Steve Vai Interview on DLR

[TJMKID]

I'm doing a Q&A with Vai on 9/11. Was gonna ask what he thought of ADKOT. Any other ideas for questions he hasn't answered a gazillion times already?!

Ask Vai what he thinks about Templeman's desire to insert the Red Rockin' Douche into Van Halen in 1978 and kick Dave to the curb?

Steve is a nice guy --- but I'd love to hear his unedited, uncensored answer to this inflammatory question!

[clownsauce]

Wow. Credit to the interviewer, that's an awesome conversation. I have read lots of interviews with Vai over the years that asked many of the same questions and didn't get nearly the same kind of enthusiastic and honest response.

The line that gave me a bit of a Holy Shit moment:

I can’t speak for Dave, but I think that that was relatively influenced by his like of Tom Waits.

I am a big fan of David Lee Roth (obviously), but Tom Waits is probably my favorite musician/artist of all time. It was discovering Waits in high school that pretty much led me away from rock music (interesting that it took Dave and VH to bring me back 20 years later). I was actually saying to my wife a couple of months ago when ADKOT came out shortly after Waits' "Bad As Me" that I was starting to think that maybe Dave and Tom are not as far apart artistically and philosophically as one might expect (at least as far as performance is concerned). I suspect Roth would be more comfortable with that comparison than Waits would, but I believe that they are two showmen who are acutely aware of what The Show is, where it begins, and where it ends. It never crossed my mind that Roth might actually be a fan; but it makes a huge pile of sense.

[78/84 guy]

Yea the interviewer kicked ass on this.

[ZahZoo]

Ed's also a big fan of Tom Waits... unfortunately all we have to show for that is How Many Say I...

[fourthcoming]

Wouldn't mind hearing the raw, unpolished demos of Skyscraper. Don't quite know why you would want simplified bass lines when you have Billy Sheehan staring you right in the face.

[jero]

and at the time there was nobody better than David Coverdale, so I thought it was a phenomenal opportunity, and I took it.

second best

[DLR Bridge]

I always resented his move to Whitesnake. And the whole silly way it came about drove me nuts. Adrian Vandenberg writes all of the music, then injures his hands during hand exercises and can't record any of his own music, so someone who is clearly a better player gets to step in and play his tunes?! How did that guy not throw himself off a bridge? I also hated that Steve acted like Tawney Kitaen in the videos. You got my cheese whiz boy? (The Blues Brothers)

[DONNIEP]

I also hated that Steve acted like Tawney Kitaen in the videos. You got my cheese whiz boy? (The Blues Brothers)

Ya know, I don't think I ever saw a Whitesnake video with Steve in it. Or if I did I killed off those brain cells years ago... Sounds like he shoulda put a little Jack Butler into his act.

[DLR Bridge]

I think the video for The Deeper The Love had him crawling along his guitar like an XJS. He definitely had the pouting down and the wind machine on the hair. Not good I tell ya.

[chefcraig]

Or, ask him about playing the part of the Devil's guitarist in the movie Crossroads, and doing that famous duel at the end (with Ry Cooder doing the slide parts of that Karate Kid kid who was playing the other guitarist). Ask him how that came about? What does he think of Ry Cooder as a composer of film music?!

When that film came out, I (and about a million or so other guitarists) went out looking to buy the soundtrack. The disappointment at finding the guitar duel had not been included was considerable, until it was later discovered that for one reason or another (ego?), Cooder had left it off the album because he had nothing to do with it. Vai played both parts, which in a nutshell created the film's climax and outclassed everything that came before it.

[VHscraps]

When that film came out, I (and about a million or so other guitarists) went out looking to buy the soundtrack. The disappointment at finding the guitar duel had not been included was considerable, until it was later discovered that for one reason or another (ego?), Cooder had left it off the album because he had nothing to do with it. Vai played both parts, which in a nutshell created the film's climax and outclassed everything that came before it.

Ry played the slide in the duel, Chef. But Vai did the Ralph Macchio end bit, when he shows his classical chops and wins the duel - so, in the end Steve beats himself.

I think that very end bit is on a Steve Vai compilation.

[vaijuju]

I' didn't listen it for a while but in the Steve Vai' compilation "Elusive Light and sound Vol 1" there're songs from Crossroads : "Head- Cuttin Duel" and 3 others songs "Fried Chicken", Butler's bag" and "Eugene's Trick Bag"

[binnie]

The more interviews I read with Vai, the more I like him. He seems like a decent guy who is good to his fans.

Personally, a lot of his solo stuff leaves me cold. That being said, I respect his unflinching willingness to challenge both himself and his audience.

[Seshmeister]

He should have been honest enough though to say that the move to Whitesnake was entirely for the money.

I heard at the time he was paid $1 million.

[binnie]

He should have been honest enough though to say that the move to Whitesnake was entirely for the money.

I heard at the time he was paid $1 million.

True, but 'artists' seem to think that money is incompatible with sincerity (which isn't always the case). Money was certainly an issue, but I also suspect it was a case of backing a winning horse. Dave's career was stalling at that point, Whitesnake were in the ascendency after the '1987' record. It's the smart move.

The irony, of course, is that Vai's output with Whitesnake is the worst of his career. He's just not bluesy enough for that band.....