Qualities and possession of something specific guaranteed the entry of the singer, who helped the band revolutionize rock from the end of the 1970s.
Fans argue to this day whether the Van Halen it was better with David Lee Roth or Sammy Hagarbut the fact is that the first one mentioned was the original vocalist. On the other hand, the story of his joining the band has little to do with his artistic talents.
The American of Russian and Lithuanian descent began his career in music singing in an R&B group called Red Ball Jets. At the same time, the Mammothan embryonic project more oriented towards hard rock formed by the Dutch brothers Eddie (guitar, at the time also vocalist) and Alex Van Halen (battery), in addition to Mark Stone (low).
As fate would have it Rothborn in Bloomington, Indiana, United States, and Van Halenoriginally from Amsterdam, Netherlands, were in Pasadena, California, also USA, at the beginning of the 1970s. In those times, people were actually planning to leave the city, which today has just over 138 thousand inhabitants.
The initial contact between Diamond Daveas the singer would also be known, and the duo Eddie and Alex happened because the Mammoth rented the sound system from Red Ball Jets to perform their shows. Reports regarding the price vary: some say it cost 10 dollars a night, but the drummer claims it was 20 dollars.
Yes, the value was important, because, according to Alex, David was invited to join the Mammoth — in the future Van Halen — because they wanted to save money. After all, if the owner of the sound is also the vocalist, at least he didn’t have to pay for the equipment.
David Lee Roth joins Van Halen
The story, dated 1974, was recently recalled by Alex Van Halen in an interview with Ariel Levy (via Ultimate Guitar). The drummer says that David Lee Roth He was rejected from some tests to join the group before finally being hired.
Initially, he recalls:
I had to enter into a dispute with Ed [pois havia discordâncias a respeito de Roth entrar ou não]. But the way we made decisions is, if one of us wants it and the other doesn’t, then we don’t do it. If we agreed, then we would do it. We were equitable.”
Under the circumstances, there wasn’t much that could be done. Roth was the guy. Alex reinforces that “everyone was leaving the city” and “there were few people who took music seriously”. Even with previous failed auditions, the brothers went to the singer’s house to offer him one more attempt. After all, it hurt my pocket to continue like that.
We were playing shows and paying a lot of money to use their sound. It just didn’t make sense to me. ‘Edwhy do we pay him 20 dollars a night to use the sound? If he’s in the band, we can save 20 dollars.’ You have to combine everything, man. You have to make things work.”
The last test
The final audition of David Lee Roth to enter the Mammoth — future Van Halen — it also worked due to another element. Another one that had nothing to do with music. Alex comments:
Long story short: we had a few shots of this and that, and he was very funny, articulate, and convincing about being in the band. At the end of the night, Ed and I said exactly: ‘yes, you’re in’.”
Rothwho undeniably evolved as a singer in the following years — although his replacement by Sammy Hagar was already considered in 1977 by the producer Ted Templeman — guarantees that he himself was responsible for suggesting the change of the band’s name. Of Mammothbecame Van Haleninspired by the group Santana of Carlos Santana.
The final piece of gear would be found shortly afterwards. The trio was dissatisfied with the limitations of Mark Stone on bass and replaced it with michael anthony — who, in addition to getting along better with the instrument, offered high-pitched and powerful backing vocals. The rest is history. A history of more than 80 million records sold, sold-out shows in arenas across the planet and an influence that permeates rock music to this day.
Source: Rollingstone
Earl Johnson is a music writer at Gossipify, known for his in-depth analysis and unique perspective on the industry. A graduate of USC with a degree in Music, he brings years of experience and passion to his writing. He covers the latest releases and trends, always on the lookout for the next big thing in music.
