Brothers

Description

Brothers
by Alex Van Halen

ISBN: 9780063265707
Hardcover, new

Brief Description:
In this intimate and open account–nothing like any rock-and-roll memoir
you’ve ever read–Alex Van Halen shares his personal story of family,
friendship, music and brotherly love in a remarkable tribute to his beloved
brother and band mate. Told with acclaimed New Yorker writer Ariel Levy
Brothers is seventy-year-old drummer Alex Van Halen’s love letter to his
younger brother, Edward, (Maybe “Ed,” but never “Eddie”), written while
still mourning his untimely death. In his rough yet sweet voice, Alex
recounts the brothers’ childhood, first in the Netherlands and then in
working class Pasadena, California, with an itinerant musician father and a
very proper Indonesian-born mother–the kind of mom who admonished her boys
to “always wear a suit” no matter how famous they became–a woman who was
both proud and practical, nonchalant about taking a doggie bag from a star-
studded dinner. He also shares tales of musical politics, infighting, and
plenty of bad-boy behavior. But mostly his is a story of brotherhood,
music, and enduring love. “I was with him from day one,” Alex writes. “We
shared the experience of coming to this country and figuring out how to fit
in. We shared a record player, an 800 square foot house, a mom and dad, and
a work ethic. Later, we shared the back of a tour bus, alcoholism, the
experience of becoming famous, of becoming fathers and uncles, and of
spending more hours in the studio than I’ve spent doing anything else in
this life. We shared a depth of understanding that most people can only
hope to achieve in a lifetime.” There has never been an accurate account of
them or the band, and Alex wants to set the record straight on Edward’s
life and death. Brothers includes never-before-seen photos from the
author’s private archives.