Van Halen Rising

Hi All,  It's been a while, but I've got something fun for you today.  Thanks to Van Halen Rising reader Al, here's Van Halen's August 1980 hotel rooming list for the band's World Invasion tour stop in Little Rock.  You'll see a number of familiar names on the list: Ed's tech Rudy Leiren, Al's tech Gregg Emerson, manager Noel Monk and the band's lighting director (and future Picasso Brother) Pete Angelus.  But we also get to see the aliases the band used to register while on the road. Take a look. :)

Greetings All,  It's been quiet on Planet Van Halen, but time marches on, and June is upon us already.  So for Father's Day, I've bundled the last of my Van Halen Rising Shirts with personalized, signed copies of my book at blowout prices: VHR Icon Shirt & Signed Book: $30 ($15 savings!)

VHR Book Cover Shirt & Signed Book: $35 ($20 savings!)

Hi All, Last week, my friend Mark sent me this mega-rare Van Halen backyard party flyer -- one I'd never seen before -- for a show that was scheduled for May 31, 1975. 

Do note that this party, like a lot of Van Halen parties in the San Gabriel Valley during the 74-75 era, was sponsored by a car club. But in an effort to try to outsmart the cops, the hosts decided to hold it in Phelan, a desert locale far outside of Los Angeles proper. Take a look at the map.

David Lee Roth’s had a busy couple of weeks. 

After I speculated in an email to you guys that Roth’s lyrics to “Ain’t No Christmas” concerned Van Halen, Roth’s management first denied that the song was about Van Halen. Then just days later, Roth revised his position, saying online, “On second thought if all work is autobiographic, maybe this song is about Van Halen.”

So there’s that. Is Roth in or out of Van Halen? We will have to wait and see. 

But just last night, Roth released a new video to the Van Halen News Desk. While ostensibly it’s a tribute to David Bowie, Roth’s main focus in it is to explain how Bowie influenced his personal style circa 1973 or so, right after he joined Mammoth (soon to be called Van Halen). 

So I thought I’d provide everyone with a visual to go along with Dave’s video: an unpublished photo of DLR from around the fall of 1973, taken by Elizabeth Wiley.

It’s just as Roth details in his video: the high-waisted, ultra-tight jeans, the platforms, and what Dave calls his “Bowie haircut.”

Now if you’ve read Van Halen Rising, you know that at this time Roth’s musical and cultural influences didn’t jibe well with what the Van Halen brothers and bassist Mark Stone favored. The members of Mammoth loved Grand Funk and Black Sabbath and wore Pendleton shirts and Levi’s when they performed. Roth, in contrast, loved Bowie and James Brown and wore platforms and high-waisted flared jeans when he performed, which didn’t always sit well with the Van Halen brothers or their old-school Mammoth fans. 

No wonder Edward once said that Roth “got a lot more flack” for his fashions when he first started playing with them, “because he used to be into David Bowie, wear platform shoes and funny haircuts.”

Yet in the end, Roth’s influences would go far in creating the classic Van Halen look and sound. But if you’ve read my book, you already know that. 

Thanks & Rock On . . . 

Greetings Friends, 

Last week, David Lee Roth released a new episode of his web series, The Roth Show, over at his new website. As usual, it featured Roth's unique brand of stream-of-consciousness commentary.

But Roth also offered up some new songs, including this somber acoustic number, "Ain't No Christmas." I'd urge you to take a couple minutes to listen to it, because my take is that the lyrics provide a commentary on Roth's recent months with Van Halen and perhaps a window into the future of Van Halen. 

And here are the lyrics [thx to DRFC at VHL for the transcription]: 

"Ain't No Christmas" David Lee Roth Sure looked good on paper, once upon a lie. Happily never after, and I’m not OK to drive. You and me both, speaking the language of dreams. Now it’s dark glasses on a sleepless night, ain’t no Christmas for me. Let’s put the pin back in this one, and say we both survived. Last blank space on the map, I think we’ve arrived. Headway or getaway, makes no difference to me. This side or the other, ain’t no Christmas for me. Shakespeare’s heroes all drink ale, his villains all drink beer. I had to drink something bitter, or I wouldn’t be here. Have a pitcher full of pity, a shot of possibility, Tall cool glass of nothing else, make no difference to me.  Dark glasses on a sleepless night, ain’t no Christmas for me. [spoken] Here’s where the narrative changes. Only hurts when I’m awake, that you can believe. Yeah, I’d do it all again, just not for free. If love’s a collect call, why-why’s it always for me? Quittin’ while you’re ahead ain’t quittin’, and I’m quittin’. Locals-only naked city, and the visit ain’t free. Was the pear on the ground, not the apple in the tree? Give me a pitcher full of pity, and a shot of possibility. This side or the other, ain’t no Christmas for me. No Christmas, ain’t gonna be no Christmas Ain’t no Christmas for me.  Ain’t no Christmas for me.  Not this year.

Roth's vocal performance here is mournful and somber. His lyrics express feelings of bitterness and regret. This song really affected me, and it's stuck with me long after I listened for the first time.

What does everyone think? Is Roth singing about a lost love? Or is he speaking about Edward?

Let me know what you think.

Rock On . . .

Hello Friends,  Last week, I promised you a great early days photo of DLR, one I ended up not using in Van Halen Rising. Well, here it is, courtesy of Elizabeth Wiley (look for her name in the liner notes of Van Halen's 1978 debut!) She snapped this picture of Dave Roth around 1974, long before he became Diamond David Lee Roth. Thanks for sharing it, EW. 

Hello All, Last week I put my historian skills to work, and struck Van Halen gold, especially for the VH guitar nuts on this email list. While at NAMM, a gentleman (I'll be damned if I can remember his name) mentioned to me that he had a friend who'd had a 1970s-era yearbook with a cool Van Halen photo in it. I asked for the details, and this person told me it was from Don Bosco Tech, circa 1975-1976. When I got back to Oklahoma, I called the school, and low and behold, one of the teachers there kindly scanned and sent me this incredibly rare and cool photo of Van Halen playing at a dance. 

Right away, I saw a couple of unique aspects of the band's history on display. Note the haze around the stage, and my "SMOKE POT" annotations and arrows on the photo, which point to the band's homemade stage pyrotechnics. (I write about them in Chapter Six of Van Halen Rising). I'd hazard that the band had just blown them off, hence the smoke.  

Also, do take note of the band's banner. All of us who love old school Van Halen know about the classic Mark Stone logo, which rendered the band's name as VANHALEN circa 1973-1974. But by this point, around 1976, the band was calling itself "VAN HALEN" rather than "VANHALEN."

Okay, so now a quick disclaimer: I'm not a vintage Gibson guitar expert, but I can tell you that this is the *only photo* I've ever seen of EVH playing his Gibson ES-335 (or 345, more about that below).

Here's what EVH told Guitar World in 2009 about this particular guitar:

I bought a Gibson ES-335 that had one of those Maestro Vibrola wiggle sticks with the bent metal tailpiece, like you find on an SG. I liked it but it wouldn’t stay in tune. I figured that maybe I could make the E, A and D string solid and just have the high three strings affected by the wiggle stick, so I sawed the Vibrola in half. My thought was that if the high three strings went out of tune, I would always be able to make it through a song playing chords that were on the low three strings that were in a fixed position—kinda like two guitars in one, a stop tailpiece and a wiggle stick on one guitar.

Ultimately, though, as Ed explained to Guitar Player, he stopped playing this guitar after the guys in the band complained about it:

Dear Friends, The always awesome Van Halen News Desk has just posted the full Q&A session from my October appearance at Vroman's Bookstore, which of course featured Grammy-winning producer Ted Templeman. If you weren't able to attend in person, here's your chance, via this link, to see and hear what we discussed about Van Halen's beginnings and Ted's role in helping the band reach the heights of superstardom. (And do listen closely for Ted's answer to my question: "Would you produce another Van Halen album?")

Greetings all, Just a quick note to tell everyone what I'm up to this week. 

On Wednesday, Dec. 2, I'll be appearing at Half Price Books on NW Highway in Dallas, and on Thursday, Dec. 3, I’ll be at HPB North Lamar in Austin. 

On both nights I’ll sign books and answer questions about VH and Van Halen Rising, and both events start at 7PM. 

Greetings all -

To help celebrate the holidays -

I'm offering up a $50 Holiday Gift Package at the VHR Store!

It includes:

a personalized, signed copy of VHR.

a VHR Book Cover t-shirt

a VHR Icon t-shirt

a set of koozies

and a vintage VH concert ticket bookmark

If purchased individually, these items would sell for $80 -- so you'll get them for a savings of $30.

(Psst!: and to celebrate last night's Hollywood appearance of DLR with his Eat 'em and Smile solo band, use the discount code EATEMANDSMILE to get FREE SHIPPING!)

Let me know if you've got questions.

Happy Thanksgiving!