'Van Halen Rising' Book Chat with Greg Renoff - Oct. 17th, 9pm ET

[DONNIEP]

Have it. Read it. I didn't get an advance copy of that one either.

Me neither. But I did get mine as a gift - a surprise really. And my honest opinion is that it is bad ass.

[Seshmeister]

I highly recommend the California Zen book. The only thing I didn't like about it was that I finished it too quick. Damn good book.

Really?

It's been sitting on my shelf here unopened for over a year.

I need to check it out.

[DONNIEP]

Really?

It's been sitting on my shelf here unopened for over a year.

I need to check it out.

Yeah, it is. It's a different take on the history of the band. And it doesn't read like your typical cliffs notes of the band. The author has a different take on the band and it's dead on. But you go read it and give it an honest read - don't read it and say "I know that. I know that." We all know the broad strokes. And we all know as much of the minutiae as probably the band knows lol. But this is a different take and I honestly liked it.

[LoungeMachine]

http://vanhalenrising.tumblr.com/pos...ock-guitarists



One that didn't make the book....

[big fatty]

I highly recommend the California Zen book. Damn good book.

Really?

It's been sitting on my shelf here unopened for over a year.

I need to check it out.

http://www.rotharmy.com/forums/showt...t=#post1868339

[Va Beach VH Fan]

Another nice review on Greg's upcoming book from Chuck Klosterman's appearance on Bill Simmons' podcast....

Starts about at the 1:11 mark....

http://espn.go.com/espnradio/grantla...er?id=12826797

[moose]

When is this book gonna be released?

[Cato]

When is this book gonna be released?

October 22~24.

[moose]

Thank you

[VAiN]

October 22~24.

I thought it was closer to the 10th... Either way, you can preorder now as well.

[Va Beach VH Fan]

He lives....


** Video removed **

[IceCreamBlondie]

Cool! Loved the shot of Cains in the background.

[Va Beach VH Fan]

A little pub for the Army.....

http://www.modbee.com/entertainment/...e23611690.html


Van Halen’s never outdone its debut disc

BY DEKE FARROW
jfarrow@modbee.com

Having Van Halen back on tour with original frontman David Lee Roth has me pulling out old discs again, enjoying favorites from “Running With the Devil” to “Beautiful Girls,” “Hot for Teacher” and “Everybody Wants Some!!”

It also has me thinking that Van Halen – not its Van Hagar incarnation – was/is a great band that never had an album to equal its debut. “Van Halen II” is a terrific sophomore effort, a close second to the debut, and subsequent albums contained several great songs – “Unchained,” “And the Cradle Will Rock,” “I’ll Wait,” “Panama” – but there’s no single disc as good as the not-a-clunker-in-the-bunch “Van Halen,” released in 1978.

Even Van Halen’s many cover songs, including “You’re No Good, “Pretty Woman” and “Dancing in the Street,” never reached the awesomeness of its debut-disc version of The Kinks’ “You Really Got Me.”

It’s rare for a rock band with the longevity of Van Halen – playing July 9 at Concord Pavilion and July 16 at Shoreline Amphitheatre – not to match or surpass its debut. I’m not going so far as to call Foreigner a great band, but it had a very solid first album unmatched by later works. Other, better classic bands and solo artists generally had at least a few albums under their belts before arriving at masterpieces such as “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road,” “Who’s Next,” “Parallel Lines,” Rubber Soul, Pet Sounds”, etc.

Even as much as I love Talking Heads and its “Psycho Killer,” I can’t say “77” is a better album than “Remain in Light,” “Fear of Music” or “Speaking in Tongues.”

All of this is to get an exchange of thoughts going. I want to hear what readers think about other great bands that never surpassed their debuts. We may never agree on what the great artists and their best works are (I may even have lost you from the start with my assertions about Van Halen), but there has to be this ground rule: No one-hit wonders. Let’s agree the artist has to have at least four studio albums.

That just barely gets Guns N Roses in the door. I’m going to count the magnificent debut, “Appetite for Destruction,” “GN’R Lies,” “Use Your Illusion” volumes I and II and the awesome cover disc “The Spaghetti Incident?” But I won’t count “Chinese Democracy,” on which Axl Rose was the only remaining original band member. And I’m treating the “Use Your Illusion” discs as separate albums (they weren’t released as a double disc, after all).

So, have at it, let me know at jfarrow@modbee.com how on target, or way off, I am.

UPDATE: I got a lot of response from readers and from music fans reached through Facebook and Twitter.

Here’s a sampling of what they had to say:

“I’d say the Cars never surpassed their debut album,” wrote Clifton Gray. “ ‘Good Times Roll,’ ‘Just What I Needed,’ ‘My Best Friend’s Girl,’ ‘You’re All I’ve Got Tonight’ and ‘Bye Bye Love.’ One hell of a debut.”

Ron Higgins told me: “No brainer: Boston (the band) still touring. ...”

On Twitter, Sexy Surfing Couple chimed in: “I think that ‘VH1’ is without a doubt top 3 best debut albums ever, hands down, maybe top 2 or number 1.”

Trevor Taylor’s take? “I think ‘Fair Warning’ is their best album.”

The Roth Army (named in honor of David Lee, I’m figuring) tweeted: “ ‘Van Halen I’ changed the music world, while ‘1984’ was much more poppy.”

To which Greg Renoff responded: “The poppiness of ‘84’ is what made VH a household name. I think it’s certainly as good of an album as the debut.”

Renoff later reached out to me via email. He’s the author of the forthcoming book “Van Halen Rising: How a Southern California Backyard Party Band Saved Heavy Metal.” He said he has “dedicated the last six years to making this book the last word on the band’s rise to fame.”

He added, “For the record, the debut is my favorite but it’s hard for me not to think that ‘1984’ matched it.”

[FORD]

A lot of bands start with a great debut album because they have a large pool of material they have been playing live, and they choose the best songs from that material for the record. Van Halen basically took their 10 best "club days" songs, added "Jamie's Crying" (obviously written to be a radio hit) and the rest is history. Of course VH II were the songs that didn't make the cut the first time around, though at least they had tweaked them a little by the time they recorded, so it didn't sound like the reject bin. By the time WACF was recorded, they were down to the "third string" level of their own material, including songs like "Take Your Whiskey Home" and "In a Simple Rhyme", which they wrote and recorded as demo material way back in the Mark Stone days. No other band (except maybe the Stones with the Tatoo You album) has ever made their "rejects" sound so damn good.

[cadaverdog]

To which Greg Renoff responded: “The poppiness of ‘84’ is what made VH a household name. I think it’s certainly as good of an album as the debut.”


He added, “For the record, the debut is my favorite but it’s hard for me not to think that ‘1984’ matched it.”

If the "poppiness" had been left out it might have matched the debut album but it wasn't and it didn't.
A better title for the book would be Van Halen Rising: How a So Cal backyard party band extended the life of hard rock.

[Va Beach VH Fan]

Had a short chat today with Greg, he mentioned that Ted Templeman wrote a blurb for the book, you can see it on the Amazon page for it....

“I really loved reading Van Halen Rising. I couldn’t believe the insight Renoff has into the production process behind the making of Van Halen’s debut. He truly gets it! The book is fantastic.” — Ted Templeman, Grammy-winning music producer for Van Halen and David Lee Roth

[DLR Bridge]

The day I get that book, I'm probably going to call in sick and read the whole damn thing in one shot.

[Va Beach VH Fan]

Happy to announce that Greg has agreed to do a live chat with us about his highly successful book, "Van Halen Rising - How a Southern California Backyard Party Band Saved Heavy Metal".

It will be held on Saturday, Oct. 17th at 9pm ET.

So think of the questions you'd like to ask, and maybe if you're good boys and girls, there may be a surprise for one of you.

If anyone has any questions before then, feel free to throw them here.

Thanks,
VA

[PETE'S BROTHER]

greg, how tall is the empire state building?

[Von Halen]

greg, how tall is the empire state building?

Do you think he knows it? I bet he googles it.

[DLR Bridge]

I suppose it would be sacrliege to post the archived Q&A session from the Links?

[Va Beach VH Fan]

I suppose it would be sacrliege to post the archived Q&A session from the Links?

I don't see why....

http://www.vhlinks.com/vbforums/thre...-QUESTIONS-NOW

[PETE'S BROTHER]

Do you think he knows it? I bet he googles it.

i keep the answer written down in my wallet

[Von Halen]

I don't see why....

http://www.vhlinks.com/vbforums/thre...-QUESTIONS-NOW

Does Brett ask him any dumb questions like "Did you get the email about how we might have to shut down if we don't get enough donations"?

[Von Halen]

Did Brett ask him if there was going to be a "Van Hagar Rising" follow up?

[DONNIEP]

Did Brett ask him if there was going to be a "Van Hagar Rising" follow up?

When's the presale start?? Mas Tequila!!

[DLR Bridge]

They asked a lot of good questions at the Links.

[Va Beach VH Fan]

FYI, for those in SoCal, not only is the Van Halen Rising book party tonight in Pasadena, but Ted Templeman will be there as well as Greg....

http://www.vhnd.com/2015/10/09/van-h...-launch-party/


And, by the way, in that link is this question:

6. What’s next for you?
I’ve got a number of ideas, but I think it’s likely that I’ll write a sequel to Van Halen Rising.

[DONNIEP]

FYI, for those in SoCal, not only is the Van Halen Rising book party tonight in Pasadena, but Ted Templeman will be there as well as Greg....

http://www.vhnd.com/2015/10/09/van-h...-launch-party/


And, by the way, in that link is this question:

6. What’s next for you?
I’ve got a number of ideas, but I think it’s likely that I’ll write a sequel to Van Halen Rising.

The Van Hagar Years - Mas Tequila!!

[chuckjitsu]

Very good book. I highly recommend it. I'd love for Greg's next book to continue where it left off and cover the rest Dave's first tenure with the band, the '96 debacle, the early 2000s flame out and finish up with Dave's return.

I've read the various accounts of Dave's departure in '85, but to this day I'll still don't feel like the whole truth is known about that, so I'd love for Greg to give that a thorough examining. Same thing to a degree with the '96 stuff and Dave's return in '06/'07.

[Va Beach VH Fan]

Very good book. I highly recommend it. I'd love for Greg's next book to continue where it left off and cover the rest Dave's first tenure with the band, the '96 debacle, the early 2000s flame out and finish up with Dave's return.

I've read the various accounts of Dave's departure in '85, but to this day I'll still don't feel like the whole truth is known about that, so I'd love for Greg to give that a thorough examining. Same thing to a degree with the '96 stuff and Dave's return in '06/'07.

I highly doubt he'd go past 1985, but that's just my opinion, I haven't talked to him about it yet...

I do know, however, that he has had trepidations about a sequel because of the rest of the band unwilling to do an interview with him....

But hey, save it for the chat next weekend, right?

[DONNIEP]

I think the truth about Dave's split in '85 is pretty much like he's laid it out there. Ed was loaded most of the day pretty much every day and couldn't be bothered to get out of bed to work. Slappy has confirmed that's the same routine Ed and Al were in while recording 5150. Plus Dave's the biggest rock star on the planet at the time and he wanted to get on with it instead of waiting around for half-drunk-Ed to show up. So it's pretty believable that Dave might think "To hell with this, I don't need them" and off he goes.

What's always interested me is the exact timeline of when it went down. I did some research a while back on when CBS Pictures closed down and I think they shut down in October of '85, hard to remember now. The reason it's important is because Mike has been quoted as saying that Dave would show up to work on the next record, get all pissed off about whatever and split and go back to his place to work with his new band (paraphrasing here). Since Dave split in April of '85 and the movie studio closed in October and since Mike has said Dave was working with another band before the split I've always wanted to know who Dave was working with, if what Mike says is true. Was he just working up the songs for the CFTH soundtrack with some other dudes or was he already thinking "I'm halfway out the fucking door" while Ed was sleeping it off half the day. So was Dave working on the music that wound up being EEAS and who was he working with?

I don't think Dave split to be a movie star, as the Cunt Bros have claimed. But I think it probably influenced his mindset - these guys don't want to work, I've got to record the music for this movie and write the thing so fuck them.

The timing thing is key because Dave has claimed repeatedly that EEAS was written song for song for the movie soundtrack. Which doesn't mean he couldn't have had the ideas in his head before the production company went tits up. Plus this is Dave saying it, lol, and he tends to embellish things just a bit.

[chuckjitsu]

I think the truth about Dave's split in '85 is pretty much like he's laid it out there. Ed was loaded most of the day pretty much every day and couldn't be bothered to get out of bed to work. Slappy has confirmed that's the same routine Ed and Al were in while recording 5150. Plus Dave's the biggest rock star on the planet at the time and he wanted to get on with it instead of waiting around for half-drunk-Ed to show up. So it's pretty believable that Dave might think "To hell with this, I don't need them" and off he goes.

What's always interested me is the exact timeline of when it went down. I did some research a while back on when CBS Pictures closed down and I think they shut down in October of '85, hard to remember now. The reason it's important is because Mike has been quoted as saying that Dave would show up to work on the next record, get all pissed off about whatever and split and go back to his place to work with his new band (paraphrasing here). Since Dave split in April of '85 and the movie studio closed in October and since Mike has said Dave was working with another band before the split I've always wanted to know who Dave was working with, if what Mike says is true. Was he just working up the songs for the CFTH soundtrack with some other dudes or was he already thinking "I'm halfway out the fucking door" while Ed was sleeping it off half the day. So was Dave working on the music that wound up being EEAS and who was he working with?

I don't think Dave split to be a movie star, as the Cunt Bros have claimed. But I think it probably influenced his mindset - these guys don't want to work, I've got to record the music for this movie and write the thing so fuck them.

The timing thing is key because Dave has claimed repeatedly that EEAS was written song for song for the movie soundtrack. Which doesn't mean he couldn't have had the ideas in his head before the production company went tits up. Plus this is Dave saying it, lol, and he tends to embellish things just a bit.

Therein lies the problem- we have to rely on Ed and Dave's subjective takes on the situation, which leads me to believe that there's more to the story than we've heard. It's akin to the story Ed and Al mentioned multiple times about how Dave came in to the band- "we got tired of paying him to use his PA, so we brought him in because it was cheaper/easier that way". There's some truth to that, but as I found out via Greg's book, there was a lot more to the story of Dave joining Van Halen than the simplistic PA narrative. That's how I feel about Dave's departure- that there's more beneath the surface that hasn't been fleshed out yet.

[78/84 guy]

I believe Dave. He also said the sisters didn't want too tour as much on top of their drinking issues. I think Dave said fuck that !!! That's our job !! Entertaining people, not taking a year to record an album !! It used to take us 4 weeks. So he said fuck it I'll go out myself. I think it was a mistake he just up and quit. I'm sure he thinks the same looking back. I mean let those guy's sit at home and go out on your own for a year. Then reconnect. I would have tried it that way first. If Ed at some point said you're out then say o.k. good luck !! I already have a new band.

[DONNIEP]

I believe Dave. He also said the sisters didn't want too tour as much on top of their drinking issues. I think Dave said fuck that !!! That's our job !! Entertaining people, not taking a year to record an album !! It used to take us 4 weeks. So he said fuck it I'll go out myself. I think it was a mistake he just up and quit. I'm sure he thinks the same looking back. I mean let those guy's sit at home and go out on your own for a year. Then reconnect. I would have tried it that way first. If Ed at some point said you're out then say o.k. good luck !! I already have a new band.

I can't remember if it was in Dave's book or in a interview where he said that he'd made a mistake leaving the band and that that one mistake made by a 30 year old Dave shouldn't keep the band from reconvening.

[bantonelli]

Mark Stone in the house!!

[Va Beach VH Fan]

Greg and Mark Stone...




Greg and Ted Templeman....




I should add, those pics came from her Facebook page....

[DLR Bridge]

So Ted's mouth to Greg's ears and now, our eyes, "I actually wanted Sammy in the band at the time, because I had done Montrose. I know that was on my mind in the beginning." Thank God he came to his senses.

[chuckjitsu]

So Ted's mouth to Greg's ears and now, our eyes, "I actually wanted Sammy in the band at the time, because I had done Montrose. I know that was on my mind in the beginning." Thank God he came to his senses.

Amen brother!

[ZahZoo]

Looking forward to the chat with Greg...

VA can you edit your post #211 so that video doesn't auto-play?