Watch Paul Shaffer have the time of his life rocking out with Eddie Van Halen on Letterman
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Following the news that Eddie Van Halen died yesterday, David Letterman’s band leader Paul Shaffer tweeted that, “Of all the guitarists I got to play with, he was my favorite.”
In case anyone questions the sincerity of this, Don Giller has compiled a half hour video of Van Halen’s Letterman appearances that prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that Shaffer loved the opportunity to play music with him.
Described by Letterman as “our special friend playing with the band tonight,” and by Shaffer as “an innovator and… just a nutty kind of a guy,” Van Halen is first shown playing with the show’s band on May 16, 1985. Shaffer looks like he’s having a ball while Van Halen rips through an instrumental version of “Pretty Woman,” his own band’s “Jump,” and “Sunshine Of Your Love.” (There are a whole lot of Cream covers throughout his appearances on the show.)
In another visit on June 27, 1985, he sat in with Shaffer’s band during his wife Valerie Bertinelli’s guest appearance on the show before performing “Panama.” Shaffer introduces him this time by saying he’s “having the time of my life.” The last clip comes from August 10, 1995, when Van Halen (the whole band) appeared as the episode’s musical guests, later joining the house band to play “Jump.”
For more, read our staff’s favorite memories of Eddie Van Halen or other tributes to the late guitarist from fellow musicians.
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18 Comments
18:30: I remember seeing “Panama” when it aired and it blew my mind. Take out DLR, replace him with some Hammond and it changes the tune completely. And EVH just making everything look absolutely effortless and the whole band just having a blast.
That drummer in that segment is really solid…anybody know who he is?
Steve Jordan.
Ahhh, that explains it. He’s a master.
Shaffer has always put a solid band together. It’s easy to dismiss his musical status because he’s spent so much time on late night TV (SNL, Late Night and The Late Show), but he’s one of the best keyboardists of the last 50 years, and seems to know EVERYBODY who is ANYBODY in the music business. Great players really do want to play with him.
MY favorite Paul moment is when he played harmonica for Train of Consequences:
One thing I noticed in those Late Night and Late Show performances is how seamlessly Shaffer stepped in on the keyboard when Eddie grabbed his guitar. I saw him do it, but I couldn’t hear any change in the music.
Steve Jordan
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Shaffer_and_the_World%27s_Most_Dangerous_Band
If it was ‘85 (pre-’93, according to Wikipedia), it would’ve been Steve Jordan. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Jordan_(drummer)
I appreciate this, I think a lot of artists who had their “heyday” in the 80’s sort of get dismissed simply through living through and exemplifying the excesses of that decade, and there’s no better example of that than Van Halen (and maybe Motley Crue)
His smile when he plays…thank you Eddie.
Yeah, it always looked like he was enjoying hearing and watching Eddie Van Halen play as much as we were.
For such a seemingly cranky guy, Letterman always had a fun show.
A cranky guy who loves music. His relationship with Warren Zevon was a beautiful thing.
It should be noted that the August 10, 1995 performance was they day after Jerry Garcia died. That’s why Hagar said “Here’s to Jerry Garcia” at the end of the song.
Here’s a nice clip of G.E. Smith reminiscing about Eddie showing up to SNL.
Someone’s got to have put together a list / highlight reel of all the great artists that have performed on Letterman with Paul Shaffer. Not just rock, but any genre you can think of…..
The thing that stands out to me in these clips is how effortless so much of it was. He always played with a joy that was contagious, but it was so fucking easy for him! He’s smiling, joking, laughing and just throwing down fucking killer riff after killer riff. Amazing. What a loss. And Paul’s chops are legit; high praise from someone that would know.