***** Eddie Van Halen Repository Thread *****
 

Have some Eddie Van Halen news? Don't feel like positing in the dudes death thread for the 500th time? Well this thread is for you!

Bring him in for a look?

I'll bet he can still turn his neck better than Bartee.

Would have preferred "Megathread" to "Repository". Might need to create that one as well and let people choose.

I just heard he died. rip.

Bartee just needed a truss rod adjustment.

I hear he's getting married to some chick named Valerie Bertinelli

Van Roth, Van Hagar or Van Cherone?

He wasn't even that good.

Trolls. heh.

Spotted at Guitar Center in Olathe

My first dream girl. :sulk:

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Is this Dane?

Good money say that dude has New Balance kicks.

I guess TLO means me...so here you go....

https://racer.com/wp-content/uploads...2021/05/t2.jpg

Imagine this: 135,000 fans at Sunday’s Indianapolis 500 and millions around the world watching the No. 25 Andretti Autosport Honda charging into Turn 1 at 230mph while wrapped in a Eddie Van Halen tribute livery. Through the early stages of April, there was no reason to imagine this scenario because it almost happened.

In what would have been one of the coolest collisions between motor racing and rock music, RACER has learned a sponsorship deal was in place for Wolfgang Van Halen, son of the guitar god who died in October, to promote his new album ‘Mammoth WVH’ ahead of its June 11 release in association with Andretti Autosport and the No. 25 Honda at the May 30 Indy 500.

As part of the pre-race ceremonies, Wolfgang Van Halen was meant to perform the song ‘Distance,’ a heavy track that deals with the loss of his father. And with the tribute car meant to be presented in the legendary stripes from Eddie Van Halen’s ‘Frankenstrat’ guitar, made famous in the late 1970s as Van Halen shot to the top of the rock music scene, the band’s legion of fans would have erupted.

For reasons that are unknown, Van Halen stepped away from the Indy 500 Andretti promotional plan which, in turn, opened the door for Stefan Wilson and sponsor LOHLA SPORT to claim the No. 25 Honda and fill one of the last vacancies in the field of 33 racers.

https://racer.com/2021/05/26/the-edd...ar-that-wasnt/

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LMAO

You think I'm ****ing a hundred years old?

LMAO

Is there a general
guitar playing thread up in this biotch?

What kind of Eddie Van Halen news do y'all have today?

None but here's some Panama news:

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My favorite guitar player is Angus Young but even I will admit Eddie was better..

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/m...h-wvh-1126652/

Article from February i hadn’t seen before. Found it interesting to read about wolf using the original frankinstrat and which song was Eddie’s favorite. Also the insight on a couple of the songs we’ve been able to hear. All good stuff. Sorry if it’s a repost.

Bonus thought. After the insight on the songs I re listened to them on YouTube, But instead of watching the video (which most have the words), I just played it and listened. Felt better for me somehow.

Bonus bonus thought; he also mentioned “mr Ed” a song we haven’t heard yet, will feature wolf doing some tap on intro and solo. Which inspired the song title. NOBODY should expect some sort of Eddie prodigy type expectations from this statement......

Thanks for posting. Hadn’t seen it.

A general thought...is it standard now to put out a bunch of songs before the album comes out? I don’t really remember waiting this long with just a drip of singles.

Unfortunately, yes. Per the CDC guidelines, you fall into the senior citizen category. I hope you've chosen to get your vaccination.

VAN HALEN’S LOST DINOSAUR MUSIC VIDEO UNEARTHED

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A long lost video of Van Halen performing in front of giant dinosaur statues has finally been unearthed after more than 40 years.

“At the end of 1981 Van Halen filmed some videoclip settled in a Jurassic park in Italy, the ‘Prehistoric Park’ of Rivolta D'Adda (near Milan),” notes the YouTube uploader, Kosmo VanHalenItalia.

At the time, the band were touring Europe in support of their fourth LP, 1981’s Fair Warning. The video finds the band mime-performing along to their song “So This Is Love?” in front of a stone brontosaurus, while tyrannosaurus rex, triceratops, and wooly mammoth statues look on. In the clip, David Lee Roth struts around wearing a piano scarf, colorful boots and button-up shirt (left open to show his chest, of course). Brothers Eddie and Alex Van Halen have on coordinating striped outfits, while bassist Michael Anthony appears to be donning an orange prison jumpsuit.

“These videos aired on Italian state television, RAI 1, during a TV show called Happy Circus,” the YouTube caption further explains, adding that the “Van Halen Italia Fan Club” were the ones who uncovered the long lost footage (which you can watch below).

Speculation surrounding the mysterious “dinosaur video” has long run rampant among hardcore fans. The Van Halen News Desk notes that pictures from the video shoot, taken by one of the band’s roadies, were published in 1995 in the magazine The Inside. The accompanying story was short and shone very little light on the video, speculating “the dinosaurs never made it off the cutting room floor.”

“So This Is Love?” was released as a single in 1981, peaking at No. 15 on the U.S. Mainstream Rock Tracks chart.

https://ultimateclassicrock.com/van-...inosaur-video/

Very neat!

Also shows how basic music videos were in the early 80s. Just find an interesting background, point and shoot.

^^ I think I found Waldo....

I always wonder what is going through their minds when having to do this cheesy stuff. I would feel ridiculous. But I'd do it because I had to to be a raging popular rock star ****ing all that puss.

You take the good with the bad.

At least this guy is straight up about why he is selling it....

Eddie Van Halen-signed Kramer, gifted to his guitar tech, Tom Weber, goes up for sale

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Eddie Van Halen’s former guitar tech Tom Weber has put up his EVH-signed Kramer Paul Dean signature guitar for sale, which was gifted to him by the late electric guitar god himself in 1988.

Weber worked with Van Halen as his principle guitar technician between 2007 and 2020, and, like most live industry workers, has struggled over the past year due to the coronavirus pandemic.

With the sale of his “prized possession”, which is being listed by online retailer Five Star Guitars, Weber hopes to financially support himself while the live music scene gets up and running again.

Though there have been an abundance of sales concerning themselves with EVH-owned guitars, Weber’s account of how he came into possession of such a rare piece of rock history is borderline sensational.

Before the onset of their professional relationship, the pair crossed paths on October 4, 1988, in the run up to an Eddie Van Halen concert at Starwood Amphitheater in Nashville, where Weber worked as house audio engineer.

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Upon learning that EVH’s acoustic guitar – suspected to be the one gifted to him by Nancy Wilson – had been damaged, Weber arranged a meeting with Eddie through the venue’s Promotions Director Robert Eva, and found something in his own collection of six-strings that the guitar legend could play.

“Introductions were made, and I told Ed that I had a guitar that I wanted him to have,” Weber recalled. “He seemed a bit surprised that this was my personal instrument, and concerned as to my motivation for giving it to him.”

After discussing their mutual interest in Kramers – Weber also worked as a salesman for the brand – the pair spent “the next several hours playing guitar, talking and having a drink or two”, with Weber revealing the only Kramer missing from his 17-strong collection was a Paul Dean signature model.

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As the pair parted ways, Weber recalled, "[He] gave me a big hug and he said, ‘There’s not very many people like you in the world anymore. Everybody wants something from me. You’re the first person I’ve run into that doesn’t want anything.’

“I said, ‘Well, the only thing I want is that hopefully at some point we get to be good friends.’”

Well, you can probably guess what happened next. A few weeks later, Weber received a yellow Kramer Paul Dean signature electric guitar that had been signed by Eddie Van Halen himself, carrying the inscription, “Thanks Tom – a lot! I owe you one!”

19 years and a few trial-by-fire guitar setup challenges later, Weber was reunited with EVH, and became his main guitar tech following an impressive audition performance that left Eddie's right-hand man Matt Bruck reeling.

"[After the setup] Matt came through the door, guitar over his shoulder, and said, 'Dude! Big smiles right out of the gate!' I've been with Ed for 18 years, and he's always said that nobody on the planet could tune a guitar for him, but you're the closest one so far!'" recalled Weber.

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/cB...70-80.jpg.webp

As for the Kramer in question, Weber says it “represents the very beginning of my relationship with Ed,” adding, “I was lucky enough to develop a friendship with him, eventually winning my dream job – becoming his guitar tech from 2007 right up until 2020.

“He was a true original, and so was this gift he gave me. I’ve treasured this guitar for many years and now it is time for it to become the prized possession of another collector.

“The only reason it is up for sale is the COVID-19 pandemic. We haven’t worked in over a year. I’m trying to make sure I have a house when this is over with, and this is the best way to do it. That’s why she’s [up for sale].”

Weber had previously discussed the stresses live industry workers have faced as a result of the pandemic, stating, "The music industry, we're not just out of work. We're washed off the face of the planet at this point."

Tom Weber's Kramer Paul Dean signature guitar is available now over at Five Star Guitars for $60,000

https://www.guitarworld.com/news/tom...n-halen-kramer

SAMMY HAGAR: 'I Apologize From The Bottom Of My Heart For Exposing EDDIE VAN HALEN's Dark Side' In My Book

In a new interview with Brazil's "Inside With Paulo Baron" Internet show, Sammy Hagar was asked if there were any things that he left out of his 2011 autobiography "Red: My Uncensored Life In Rock", that he thinks he should have put it or any stories that he included that he later wished he hadn't. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Oh, yeah. I forgot so many really fun little things, and every now and then I'll wake up in the morning and have a dream and I'll wake up and it makes me remember something in the childhood, and I think, 'Oh, I should have put that in the book. But the ****ing book would have been this big. [Holds hands wide apart.]'"

He continued: "But more than anything, because of the untimely and tragic death of Eddie Van Halen, I apologize from the bottom of my heart for exposing his dark side to where I don't think anyone wants to hear that now, and, unfortunately, it's in the book. And it's true — it's all true. It's not like I have to say, 'Oh, I was lying' — no, no, no. If I wrote the book today, I would only put the good of Eddie Van Halen, because he was such a brilliant, genius guitar player and such a great friend and a great partner — until everything went wrong, like everything else. Anybody's that's been divorced or broke up with your girlfriend or your boyfriend, you know how it goes. Happy endings aren't always the case in a relationship. [Eddie and I] had a happy ending — thank God — but before that, it wasn't a happy ending of the band. But thank God we got it back together."

When journalist Regis Tadeu pointed out that it's important to expose the dark side sometimes because it's "reality," Sammy said: "No one knew a lot of that about Eddie, but they'd see him on stage and they would think, 'Why is he acting like that?' And I would say, 'Well, you should have seen what happened backstage. Holy ****!' If we'd have known he was sick then, then I would have understood and I would have been a little more, 'Hey, Ed, come on,' try to reel him in. But he was impossible. He was on a track of just wild. It was tough."

Hagar added: "He was the sweetest guy in the world when I met him. When Eddie Van Halen walked into my dressing room in that show in Anaheim Stadium with BOSTON and BLACK SABBATH, that was one of the sweetest people, most humble human beings I've ever met in my life. I thought, 'How can this guy play so badass and be that humble?' I thought, 'It's impossible. He must have a fire inside of him that he's not showing.' And when that fire came out, it was quite the fire — a freakin' volcano."

The rest @ Blabbermouth....

Hmmm. What’s this about? Eddie and Valerie have some bad history with Clapton?

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Once a dick, always a dick. <a href="https://t.co/WdlN90tgi1">https://t.co/WdlN90tgi1</a> <a href="https://t.co/BQs97vYGia">pic.twitter.com/BQs97vYGia</a></p>&mdash; Valerie Bertinelli (@Wolfiesmom) <a href="https://twitter.com/Wolfiesmom/status/1417958546688208896?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 21, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

No idea, but i'd like to know more.

Valerie is still pretty hot. Hi, Wolfie, I am your new daddy. Can I join your band?

Don’t dis agree butt she’s a bit porky .I know I know more cushion and all that ….I’d bet you could work a little of that extra off with some effort.

Uhhhhh, no.

The story of Van Halen's nightly destruction of Black Sabbath

An excerpt from Paul Brannigan's new book Eruption: The Eddie Van Halen Story, featuring Ozzy Osbourne, Phil Lynott and more

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Paul Brannigan's new book Eruption: The Eddie Van Halen Story is out next month.

Published to mark the first anniversary of the guitarist's death, it tells the story of Eddie Van Halen's life, from his earliest days in Amsterdam, through the band's formative years as Van Halen learned their trade in Hollywood clubs, to the release of the debut album that revolutionised rock and the decades of success that followed.

"With unique insights," say publishers Faber, "Paul Brannigan's Eruption reaches beyond the headlines to explore the cultural and social contexts that shaped this iconic guitarist, while also turning up the dial on a life lived at volume eleven."

In this excerpt it's 1978. Van Halen has been out for six months, and the band have been on the road since the beginning of March. They've supported Journey, and Montrose, and The Rolling Stones, and they've completed a run of UK dates with Black Sabbath. Precision-tuned after so many shows, Van Halen are on fire. And now they're ready to head back home.

On 22 August, the quartet re-joined their friends in Black Sabbath for their US tour. The promoters should also have hired a crime-scene investigator to document the tour and draw chalk outlines around Ozzy, Tony, Geezer and Bill onstage, for it was clear to all in attendance that Sabbath were being murdered, night after night.

"The record company was all over Van Halen," recalls Geezer Butler. "They already thought we were old-hat and over the hill, so Van Halen were getting all the star treatment from the record company, and we were getting nothing. When the Never Say Die! album came out, we went to a reception for it at Warner Brothers, and they were playing Bob Marley’s album and they didn’t know who we were! Our sales had dipped, and I guess they were on the verge of dropping us."

"I remember being in a hotel room in San Diego with Geezer and one of the reps from the record company," says Osbourne, "and we’d had a few drinks, and one of us said to this guy, 'Be honest, you’re only using us on this tour to promote Van Halen, aren’t you?' And he said, 'You’re right.' And if you’re with a record company that won’t back you...

"When a band goes on stage before you and goes down better than you, you either say, 'Right, we’re going to go out there and ****ing show them how to do it,' or you just fold up. And they had years on us, and we’d been fighting this lawsuit with our old manager for ****ing years, and I was just ****ing tired of fighting. We never joined a band to become lawyers or ****ing accountants, and that’s how it ended up. We didn’t have a clue."

With a few days off during a short Midwest club run with AC/DC, Thin Lizzy’s Phil Lynott, Scott Gorham and Gary Moore went along to the 14 September show at Detroit’s Cobo Hall to check out the Pasadena band.

"We were on the same label in America, Warners, and whenever we hooked up with anyone from the label, you always heard, 'Wow, man, I was just out with Van Halen – what a ****ing band!’" California-born guitarist Gorham recalls. "It got to the point where Phil would tell them, 'Look, if you get into this ****ing car, you’re not going to talk about Van Halen, all right?'

"So we were interested in this band we’d heard so much about. And these boys came on and just shredded everybody a brand-new asshole. They were amazing. When Eddie started doing his tapping thing, I turned around to Gary and said, 'What the **** is that? What is he doing there?' Gary was just staring at him, and he said, 'I don’t know.'

"Ten minutes later, I went to ask Gary another question, and he was gone. The next day, I was standing in his hotel room, and he said, 'Hey, check this out...' and he started tapping away. He’d gone back to the hotel the night before to teach himself how to do it."

UK music journalist Sylvie Simmons caught up with the tour in Fresno, California, on 22 September and was equally smitten by the energetic young Californians.

"For sheer crowd-pleasing, Sabbath are hard to beat," Simmons wrote in Sounds, "or they would be if it weren’t for a band like Van Halen. In some respects, they’re like a young version of Sabbath, fresher, without that embalmed-from-ten-years-ago look.

"Dave Lee Roth must be the most energetic front man on the rock circuit today, but louder, bigger. Even the flares on his pants are bigger. His jack-knife leaps from the drum kit have to be seen to be believed. His singing is peppered with wows and pings and squeals. His between-song spiels are shameless – “Fresno, the rock'n'roll capital of the world?” C’mon!

"Women just flock to him. All the girls in this mostly-male crowd seem to have made their way to the front of the stage and are grabbing his legs. The rest of the band are rock heroes of the old mould and they really know how to play."

Songs Simmons picked out as highlights included Runnin’ with the Devil, Jamie’s Cryin’, Feel Your Love, Ain’t Talkin’ ’Bout Love and the quartet’s set-closing cover, You Really Got Me – "a really macho, suggestive version of the Kinks’ classic that has the audience going wild".

"Any other band but the confident Sabs", she concluded, "would refuse to follow this group. They’re that good live."

Later that night, in a hotel bar in the city, to the soundtrack of a jazz trio playing Barry Manilow hits, Ozzy Osbourne told Simmons, "Van Halen are one of the most high-energy trips I’ve seen in America for years. They’re ****ing great. It’s like watching an early me when I see that David up there. When I was 21, you know? I only hope that they last as long as we’ve lasted."

Paul Brannigan's Eruption: The Eddie Van Halen Story is published on September 23. Paul is also the author of This Is A Call: The Life And Times Of Dave Grohl and the co-author of two Metallica books: Birth School Metallica Death: Vol I and Into the Black: The Inside Story of Metallica, 1991–2014 (Birth School Metallica Death Book 2).

https://www.loudersound.com/features...-black-sabbath

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https://s1.cdn.autoevolution.com/ima...w-chiron_7.jpg



Used Gulfstream G200 Jet Looks Like Eddie Van Halen’s Guitar, Costs Less Than a New Chiron

Sabbath > VH

Van Halen's Old Chevy Nova Looks Like Runnin' With the Devil

Having a project car can be, at first, a curse and a blessing at the same time. Some people say that work on a project car never ends, but that may not be true. If you've got a solid plan from the get-go, and the finances to back it up, then you're all set. And I've found the perfect project car if you just want the glory with no sweat.

https://s1.cdn.autoevolution.com/ima...l-168837_1.jpg

https://s1.cdn.autoevolution.com/ima...e-devil_19.jpg

If you haven't been living under a rock for the past 12 months, you probably know that Eddie Van Halen passed away in October of last year. He left behind a solid collection of hits, the likes of which will still be praised over the next few decades. But did you know that he used to own a few very interesting cars as well? He used to drive a 1970 Lamborghini Miura, a 2000 Ferrari 550, and a 2016 Porsche 911 GT3 RS to name just a few.

While he did a few changes to the Lamborghini, he went all-in with his 1970 Chevrolet Nova. This car was built by Bones Fab in California, and it ended up in his possession a short while after. The car was repainted metallic orange, and while it does have some minor imperfections, it still looks fairly impressive. This restomod is running on KWC forged wheels, 18" in the front and 19" in the back.

One look at the rear tires will have you understand that this is a serious machine. If you'll decode the car's VIN it's easy to see that it came with a V8 from the factory. But that was since replaced with a massive 454 cubic inches (7.4-liters) LSX unit.

That means you should have about 650 horsepower at your disposal, which is more than enough for everyday use. The auction will be coming to an end in four days' time. Right now, the highest bid stands at $60,000. What's the first Van Halen song you'd listen to if you'd get to ride in it?

https://www.autoevolution.com/news/v...l-168837.html#

Would rather listen to Weird AL over any Van Halen song.

Ok?

:shrug:

I bet Al doesn’t drive a cool Nova.

RIP

EDDIE VAN HALEN Memorial Plaque Officially Unveiled In Pasadena

https://www.blabbermouth.net/news/ed...d-in-pasadena/

ICONS & IDOLS: ROCK 'N' ROLL (#3307) 11/19/2021 10:00 AM EST
LOT #604"VAN HALEN" EDDIE VAN HALEN STAGE-PLAYED AND SIGNED "FRANKENSTRAT" GUITAR •


https://www.julienslive.com/images/l...jpg?1635355561

https://www.julienslive.com/lot-deta...%3Dvan%2Bhalen

Current top bid is far less than I expected

But still far too rich for my blood :huh:

I'm doing EVH for Halloween.

:rockon:

Critical information....

https://www.costumet.com/images/icon...tume-guide.jpg

New Eddie Van Halen biography by the late guitarist’s friend and confidante Steve Rosen coming in spring

Renowned music writer Steve Rosen readies Tonechaser - Understanding Edward: My 26-Year Journey with Edward Van Halen for spring release

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A comprehensive new biography of Eddie Van Halen, written and self-published by the late guitarist’s long-time friend and confidante Steve Rosen, will be released this spring.

Tonechaser - Understanding Edward: My 26-Year Journey with Edward Van Halen is described in a press release as “an honest and up-close look at what it was like to be friends with the greatest guitar player on the planet.”

A hugely-respected writer for Guitar Player magazine (and sometime Classic Rock contributor), LA-based Rosen had spoken at length with Van Halen about collaborating on an authorised biography in the mid ’80s, but the idea was ultimately shelved.

“At that point, I put to rest the idea of ever writing a book about my friendship with him,” admits Rosen, who began interviewing the Dutch-born guitarist in 1977, ahead of the release of the Pasadena quartet’s game-changing debut album. “Then in 2020, I thought about my relationship with him and I was just moved to begin writing.”

Rosen, inarguably the journalist Van Halen trusted most, began committing his thoughts to paper in August 2020, just six weeks ahead of the guitarist’s passing.

“I didn’t know where I was going or where it would take me,” he admits, “but I wrote every day for over a year and it was the hardest stuff I’d ever written. I finally finished the book around October 2021 and felt a great release. I was really proud of what I’d accomplished and I wanted fans to read and share in what I’d experienced in my friendship with Edward.”

The hardcover book, with a cover image taken by long-time VH collaborator Neil Zlozower, is available to pre-order now, priced at $35.00 plus $12.00 shipping for US residents:

https://www.loudersound.com/news/new...ming-in-spring

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OSU Band Pay Epic Tribute to Van Halen With Rockin’ Halftime Show

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/...144535632.html

^ It's up to school marching band leaders to preserve and carry the torch for rock and roll.

The marching band thing was cool, but maybe this is some real news???


Joe Satriani confirms EVH tribute tour discussions with Alex Van Halen and David Lee Roth: "If it does happen, I know we'll make it the greatest thing ever for the fans"

Joe Satriani would surely be very high on anyone's dream list of guitarists to pay tribute to Eddie Van Halen's guitar legacy onstage, now he's confirmed he's been in discussion to make that reality with Alex Van Halen and David Lee Roth.

In a new interview with the Rock Of Nations With Dave Kinchen show in support of his new solo album The Elephants Of Mars, Satch commented on speculation his name was attached to plans for a tour paying tribute to the late Eddie Van Halen, who passed away in 2020.

"I've been talking with Alex and Dave for about a year about doing something — a tour, something like that — that was gonna be a true tribute to [Eddie Van Halen] and the Van Halen legacy," said Satch, as transcribed by Blabbermouth.

But even for one of the world's most iconic guitar players, the idea of it still daunting.

"For me, it was a terrifying prospect of doing something like that, but I realised that it was something that would be a real labor of love for me," reveals Satriani. "I was just so honoured to take on the challenge."

As with everything in the world of Van Halen, it's a slow and softly-softly approach before anything will be made official, if at all.

"It's very complicated," Satriani added. "And all I can really say about it is that if it does happen, I know we'll make it the greatest thing ever for the fans and we'll all celebrate together not only the great Eddie Van Halen but the legacy that that band created, the amazing amount of music and the goodwill and good vibes they created as a band."

The idea of a tribute tour involving big name musician Van Halen fans alongside former band members was leaked by one-time Metallica bassist Jason Newsted last week. He revealed he'd been approached about being involved, which took Satch and the other musicians by surprise.

"These things are always happening in the music industry, and you're supposed to keep very quiet about it [laughs], because sometimes they don't work out," Satriani said. "There's usually about 10 crazy ideas that float around and musicians are always, like, 'Okay, I won't say anything about this 'cause it may not work out. I don't wanna hurt this person's feelings or disrupt any other business plans.' So, yeah, we were all pretty shocked that Jason wanted to go public with it 'cause we were all sworn to silence. [Laughs]"

From what Satch was willing to reveal in the interview, it sounds like the project is further along than Newsted suggested. The bassist even said the idea had "fizzled" from his perspective. Whatever happens, Satriani is just happy to have connected with Eddie's brother.

"I have to say that just getting to know Alex has been really wonderful," the guitarist added. "He's a great human being, and, obviously, I can't imagine losing a brother that way, so soon. And they were really close; their relationship was really quite unique."

A potential tour could still happen too…

"Like I said before, if it ever does happen, it will be a great honour and a terrifying challenge," Satriani continued. "Eddie, you can't reproduce what he did — you can't. You can learn the notes and you can be taught all the fingerings and get the gear and everything, but there was only one Eddie and he was the epitome of an original genius. But if it does happen, I know that Alex will make sure that it's the right way to do it."

The guitarist also weighed the idea of learning Van Halen songs to his previous solo work and playing with Chickenfoot alongside former Van Halen members Sammy Hagar and Michael Anthony.

"… The thought of representing all the eras of Van Halen, that's pretty daunting; that's a lot of stuff," Satriani admitted. "And just from a guitar player's point of view, Eddie progressed remarkably as a player and as an inventor, and those two things, they kind of went together from 'Van Halen I' all the way to the last album. And when you sit down to actually learn it and pull it off, you go, 'Wow! Not only do I need talent but I need [to use specific] gear,' 'cause certain things won't work unless you've got this amp and it's doing that. So that's also another thing."

https://www.musicradar.com/news/van-...e-joe-satriani

Nice! I'd be willing to throw some cash at that show.

Considered putting this in the historic pictures thread, but remembered this thread had been bumped recently, a bit of local-ish history finally facing the march of time.

Oldest MO McDonald's being razed and replaced with new.

https://scontent-ort2-2.xx.fbcdn.net...XA&oe=6265DB7C

Site of the picture in the course of their first promo tour

https://i.pinimg.com/564x/d7/66/26/d...6984aacf45.jpg

There's a story and video

https://www.vhnd.com/2021/04/13/the-...h-photo-video/

Hit the link for the whole interview with WVH, I'll just post the EVH tribute parts...

Exclusive: Wolfgang Van Halen on His Next Album, That Eddie Van Halen Tribute, Internet Hate, and Much More

There was apparently some kind of Van Halen tribute attempted that involved your uncle [Alex Van Halen] and Joe Satriani. What can you say about that?
What I can say is that there was an attempt at doing something. But, you know, I don’t like to speak negatively about people, but there are some people that make it very difficult to do anything when it comes to Van Halen. After being in Van Halen for a long time, I really have strived to have an environment where there is no walking on eggshells and there is no personality that you have to deal with. It’s just guys having fun making music and just having a good time. But, you know, from my time in Van Halen, there was always some stuff that gets in the way from just making music and having a good time. And, I think, that’s what happened.

Let’s see, how can we decode that?…
I would love to just sit here and say everything and say the truth. There are plenty of interviews my dad did, where he straight up just said everything. And people hated him for it and thought he was lying. So I could just say shit, but people have already decided how they feel about things, facts or not. So I can say the facts. But that may not align with how certain people feel. I know how Van Halen fans get. They are very motivated by which specific people they like in the band. And it’s just not worth it. Just, we made an attempt, and some people can be hard to work with, and made it not happen.

When you say “we,” what would your involvement have been in this?
When it comes to Van Halen, and decision-making overall and what Van Halen does, it’s Al, and then I’m there and supportive. You know, I basically help make the decisions that dad would be there to make, because I’m in there in his stead.

So basically, you gave your blessing to this attempt that didn’t work out.
It didn’t even get to that point. It was in such an early stage that it never even got off the ground.

Too bad.
Yeah, no, I would really like to do something for Pop.

So to get this straight, was this going to be a tour or a single concert? There’s a lot of confusion.
It was not a tour.

So it was a one-off tribute concert. And even on that, they couldn’t get together?
Right, surprise. Look at anything that’s happened with Van Halen. And look how things have fallen apart. You know? The fact that in my tenure, in Van Halen, we managed to do three tours, put an album of original material and a live album out is a ****ing miracle.

It must make any band dynamics you have to deal with now seem like a ****ing vacation.
When it comes to Mammoth, it’s just like, “Grow the **** up. Like, We’re here to have a good time. Like, Why the **** would you want to ruin that?” But apparently, some people are too full of themselves to let other people have a good time.

There’s been a tremendous amount of confusion out there on this tribute thing.
People love to pin every decision Van Halen has ever made on Dad. But Al’s the brain. Al has been the guy forever. He’s the dude. When it comes to Van Halen, Dad just wanted to play guitar. But, you know, Al’s mentality, and it’s the mentality that Van Halen took for the entirety of its band, is that there’s nothing worth talking about unless it’s happening. So the reason that nothing has been talked about from Van Halen, the official channels, is because nothing’s happened. And I know how that will stir people up and piss them off. But that’s how the operation is run.

When Robert Plant wouldn’t tour with Led Zeppelin, they auditioned all kinds of singers, including Steven Tyler. But just because they jammed a couple of times, doesn’t mean anything really came of that.
Not at all. And just because one person [former Metallica bassist Jason Newsted] decided to talk about it when they weren’t supposed to, it ****ed everything up.

Was that really what ****ed it up?
That wasn’t the end of it, actually. It was already not happening.

And if someone were to assume that the main problem was a certain singer with three initials, what would you say to that?
I would say “Do your research on the history of Van Halen, and come to your conclusions.”

You’ve had this very public grieving process for your dad. Where are you emotionally with that?
I’m never going to be OK. I think my time where I seem OK is just me not thinking about how I’m not OK. I heard a thing where it’s like, “You’re not necessarily experiencing happiness, you’re just experiencing the absence of sadness.” And I feel like that is how I am most of the time. I feel like my mentality is really below average on everything, most of the time. You know, with the state of the world. I miss my dad, and, you know, people are mean, and everything just kind of creates this, this cocktail of just depression and anxiety that I already have been dealing with my whole life. And you just kinda figure it out, and find the things that are worth living for. And the things that are worth living for, for me, are Mammoth, my girlfriend, my mom, my uncle, you know, my whole team with my band. And you just got to hold on to that stuff.

We joked last year about how you had to save rock & roll, and weirdly, now it looks like it’s kind of coming back in the mainstream, from Olivia Rodrigo to Harry Styles to the pop-punk revival.
You know, Demi Lovato just came out with a pop-punk song. ****in’ Machine Gun Kelly switched genres! It’s what’s in. I don’t know if it’s just being used as a facade or if they’re just kind of copping on the scene to look cool. But at the same time, they’re playing the music and that could open up the doorway to other things. It really does seem like rock-based music, or at least guitar-bass-drums-style music, is coming back into the limelight. That’s pretty cool.

Maybe you did it.
Rock & roll is saved! Sorry, Gene [Simmons]! [Laughs.]

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/m...ibute-1383846/

I like wolfie

I've read several articles and comments about the EVH "Tribute" and it is hard to believe the problem is anything other than Roth. I assume that he just doesn't want to share a stage with Hagar, even if they aren't on it together. I greatly prefer the DLR years, but at this point (and really for some time now), Sammy is the better performer. Dave knows he wont look good by comparison.

This. All day long.

...

What Roth knows is that this was a monumentally stupid idea to begin with. And for Sammy to continue to try to make money off of Ed’s name after literally shitting all over him in his book and in interviews is shameless. That dude is garbage.

^^^^^

<iframe width="470" height="264" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vDm1SPBTXwQ" title="POINTING AT THE MOON" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/pXMEXCT5ohY" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>


https://www.vhnd.com/2022/09/23/list...ddie-released/

Been on a big VH kick lately.

It's superfluous to state how good he was...but GODDAMN...

great article...will reread...thanks for that

get both "Singers" to bury their hachets , get Joe to resurrect a G3 guitar lineup and...
Lets ****ing GO!

I dont know. I love Diamond Dave, but much like Vince Neil, his voice is toast.

Sometimes it's best to remember things as they were, than to be disappointed in the now.

Well, as a tribute to Eddie and nothing more, It might be a good time
Wolfie can play some Eddie also

It's a long ass read...enjoy.


Sammy Hagar on Van Halen’s Last Days, Trying to Make Peace With Alex, and a (Possible) Vegas Tribute to Eddie

A LITTLE OVER a week ago, we spoke with Sammy Hagar about his new album Crazy Times, which he cut with Nashville producer Dave Cobb and his longtime band the Circle. “It’s a concept record,” Hagar said. “It’s about how I feel about everything that has gone on since the pandemic started.”

Near the end of the interview, the conversation inevitably turned toward Van Halen and the possibility of a tribute concert to Eddie Van Halen featuring all the surviving members of the band. A few days later, we heard from Hagar’s camp that he wanted to get back on the phone: He had a lot more to say about his former band. “I really think that it’s OK just to speak how I really feel now,” he said when we reconnected, “because there is no animosity left in my heart, in my soul, anywhere.”

We wound up talking about Van Halen for more than an hour. The conversation touched on everything from his initial departure from the band in 1996 to his emotional reunion with Eddie Van Halen a few months before his death in 2020. Along the way, he revealed that Irving Azoff, Van Halen’s manager since the early 2000s, reached out last year to gauge his interest in a possible Las Vegas residency with drummer Alex Van Halen, bassist Michael Anthony, and a superstar guitar player. There are no concrete plans at the moment to make that a reality, but he does hope to finally make peace with Alex Van Halen in the near future and reestablish a friendship that has suffered from years of estrangement.

Here’s a slightly edited transcript of the conversation.

Let’s go all the way back to the Twister soundtrack in 1996. The story you often hear is you guys couldn’t agree on the lyrics to “Humans Being,” and everything just unraveled from there. Is that accurate?
Yes, it really is. But that was the temperature of the band at that time. It didn’t matter what we were going to do. We were fighting about everything. That was because, I think, we were poisoned by the management that came in at that time. But that particular argument was about the lyrics.

I talked to the director [Jan de Bont], and he sent me the script for the movie and said, “Study this. There’s some really great terminology that they use in relation to the tornado chasers.” And so I drifted through it and I got a bunch of cool lines out of it. I don’t remember them all now, but I just remember that the chorus was “dropped down.” It was like “Right Now” in that it was a very percussive lyric, and a great phrasing to start the chorus.

But Eddie and Al went nuts and said, “Oh, my God. This is corny. You can’t talk directly about the movie.” It’s not like they had an idea, but at that time they just didn’t want to use too much verbiage about actual twisters. I thought, “Well, I think they’re wrong, but OK, whatever.”

I come back into the studio to do it with producer Bruce Fairbairn. He gets Eddie out of the room and says, “Look, how about just a bunch of imagery?” And then Eddie had said “Humans Being” for some reason. That was the first time he ever really titled a song that I was involved in writing. And I thought, “Humans Being. Yes. That’s fine. I like it.”

So I just blurted out this stuff. I sat on the hood of a car in the back of the studio with Bruce Fairbairn, and I just started writing things down. “You break this, I’ll break all that/You break my balls with all your crap/Spread your disease like lemmings breeding/That’s what makes us humans being.” I had just watched a documentary about lemmings jumping off cliffs in Alaska. I was just thinking of anything and everything that was in front of me. And Ed loves it: “Yeah, yeah. This is what I was talking about.”

Did you quit or were you fired?
Oh, I was fired. I was told that I quit by Eddie. It was Father’s Day, Sunday morning, 9 am. The phone rings and I’m laying there with my brand new baby. He goes, “You know, you always just wanted to be a solo artist, so go ahead and be one. We’re going to get Dave back in the band.” And when he said that, I flew up out of bed like I’d seen a ghost. And I said, “Wow” and a few expletives went back and forth from me. That is not what the song “Eagles Fly” is about, but it’s the opening lines of it. [Sunday morning, nine A.M./I saw fire in the sky/I felt my heart pound in my chest/I heard an eagle cry.]

I called the manager that was poisoning all this stuff and I said, “Guess what just happened?” And he went, “Oh, ****. He did it? He made the call?” I said, “Yes, he made the call.” And he goes, “Let me get back to you. I suppose you want a golden parachute.” I said, “I want to know what the **** is going on. I don’t need anything. I just want to know what the **** is going on.”

That’s what happened. It wasn’t like he said, “You’re fired.” He just said, “You’re quitting the band. You’re leaving the band. We’re moving on without you.” Whatever. It was not my call, whatsoever.

I’m sure you had sympathy for Gary Cherone because you’d been in his position a little over a decade earlier. He didn’t have it easy.
Oh, I have total sympathy for him. He’s such a great guy, and he’s a talented guy. But he was so wrong at that stage of the band. He might have been able to replace Dave [in 1985]. The band still had a lot of legs left back then. When Cherone came, that type of music, even Van Halen, the mighty Van Halen, was going down, because of the grunge movement and all that. I mean, it was kind of over for us. We weren’t getting all the positive press. We weren’t getting the spins on MTV. We weren’t getting the spins even on radio. And so that was bad timing for Gary. So whether or not it didn’t work for whatever reasons, it was just a bad time to be making that move. That was the biggest mistake the band has ever made, I think.

Let’s move onto the Sam and Dave tour of 2002. Did that go as well as you hoped it would?
Yes and no. That tour was successful. I did very well on that tour as far as the comparisons went [between us as vocalists]. And the idea was to get Van Halen’s attention and get us both back in the band and do what was inevitable. A reunion tour with both of us would have been the biggest thing Van Halen ever did.

But it didn’t work out that way because Dave doesn’t play well with others. He just made a mess out of it. It could have ended with us both standing there with our arms in the air going, “Hey, good job, buddy. Let’s go talk to the brothers.” That was my intention, and it didn’t happen. Instead, I got a reunion out of it. It wasn’t my favorite reunion, but that’s what happened.

I read stories in the press that things were so bad on that tour between you and Dave that they physically built a wall backstage to separate you.
Yes. I think that’s production managers and tour managers getting in the middle of our bullshit. They made the wall since we nearly got into fisticuffs one night. They promoters were like “Oh, we gotta keep these guys apart. This tour’s doing too good. We don’t want to see it break up because there’s some lawsuit.” And so they put up a barricade between our dressing rooms.

It’s like you guys are the Israelis and the Palestinians.
Yes. It was the wall that Trump wanted to build. It was so thin though. It was just a bunch of plywood on little stands. If you really wanted to get to somebody, you could just kick it down. I used to knock on the plywood to yell at David when I was getting ready to go on stage because we flip-flopped: He would open one night, I’d open the next. And when he had already played, I’d be beating on the thing and I would say, “Dave, I’m going on. Come on up in about an hour and we’ll play a couple tunes together.” He wouldn’t even respond.

You got into a lot of sordid details about the 2004 Van Halen reunion tour in your book. Eddie was deep into the throes of alcoholism back then. He was a very sick guy. Do you have any regrets about revealing everything that went down?
You know, I was so angry after that tour with everything that had gone on. I wrote about it all, yes. Everything I said was true. I regret it now only because if someone reads it after Eddie’s death, they can’t go to Eddie and ask him about any of it. Back then, it was my word against his. But I don’t remember if anyone in their camp ever spoke up about any of it. I think everyone knew what condition Eddie was in. It wasn’t any frickin’ secret.

Rolling Stone has that whole article about that guy that befriended him. Just read that through the lines, and you’ll see it’s the same guy that I was dealing with. I just wish I knew he was sick at that time. He had had his tongue cut off, but he was adamant that he was cancer-free and he was healthy and fine. He wouldn’t listen to anyone. If someone would say, “Ed, you need to not drink so much, and you need to get some food into you,” he was like, “**** you.” Nobody, not even his brother, could get through to him.

But in writing about it, I broke a rule. I broke the locker-room rule amongst athletes and amongst friends and clubs. It was a boys’ club. “None of this gets out of here. What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.” I was just so angry. I really wanted to get my side of the story out because a lot of people thought, “Well, maybe it was my fault.”

That tour does sound like it was absolute hell for you.
There are things that I can tell you now that I didn’t waste my time on in the book…He was so out of tune and playing the songs so wrong that there were times I couldn’t sing well. I had a hard time staying on key. I’d go over and I would sing with the bass because Mike would always be in tune. I’d sing to the bass, but the problem is they had Ed’s guitar so loud because he would go out there every day during soundcheck and make sure his guitar was screaming. He would insist that his guitar was extremely loud in the mix. Hey, it’s Eddie Van Halen. I wanted to hear it loud too. But if you’re just hearing my voice and his guitar, you’re going, “Man, Sammy’s not singing too good.” Or if you’re really a good musician, you’d go, “Well, wait a minute. Eddie’s not playing so good. So what’s going on?”

You mentioned that recent Rolling Stone article. I want to read a few things that Eddie said about you in it. Let’s start with, “It’s all about the money when it comes to Hagar. He used the band to elevate himself.”
No. That’s when Ed was in that frame of mind where he wasn’t thinking straight. He was being fed weird information. He was doing a lot of drugs and alcohol and he was paranoid. He wasn’t thinking right. Everyone knows it. Look at the pictures of him on the internet from that era. He was a mess. He wasn’t thinking straight, and somebody was poisoning him with that.

I am not about the money. I am about fame and fortune, yes. That’s what I wanted my whole life. Once I got it, the question becomes what you do with it. You use your celebrity to enlighten people and to bring awareness. That’s what I’m all about, and I’ve always been about that.

I’m a business guy. I love business. I love creating things, and seeing them make it. That bothered Ed and Al to death because they didn’t think like that. They just would say, “What are you doing?” “I’m making a bicycle.” “Why are you making a bicycle?” I’m going, “Because I ride bikes. I want to make a good one, and make one better than everything else.” And that’s always my premise. But my ambition and my creativity just drove them nuts because they didn’t understand it.

Here’s what Ed said about Michael Anthony: “When Hagar quit, Mike went with him instead of staying with Alex and me. That was as much of a betrayal as Roth blindsiding us when he quit. We didn’t see either one coming!! All we had was ourselves.”
That is so not true. Mikey didn’t leave Van Halen. Mikey was replaced in Van Halen by [Eddie’s son] Wolfie, and he found out about it in the press.

Ed’s perspective was that Michael essentially quit Van Halen when he started doing gigs with you.
Yes. That’s because he wasn’t in a very good frame of mind. Mikey sat around for five friggin’ years. And then he started coming out with my band as a special guest. It was really cool because it made me feel comfortable, especially on the Sam and Dave tour, to have Mikey there. It warranted me playing more Van Halen material.

Before that I was only playing two or three Van Halen songs. With the Wabos, I was not about trying to be a Van Halen cover band. And Dave had come out with this Van Halen cover band playing all Van Halen. He didn’t even play “Just a Gigolo.” He didn’t even play “California Girls”! These are his biggest hits. And I thought, “What an idiot. I don’t think that’s cool.”

Having Mikey there made it more fun for me to play the Van Halen stuff. And still today, in the Circle, we play more Van Halen than we ever did because Mikey’s in the band, number one. And number two, there is no more Van Halen. So now, I feel great about playing it. It’s part of my life. I was in that band for about 11 years.

And when Dave came back to the band, they pretended like I’d never been in it. There weren’t those Number One albums, those Number One hits. Those 40 million albums never existed. That’s stupid. It’s not what I do right now with Mike.

But with Mike, they just interpreted it that way. The second Mikey would’ve got the call to be in the studio, he would’ve been the first guy there, like he always is. Mikey would join Van Halen today and quit the Circle, if there was such a thing. Mikey never betrayed anybody. He would just say, “I’m going out and having fun with Sam.”

Tell me about getting back in touch with Ed in the final months of his life.
It was the craziest thing. I heard he was sick, and I heard it from pretty good inside information, so I knew it was true. Every now and then, people would send me photos of him on the internet. He did not look good at all. I’d be like, “****.”

So I called up [Steve] Lukather. Him and Ed are dear friends. I said, “How’s Ed doing?” He goes, “Aww, Sam, not so good.” I said, “Would you please give him my phone number and tell him if he wants to, to please call me. I would love to talk to him. I don’t want anything. I’m not trying to get a reunion. Trust me.”

He told me later, “I gave it to him.” And I said, “What did he say?” He said, “He loves you, man.” So then [the comedian] George Lopez calls me and said, “Sammy, you got to call Ed. He’s in real bad shape, and you need to call him.” And I said, “Well, ****. Here’s the number I have.” And he goes, “No, that’s not his number anymore.” So I said, “Give me his number.”

I had told a couple other people the same thing. I told Irving Azoff to have Ed call me. I left Alex Van Halen voice messages and emails, which he never returned. I said, “I would love to talk to Ed if he’s willing to talk to me.” And I told everybody the same thing. I didn’t want to call Ed in his condition and have him say, “**** you, you asshole. You quit the band.”

I’d have a hard time not grabbing the rope and arguing with him. So I didn’t know what his headspace was because that’s where we left off, and I didn’t know if he was still there. So anyway, I called George and I said, “George, I’ll do it.” And he goes, “You’ve got to do it Sammy. You’ve got to do it.”

So I hung up and called Ed. I said, “Ed, man. How are you, man?” He said, “I’m hanging in here, dude. I’ve been fighting this for ****in’ 15 years.” I said, “I know, it’s terrible.” And we went right into that. We didn’t try to bury any hatchets or apologize for anything. We just went right into how he was doing and he told me.”

I said, “I’ve been wanting to reach out to you. I just didn’t know what kind of headspace you’re in. I called your brother. I called Lukather. I called Azoff…” And he goes, “Why didn’t you call me?” And I go, “Well, that’s a good question, and I’m calling you now.” We had a big laugh about it. He said, “You want to talk to me? Talk to me.”

I felt like he was in a really good headspace. It really touched me hard when he said it like that. “If you want to talk to me, call me.” He was never that kind of guy before. Ed was always a humble, quiet, sweet little guy. Then he went crazy…with a different kind of attitude, too.

But this time he was purely solid in his head. He had really come to terms, I felt, with his illness. I told my wife, “Ed really sounded like the most together Eddie Van Halen I’ve ever known, of all times.”

He said to me, “I’m going to beat this shit… I think I’m going to need to finish up [my treatments] this year, and maybe next year we can get together and make some noise.” I said, “Ed, that’s not what I’m calling about, but if that’s going to happen, then you can always count me in to play music with you, my friend.”

So then a couple other times, about a week later, I started texting him and sending him pictures of funny shit that I had stored up, things that happened when we weren’t talking. He started sending me stuff and we texted a lot back and forth, maybe a couple of times a week.

And then all of a sudden, I didn’t hear from him and he didn’t answer my texts. I left him a voicemail. “Ed. I ain’t hearing from you. Don’t make me nervous.” And so he gets back and says, “Dude, I just got out of the hospital. I got a ****ing tumor on the side of my neck that just popped up that they had to remove.” I said, “I want to come and see you, Ed.” He’s going, “I’ll let you know when.” I said, “I’m going to come over. I’m going to cook for you and ****in’ make a big old pot of spaghetti, man.”

When he lived next door, I used to cook for him all the time. So I said, “I’m going to come over and cook for you and really catch up and hey, maybe we can even write a song. Blah, blah, blah.” And he said, “Yeah, I’ll let you know.” And then I started getting less and less communication. I think the last one he wrote said, “Sorry. I’m not responding. I’m in the hospital.”

We had been doing FaceTime and shit before that. I’m looking now and the last video I sent was October 1, 2020. He died that week.

That must have been just an unimaginable gut punch.
Yes. [Choking up a bit] I don’t think I’ve cried that hard since my mother or father’s death. Even when you know it’s coming, you always have hope. You always hope for that miracle. You hear about people that had stage four cancer, and had friggin’ everything removed but their brain, and all of a sudden, a miracle, they come back. So yes, you’re always hoping. Ed had the money, he had the fame to where any doctor in the world would’ve dropped anything to try to save his life. So obviously, he had the best you could get, and it didn’t work.

In those e-mails Rolling Stone recently published, he said he wanted to do the big tour with you, Dave, and Michael. Wolfgang confirmed this in many interviews. It’s going to go down in rock history as one of the best tours that never happened.
What a shame, huh? I mean, honestly, the shame is that Eddie Van Halen’s no longer with us. That’s the shame. But if we would’ve done that…All the damage that I did with my book, the damage Ed did with his actions and his stuff he did in public, and the Cherone shenanigans, and the Roth reunions, my reunion… That would’ve righted everything, if we would have did that tour. That would have righted everything, and I wanted that so bad. Just to all of us to go, “We’re clean again. We’re angels. We’re spotless.” I’m sure this’ll become clickbait if you run it, but there was a time there where I was embarrassed to say I was in Van Halen.

When was that?
About six or seven years ago, when they were out with Dave, and Ed was still really in bad shape. They were out there making a lot of noise as Van Halen, and somebody would say, “Sammy Hagar from Van Halen.” And I would go, “Hey, hey. Just Sam Hagar. That’s enough.” I wanted people to know, but it was almost like it was a black mark because Roth was doing crazy stuff, and Ed was doing crazy stuff. I didn’t want anyone to think that I was Diamond Dave.

Let’s move into the present now. Joe Satriani jammed with Alex and Jason Newsted last year. Did Joe call you up before doing that to say it was happening?
No, because the Van Halen camp is 100% secrecy. I bet when he walked through the door, they made him sign something, and I’m dead serious. Alex is a very, very secretive guy. I don’t know how he can keep his lips so sealed. I could probably say something horrible about him right now and he wouldn’t even respond. Don’t take that the wrong way. I have nothing bad to say about him. I’m just talking about how stubborn he is. He does not budge.

But Joe told me about it later, after it happened. I knew there was talk of it because Irving Azoff had called me. He said, “I want to do a residency in Vegas with you and Mike and Al and a superstar guitar player.” And I said “Like who?” And he said, “Like Joe Satriani.”

I said, “It just sounds like Chickenfoot with Alex Van Halen instead of Chad Smith.” I wasn’t much for that, as much as I love Joe. He could do that job best, without a doubt, because he’s so friggin’ anal about the way he plays, and every single note. I said to Irving, “I’m going to call Joe.”

When I did, he told me what happened. And I said, “Jason Newsted? What the **** is going on here, man? Whose idea is this? This must be a Dave idea.” And Irving said it was a Dave idea.

Why would he want anyone but Mike? It’s probably because he knows that Mike and I are so close. I would imagine if they would’ve called Mike, Mike would’ve said, “Yes, I’ll do it with Sam.” Because without Ed, there is no Van Halen to start with. So now, you’re going to go out and just play the early songs, and not play the second era?

That would be the biggest failure Van Halen ever had if they call themselves “Van Halen” if they didn’t have Mikey. If it’s just Alex with other guys, that’s like what Jason Bonham does with Led Zeppelin. There’s a million bands out there doing that. It would be totally nuts. Also, I’d prefer that nobody attempts to replace Eddie Van Halen. I think that’s blasphemy and should be illegal.

Anyway, I think that Irving boohooed it, and Dave went around him and did it anyway. I’m surprised that Alex went that far, but Alex might have just been his methodical self and said, “Well, let’s see what this is like. Let’s see how it feels.”

If they wanted to do a Vegas residency, or any kind of tour, with you and Alex and Mike, is that something that you may be interested in pursuing?
Not a tour, no. I wouldn’t leave what I’m doing for that. I would make myself available to have a rehearsal, and see which guitar player would work the best. I’m telling you, Joe would be the best. But like I said, then it’s just kind of Chickenfoot with Alex, which there’s a problem there. And I think that’s probably what they were thinking when they tried to get a different bass player, but that’s stupid, too.

I would definitely love to play with Alex and Mike with a great guitar player that doesn’t try to just mimic Eddie perfectly. There’s so many great guitar players. There’s Steve Vai. There’s frigging John 5, who is a great guitar player.

Do you like the idea then of a short Vegas residency or are you thinking of merely a one-off tribute show?
I’m thinking of one-off weekend or something where we give the money away to some cause. It can’t just be, “Hey, we’re going to grab some money.” I got plenty of money. There’s nothing that I would do for money that I just wasn’t in love with the idea of doing. And I’m not in love with the idea of being Van Halen without Eddie Van Halen.

Matter of fact, I’m dead against it. But I would love to play music with Alex and Mike again. I would love to play those song agains. And if we did a residency or a tribute, I would sing 50/50. I would sing half the Dave songs too for the Van Halen fans. And those songs are great. I don’t mind singing some of them. The lyrics don’t fit in my life today, but neither does “Rock Candy” or “Bad Motor Scooter.”

I think at this point, I’d rather hear you sing “Ain’t Talkin’ ’bout Love” than Dave. He just really can’t sing anymore.
It sure sounds that way to me, everything I’ve heard. But I just think it’s crazy to do anything that’s called Van Halen without Eddie. I would love it if Dave wanted to do a tribute where he’d sing ten of his songs, and then I’d come out and do ten of mine. That would be great with Alex and Mike and maybe a bunch of different guitar players. Look at what Dave [Grohl] just did for Taylor [Hawkins]. That’s one of the greatest events in rock history. That’s right up there with the early Farm Aids, and right up there with Live Aid. That was a great event, and that could be done for Ed with everybody playing.

Why don’t you just call up Alex and talk this stuff over?
Well, I’ve left him many messages, but not for this one. But I always think about Alex. I just dreamt about him two nights ago. I dream about people constantly. I believe it’s real cosmic shit that happened on another dimension. I dream about Eddie all time. But Al, I dreamt about him and it was so wonderful. It was friendly. I said, “Come on, Al. Let’s do something and let’s do it right.”

The only way to do it is to put both eras together and do it for a cause, for a purpose, not for a money grab, not like the whole tour, where we’re going to make 10 million bucks apiece. None of that shit. It could be a residency, it could be two or three nights. I wouldn’t do more than that unless the rehearsals blew my mind and I’m going, “This is the most fun I had since the original Van Halen.” That would cause me to be more open. I mean, if we do it and it’s wonderful and successful and the fans love it, I’d go, “OK, let’s go and do 10 cities.” But I couldn’t just go out as Van Halen. There’s no friggin’ way.

When’s the last time you spoke with Alex? Was it 2004 on the last tour?
Yes. At the end of the tour. We finished in Albuquerque, and Ed went completely off the rails. Irving Azoff grabbed me at the end of the show and said, “Get in the car and get the **** out here.” We were supposed to go on the same plane together. We had a plane and we were going to fly home, and he saw what was going on earlier and he chartered me another plane by myself with my wife and my tour manager.

I was walking off the stage, somebody goes and grabs me and said, “Keep on going. Get the **** out of here, right now. Go.” Well, he just knew a fight would have broken out because Ed was so belligerent on that last show that I wanted to beat his ass.

So Alex came up to me right there at the same time and gave me a big hug and said, “I love you, man. Thank you. Be careful. Safe flight.” And that was the last time. And I think we talked on the phone a little bit, but I don’t know what happened with Al. He kind of drank the Kool-Aid or something.

They haven’t done much with the catalog from your era of the band. Are you hoping they re-release it?
Well, I think it’s going to have to be inevitable because we sold 46, 47 million records with me in the band. They were all Number One albums. You can’t just leave that and have it sit in the Dumpster. Warner Brothers has been pushing forever to do something, but I know Dave is against it. Dave likes to pretend like I was never in the band.

Alex is not active. He’s not out there pushing it and talking to people like you. He’s not making plans. I think he’s still licking his wounds from his brother’s death, and God bless him, man. I don’t know how he could deal with it. I’m having a hard enough time myself.

I think when Alex comes out of his shell, he’ll probably do it. And like I said, I’m thinking about reaching out to Alex. You’re pushing me in that direction, and I’m feeling it because it’s time. It’s been a couple of years now that I gave up on him.

Do you think the albums need to be remixed or just remastered?
Remastered. Remastering can bring out more of what’s on that tape that you don’t hear in the old mastering. It doesn’t hurt anything. I don’t like changing things too much from the vintage. I’m a purist. That’s why people love vinyl. They like to put them on and have them sound like the old records…I’m thinking of the early stuff like OU812. That didn’t have enough bottom on it, and it had no bass. It was one of those…I hate to tell you why, but everyone was so ****ed up. They had the bass so loud in the studio since everything was really loud. It was so loud on the playbacks. But if you turned it down, the bass was not there. It needs to be remastered more than any of them.

Album box sets are also a chance to release demos, studio outtakes, and live stuff from the era. Fans would love to hear that.
I don’t know how much of that stuff is around. It’s all in 5150 studios somewhere. I shouldn’t be saying where it is, but I know it exists. And I do believe Wolfie is in charge of it. I heard things were turned over more to Wolfie than to Al.

Have you spoken much to Wolfie since he was a kid on the 2004 tour?
Yes, but not a ton. I really gave him a lot of love when he made his first record, and he gave me some back. It was very cordial, not like, “Hey, let’s get together” and stuff like that. I mean, Wolfie blows my mind. Look what he did over in London for that Taylor thing. When he played Eddie’s stuff, man, that was ****in’ really good. He just keeps impressing me with his talent. That song “The Distance” is so soulful. I had no idea he could sing like that.

He’s really got his pop’s talent. It’s kind of like Jason and John Bonham. I mean, Jason’s just like his dad, man. He plays ****in’ that good. And I think Wolfie, maybe not as innovative because nobody is, but yes, he’s definitely doing it right. I praise him for not trying to be Eddie.

But now, I’ll make a statement. If there was ever a situation where there was a Van Halen tribute in some kind of way with Alex, Mike, myself, Dave, if he would cooperate, and Wolfie playing Eddie’s parts, now that would be worthy of calling “Van Halen,” for a moment. Wolfie would be crazy to drop his life and his creativity and his career to be his dad’s mimic. But for a moment, it could be great.

Just to clarify a few things, when did Irving Azoff call you with the idea of the Las Vegas residency?
I’m trying to remember. It was six months ago or something. It was probably a month before [the rehearsals] hit the press.

There’s been nothing since then?
Irving said, “Alex isn’t yet ready to do anything. He’s still in mourning.”

In your mind, it’s still a possibility though?
I guess so. But it’s not on the top of my agenda. Waiting on someone from Van Halen, I don’t care which guy it is, it’s how the band broke up to begin with.

Roth was asked recently about a tribute show. He said, “I was the one who named the band. Are you talking about a tribute to me?
[Huge laugh] There you go! [Even bigger laugh] I should start following Roth. He would keep me laughing, I’m sure. Oh my god, this guy! What the ****? Just imagine if I said that. I was in the band. I wrote all the songs with Eddie, just like he did. He wrote the lyrics and the melodies. Warner Brothers mentioned wanting to name the band Van Hagar when I joined. Eddie and I said, “No, no, no. This is Van Halen.” I was joining Van Halen. And so imagine if I went around talking like that? I’d get thrown out of the business. How can Dave get away with that shit? Oh, what a ****in’ screwball.

In that same little interview at the airport, he said you’d need two of everything for a Van Halen tribute. He mentioned Lukather and Satriani, Jason Newsted and Michael Anthony, Tommy Lee and Alex Van Halen.
They don’t need two bass players. Michael is a better bass player today than he was in Van Halen. He’s as good a singer, if not better, than he was in Van Halen. I’m sure Alex can play as good as good. He’s a great, great drummer. I know what I can do. I’m probably better than I’ve ever been. I think Diamond Dave is the one we want to worry about here.

He mentioned Pink as one of the possible singers.
I love her. I bet she could crush his era of songs. She’s got that husky voice. She’s got the range and the power. She would erase him if she jumped up there and started singing that shit. I wold love it. I would throw my hat in the ring with Pink any day.

The reality is that Dave is basically retired. Wolfgang is wisely doing his own music. Alex is off the grid. You and Michael are the only ones keeping the music alive.
One hundred percent. Alex, he’s not going to try to put a Van Halen tribute together. He would never. Alex has got more dignity, and it’s not his style. When Dave goes out, he just does his stuff. But Mike and I together, we’re the other half. There’s two of us from the band. We’re two out of four. And it’s that vocal sound between Mikey and I, with his background vocals, and my lead vocals, that really has all the identity for the Van Hagar era.

Jason Bonham’s father was Alex’s hero. All he ever wanted was the John Bonham drum sound on “Poundcake” and these other songs. Those songs are pure Led Zeppelin as far as the drumming, and Jason plays this stuff as good as anyone on the planet. Vic Johnson is a genius. He’s the most underrated guitar player in the world, in history. I think we play it as good as anybody except Van Halen…

And look, everyone thinks I changed [Van Halen]. This is really important. I’m glad you put this into my head. Those ballads, Eddie presented them to me. “When It’s Love,” “Love Walks In.” Eddie was so horny to show off his keyboard playing because Roth hated it. And Eddie was a good keyboard player, almost as good as he was on guitar. And when I heard what he was doing, I’m going, “Holy shit.” I got inspired. And we wrote those songs. When he played me “When It’s Love,” the words just started pouring out of me.

If you were to get Alex on the phone today, what would you say to him?
I’m going to say what he always said to me. I’m going to say, “Alex. We ain’t getting no younger.” Every time he came to me for a reunion or to get back in the studio after taking a break he’d say, “Sam, we ain’t getting no younger.” So I would tell him that. Then we’d have a big laugh and catch up. I wouldn’t start with business things since they wouldn’t be first on my agenda. I’d want to see how he’s really doing. Hopefully he’s doing well, and then we’d be able to reconnect instantly, like we did for the reunion.

Alex is a really sweet guy. He’s just tough. He’s really hard, man. He’s Dutch, man. You know what I mean, he’s like some old 1700s kind of guy. He’s really a tough, old-school kind of person. He’s closed up, but he has a big, big heart. That’s probably why he’s so closed up.

The fans really want this tribute show. It’ll be really cathartic, and it’ll be closure.
I agree. I think it’s necessary.

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/m...en-1234600146/

Rush, Led Zeppelin, iron maiden, Black Sabbath and Metallica where better And that’s just the Hard rock and metal bands. Both the scorpions and Metallica owned Van Halen at the monsters of rock festival in 1988.

While true, that's not really a fair comparison.

agreed.

Different kind of music/vocals, and obviously a different approach to performing live.

That certainly isn't the way I recall it. Scorpions were great, but Metallica was horrible that day. When they were up, all I could hear was the bass reverbing off the concrete.

Different legacy.

Not to take anything away from EVH, who inspired countless millions to pick up a guitar and play it with both hands but the band itself wasn't particularly revolutionary, Eddie was.

Black Sabbath, on the other hand, was one of 4 or 5 bands that defined heavy music itself. There probably wouldn't be a Van Halen without Black Sabbath.

So the opposite of how they recorded AJFA. :D

ROFL
It was horrible. On that particular day...even Kingdom Clone was better than Metallica. And they certainly weren't better than VH.

Speaking of putting on a show, I think John 5 is one of the best I've ever seen live.

Seconded. How he just effortlessly jumped from genre to genre was insane.