SAMMY HAGAR
RED: MY UNCENSORED LIFE IN ROCK
MARCH 15, 2011
Sammy Hagar allows the reader more than just a glimpse into his world. There are so many people in the music business that could learn a hard lesson from reading these pages. Hagar always treated everyone with respect and really did not want to do much more than perform for the crowd no matter how big or small. The entertainment business is one of the biggest roller coasters that never gets advertised. He never allowed the true darkness of the business to consume who he was and change the greatness his aura emits.
Hagar takes no pride in slamming those who have been in it for the money and fame, which is in total contrast to his personality. Hagar tells his story through his eyes and lets the reader make their own determination . If you are hoping to get dirt on those around Sammy it will not appear in this book. He definitely is one of the more respectable musicians in the business because it is clear with the stories he tells in the book that the approach of negativity is not a part of his foundation.
There are moments when you think, “How can this guy be so good?” His mother seems to have been the culprit behind his honestly laid-back demeanor. The book is full of straight-talk that begins with the strength of his mother and how no matter how bad things seemed around the family, she always gave them hope and kept Hagar and his siblings with full bellies. His father was a man of power with a streak of crazy but his mother was the true backbone on the family .
Cars were a source of love for Hagar from the age of three when they would go on drives and his father would point out different makes and models . After scoring his first bike, he would go out solo and ride to the local car dealers to check out every car. There is a marvelous picture of Sammy next to page 211 that shows him standing next to his Ferrari Fiorano outside of the Skywalker sound studios.
The relationship Sammy developed with his first wife, Betsy, was a rollercoaster in itself. No matter how bad things became over the years, he does not go on the offensive and bash and destroy her as many celebrities have done over the years. The years he spent watching his own father ride the waves where he would come and go in his life probably played a big part of his need to stay and make it work. The only time he even touches on the possibility that he stayed with Betsy because of their children is when he found out that he was to be a father for the second time. He talks very little of his time as a father, which may have been out of respect for his children. He may have chose to keep his family time private and stuck to the subjects that pertained to his work as a musician.
Since I live close to the Canadian border, we often hear music from Canada’s local radio programming that is not heard as often on our local American stations. As with Melissa Etherege, I first heard Sammy via Canadian radio. American radio can be very close-minded where repetition is the motto and the listeners ear palate is neglected until we find ourselves singing along to songs that have boring lyrics and little more than a decent beat. When I heard Cruisin' & Boozin' for the first time at the ripe old age of 14, Hagar acquired a new fan. It has been a 34 year musical experience that I have enjoyed as much as reading through the pages of this book.
Montrose was a staple with their hit "Bad Motor Scooter" but that was my only knowledge of his former band. He talks extensively of his early days with Montrose, and he really learned a lot about showmanship and working a live crowd. Thankfully, the relationship between Hagar and Montrose deteriorated to the point of separation which, although devastating to Sammy and it would take a bit for him to get on his feet as a solo artist, it was the best thing that could have happened. The red rocker would never have existed if Hagar had not moved on and one of his biggest hits "I Can’t Drive 55" would have been crushed under the direction of Montrose.
Hagar does not talk about the drive that he had to be a great showman, he just had it. The "biz" never seemed to affect his love of the crowd. The book is not about the needle, the dope, or the sex, it is about Hagar and his love of playing to a crowd and bringing them to the same brink that he found on stage. The brink that only musicians and the crowd know exists in a live setting. No matter what type of music, the brink is the same frenzied body, mind, and soul connection. Hagar could do that in a band as well as a solo artist, and his potential is why no matter which lead singer is chosen for Van Halen, he will always be the one to bring the crowd to the brink.
The spring of 1986 brought the release of "5150" and every song just fit the feeling of cruising around while the spring air blew your hair around. This same feeling is found within the chapter titled 5150. They knew that combining Sammy with the now singerless band Van Halen would be like blowing David Lee Roth out of their hair and building the new leg of Van Halen. Sammy gave the hand that brought the band closer to their fans with his likeable, down to earth personality. This chapter is the second longest next to the one titled “Monsters of Rock” which was about the album "OU812." So the longest chapters consist of the best years with the Van Halen brothers and the person who would become one of his best buddies, Michael Anthony.
The reason why I don’t listen to live albums and find them only about fulfilling a recording contract or making some extra cash is how chapter 9, “Right Here, Right Now” begins. For those who buy them, they are fakes and are never really a reflection of what the artists bring to the live show . In this chapter, Sammy talks about how the Van Halen brothers took the live recordings into the studio and played over the real live music. Fraud.
There is never a point in this book where Sammy talks about being drained by his continuous on-the-road travel. He toured with Van Halen and as a solo artist because he had a built-in solo album contract with “the brothers”. This is how he begins to refer to Alex and Eddie Van Halen and their hot and cold (love/hate) relationship. He would record/tour, record/tour and record/tour again. He never comes off as resentful or purely out of gas because he respected not only how far he had come but also the fans who continued to show up and put as much energy in the air as he was throwing out. I have had the opportunity to witness Hagar both with Van Halen and solo and his stage presence is all about the audience getting their money’s worth. He also makes the fans feel they are as much a part of the show as the band.
He never speaks ill of anyone in the book that does not seem to deserve it. He briefly mentions Valerie Bertinelli but with much empathy as the wife of Eddie Van Halen. He never gave "guess this is what happened behind closed doors" stories, he just gave a nod. He wrote only in depth about the things he witnessed firsthand. Hagar witnessed a lot between the brothers early in their bonding as a band. As most women in horribly violent and abusive relationships, they do not feel that wrath directed to them until they are in too deep. By the time you get to the chapter titled “Samurai Hair”, you know there is no turning back; his leg with Van Halen is over. He has said many times he would love to be with the band again, recording and touring, but the ego of the brothers will never let that be a happy reunion.
Keith Richards’s book "Life" was in depth and covered almost 67 years of experience, building what would be known as "The British Invasion." Sammy Hagar's book "Red: My Uncensored Life in Rock" is an easy read but is not a feel-sorry-for-me-and-my-life or an it-was-all-someone-else’s-fault biography . He tells the stories of his life as he sees them, but you will put this book down thinking that Sammy Hagar does not have a mean bone in his body. He loves to party, have a good time, enjoy life and his family, and most of all, play rock music to a crowd that will burn him out as much as he will return the favor.
For those who love rock 'n roll but are not steady readers this is one you can get through and it will not take hours out of your day stretched over weeks. Joel Selvin should get credit for taking the stories from Sammy and whittling them down to the meat & potatoes. Sammy lives to rock another day!
RUSTY
3/15/11