The Somewhat Hypocritical Opinion Eddie Van Halen Had About the Allman Brothers Band

When it comes to extravagant and sophisticated guitar playing with a surplus of notes, people typically think of John Mayer, Eric Clapton, Jerry Garcia, and Eddie Van Halen. Concerning Van Halen, nothing about his music was simple or minimalistic. Van Halen jam-packed his music with notes and slight variations of those notes. It was phenomenal and trend-setting guitar playing. Though again, it was not at all simple or minimalistic.

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Why are we putting such an emphasis on those two adjectives? Well, it’s because Eddie Van Halen once, somewhat hypocritically, judged the music of the Allman Brothers Band. The comment came rather unexpectedly in an interview with Guitar World. In addition to the unexpected nature of the comment, it retrospectively just seems incredibly hypocritical given Eddie Van Halen’s style of playing. While the comments were seemingly a spur-of-the-moment reaction, it is fairly mind-bending to learn how Van Halen viewed Duane Allman and his band.

Eddie Van Halen Thought the Allman Brothers Did Too Much

In the interview with Guitar World, per The Mighty Van Halen, Eddie Van Halen divulged that he never considered working with another guitarist. Specifically, he stated, “I’ve never played with another guitarist because I make enough sound on my own.” Subsequently, he went on to discuss why he loved the simplicity of Cream’s set-up, which was a three-piece band merely consisting of a drummer, guitarist, and bassist.

Juxtaposing that minimalist set-up was the Allman Brothers Band, which consisted of Duane Allman (slide & lead guitar), Gregg Allman (vocals, organ, songwriting), Dickey Betts (lead guitar, vocals, songwriting), Berry Oakley (bass guitar), Butch Trucks (drums), and Jaimoe (drums). Per this set-up, Van Halen stated, “The Allman Brothers’ feel is something I never got into. Duane was an excellent slide guitarist, but I never cared for Dickie Betts. I found their music too cluttered for my taste.”

Now, of course, this line is free to be interpreted in any way, shape, or form. However, and as many would agree, Van Halen’s music was arguably also “cluttered.” After all, folks know Eddie Van Halen for his jam-packed and sprawling guitar solos that featured a plethora of different notes being played a lightning-fast speeds.

Van Halen’s opinion is not at all wrong, as ABB consistently featured a lot of moving parts within their songs. Though so did Van Halen, just in a different way. Regardless, Van Halen’s perspective on the Allman Brothers Band is a fascinating one. Given this subtext, it would be interesting to see if he ever divulged any other thoughts on the group.

Photo by Getty Images/Bob Riha, Jr.