The Van Halen album David Lee Roth prohibited everyone from singing
No band can ever be considered a complete democracy. Despite how many acts like to market themselves as a group of artists that pay attention to whatever each member says, it often takes a leader to help guide the group in the right direction. And even though it was clear that Eddie Van Halen was the musical mastermind behind Van Halen, he had a run for his money in frontman David Lee Roth.
Before the band had started, though, Eddie had begun working in various acts on the California club circuit with his brother Alex, putting together the first incarnation of Van Halen on the working name Mammoth. After getting a taste of what Roth could do in the pre-Van Halen band Red Ball Jet, the group knew that they would work better together than as competitors.
Becoming one of the standout acts on the Sunset Strip, no one could take their eyes away from Roth, playing up his showman persona to the nth degree whenever the band played live. Although the group could deliver at every show, it wasn’t until their debut album in 1978 that the world got a taste of what they could do, featuring Eddie’s signature tapping licks.
Although Eddie was the star behind the fretboard, one other cornerstone of the band’s sound came from the backing vocals. As opposed to Roth’s single blues-infused baritone, the sound of Eddie and bassist Michael Anthony harmonising with him on tracks like ‘You Really Got Me’ and ‘I’m The One’ became legendary in their own right, creating a wall of sound whenever they sang together.
While the band’s time with Roth would be shortlived, their next incarnation with Sammy Hagar saw them going from strength to strength, featuring ‘The Red Rocker’s signature scream. Even though they would go in different directions for the rest of their career, it wasn’t until the 2000s that Roth returned to the fold properly.
Returning for a tour, Roth’s return behind the microphone was meant to be a live reunion before Eddie’s son and new bassist, Wolfgang, had other ideas. Convincing his dad to release some of the band’s older riffs, Roth would return for the group’s swan song, A Different Kind of Truth, featuring tracks left over from their original incarnation, like ‘She’s The Woman’.
Although Eddie’s licks hadn’t aged a day since 1978, Wolfgang remembered the band having issues with Roth regarding the vocals. Aside from Roth sounding much different than he did in his prime, the bassist recalled the frontman forbidding the rest of the group to sing any backing vocals on the songs.
As Wolfgang recalled years later, Roth inadvertently removed a signature part of the band’s sound, telling Ultimate Classic Rock, “Dave, for the longest time, didn’t let us sing, do the background vocals on the album. I think it was just an opinion — he wanted to do it himself. And I disagreed with that because I think one of the biggest parts of Van Halen is the backing vocals.”
While Roth eventually acquiesced and gave them free rein over the vocals, A Different Kind of Truth remained one of the most promising albums the outfit had made, featuring a tremendous communal spirit about having most of the band back together again. Although the vocals may have been a sore point in the studio, that didn’t stop Van Halen from ending their career on their own terms.
