Original Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony joined Rob Zombie guitarist John 5 for a performance of his former band’s 1979 classic, “Somebody Get Me A Doctor”, at the Whisky A Go Go in Hollywood on February 11.
John 5’s Van Halen connection goes back years as a fan before he teamed up with David Lee Roth to write and record his 1998 album, “DLR Band.” The guitarist has continued to write material with Roth and, last year, revealed that the pair had recorded a second project in early 2013.
“[Dave and I] just made another record, and it’s, like, the ’California Sessions’, [Dave] was calling it,” said John 5. “And it’s 11 of the greatest songs you’ll ever hear, and it’s just me and Dave, and we had Gregg Bissonette play drums on it. And it’s unbelievable. And hopefully sometime it’ll see the light of day. But he is, of course, busy with Van Halen and all that stuff. But it’s an incredible record.”
“I always go over to his house and we write music and things like that,” he continued. “It’s a lot of fun. I would just go over to his house during the day and write this music and then he would book the studio at night. So we would go into A&M Studios — Henson Studios, it’s called now — and we’d record.”
John 5 described the vibe of the material and Roth’s performance.
“It sounds just like Dave from that ’Van Halen I‘ or ’ Van Halen II‘ or ’Women And Children First’ era, [in terms of his] singing [style], and it’s incredible, man. It’s really incredible. He loves it too, so maybe it’ll see the light of day sometime.”
As for Anthony, he was famously removed from the Van Halen lineup by guitarist Eddie Van Halen sometime in 2002 because he remained friendly with Sammy Hagar after his stint in the band.
Anthony joined the group’s ill-fated 2004 reunion tour with Hagar only after signing away future rights to some of the material he was originally credited on as a vindictive business move by the guitarist.
Anthony was eventually replaced by Eddie’s son, Wolfgang, in 2007 – just in time for Roth’s return.
The bassist has since gone on to work with Hagar in Chickenfoot and continues to appear with Sammy at his solo shows from time to time.
See also:
Wolfgang Van Halen recording solo album
VIDEO: Eddie Van Halen speaks at Smithsonian event
Van Halen tops the hennemusic Hot 10
Van Halen to release Tokyo Dome Live In Concert
Search Van Halen at hennemusic
