Steve Vai Interview on DLR

[Seshmeister]

With Whitesnake Vai had a part solo 10/15 minutes for playing "Passion and Warfare", I can't imagine DLR let him the same way!

The one he did on the Whitesnake tour was extensive and very much the highlight of the show but maybe closer to 8 minutes?

By that point 'For the Love of God' had broke. I'm not sure if Dave would have had an ego problem with him doing something similar on tour or not.

The solo spot he did at Donington in 1990 was broadcast live on network BBC radio in the UK - Coverdale was a self centered twat by deliberately saying fuck all the time so that never happened again.

I remember listening to it and then going down the pub where musician pals that had no interest in heavy rock were asking me 'Who the fuck was that amazing guitarist?'

It's funny when an artist you have been listening to for many years suddenly goes mainstream.

[atlantakat]

Thanks for posting the Donington solo vid, Shesh. I had not seen that before.

If anyone here is interested in seeing more Vai videos, "SteveVaiHimself" has put full versions of most all of his older videos on YouTube. I recommend checking out Die to Live, The Boy From Seattle and Tender Surrender -- and then come back here and tell us that Steve is only about technique and cannot play with expression and soul (and with great, tasty tone).

It's just that the languages Steve can communicate with on the guitar are so varied, the "statistical density" (as FZ would have put it) of his more esoteric stuff can be hard on VH-trained ears. But I think anyone that likes VH can get into "Bad Horsie" or "Juice" immediately. Please consider checking almost anything from Alien Love Secrets out. Even if EEAS and Skyscraper left you cold or if you think you don't like Steve's solo stuff, you may come to a different conclusion after a couple of listens (with open ears).

[binnie]

The main riff in 'The Audience Is Listening' is incredible.......

[VHscraps]

Well, I have heard BOTH sides of that story. Momshell, that is a question to ask him. Can he set the record straight about who played Lightning Bwah's guitar parts in the duel?



Common wisdom is that Vai of course did all his own "stunt guitar" as Legba's hot-shot guitarist, and also played the Paganini bit at the end (for Ralph Macchio), while it was Ry Cooder who played all the bluesy slide stuff during the duel and other parts of the film.

Then you have this, courtesy of Arlen Roth, who got screwed when it came down to his credits on the film:

http://arlenroth.com/html/crossroads.shtml

The Arlen Roth take on it is interesting, but I'm not sure I lend a whole lot of credence to it. It reads like sour grapes.

And his recollection of having a number 2 hit in the UK (which is repeated without sources on his Wikipedia page), for instance, is total fantasy.

As a one-time chart nerd / bore who studied the charts around the late 70s and early 80s, it struck me as odd to read him say that - the only Arlen Roth I might have heard would have been stuff that came with Guitar Player mag, which I used to buy every month when he was a columnist - a flexi disc or something like that.

So, I consulted the chart oracle and all that came up when I searched UK chart history was .... David Lee Roth!!

[vaijuju]

I think Vai joined Whitesnake for 2 reasons, it was a chance to showcase the Passion and Warfare album, Whitesnake always have had solo spots in the live show and the big pay check helped too. Coverdale needed Vai to bail him out and try to rescue the Slip of the Tongue album. Vai was given carte blanche and stressed that live he would play ALL solos. He told Coverdale that he was a lead guitarist and not a rhythmn guitarist. I know I am probably in the minority but I quite like the Slip of the Tongue album. Saw Whitesnake with Vai at Donington 1990 and while the critics slated their performance I enjoyed it.

When the Slip of the tongue came out, I only listened the vai's solo ! again and gain! amazing solos

[dazzlindino]

I'm just tired of guys like Templeman getting a free pass ---- somebody with cred needs to call him out on his bullshit.

At least Aucoin finally manned up and publicly admitted it was a lousy decision to not sign Van Halen. That's the least you can do before you kick the bucket.

would really be neat to hear why teddy recorded eatem an' smile instead of getting the spamster van halen gig......
and what Vai thought of his producing talents...

[VHscraps]

would really be neat to hear why teddy recorded eatem an' smile instead of getting the spamster van halen gig......
and what Vai thought of his producing talents...

'Cos Ed wanted rid of Ted - that's why EVH built his studio.

By 81, 82, Dave and Ted were a team, and Ed and Landee were a team. Before all that, and before Van Halen, Ted and Donn Landee made tons of albums as a production team with numerous artists since the turn of the 1970s. The making of '1984' not only signalled the beginning of the end for Dave in the band - it totally destroyed Ted's relationship with Landee. They never worked together again. Landee went with Ed/VH, Ted went with Dave.

I wouldn't lend one iota of credibilty to anything Bill Aucoin said about a supposed conversation with Templeman about Dave. The evidence is out there - Aucoin never signed VH when he had the chance; Ted remained loyal to Dave when VH split.

Ed wanted Ted Templeman out of the way, 'cos he allowed Dave to dominate the recording process. '1984' was Ed's first strike against Ted - when Dave left, EVH got what he wanted: control of / in the studio.

[howie]

Something was weird about this dude - he "made love" to his guitar (from his words in an article I read at the time) and then licked it intermittently - I always thought it was kinda faggotty...I saw both tours with Vai by the way. Becker was the bomb and then John 5 - they were way better - there were too many cowboy boots and guitars with handles and flourescent colors on them in the Vai years I thought..

[Seshmeister]

I think that was more just misjudged than any faggy statement. He was a clueless nerd fashion wise.

I find some of his new age nonsense a bit annoying but it's easy to avoid by just not reading it

"Traditionally, I have made the 7th song on all my CDs the mellifluous guitar ballad that serves the melody on a silver platter. In numerology, the number 7 is shrouded in mystique. In a record sequence, it has always felt like the sweet spot. These songs are more devotional in nature than technical. They are a reflection of one man's desire to expose a glimmer of the depth of his longing for spiritual communion."

[ELVIS]

'Cos Ed wanted rid of Ted - that's why EVH built his studio.

By 81, 82, Dave and Ted were a team, and Ed and Landee were a team. Before all that, and before Van Halen, Ted and Donn Landee made tons of albums as a production team with numerous artists since the turn of the 1970s. The making of '1984' not only signalled the beginning of the end for Dave in the band - it totally destroyed Ted's relationship with Landee. They never worked together again. Landee went with Ed/VH, Ted went with Dave.

I wouldn't lend one iota of credibilty to anything Bill Aucoin said about a supposed conversation with Templeman about Dave. The evidence is out there - Aucoin never signed VH when he had the chance; Ted remained loyal to Dave when VH split.

Ed wanted Ted Templeman out of the way, 'cos he allowed Dave to dominate the recording process. '1984' was Ed's first strike against Ted - when Dave left, EVH got what he wanted: control of / in the studio.

Awesome post !!

[Seshmeister]

Also after Van Halen who did Ted try to sign? Steve Vai? Joe Satriani? Paul Gilbert?

No he went for The Bulletboys a band much more about a Roth style front man copy than a guitar hero.

[DONNIEP]

These songs are more devotional in nature than technical. They are a reflection of one man's desire to expose a glimmer of the depth of his longing for spiritual communion."

You give me a spot in Dave's band and the only spiritual communion I'm having is with 37 groupies every night - before, during and after the show

[george]

I met Steve Vai at Washington Music Center (Chuck Levins) in Wheaton Maryland in the early 90s. I was there with a chunk of a girl I was dating picking up my RG550 and Peavy Bandit 65. Yea, I had no cash. The guitar was cool. Steve was standing by the checkout area near the exit door. My amp was brought to the door then the guitar. I opened the case and showed it to him and he picked it up and looked it over and said it was cool. It was the fluorescent green color. It was essentially a baby JEM made in Japan. Decent guitar I thought.
Anywho - he was really cool. The shop gave me t-shirts for me and the chick, guitar cable and tons of picks. If I had a brain I would have had Steve sign my guitar or something but didn't think of it. I did tell him I heard Viv Woman and other tune from Flex-Able.. he was good with that.

Any way, my brush with VAI.

[jhale667]

Something was weird about this dude - he "made love" to his guitar (from his words in an article I read at the time) and then licked it intermittently - I always thought it was kinda faggotty...

Pfft... never was a big guitar licker, but it IS possible to sound harmonics with one's tongue.. and sounds like you've never had a girl come up to you after the gig and say "I was imagining I was your guitar ALL night..."

It's similar to Dave's "Do you think anything I do from the waist down is for the guys?"


But yeah, prefer Becker's playing overall, and John 5 is no slouch....

[jhale667]

Also after Van Halen who did Ted try to sign? Steve Vai? Joe Satriani? Paul Gilbert?

No he went for The Bulletboys a band much more about a Roth style front man copy than a guitar hero.

Mick Sweda is way underrated as a player...dude's good.