Last 
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