Sammy Hagar 1997 | The Post-Van Halen Interview
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- Опубліковано 3 чер 2024
- A never-published interview with the Red Rocker Sammy Hagar. At the time of this interview in 1997, Hagar was 50 years old, freshly out of Van Halen, and promoting his new album Marching to Mars and his upcoming tour. In the interview, Hagar talks in detail about how he saw the break-up between him and Van Halen, his dislike for manager Ray Daniels, and his new musician best buddy Mickey Hart.
00:00 - Intro to Sammy Hagar interview
00:41 - A little UFO talk
01:10 - Why his new album is not more aggressive after being fired from Van Halen
03:28 - Detailed backstory on why it ended with Van Halen and him
05:06 - How manager Ray Danniels wanted more than his fair share of money
06:58 - All about greed and lack of integrity
07:37 - What he thinks Eddie Van Halen lied about
08:32 - Why did he still thank Van Halen on his new album
09:39 - The support of his fans
10:24 - His disappointment in Eddie and Alex Van Halen
11:40 - How does he think the upcoming Van Halen record with Gary Cherone will do
12:45 - How Eddie Van Halen is a musician, not a songwriter
13:28 - How Van Halen hired a 72-year-old to help with lyrics
13:50 - All the producers’ Van Halen went through
14:34 - If Van Halen’s next album fails with Cherone, how will Hagar feel
15:32 - How Michael Anthony was mistreated in Van Halen
16:40 - What Los Tres Gusanos is
17:03 - What are the stand-out songs on his new album Marching to Mars
18:18 - How he got together with Grateful Dead’s Mickey Hart
19:39 - Mickey Hart as a musician
20:18 - His touring plans
21:27 - The business side of his tour
22:41 - Did he get to talk to David Lee Roth and the difference in their Gary Cherone stories
24:05 - When he finally busted Eddie Van Halen
24:52 - What would he change if he were the overlord of pop music
26:30 - What else does he have going on
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00:00 - Intro to Sammy Hagar interview
00:41 - A little UFO talk
01:10 - Why his new album is not more aggressive after being fired from Van Halen
03:28 - Detailed backstory on why it ended with Van Halen and him
05:06 - How manager Ray Danniels wanted more than his fair share of money
06:58 - All about greed and lack of integrity
07:37 - What he thinks Eddie Van Halen lied about
08:32 - Why did he still thank Van Halen on his new album
09:39 - The support of his fans
10:24 - His disappointment in Eddie and Alex Van Halen
11:40 - How does he think the upcoming Van Halen record with Gary Cherone will do
12:45 - How Eddie Van Halen is a musician, not a songwriter
13:28 - How Van Halen hired a 72-year-old to help with lyrics
13:50 - All the producers’ Van Halen went through
14:34 - If Van Halen’s next album fails with Cherone, how will Hagar feel
15:32 - How Michael Anthony was mistreated in Van Halen
16:40 - What Los Tres Gusanos is
17:03 - What are the stand-out songs on his new album Marching to Mars
18:18 - How he got together with Grateful Dead’s Mickey Hart
19:39 - Mickey Hart as a musician
20:18 - His touring plans
21:27 - The business side of his tour
22:41 - Did he get to talk to David Lee Roth and the difference in their Gary Cherone stories
24:05 - When he finally busted Eddie Van Halen
24:52 - What would he change if he were the overlord of pop music
26:30 - What else does he have going on
I was given an opportunity to write Sammy a letter I've been a fan of his for a long time and I want to say he's a genuine human being and so freaking kind he actually responded back to me. And he actually sent me tons of autographed stuff and a bunch of guitar picks I was shocked I couldn't believe he actually took the time to respond to me.
WOW, THAT is friggin AWESOME!
It was probably his handlers who responded. Same thing gets sent out to everyone.
Best interviews from the last 30 years. Marc admits right up front he gave his album a bad review. That's not easy. I knew so many DJs who talked one way, and then became ass-kissers the interview began. I can't advertise this channel enough.
I watched Sammy during the Marching to Mars tour-he played the Fox Theatre in Detroit. Yes small venue but technically he was starting over in a sense. The cool thing was that Michael Anthony was there for that specific show. Might not sound believable considering the time but Mikey was there. Looking back it gives even more perspective as to why Sammy & Mike have stayed so close.
And yet at the same time, Mike was toeing the party line and badmouthing Sammy in at least one interview. These rock stars are a fickle bunch!
@@VanHalensGuitarPick I never heard Mike took Ed and Alex’s side against Sammy in interviews. Was that supposed to have been around the same date as this interview ? ….Not around the same time later as the 2002 Dave and Sammy singers tour ?
I was at that show!
I saw the Marching To Mars tour in San Bernardino at the CSUSB arena. Great show, great music, mixed margaritas on stage and passed them around. He actually played Marching to Mars twice. Hometown crowd as Sammy was raised in Fontana about 10 miles from there.
Love that song twice woulda been awesome .
He did the same at Red Rocks,but unfortunately he lost his voice during the show so there were more Margaritas to go round.@@toddprater14
Great to hear this interview from so soon after Sammy leaving VH. I really enjoyed his scepticism and insights about the upcoming (at the time) VH3 album . Thank you for uploading.
Yeah he had heard correctly that Gary was forced to sing like him and to strain out of his range!
I'll say this with 💯 confidence,, I believe everything that Sammy has said about how he got pushed out of VH.. he is genuine and a guy with great integrity in my opinion... Alex and Eddie have/had serious eggo issues and didn't care who they hurt or bruised.. I totally believe Sammy's version of events....💯❤
Sammy is awesome. Even when he talks shit he's trying to be nice about it. And everything he said his 100%, provably correct. After he left they wrote and released almost ZERO music while he released multiple solo albums, Chickenfoot records, concert after concert, tried a tour with Roth, failed reunion tour with VH, etc...
He's the oldest member of VH and he's the ONLY one who has is STILL going strong. It says a lot and I don't see the hate for this guy among VH fans.
Yeah , he released multiple albums when he quit Van Halen BUT he lost his fanbase he used to have before he joined Van Halen . He doesn't sell as many albums as he used to . He used to sell multi Platinum now he's lucky if he can reach gold standard .
@@user-rt9zq8rs9kDue to the internet album sales have been down across the board for years. So that’s not a fair metric.
@@michaelpalermo354 no it isn't .
@@michaelpalermo354 Yeah ? They were selling really good when Hagar went solo and nobody buys his 💩 anymore either .
Of all of the Hagar albums, he released, I love “ Marching to Mars “ the most, because it was a much more diverse record, including the stuff he did with Montrose on the album. You don’t have to like Hagar because he was in Van Halen, understandably. But in just about every interview, he’s been pretty consistent with how things went down between he and Edward. He has a lot more depth than most folks realize. And, with the recent info that Dave was “ fired “ back in 1985, Sam’s viewpoint seems a little more solidified here.
This was a real gem to find! I loved both eras of VH, but Sammy is a much better singer and seems like a good guy. A great interview sounds like a natural conversation, and this delivered that. Well done!
I saw this tour! Marching to mars and amnesty is granted are two fantastic songs! Little white lie was also a fun one. Great interview!!! Thank you!
I loved Van Halen and Sammy Hagar as solo acts they where cream of the crop but I just could not get into Van Hagar.........I saw the 5150 tour in Colorado it was not all that bad but not good enough to make me ever want to go see them again . Now Chickenfoot was a whole other story!
I saw Sammy of this tour and every tour since. The Marching to Mars is a great album. The flavors and musicians on it are damn good.
This has nothing directly to do with this interview necessarily but Sammy is such a regular guy. Good natured, humble and a really decent Man. I liked the story he told and I've heard quite a bit of them from him, of his love for his old Sicilian grandpa who had a tremendous influence on him. It was the only time I ever heard him cry a bit.
I feel like Van Halen DID blow it...they were never the same after Sammy, and I never listened to their new stuff again.
They were never the same after (Mach 1) Dave. That's when I stopped buying VH records.
@@termsofusepoliceok…whatever man. All it takes is a pair of ears to hear Roth is pure trash, and an absolute joke of a vocalist.
The did blow it.
@@termsofusepolice 👍👍 I was that way forever. Nobody could convince me. Then the way they fired Sammy, crapped on Gary and let Dave back in for the money, dave lost his voice and mind decades ago, I became more of a Sammy guy and Chicken foot is amazing.
Sammy said when he first joined the band they were heavy drinkers and partiers, but he thought nothing of it because his Dad was the town drunk where he came from. He said you can't imagine what it's like driving around high school with your friends, seeing your Dad fall into the bushes walking down the street.
Thank you for this! 🙏🏻 I always look forward to watching your videos!
Thanks for giving us all these interviews
I'm not much a solo-Hagar fan, but his first post-VH album is quite good. Dark and moody, it's the closest he's ever gotten to anything remotely as good as Fair Warning.
I've never heard negative stuff about Sammy, he's one of the boys. Plus, he can still sing like a rock n roll tsunami.
Can’t write lyrics for shit
Are you joking? He is 78 years old. Enjoy.
Marching to Mars was the best album Sammy Hagar ever made IMHO. I wish he would have kept going in that direction. I guess it didn't sell that well but I loved it.
Thank you sir. Great interview.
I've watched enough videos and interviews over the last couple of years spanning decades on this issue, and I am 100% convinced Eddie and Alex were the villains, and Sammy, David, and Michael were all the victims.
That is the right story, but they seem to be all decent dudes to some extent.
I agree, with the exception of Dave. I read Noel Monk’s book “Runnin with the Devil”. He was VH’s manager from their first tour, until just before Dave left. If his accounts are accurate, Roth was a total douche, with a terminal case of lead singer’s disease.
Yea Van Halen EASILY could have been named “Roth” or “DLR” or something… it was David’s idea to name it Van Halen.
Eddie was dealing with addiction and cancer, and the pressure of being the greatest rock guitarist. I can see how relationships got blown up and he seemed the bad guy. Great article in Guitar Player during the 90s when he had tongue cancer. He was trying to get clean but it cost him his lead singer, his marriage, and to some extent public image. Nothing is black and white and everyone wants a soap opera.
DLR had a ego the size of a small galaxy, sang pretty bad live and did NOTHING but a VAI led super group EP after VH then faded into nowhere land.
Sam-Halen proved it wasn't DLR.
PS I like the first 5 Albums better than 6-9, but I would like to know how many 1-5 sales were because of 6-9. I think quite a few.
Love this stuff man. Really great stuff.
Enjoyed interview, thank for posting. Not sure I would've led off with not giving the album a good review, ha ha, but that's just me.
Great interview - I think he tells the truth. Whether you like the songs or not. I think Hagar probably was the main writer - arranging and constructing the stuff.
I lost all respect for the Van halen boys . and that makes me sad. the band really died in 96 they just didn't know it.
I always thought they wasted a lot of their lives over frivolous feuds when they could have been making new music and occasionally touring. Cemented by Eddies untimely death later on. 😢
@@100hookergreat point. I never thought about it that way
@@vr112 With age comes wisdom. You don’t necessarily have to be a genius, I’m just a dumb truck parts guy but at 59 years on the planet, I have learned quite a bit by observing.
It was a crying shame that they had a falling out with Sammy he was the best addition to that band Don't get me wrong I appreciate what David Lee Roth did for the band but Sammy brought it to a whole new level It's sad that they never got to make more music together and the loss of Eddie is just still devastating
Listen, it goes both ways... the Van Halen brothers are artists and I'm sure they're very opinionated which everybody knows, likewise to Sammy Hagar he is very opinionated as well... both sides are guilty of letting BS getting away and breaking up that band. I'm 54 years old and I followed Van Halen my entire life basically. It's a shame that it did happen for numerous reasons, certain things just got in the way over time.
One thing I will say Sammy has never shut up about it since it happened, every year he's always bringing it up one way or another. The brothers for the most part were basically quiet about everything after the initial breakup and they moved on
So it was the "Best of Album" the blew the band apart? Now it all makes sense. When it comes right down to it, EVH was always a follower. If big brother Al wanted to do it, Ed went along with it. It's no one's fault that their previous manager (and Sammy's long time manager) passed away. But it's pretty obvious that Al was going along with whatever his brother in-law/band manager wanted to do and EVH followed suit. The doors of history swing on small hinges and choosing that guy to be band manager changed everything. And if what Sammy asserts is true about them not truly having a song writer, what a windfall they had getting Sammy in the band in 1985. Very few bands will ever capture lightening in a bottle and go on to be commercial. Van Halen did it twice!!!
I think history validates that Sammy was correct. Not only that, but we’ve all heard the countless stories of difficulties with VH in the studio. Think of it this way if there’s ever any doubt, why would a band with technically accomplished musicians that can write have to release albums with so many damn covers? They did covers, because Eddie was a fantastic riff writer, the best guitarist of the metal era, but he wasn’t a good writer. Period. That’s a fact. All four albums with Sammy went number 1, and at that time were the only VH albums to do so. Four in a row. The blew up the best iteration of the band, threw out one of the main creative driving forces, and they could barely complete an album, much less even hint at the success they had when they were all together. Alex and Eddie were jackasses, and they were selfishly stupid.
Sad, yet prophetic, especially the part about Cherone not working out...
Awesome ❤
Gary got done wrong by the VH brothers. I think Eddie was relapsing during that time and just wasn't sure what was going on.
Always a fan of of you & your awesome music!♥️🌟👋
Major fan here who has kept up with all this since I was a kid. It seems to me that: Someone (Ray Daniel's) saw untapped money in this band. Seeing the Eagles and Fleetwood Mac bunch make money in the 1990s with reunion/live greatest hit type records..... he saw an opportunity to bring to light how Sammy wants to press on as a fresh forward moving band. Metallica was doing Load/Garage Inc. and the orchestra live stuff(to make it through the 1990s damage of grunge).....and that further reinforced Ray Daniel's plan to capitalize on this stuff. The record companies saw Napster and technology coming for records sales in the future. Ray could get a part of the profits for this greatest hits thing. This was all at the sacrifice of Sammy and VH relationship. If Roth was begging to come back then he figured Sammy would be desperate to come back too(later on). Cherone was a backup plan and friend of Rays management and out there as an alternate to Sammy going away and Roth not jiving with the band. Ray got between all then to make his mark off of the controversy as the manager. Basically. It just added to the drama of a band that the fans were always perplexed by with gravitational curiosity. If all these guys didn't really need the money the it seems true Ray was playing all these games to make his money. He needed to get his lick in. But as a twist, if Ray was Alex's brother in law....and rumor was they Alex needed money due to bad investments, gambling, divorces etc.....then Alex's wife would want Alex to get back to where he should be financially so it benefited her and her brother needed his part of it. Alex would gain, his wife would gain as she gets his money and lifestyle when they are together, and ALL of his money if she wanted to leave. Her brother would get his cut and brother was gonna seal the security for his sister. Not sure if Alex was a pawn which made Eddie one or Alex was totally in the light to the game in works. I would say Alex was partially in the light but with a blind eye to his wife and brother in laws greed as his own inability to see a gold digging operation.
plus alex was always a thug and bully over eddie
Surely they could all see that. Alex wanted the money just as much as she did. Didnt they sell their shares of the alcohol brand back to Sammy then get mad when it took off. Sammy said he begged them not to sell or something like that.
Great interview. Nothing shocking with this but good to hear how he felt soon after he was booted.
Hagar has always had a happy vibe about him
Sammy seems to confirm that Michael Anthony was not an equal financial partner in the band, saying that Mike did not receive a share of the profits and was instead a hired gun. This appears to go against what others have said (including Sammy while he was in the band) that they split everything equally, as well as the claims that the terrible deal that Mike signed during the 1984 tour never took effect or was revoked when Sammy joined.
Mike got cut out of publishing royalties. AFAIK he still gets 25% of album and merchandising sales. I wouldn't feel too sorry for him. Dude's got PLENTY of $$ (he lives in Huntington Beach, for Crissake).
Read Noel Munk’s book. Great read.
Hagar is a true gentleman. It's only in hindsight that we can see his comments about Van Halen were truth. From the outside looking in, you don't really know who does exactly what to bring a song about. EVH had the gift of guitar playing genius and being a riff-meister, but he needed a good songwriter to focus that into songs. The Van Halen bros without a good, main songwriter is incomplete.
Sammy needed Eddie more than Eddie needed Sammy.
@@davidstewart4310 Sure, I'm only saying that it took combinations of people with different skill sets to make hits. EVH will always be a guitar monster and his contribution to guitar playing world was more than Sammy's contribution to the songwriting world, but the songwriting was still an important ingredient that couldn't go missing in VH.
@@jmkmusicpedals Sammy was lyric and vocal melodies but ED was the spark plug of the basic ideas and most of the melody. In fact in Why Can’t this Be Love he asked Sammy to sing a part matching what the instruments were doing….I think Sammy might be exaggerating his influence on the song structure element of Eddie’s writing as a musician…If what Sammy said was true then VH songs would be sounding more like Sammy’s solo work.
@@walterevans2118 ridiculous and inaccurate. It’s been well established that Sammy wrote the song melodies and EVH wrote the music. Sammy is the one that also arranged the pieces of music EVH would write into an actual song. So, in EVH, you had an exceedingly talented musician that was a great composer, yet he didn’t have the ability to consistently put his pieces of music together to form a song in most cases. The compositional arrangement and melody writing was established as Sammy’s role, and was even discussed with the brothers and entire band in numerous interviews from the 5150 album forward. It was a pattern of behavior that both EVH & AVH would lie and minimize the contributions of their bandmates once they had left the band, but thankfully there are dozens of interviews that have the inconvenient truth in them. Even Roth, who I’m not a huge fan of, discusses in numerous interviews how he’d be driving around with the music to a track blaring trying to come up with a melody.
@@chiptovey6015 You say that Ed didn’t have the ability to put the pieces of his music together to form a song and that he needed Sammy to do it ? …not true. Sammy himself said that when Ed wrote one of his best ever riff sequences the track 5150 he said Eddie played it down the phone to him in an NY hotel room COMPLETE ….With all the parts in place. And Sammy also said - ‘I kept wanting to come in with vocals immediately but Ed kept saying…Not yet, not yet’….. and on that song ED WAS TOTALLY RIGHT to do it that way. And Sammy later admitted this. Sammy would come in and write the vocal melodies totally complete too,,,like on Summer Nights, or Best of Both Worlds (which he wrote in the shower…lol) but the assertion that Ed needed Sammy to assemble his own song pieces I don’t buy because Ed was putting songs together during the Roth era before Sammy joined. Even if those songs were less ballad like .
Everyone of every age I have turned people onto it has loved "Who Has the Right?" Even people who knew not much re: solo Hagar were impressed back in 1997. Hagar, of course, never pushed/released the song. It's his own fault his albums/cds didn't sell better. He did this with all of his ballads, 90% of which were as good or better than his VH ballads. He wanted to be known as the "goodtime party guy", so he did not want to feel obligated to sing popular ballads in concert. "A Little Bit More" should have been in one of those WB shows back then at a pivotal point or even in the same vain in a movie. Never released but better than nearly anything at the time. "Don't Make Me Wait" off of VOA was another one better than 80% of the ballads on the charts that year.
Awesome! Sammy Hagar rocks!
I saw Sammy Hagar with his family in Gibraltar in the spring of 2008, seemed like a very decent bloke and a family man.
It seems like Ed didn't bend very well and wanted full control of the direction of VH regardless of other band members and squashed any of their input (except Al... or maybe even Al, who knows?). Sounds like he just wanted a great singer and bass player to do just that; and not get in his way. The "you are only to be seen, not heard" syndrome. Mikey took a back seat and went with the flow but I think he inadvertently out-casted himself as a contributing member where Ed and Al, I tend to believe, later considered him a pushover to "put up and shut up." That's a shame. I don't know all of the dynamics and I could be very well wrong. Great bands put out great music but they can't last forever with the many diverse personalities, opinions, direction, management, expectations, etc. Van Halen was magic. RIP EVH 🤍
awesome interview !!!!!!!!!! sammy rocks !!!! long live EVH !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Seen hagar in catalina 2021 was pretty awesome he’s still got it …..🤙🏼
27 years later this is a good synopsis of "why" and Hagar was and is still loyal! I love him. I love yhe brothers. Ray Danniels really shit on Sam. The whole story was sad. We would have and SHOULD have had 10 more Van Halen records!!! 😞
Never saw van halen wroth roth, but was lucky enough to see van hagar in Jacksonville Florida killer killer show
Sammy was spot on here about Van Halen III
At the time I would have called Sammy a liar but all this time later it is very clear that Eddie was very naive when it came to family and of course the new manager at the time took advantage of that.
Do you mean that Ray Daniels took advantage of the band because of family connections with Alex and Ed was naive about it ?
I love Eddie but saying Sammy's work ethic sucked is just a lie. Sammy's put out tons of new stuff & during the same time VH put out 2 albums. I wish Eddie was still here & we would probably have a 3rd.
Given how hideous that last album with Roth sounded, I’m ok with never hearing a third. Their music, post-Sammy, was absolutely horrible. Practically unlistenable to me. Tattoo was just sad, painfully sad.
Really love the marching to Mars record. Little white lie, and who has the right or two of the standouts from the album however, I can honestly say I enjoy every song on the record.
One of the absolute coolest guys is rock history. Love you Sammy
He’s right about the timeline with Roth and Cherone. These guys were sketchy. 😊
Ed also told Mitch Malloy he had the job. They worked with FOUR singers (that we know about) in 1996!
@@thefonzkissI keep waiting for some Van Mitch tapes to emerge, but I have never heard of any leaks.
Agree with Marc, bass solos really slow down the pacing of a concert. 20-25 minute drum solos are self-indulgent
I think Mike was a crucial part of Van Halen. And probably the best human in the band. BUT i agree his bass solos in concert were always nothing special. And to be fair most rock bands bassist don't have much to offer solo wise unless you are a Les Claypool or Geddy Lee.
Mad Mike through his base off amps and rolled around and did these psychedelic sound effects. Cool as s*** man.
Were there really 20-25 minute drum solos? Did that really happen during the Van Hagar years because CVH and post-2007 VH only had 10 minute drum solos.
I actually think there is an ulterior motive for the solos. Not just with Van Halen, but generally the "classic" rock genre.
I think it is to give the vocalists vocal chords a rest. Rock singers are always singing at the top of their register, competing against excessive stage volume. If the show is split into three sections, the vocalist can pace themselves with the show split into shorter portions.
They can also use the breaks to get hydrated, relax their vocal chords and maybe do breathing exercises.
@@mancuniancandidatem Sam said he got a BJs under the stage from groupies surging the solos. Different kind of breathing exercises.
Van Halen Drama.
At least we will always have the original six pack of albums.
I find it interesting that Sammy noted that Eddie was a musician who did not write the songs. The sound of the band changed drastically from 80's Roth to 80's Hagar and I always thought Ted Templeman and DLR had a big influence on the structure of the songs. Van Halen moved back towards hard rock in the nineties after two albums of AOR and synth pop.
I think Sammy is overstating that here. ED understood song structure. Lyrics maybe and vocal melodies but not riffs and basic ideas the music was based around
And ED was always the SPARKPLUG of the ideas in the writing.
Sammy tells it how it is on a Howard Sturd interview how the brothers had nothing once Roth / Templeman bailed - Sammy had to work from scratch with his own producer - that shows why it all took a _massive_ change of direction .. .. .
@@walterevans2118so then what took them so long to release VHIII? And, why did it suck so badly? Heard the last album with Roth in 2012? Why was it so hideously awful? Eddie wrote great riffs, but was pretty lost after that.
@@chiptovey6015 Well, the reason VH 3 took so long was because there were so many line up instability issues and the singer slot between 1996 ~1998 had become like a revolving door. Plus Ed was fighting to get off alcohol and had other health issues like hip operations. Plus Alex did too…Also when Sammy left Dave and Gary were not the only singers considered for the band…I didn’t personally think VH 3 ‘sucked so badly’….Fire in the Hole I thought was a good track…From Afar had a moody atmosphere I’d never heard before in a VH song…Josephina , Neworld, and How Many Say I had a kind of poignant beauty to them even though they didn’t fit the traditional VH party band material earlier…..As for ADKOT in 2012 I know a lot of the tracks were re-titled old songs from before VH were signed but they were still great riffs. And the new stuff like Chinatown I thought were belters. And Stay Frosty was a return to Ice Cream Man days but I thought the Lyrics were much funnier. So I guess it’s all subjective…I think VH’s output became less because Ed’s cancer became psychologically like a ‘sword of Damocles’ hanging over his head although his Son Wolfgang helped to galvanise him to play live and record.
dude wins the interview when he calls out the God awful Michael Anthony bass solo. "it never seemed short when you were sitting in the audience." I saw VH three times. Twice with Dave and once with Sam. Typically, it was a one hour show when you subtracted the drum solo, the bass solo and the Eddie solo.
Can I just ask fans in the comments a question?! First off, I love both the Roth and Hagar era equally to the point that I have all the Roth era on vinyl and the upcoming Sammy era box set preordered. But…..why was it SO BAD to let that Greatest Hits record get made?! I played the sh*t out of that as a kid with my dad driving his Firebird and me in tow. Isn’t that still their best seller almost like Eagles greatest hits sales for example? Yes it’s greedy for this new manager to be Scrooge Mcduck but man this is the dumbest thing to break up a band ive ever heard 😢
(This is a comment thread, not a chat).
I loved that Greatest Hits because I love VH, saw them 12 times, never cared who sang, because as a musician, I listened carefully, lyrics are less important to me than music. I understand what is being said without words. But to understand what I mean you'd have to play guitar for nearly 50 years, and be connected to music as "its do or die".
Not knocking words in music, when Ive written something, Im a conduit, Im relaying something that is coming from another place. Sometimes Im given lyrics, and to this day, stuff Ive written 40 years ago, still has the words I was given when I wrote them. Best regards.
Sammy saw Greatest Hits records as things you put out when a band was either finished, or not selling very well anymore. Van Halen was neither. He still saw Van Halen as a viable entity. That's it
Eddie broke up the band. Eddie was a great guitarist, but a pretty miserably bad friend in many cases. They agreed as a band to do one thing, and the brothers unilaterally decided to do something different. They were always arrogant. Eddie wrote the riffs, their names were the band, and they wanted a dictatorship over everyone. That may have worked consistently with Michael Anthony, but that shit isn’t going to fly with a musician who is accomplished in his own right, knows his value, and is/was insanely wealthy.
No, the greatest hits album isn't their best seller. It's not even close.
I am not a huge fan of his music, but Sammy sounds like an awesome dude.
Sammy is a class act and he didn't deserve to be treated that way but I think ultimately his life turned out better as a result of his departure from that mess. Sometimes life is like that, so I agree with sammy. My whole life fell apart once upon a time but I came out the other side stronger and wiser and able to afford my bills etc. So don't give up and think it will always be bad, you gotta start somewhere(at the bottom there is no place to go but up 😎👌)
THAT DUDE AT 0:30 is Paul Shaffer LOL
I love sammy. Great person, and musician
In all honesty, there was a push for nostalgia in older hard rock acts like Kiss...same applied to Van Halen. Kiss reunited , Van Halen took a chance with Roth . It's like a business decision. 90s kids weren't into late 80s early 90s rock, they were into the nostalgia thing as many alternative artist s were lauding praise on those acts especially ones that started in the 70s . Alternative bands would wear Kiss , Van Halen , Boston shirts at their shows.
But I agree . It's never smart to do things strictly for business even though those guys were pretty rich .
So many bands I liked back then tried to be " relevant " ...Scorpions put out an Aor type album with too many ballads then a pop album . It's like " come on guys , you're a classic metal band . Just do what you do " Metallica did the same thing with load and reload.
Ac/dc fared well with the public because they stayed true to who they are . Motorhead too...same with Rush .
I'll tell ya it was a punch in the gut when sammy was fired .
Speaking about 90s kids. Ray Danniels did his JOB as a manager and incorporated VH music into the current style and trends of the 90s. Van Halen was doing movies in the 90s. DREAMS being featured in the Power Ranger's movie is a big deal. Van Halen was practically the entire soundtrack for the movie TWISTER. These are two Huge movies where Van Halen reigned supreme and really elevated the moment. A 90s kids cannot think about these movies without thinking about Van Halen. Van Halen's music is always suppose to be present , because Van Halen's music is relevant. Ray Danniels did this for VH in the 90s.
Why am I missing Cabo so bad after listening to this interview?
Fun place?
@@TheTapesArchive Whether you want to party all night or just chill in a beautiful location, Cabo has it all. Wish I could post a picture but "no picture ever say it right". ; )
Adding to the travel list. I like to party and chill. Thanks! 🍻🤘@@AkiataSkirata
There will be documentaries on Van Hagar?
Sorry, not as right now.
@@TheTapesArchive Thank God. Wings not rings!
What do you enforce here on youtube?@@termsofusepolice
When Sam Hagar finally realized Roth wasn't the problem in Van Halen after all...
I was a Hagar fan way before VH Montrose started it.
Puts new perspective on when EVH said he had 10 albums of music.
Thousands of hours of noodling around.
@@jamesragsdale8202With all due respect we don’t know that one way or the other
@@walterevans2118 Maybe he did, but I suspect Ed was full of it. Their last album was primarily 30-40 year old riffs and ideas.
@@dukeford8893 Yes, ADKOT did re use a lot of old riffs on Demos before VH were signed. But Ed had intermittent cancer & other worries & distractions so we can forgive him for that.
Sammy seems such a cool guy
Sammy is a genuine human being
What's really notable is how quickly the music deteriorated. The music for the two new songs on the Best V.1 was brilliant and then III was a mess. Makes it really seem like EVH was a riff writer and he needed a collaborator like Roth or Hagar or a strong producer like Glenn Ballard to really make a song and add a vocal melody. That's why I love you has two very different versions from Cherone and Malloy and Roth and Hagar's versions would have been very different. People keep wishing for all this unreleased stuff to be discovered in 5150 however it's probably just thousands of hours of random riffs and not songs. It seems the public's perception is that EVH did all the music as if he handed over instrumental versions of Panama or whatever song writing everything including the vocal melody when in reality you walked into 5150 and he would play some riffs. So what does everyone expect to be released from 5150? Unreleased live audio and video? Yes! Unreleased songs demoed or unreleased songs that are complete and just need vocals? I doubt much of that exists.
You are correct. Great player, great riff writer, but terrible “song writer”. Roth wasn’t much better, which is why the songs got so much better with Sammy. 4 number one albums in a row!
@@chiptovey6015 so much better. Hahahahahahaha!
The manager for Rush, and friends with one of the Grateful Dead. Who knew!?
Sammy is a very good singer and I like his melodies. His lyrics have always been lacking in most of his songs though. Sammy's lyrics are almost embarrassing. Roth had better lyrics but he couldn't sing. It's too bad.
He is correct when he says EVH isn't a songwriter and takes credit for shaping EVh's music into songs. The thing is, ROTH did a lot of that too, yet never gets credit for it (from Hagar or EVH/AVH). And the Roth VH had way better songs!
Eddie wrote "Humans Being" for the Van Halen soundtrack when Sammy was busy. It's a great song.
Who was the interviewer?
Before david lee was on the mtv music awards reunion...mitch malloy was supposed to be the new singer. That was just a publicity stunt to get v.h. more press. Then daves antics got them against that idea, because they already had malloy for the new lead singer. Then ue got canned and they got cerrone. Then dave again..etc. band drama.
Sammy is very believable
From Montrose till now nSammy rules be number 1 in my books Red Rocker Rules
Sammy ✌️🤘🇦🇺
Sammy hagar is a good human being flat out
Sammy is a classy guy. Don't see that much.
drugs and alcohol ruin everything great
I’m becoming a little bit of a sceptical😊
Of course I really don’t know about the tru personalities of rock stars, but the vh bros seem like nasty alcoholics… Sammy seems full of light and energy. Such a great singer and cute, sexy, personality. I had lots of friends that were really into vh with roth, but I could never get past roth’s odd delivery and antics. Sammy is much more my style, not to mention incredible before vh, too. Sammy breathed life back into the band.
Sammy is just so cool. I believe him. Van Halen went straight down the toilet.
Let's be for real, a lot of this stems from Ray Danniels. He already had an in with Alex and didn't like Sammy. So he keep needling Eddie, who was struggling with health and sobriety, and totally threw it into tailspin. 1996 was a great year for hard rock returning to the mainstream and VH could have had a big album.
And I hate saying that because Ray managed Rush since day one and I love them.
I agree.
Great interview. Silly Van Halen brothers ruined the band
Well Sammy. You shouldn't have written the book..
Sammy I hope I get to see you in St. Louis this year. Might be my last chance
He just told me he's passing on St.Louis this year.
@@TheTapesArchive Seeing him in June.
@@TheTapesArchive Really? Last I looked he was gonna be there in August
@@blackiowa Sorry, I was just joking.
That's why Alex is distant from Sammy 😮???
Sammy is one solid guy . Very talented , down to earth straight shooting legend. He's in his 70s now and still a beast. That's one guy I'd love to meet and jam with.
Sammy Is a Good hearted guy. To bad EVH, AVH & Sammy couldn’t hold the band together. Would have loved to see them go as long as The Rolling Stones 🤘🏼
Sam, my Libra brother
I've always been a Sammy fan, and Marching To Mars is a very solid first solo album after VH IMO.
Ray Danniels robbed VH fans of so much. We should have had a couple more Van Hagar albums, maybe Eddie would have been healthy.. who knows?
Alex and Ed were way to influenced by that new manager after Noel Monk got the axe.
The brothers took a hot steaming shit on Michael Anthony and ultimately Sammy Hagar.
Mistakes were clearly made but I'm glad Ed and Sammy reconciled before Ed's untimely death.
EVH and Hagar reconciled?
@@jamesragsdale8202 Yes, they talked before Ed's death..
That information is available so please educate yourself.
@@haroldfadorka3816 sure I'll get a degree in it from Harvard.
@@jamesragsdale8202 Harvard doesn't offer degrees for Special Ed folks..
@@haroldfadorka3816 I won't reconcile with you before your death. You ain't worth it.
If you break down why a lot of fans like rock, it’s a lot to do with working out negative issues. Sammy is a unique rock star-positive, focused, and entrepreneurial. Sammy isn’t up there working out his issues. He’s sharing energy and creativity. It’s a completely different reason to be a musician. A lot of fans disliked Van Hagar because Sammy didn’t bring the ruined vibe to Van Halen that Roth did so well. Rock can be bigger than reliving the teen years. But some VH fans never grew past that time in their own lives, so Sammy became the bad guy. It comes with the territory. Rock music is about energy-positive and negative. You pick which fits you. Sammy is about the positive side clearly.
I feel bad!!!! Knowing Sammy's side of the story!!! I still like listening to Van Halen music and Van Hagar music!!! I just tell myself that Eddie and Alex are human beings, not make-believe super Hero/ God like creatures!!!! Eddie had a lot of issues!!! 😮
Sammy didn't play much guitar in VH lol 😆 yet somehow got better ha
And then Van Halen 3 went on to be the greatest album vh produced.
EVH: Your having a baby? So what? You do what I say right now!
Vh3 does sound like sammys voice,when i heard it thats the first thing i thought when i heard it. After Sammy left is when Eddie went bat shit crazy on drugs. I believe besides alcohol , he was doing meth ,and cocaine, maybe even heroin. After sammy left their carrer ended as we know it. They made a big mistake when sammy and mikey were let go.