Hi, everyone! This time, I'm writing about Van Halen, one of the biggest rock groups that I saw live in concert during their last tour stop in Minnesota. Eddie, Alex, and Wolfgang Van Halen along with David Lee Roth performed about two dozen old and new songs at the Xcel Energy Center in 2012. I was glad that I attended the show, which was just a few miles away from where some of my relatives lived at the time. I didn't know then that we wouldn't see them in our neck of the woods ever again, but I now realize that after Eddie's death, we probably won't see them tour in all likelihood.
Van Halen was formed in Pasadena, California in 1973. The group formerly went by the names Trojan Rubber Co., Genesis, and Mammoth. Brothers Eddie and Alex Van Halen were founding members along with bassist Mark Stone. The group had started renting Roth's sound system for $10 per night before recruiting him as a singer. They had been playing gigs in and around their hometown before branching out to venues in Hollywood and Los Angeles.
Stone was replaced in 1974 by Michael Anthony Sobolewski. A successful concert at Gazzarri's on the Sunset Strip that year led to more regular shows and a demo tape that was produced at Northridge, CA's Cherokee Studios. In 1976, Kiss bassist Gene Simmons produced a 29-song Van Halen demo tape at Los Angeles' Village Recorder studios. Gene suggested that the group change their band name to Daddy Longlegs, to no avail.
Van Morrison guitarist Doug Messenger reached out to record producer Ted Templeman, suggesting that he check this new group called Van Halen out. He apparently liked what he heard, as the band was soon signed to a two-album deal with Warner Records (although the initial contract heavily favored the record label). Van Halen's debut album was recorded at Sunset Sound Recorders studio that fall. The album was an instant hit and was well-loved by rock and metal fans alike.
The group went on the road supporting Black Sabbath and their new album before taking some time to record the follow-up, Van Halen II, in 1979. Van Halen toured heavily for years after that, only taking breaks of a week or two at the most to record albums. Women and Children followed in 1980, as did Fair Warning in 1981 and Diver Down in 1982.
By then, fans were used to Van Halen's clever original songs and crafty cover tunes. Their sixth studio effort, 1984, debuted on January 9th 1984 and went quintuple platinum after less than a year. It also yielded their first (and thus far, only) #1 song, "Jump." Shortly after the 1984 tour ended, Roth expressed his desire to leave the band to create his own group. David Lee Roth soon developed a 4 song EP called Crazy From The Heat, which contained a pair of covers along with a pair of original songs, before writing and recording full-length solo albums.
Eddie Van Halen asked Scandal singer Patty Smyth to join his band. However, she turned the offer down. Hall and Oates singer Daryl Hall was also approached about singing for the group but also declined. Former Montrose singer Sammy Hagar (who was also a solo artist at the time) made Eddie's acquaintance in 1985. Hagar later agreed to join Van Halen on guitar and lead vocals. Their first album with Sammy, 5150 in 1986, became the group's first full-length record to reach the top spot on the Billboard album charts. It was the first of 4 consecutive #1 albums. This includes 1988's OU812, and 1991's For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge and Balance in 1995.
Problems started to surface between Sammy, Eddie, and Alex as tunes were being recorded for the Twister movie soundtrack in 1996. Eddie wasn't satisfied with Sammy's lyrics on the song "Humans Being," so he chose to change the melody and song title, much to Hagar's chagrin. Sammy left the band on Father's Day in 1996. Eddie would go on to say that Sammy chose to leave voluntarily, while Hagar would later say that he was fired from the group.
In addition to the movie soundtrack, the Van Halen brothers were also working on their first-ever compilation album, Best Of-Volume I. This led to a temporary reunion with David Lee Roth to record two new songs for the record. When the Van Halen brothers appeared on stage with Anthony and Roth at the 1996 Video Music Awards on MTV, rumors of a Roth reunion ran rampant. Unfortunately, Roth was no longer in the group's radar after only a few weeks.
Extreme frontman Gary Cherone would be Van Halen's third singer. He recorded Van Halen III with them in 1998. The album was eventually certified as gold, but fans didn't take to it as well as previous efforts with Roth or Hagar behind the mike stand. More songs were recorded for another album with Cherone in 1999, but they have yet to be released in any official capacity. Gary departed Van Halen in November of that year and is now back with Extreme.
Van Halen worked on a few new tracks with Roth again in 2000, some of which would be further fleshed out for A Different Kind of Truth in 2012. Hagar and Roth went on the road together for a co-headlining tour in 2002. A new compilation record, The Best of Both Worlds, had a disc with Roth classics and another with Roth hits, with 3 songs that were newly recorded with Sammy. Hagar embarked on a tour with Van Halen that summer. Anthony didn't play bass guitar on the new songs (he only sang backing vocals) and was only on the tour after Hagar insisted on his inclusion.
Michael was officially replaced on bass guitar in Van Halen by Eddie's son Wolfgang in 2006. By then, Anthony was regularly playing gigs with Sammy's solo band and related side projects. Eddie, Alex, David and Michael were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in January 2007 but none of them attended the ceremony.
A rumored new best-of recording featuring Roth hits that spring didn't come to pass. A world tour with Roth began in the fall of 2007 and was extended into the following year. Van Halen entered the Henson Studio C in Los Angeles in January 2011 to produce their first new album with Roth in decades. Small gigs were performed and a few other musicians were allowed to hear the new tunes before its official release in 2012. Another tour soon followed, which did quite well financially.
Another tour was announced in 2015, with plans to record another studio album with Roth. Eddie Van Halen's passing was announced by Wolfgang via social media on October 6, 2020 from cancer, just 10 days after original bassist Stone's passing from the same ailment. Wolfie confirmed the band's end in a Howard Stern interview the next month. Several tribute concert lineups were rumored to be in the works, but as of this writing, none of them have been formalized.
Eddie Van Halen was a unique talent. He was one of the best guitarists in history, and definitely one of the top 5 guitarists that I've ever seen play live. Eddie is greatly missed, and I can understand why Van Halen won't go on, It just wouldn't be the same without him.
Well, that's all for now. Writing this a day early as I have plans to attend my hometown's summer festival tomorrow. Next up will be Type O Negative, a brilliant metal band that I never got to see in concert. Until then, have a great week!
No comments:
Post a Comment