1 00:00:00,440 --> 00:00:17,680 Speaker 1: Disgraceland is a production of Double Elvis. This is a 2 00:00:17,720 --> 00:00:21,320 Speaker 1: story about a modern day warrior, a man with a code, 3 00:00:21,880 --> 00:00:24,800 Speaker 1: a man out of time, a musician with a take 4 00:00:24,880 --> 00:00:28,479 Speaker 1: no shit violent streak, a beretta to the head of 5 00:00:28,560 --> 00:00:33,240 Speaker 1: Limp Biscuits, Fred Durst, a military assault vehicle tearing ass 6 00:00:33,280 --> 00:00:37,360 Speaker 1: through the tony streets of Beverly Hills. It's about an Alex, 7 00:00:37,560 --> 00:00:40,920 Speaker 1: a Michael, a Sammy, even a Dave. And of course 8 00:00:41,600 --> 00:00:45,600 Speaker 1: it's about an Eddie. This is a story about Van 9 00:00:45,680 --> 00:00:48,680 Speaker 1: Halen and one of the four guitarists who belongs on 10 00:00:48,720 --> 00:00:51,960 Speaker 1: the Mount Rushmore of guitar playing. It's about a band 11 00:00:52,200 --> 00:00:56,560 Speaker 1: who made great music. Unlike that music I played for 12 00:00:56,600 --> 00:00:59,760 Speaker 1: you at the top of the show. That wasn't great music. 13 00:01:00,400 --> 00:01:03,319 Speaker 1: That was a preset loop from my melotron called let 14 00:01:03,320 --> 00:01:07,960 Speaker 1: me get some of that Podcake MK one. I played 15 00:01:07,959 --> 00:01:10,240 Speaker 1: you that loop because I can't afford the rights to 16 00:01:10,319 --> 00:01:13,960 Speaker 1: these dreams by Heart, And why would I play you 17 00:01:14,000 --> 00:01:18,120 Speaker 1: that specific slice of authentic sibling cheese? Could I afford it? 18 00:01:19,319 --> 00:01:22,800 Speaker 1: Because that was the number one song in America on 19 00:01:22,920 --> 00:01:26,200 Speaker 1: March twenty fourth, nineteen eighty six, and that was the 20 00:01:26,240 --> 00:01:29,639 Speaker 1: day the Van Halen released their seventh studio album, fifty 21 00:01:29,680 --> 00:01:33,120 Speaker 1: one fifty, their first with new lead singer Sammy Hagar, 22 00:01:33,640 --> 00:01:36,520 Speaker 1: an album that allowed the band to reach new commercial heights, 23 00:01:36,560 --> 00:01:41,080 Speaker 1: while unresolved problems continued to bubble unseen beneath the surface. 24 00:01:42,720 --> 00:01:47,640 Speaker 1: On this episode Anthemic Sibling Cheese a military assault vehicle, 25 00:01:48,000 --> 00:01:52,800 Speaker 1: a baretta, a code and Van Halen, I'm Jake Brennan, 26 00:01:53,640 --> 00:02:23,680 Speaker 1: and this is dis Graceland. Eddie Van Halen jammed his 27 00:02:23,720 --> 00:02:27,240 Speaker 1: combat boot down on the gas pedal. The assault vehicle 28 00:02:27,320 --> 00:02:30,840 Speaker 1: he recently bought at auction roared to life, tearing ass 29 00:02:30,880 --> 00:02:34,760 Speaker 1: down the quiet streets of upscale Beverly Hills. There was 30 00:02:34,800 --> 00:02:37,240 Speaker 1: no weapon in the machine gun mouth, but that didn't 31 00:02:37,240 --> 00:02:41,520 Speaker 1: make the vehicle anymore street legal. This decommissioned slab of 32 00:02:41,560 --> 00:02:45,959 Speaker 1: government steel was very much illegal, but Eddie didn't care, 33 00:02:46,800 --> 00:02:48,920 Speaker 1: just like he didn't care about the gun he was holding. 34 00:02:49,360 --> 00:02:51,680 Speaker 1: He was on a mission, and to carry out that 35 00:02:51,760 --> 00:02:56,680 Speaker 1: mission he required a certain level of comfort. Beverly Hills 36 00:02:56,680 --> 00:02:59,760 Speaker 1: made him uncomfortable, and that's not because he wasn't welcome. 37 00:03:00,480 --> 00:03:03,160 Speaker 1: It was two thousand and one, after all, and Eddie 38 00:03:03,200 --> 00:03:06,720 Speaker 1: Van Halen, the guitar player of his generation, the one 39 00:03:06,760 --> 00:03:09,600 Speaker 1: in the same who just decades earlier, had reinvented the 40 00:03:09,680 --> 00:03:13,839 Speaker 1: instrument and in many ways revitalized a genre, was very 41 00:03:13,919 --> 00:03:18,519 Speaker 1: rich and very famous. It was the pretension that bugged him, though, 42 00:03:19,080 --> 00:03:23,600 Speaker 1: the vulgar display of one's wealth, status, and power. Eddie 43 00:03:23,600 --> 00:03:27,000 Speaker 1: didn't play that game. He wasn't a star. He's just 44 00:03:27,000 --> 00:03:29,760 Speaker 1: a regular guy, a kid stuck in a grown man's 45 00:03:29,800 --> 00:03:32,680 Speaker 1: body who liked to play guitar. But if you went 46 00:03:32,720 --> 00:03:35,800 Speaker 1: and did something dumb like keep one of his guitars 47 00:03:35,840 --> 00:03:38,680 Speaker 1: locked up in your fancy mansion and then did something 48 00:03:38,800 --> 00:03:41,800 Speaker 1: equally dumb like not answer his phone calls to arrange 49 00:03:41,800 --> 00:03:43,680 Speaker 1: a time for him to come pick up that guitar 50 00:03:43,800 --> 00:03:46,880 Speaker 1: like a normal person, that kind of Beverly Hills bullshit 51 00:03:46,960 --> 00:03:50,640 Speaker 1: lit a fire under Eddie van Halen's regular ass. So 52 00:03:50,800 --> 00:03:53,920 Speaker 1: Eddie van Halen tore ass in his military assault vehicle 53 00:03:54,040 --> 00:03:55,920 Speaker 1: through the nine two to one on a zip code 54 00:03:55,920 --> 00:03:59,160 Speaker 1: with no shirt on. His tattered pants were being held 55 00:03:59,240 --> 00:04:01,280 Speaker 1: up by a piece of rope while he drove, and 56 00:04:01,680 --> 00:04:04,280 Speaker 1: the boots on his feet, the ones that were managing 57 00:04:04,360 --> 00:04:06,280 Speaker 1: the gas pedal on the break at the moment, those 58 00:04:06,320 --> 00:04:09,000 Speaker 1: were wrapped up in duct tape. And his long hair 59 00:04:09,160 --> 00:04:11,400 Speaker 1: was up in a bun as a samurai in feudal 60 00:04:11,480 --> 00:04:14,880 Speaker 1: Japan centuries ago would have worn it. And just like 61 00:04:14,960 --> 00:04:20,000 Speaker 1: the samurais of old, Eddie van Halen sought enlightenment, believed 62 00:04:20,080 --> 00:04:24,920 Speaker 1: in salvation, and lived by a code. Enlightenment came through 63 00:04:24,960 --> 00:04:29,120 Speaker 1: his music, Salvation came from within, and his code was 64 00:04:29,160 --> 00:04:34,560 Speaker 1: governed by three points honor, discipline, and morality. This was 65 00:04:34,600 --> 00:04:37,200 Speaker 1: how he lived his life, or how he tried to 66 00:04:37,240 --> 00:04:40,599 Speaker 1: at least. And God rewards those who seek him and 67 00:04:40,920 --> 00:04:45,040 Speaker 1: all that. Eddie van Halen was a seeker, a searcher, 68 00:04:45,480 --> 00:04:48,880 Speaker 1: just like that other iconic American, John Wayne, a man 69 00:04:48,880 --> 00:04:52,279 Speaker 1: who made westerns about anti hero cowboys that often borrowed 70 00:04:52,279 --> 00:04:56,120 Speaker 1: from Japanese samurai films, the same ones who wore their 71 00:04:56,160 --> 00:05:01,800 Speaker 1: hair like Eddie was now wearing his samurais Cowboys, John Wayne, 72 00:05:02,080 --> 00:05:06,600 Speaker 1: Eddie van Halen. It was all connected. And now, at 73 00:05:06,600 --> 00:05:09,559 Speaker 1: forty six years old, with the days of routinely putting 74 00:05:09,640 --> 00:05:13,120 Speaker 1: up hits on the billboard charts seemingly behind him, Eddie 75 00:05:13,200 --> 00:05:15,760 Speaker 1: van Halen's purpose was more elusive than ever. In a 76 00:05:15,760 --> 00:05:21,159 Speaker 1: shifting landscape of grunge new metal in Britney, Spears Eddie 77 00:05:21,160 --> 00:05:25,200 Speaker 1: sow more than just his signature tone. He was looking 78 00:05:25,279 --> 00:05:28,320 Speaker 1: for yet another new singer for the band that bore 79 00:05:28,360 --> 00:05:32,159 Speaker 1: his name van Halen, a band which had famously or 80 00:05:32,279 --> 00:05:35,440 Speaker 1: infamously burned through three vocalists over the course of its 81 00:05:35,440 --> 00:05:38,800 Speaker 1: story career. Now gets all that in a minute. And 82 00:05:38,880 --> 00:05:42,360 Speaker 1: he was looking for meeting too, after recently separating from 83 00:05:42,360 --> 00:05:45,599 Speaker 1: his wife of two decades, Valerie Burton Nellie, and he 84 00:05:45,680 --> 00:05:48,000 Speaker 1: was looking for a cure for the cancer that was 85 00:05:48,080 --> 00:05:51,919 Speaker 1: growing in his tongue. But at this very moment, what 86 00:05:52,080 --> 00:05:55,440 Speaker 1: Eddie van Halen was really looking for was his guitar, 87 00:05:56,279 --> 00:06:00,520 Speaker 1: and he knew just where it was held captive inside 88 00:06:00,600 --> 00:06:04,560 Speaker 1: the Beverly Hills home of one Fred Durst, that backwards 89 00:06:04,560 --> 00:06:08,120 Speaker 1: red hat enthusiast and lead vocalist of Limp Biscuit, the 90 00:06:08,160 --> 00:06:11,160 Speaker 1: band which just two years earlier had incited a riot 91 00:06:11,200 --> 00:06:16,000 Speaker 1: at Woodstock ninety nine with their macho fucko anthem break stuff. Today, however, 92 00:06:16,440 --> 00:06:19,240 Speaker 1: it was Eddie who was doing the inciting. He drove 93 00:06:19,320 --> 00:06:22,479 Speaker 1: his self vehicle onto Fred's well manicured front lawn put 94 00:06:22,520 --> 00:06:24,719 Speaker 1: it in Parker. However, you get those things to stop 95 00:06:24,839 --> 00:06:27,520 Speaker 1: and let it idle nice and loud, He jumped from 96 00:06:27,560 --> 00:06:30,240 Speaker 1: the driver's seat, pulled the gun from his waistband and 97 00:06:30,360 --> 00:06:32,560 Speaker 1: made a bee line for the front door of the house. 98 00:06:33,040 --> 00:06:36,719 Speaker 1: He knocked. Red Hat answered, Eddie wasted no time. He 99 00:06:36,800 --> 00:06:39,320 Speaker 1: put his gun to that stupid fucking lid sitting on 100 00:06:39,360 --> 00:06:42,240 Speaker 1: top of Fred Durst's stupid fucking face, and said, Hey, 101 00:06:42,760 --> 00:06:50,200 Speaker 1: where's my shit? Motherfucker. Twenty four hours earlier, the vibe 102 00:06:50,360 --> 00:06:54,440 Speaker 1: was way different. Eddie was hanging out with Fred, the 103 00:06:54,520 --> 00:06:56,960 Speaker 1: man he'd only just met, and he was hanging out 104 00:06:57,000 --> 00:07:00,920 Speaker 1: with him inside of Fred's house, jamming with Limpiscus minus 105 00:07:00,920 --> 00:07:04,840 Speaker 1: guitarist Wes Borland, who had recently left the group. Now, 106 00:07:04,880 --> 00:07:06,760 Speaker 1: if you know anything about Eddie van Halen and about 107 00:07:06,800 --> 00:07:10,559 Speaker 1: limp Biscuit, you're probably thinking what the fuck? And yeah, 108 00:07:10,880 --> 00:07:13,840 Speaker 1: even Fred Durst himself, when a mutual friend suggested he 109 00:07:14,040 --> 00:07:17,640 Speaker 1: audition Eddie for lymp Biscuit's new lead guitarist, said, and 110 00:07:17,720 --> 00:07:21,040 Speaker 1: I quote that would be hilarious. The greatest guitar player 111 00:07:21,080 --> 00:07:24,040 Speaker 1: ever jams with the worst band ever. Again, that's a 112 00:07:24,080 --> 00:07:28,920 Speaker 1: Fred Durst quote, But also consider this, Eddie van Halen 113 00:07:28,960 --> 00:07:32,360 Speaker 1: hadn't actually bought a new record since Peter Gabriel's album 114 00:07:32,560 --> 00:07:36,560 Speaker 1: so which came out in nineteen eighty six. That's fifteen 115 00:07:36,680 --> 00:07:39,720 Speaker 1: years before this scene that I'm describing to you took place. 116 00:07:40,280 --> 00:07:43,200 Speaker 1: So it's entirely plausible that eddievan Halen had no idea 117 00:07:43,240 --> 00:07:45,120 Speaker 1: what he was getting into when he agreed to jam 118 00:07:45,160 --> 00:07:48,880 Speaker 1: with lymp Biscuit. Maybe in this vulnerable moment of searching 119 00:07:48,920 --> 00:07:52,800 Speaker 1: for something new, maybe Eddie was just open to an opportunity, 120 00:07:52,840 --> 00:07:55,480 Speaker 1: any opportunity, just like he and Van Halen were once 121 00:07:55,560 --> 00:07:59,000 Speaker 1: upon a time open to crazy opportunities as well, like 122 00:07:59,080 --> 00:08:02,360 Speaker 1: jamming with Joe Caer or Ozzy Osbourne and even Daryl 123 00:08:02,400 --> 00:08:05,360 Speaker 1: Hall to fill their lead singer's empty shoes. No shit, 124 00:08:05,680 --> 00:08:08,960 Speaker 1: look it up, but the insane pipe dream of Limp 125 00:08:09,000 --> 00:08:12,200 Speaker 1: Biscuit with Eddie Van Halen on lead guitar was not 126 00:08:12,320 --> 00:08:14,600 Speaker 1: meant to be. Eddie knew it as soon as he 127 00:08:14,600 --> 00:08:17,120 Speaker 1: walked inside was hit by a cloud of marijuana smoke. 128 00:08:17,720 --> 00:08:19,920 Speaker 1: Eddie didn't do weed, but when it came to Eddie's 129 00:08:19,920 --> 00:08:23,720 Speaker 1: stimulant and depressant of choice, that'd be cocaine and alcohol, 130 00:08:24,080 --> 00:08:26,080 Speaker 1: and there were tools to help him work, he thought, 131 00:08:26,160 --> 00:08:28,720 Speaker 1: not something he used to unwind and party with the guys, 132 00:08:29,440 --> 00:08:33,320 Speaker 1: Eddie told Fred thanks, but no thanks. He bounced fast, 133 00:08:33,600 --> 00:08:35,320 Speaker 1: said he'd be back for his guitar and gear the 134 00:08:35,320 --> 00:08:38,920 Speaker 1: next day. That next morning, he called Fred to schedule 135 00:08:38,920 --> 00:08:41,000 Speaker 1: a time to go pick up his stuff, but Fred 136 00:08:41,040 --> 00:08:44,800 Speaker 1: never answered, and Fred never called him back. Fred Durst 137 00:08:45,040 --> 00:08:49,360 Speaker 1: gave Eddie van Halen the brush off, And now Fred 138 00:08:49,440 --> 00:08:53,040 Speaker 1: Durst was regretting that decision, that in action, that lack 139 00:08:53,080 --> 00:08:56,360 Speaker 1: of respect, or so Eddie van Halen would like to think, 140 00:08:57,080 --> 00:08:59,560 Speaker 1: the greatest guitar player ever was standing on the lawn 141 00:08:59,600 --> 00:09:02,360 Speaker 1: of the front man the worst band ever, still aiming 142 00:09:02,400 --> 00:09:05,280 Speaker 1: his gun at that stupid fucking hat while some clowns 143 00:09:05,320 --> 00:09:08,120 Speaker 1: on Fred's payroll load a gear into Eddie's assault vehicle. 144 00:09:08,960 --> 00:09:10,800 Speaker 1: And this was such a bad idea that Eddie thought 145 00:09:10,840 --> 00:09:13,920 Speaker 1: to himself there was only one musician he was compatible with, 146 00:09:14,080 --> 00:09:17,000 Speaker 1: and I mean compatible in the eternal mind mild kind 147 00:09:17,040 --> 00:09:20,200 Speaker 1: of way, and that was his big brother, Alex van 148 00:09:20,240 --> 00:09:25,040 Speaker 1: Halen's drummer. No other musical relationship ever lasted, not with 149 00:09:25,160 --> 00:09:28,120 Speaker 1: David Lee Roth, van Halden's original lead singer, who, depending 150 00:09:28,120 --> 00:09:30,199 Speaker 1: on who you ask, either quit or was fired from 151 00:09:30,200 --> 00:09:32,439 Speaker 1: the band back in nineteen eighty five, and definitely not 152 00:09:32,559 --> 00:09:35,160 Speaker 1: with Gary Charon, the guy from Extreme whose tenure as 153 00:09:35,240 --> 00:09:37,240 Speaker 1: Van Halen's front man at the end of the nineties 154 00:09:37,320 --> 00:09:39,320 Speaker 1: was as short as one of the cigarettes that burned 155 00:09:39,320 --> 00:09:41,880 Speaker 1: down to the filter in the headstock of Eddie's guitar. 156 00:09:42,520 --> 00:09:44,760 Speaker 1: Then there was the one they called the red Rocker, 157 00:09:45,200 --> 00:09:48,240 Speaker 1: Sammy Hagar. He eventually went the way of Diamond Dave 158 00:09:48,720 --> 00:09:51,200 Speaker 1: out on the skids after his initial winning dynamic with 159 00:09:51,240 --> 00:09:54,360 Speaker 1: the Van Halen Brothers turned sour, but not before he 160 00:09:54,360 --> 00:09:57,160 Speaker 1: helped take the band higher and higher. Straight up, they 161 00:09:57,200 --> 00:10:00,559 Speaker 1: climbed higher than they had ever gone before or since. 162 00:10:01,960 --> 00:10:04,840 Speaker 1: Eddie wanted to go there again, not for the money 163 00:10:04,920 --> 00:10:08,199 Speaker 1: or the fame he had all that. He wanted relevance. 164 00:10:08,640 --> 00:10:12,120 Speaker 1: He wanted to matter again. What had it been six 165 00:10:12,240 --> 00:10:15,720 Speaker 1: years since Sammy left? Eddie wondered, if it was all 166 00:10:15,760 --> 00:10:18,640 Speaker 1: just water out of the bridge, if you could go 167 00:10:18,720 --> 00:10:22,080 Speaker 1: home again. And as he watched Fred Durrist's muscle load 168 00:10:22,160 --> 00:10:25,840 Speaker 1: his gear into his illegal assault vehicle, Eddie van Halen 169 00:10:25,880 --> 00:10:30,400 Speaker 1: decided to do two things pronto. Number one, get the 170 00:10:30,440 --> 00:10:32,719 Speaker 1: fuck out of Beverly Hills before he was handcuffed and 171 00:10:32,760 --> 00:10:35,600 Speaker 1: tossed into the back of a police cruiser. And number two, 172 00:10:36,160 --> 00:11:04,560 Speaker 1: wring up his old friend Sammy Hagar. Sixteen years earlier, 173 00:11:04,800 --> 00:11:07,880 Speaker 1: in nineteen eighty five, Eddie van Halen was once again 174 00:11:07,960 --> 00:11:10,920 Speaker 1: behind the driver's seat. This time it wasn't an old 175 00:11:10,960 --> 00:11:16,720 Speaker 1: military vehicle, but instead his equally attention grabbing Lamborghini. He 176 00:11:16,800 --> 00:11:19,720 Speaker 1: pumped the clutch with his left foot down, shifted, and 177 00:11:19,760 --> 00:11:22,280 Speaker 1: then let the Lambeau hug the steep curve of ahead. 178 00:11:23,040 --> 00:11:26,760 Speaker 1: Then the road straightened out. This was the part Eddie loved, 179 00:11:28,160 --> 00:11:33,079 Speaker 1: clutch stick gas. The Lambo swooned like one of those 180 00:11:33,120 --> 00:11:36,319 Speaker 1: busty co eds riding a rail at the show, leaving 181 00:11:36,360 --> 00:11:38,880 Speaker 1: Malibu in the dust and setting its sights in the valley. 182 00:11:38,920 --> 00:11:42,040 Speaker 1: Over the hill and the next lane over, a jet 183 00:11:42,040 --> 00:11:46,640 Speaker 1: black Ferrari suddenly appeared. Keeping pace. Eddie looked over at 184 00:11:46,679 --> 00:11:49,720 Speaker 1: Sammy Hagar, sitting behind the wheel of his five twelve BB. 185 00:11:51,120 --> 00:11:53,920 Speaker 1: Eddie gave Sammy that world famous ear to ear granted, 186 00:11:54,360 --> 00:11:56,680 Speaker 1: the one typically reserved when he had a guitar in 187 00:11:56,720 --> 00:12:00,200 Speaker 1: his hands, and was blowing even his own mind. As 188 00:12:00,280 --> 00:12:02,439 Speaker 1: fast behind the wheel as he was on a fretboard, 189 00:12:02,760 --> 00:12:06,080 Speaker 1: and almost as happy. The two cars shot up the 190 00:12:06,080 --> 00:12:09,640 Speaker 1: open road together eighty ninety one hundred miles an hour, 191 00:12:10,520 --> 00:12:13,160 Speaker 1: Eddie clearly with a new lease on life, and Sammy 192 00:12:13,280 --> 00:12:15,480 Speaker 1: proving that the boast he'd made in his most recent 193 00:12:15,520 --> 00:12:18,600 Speaker 1: hit single was one hundred percent authentic. He could not 194 00:12:19,040 --> 00:12:23,880 Speaker 1: drive fifty five. Only now Sammy Hagar was no longer 195 00:12:23,920 --> 00:12:26,959 Speaker 1: going the road alone as a solo artist, but as 196 00:12:26,960 --> 00:12:29,160 Speaker 1: the new lead singer for one of the biggest bands 197 00:12:29,200 --> 00:12:32,880 Speaker 1: in the world, Van Halen. Sammy could hardly believe it. 198 00:12:33,360 --> 00:12:36,439 Speaker 1: For Eddie and Alex van Halen, it wasn't just believable 199 00:12:36,920 --> 00:12:39,760 Speaker 1: after all the circus cheeseball bullshit that they'd endured with 200 00:12:39,760 --> 00:12:43,600 Speaker 1: their original singer, David Lee Roth. It was absolutely necessary 201 00:12:44,200 --> 00:12:46,760 Speaker 1: to quote Alex. At the time, we had a toothache 202 00:12:46,800 --> 00:12:49,400 Speaker 1: for about eleven years, went to the dentist and had 203 00:12:49,400 --> 00:12:51,920 Speaker 1: it extracted. Now we have a crown with a gold 204 00:12:51,960 --> 00:12:55,240 Speaker 1: cap on him, and a gold cap crown is as 205 00:12:55,280 --> 00:12:59,080 Speaker 1: a gold cap crown does so. Sammy Hagar bought a 206 00:12:59,120 --> 00:13:02,679 Speaker 1: place near Eddie's second house in Malibu, and each afternoon 207 00:13:02,720 --> 00:13:05,000 Speaker 1: the two would raise their fancy cars to Eddie's other 208 00:13:05,080 --> 00:13:09,439 Speaker 1: house in studio in the San Fernando Valley, specifically Studio City. 209 00:13:10,000 --> 00:13:13,120 Speaker 1: Work on the band's seventh studio album there first with 210 00:13:13,240 --> 00:13:15,600 Speaker 1: Sammy on the mic, and then race each other home 211 00:13:15,679 --> 00:13:18,880 Speaker 1: after dark and after Eddie was good and shift faced. 212 00:13:19,160 --> 00:13:22,720 Speaker 1: Sometimes Sammy would take his Ejag or his Cobra. Today 213 00:13:22,760 --> 00:13:25,640 Speaker 1: it was a sleek midnight machine, as sleek as the 214 00:13:25,720 --> 00:13:28,480 Speaker 1: music he was now making with Eddie Alex and Michael Anthony, 215 00:13:28,760 --> 00:13:33,600 Speaker 1: van Halen's long suffering bass player. And holy shit was 216 00:13:33,640 --> 00:13:39,000 Speaker 1: the music sleek and huge sounding. Van Halen two point 217 00:13:39,080 --> 00:13:41,640 Speaker 1: zero sounded just like that metallic sphere looked on the 218 00:13:41,679 --> 00:13:43,920 Speaker 1: cover of their album fifty one to fifty, which is 219 00:13:43,920 --> 00:13:49,839 Speaker 1: to say, polished, glossy, and yes heavy. Fifty one to 220 00:13:49,920 --> 00:13:53,200 Speaker 1: fifty named after Eddie's home studio, which itself was named 221 00:13:53,240 --> 00:13:55,760 Speaker 1: after a section of the California Penal Code that allowed 222 00:13:55,760 --> 00:13:58,400 Speaker 1: for the detention of an adult suffering a mental health crisis. 223 00:13:58,800 --> 00:14:02,160 Speaker 1: Fifty one to fifty was not by Van Halen's longtime 224 00:14:02,200 --> 00:14:05,920 Speaker 1: collaborator Ted Templeton, but by foreigners Mick Jones, who you 225 00:14:05,920 --> 00:14:08,559 Speaker 1: should know is also the stepfather of Mark Ronson, But 226 00:14:08,600 --> 00:14:10,640 Speaker 1: that's beside the point. But back to the point. Mick 227 00:14:10,720 --> 00:14:13,360 Speaker 1: Jones gave that record that Van Halen was making a 228 00:14:13,520 --> 00:14:17,199 Speaker 1: modern sheen. When it hit shelves on March twenty fourth, 229 00:14:17,320 --> 00:14:21,160 Speaker 1: nineteen eighty six, supported by Monster singles like why Can't 230 00:14:21,200 --> 00:14:25,840 Speaker 1: This Be Love and Dreams fifty one fifty went gangbusters 231 00:14:26,400 --> 00:14:31,040 Speaker 1: in the mid eighties, Van Halen mattered. The og metal Heads, 232 00:14:31,080 --> 00:14:34,640 Speaker 1: on the other hand, begged to disagree. Van Halen could 233 00:14:34,640 --> 00:14:37,440 Speaker 1: never be Van Halen without their beloved David le Ros 234 00:14:38,040 --> 00:14:40,480 Speaker 1: call it a vocal minority because all that bitching and 235 00:14:40,520 --> 00:14:42,880 Speaker 1: morning was taking place as fifty one to fifty race 236 00:14:42,960 --> 00:14:45,480 Speaker 1: straight to the top and look, man, I don't care 237 00:14:45,560 --> 00:14:47,800 Speaker 1: who you are, you have got to give it up 238 00:14:47,920 --> 00:14:50,960 Speaker 1: for Sammy Hagar. Maybe you like the Day Years better. 239 00:14:51,000 --> 00:14:53,360 Speaker 1: Hell I like the Day Years better. But maybe you 240 00:14:53,480 --> 00:14:55,760 Speaker 1: go even further. Maybe you think they were more pure, 241 00:14:55,880 --> 00:14:59,080 Speaker 1: or they had less power ballads and fewer keyboards, or 242 00:14:59,080 --> 00:15:01,760 Speaker 1: maybe you condescend. He referred to Sammy's tenure as Van 243 00:15:01,840 --> 00:15:05,480 Speaker 1: Hagar or whatever. But it doesn't matter. Sooner or later 244 00:15:05,640 --> 00:15:08,080 Speaker 1: you're gonna come around to the Sammy Hagar version of 245 00:15:08,160 --> 00:15:11,800 Speaker 1: Van Halen. Okay, it also doesn't matter that Sammy Hagar 246 00:15:11,920 --> 00:15:13,960 Speaker 1: came from a press shirt kind of world, and Eddie 247 00:15:14,000 --> 00:15:16,480 Speaker 1: and Alex were the equivalent of a beer soaked stale 248 00:15:16,600 --> 00:15:20,160 Speaker 1: beer smelling dorm room. You know best at both worlds. 249 00:15:20,360 --> 00:15:23,400 Speaker 1: But here are the facts. Van Halen with Sammy Hagar 250 00:15:23,720 --> 00:15:26,400 Speaker 1: went to number one on the Billboard album chart, and 251 00:15:26,480 --> 00:15:29,560 Speaker 1: not just in nineteen eighty six, but four times in 252 00:15:29,600 --> 00:15:32,160 Speaker 1: a row over the next nine years, which is a 253 00:15:32,200 --> 00:15:34,720 Speaker 1: feat that the band was never able to pull off 254 00:15:34,720 --> 00:15:37,960 Speaker 1: with David Lee Ross. I love David Lee Ross, now 255 00:15:38,000 --> 00:15:40,680 Speaker 1: this is no doubt. Dave was flashy as shit. He 256 00:15:40,720 --> 00:15:43,600 Speaker 1: got your attention with those midair splits off the drum riser. 257 00:15:43,680 --> 00:15:46,280 Speaker 1: He was goofy and schlocky showbiz to his core in 258 00:15:46,320 --> 00:15:48,400 Speaker 1: the best kind of way, and he delighted in being 259 00:15:48,480 --> 00:15:51,920 Speaker 1: Van Halen's mouthpiece. But David Lee Roth ran that mouth 260 00:15:52,000 --> 00:15:54,400 Speaker 1: like a cocky sixteen year old, just as Eddie here 261 00:15:54,440 --> 00:15:56,920 Speaker 1: was running his lambeau. Not that Eddie wasn't still a 262 00:15:56,960 --> 00:15:59,760 Speaker 1: sixteen year old himself, because in many ways he most 263 00:15:59,760 --> 00:16:03,640 Speaker 1: serve was. But unlike Dave, Eddie was a musical genius, 264 00:16:03,960 --> 00:16:07,760 Speaker 1: faithfully serving his master like a samurai old. The thing 265 00:16:07,960 --> 00:16:13,120 Speaker 1: was for Eddie, his master was his music, and music, 266 00:16:13,320 --> 00:16:18,360 Speaker 1: to quote Eddie van Halen overpowers bullshit. That was the 267 00:16:18,400 --> 00:16:20,720 Speaker 1: answer Eddie gave after he was asked if He felt 268 00:16:20,840 --> 00:16:23,520 Speaker 1: vindicated when fifty one point fifty went to number one 269 00:16:23,640 --> 00:16:27,560 Speaker 1: following the messy split with David Lee Roth, Eddie was 270 00:16:27,600 --> 00:16:30,400 Speaker 1: in a great place. In Eddie's eyes. Sammy was not 271 00:16:30,440 --> 00:16:33,760 Speaker 1: a peacock like Dave, but a true musician, and since 272 00:16:33,800 --> 00:16:36,800 Speaker 1: Sammy played guitar, Eddie could stretch out in concert and 273 00:16:36,800 --> 00:16:40,840 Speaker 1: play keyboards, which Dave always gave him shit about. But 274 00:16:40,960 --> 00:16:44,680 Speaker 1: without Dave, the music continued to reward Eddie van Halen 275 00:16:44,760 --> 00:16:47,880 Speaker 1: it's most humble servant. He didn't even need a samurai 276 00:16:47,920 --> 00:16:49,400 Speaker 1: bu in his hair at this point to be the 277 00:16:49,440 --> 00:16:53,520 Speaker 1: noble warrior that he was. But the music wasn't the 278 00:16:53,520 --> 00:16:59,000 Speaker 1: only thing holding Van Halen the band together. Despite outward appearances, 279 00:16:59,400 --> 00:17:03,040 Speaker 1: this was still fragile unit of four men. Every day 280 00:17:03,160 --> 00:17:07,000 Speaker 1: something threatened to destroy it. All the boozing, the drugging, 281 00:17:07,200 --> 00:17:09,560 Speaker 1: the non stop fucking it was taking place in puff 282 00:17:09,640 --> 00:17:13,480 Speaker 1: tents beneath the stage. Yes, all four guys had their 283 00:17:13,560 --> 00:17:17,639 Speaker 1: own tent in which they indulged in their wildest sexual fantasies, 284 00:17:17,920 --> 00:17:20,760 Speaker 1: and those tents were set up beneath the stage at 285 00:17:20,800 --> 00:17:23,840 Speaker 1: their concerts. Don't ask me how it just happened, so 286 00:17:23,880 --> 00:17:26,760 Speaker 1: that they could act upon those sexual fantasies while the 287 00:17:26,800 --> 00:17:27,480 Speaker 1: show went on. 288 00:17:28,280 --> 00:17:31,400 Speaker 2: Eddie and l both addicts, were just as prodigious. 289 00:17:30,920 --> 00:17:33,440 Speaker 1: When it came to hand to hand sibling combat as 290 00:17:33,440 --> 00:17:37,600 Speaker 1: it did to musical telepathy. Sammy meanwhile, had girl problems. 291 00:17:37,920 --> 00:17:39,800 Speaker 1: All is sleeping around on the slide got him at 292 00:17:39,880 --> 00:17:42,240 Speaker 1: least one extortion attempt from a former playboy buddy he 293 00:17:42,280 --> 00:17:45,680 Speaker 1: said she was carrying his child, all while his wife's 294 00:17:45,720 --> 00:17:48,600 Speaker 1: panic attacks caused it to nearly jump from a plane. 295 00:17:49,560 --> 00:17:53,119 Speaker 1: Bassist Michael Anthony meanwhile was once again getting the shaft 296 00:17:53,119 --> 00:17:55,720 Speaker 1: when it came to money, watching his share the music 297 00:17:55,760 --> 00:18:00,680 Speaker 1: publishing shrank down to a measly ten percent. These tensions 298 00:18:00,680 --> 00:18:03,320 Speaker 1: were enough to break up any band, but add to 299 00:18:03,359 --> 00:18:06,240 Speaker 1: it Eddie and Alyx's increasing belief that Sammy wasn't working 300 00:18:06,280 --> 00:18:08,840 Speaker 1: as hard as they were, a suspicion that they'd previously 301 00:18:08,880 --> 00:18:11,960 Speaker 1: experienced with Dave. And it's crazy that things didn't fall 302 00:18:11,960 --> 00:18:15,399 Speaker 1: apart sooner than they did. And the reason things didn't 303 00:18:15,400 --> 00:18:19,159 Speaker 1: all fall apart wasn't because of the music. It was 304 00:18:19,240 --> 00:18:25,679 Speaker 1: because of Ed Leffler. Ed Leffler was more than just 305 00:18:25,720 --> 00:18:28,479 Speaker 1: a rock and roll manager. He was a father who 306 00:18:28,560 --> 00:18:31,479 Speaker 1: wanted to make all of his children happy when he 307 00:18:31,520 --> 00:18:34,560 Speaker 1: was brought on board along with Sammy. Leffler's first order 308 00:18:34,560 --> 00:18:36,760 Speaker 1: of business was to make sure that relations between the 309 00:18:36,840 --> 00:18:39,040 Speaker 1: van Halen brothers and Sammy didn't go the way they 310 00:18:39,040 --> 00:18:44,000 Speaker 1: went with Dave. Ed Leffler ran interference. Ed Leffler maintained 311 00:18:44,000 --> 00:18:47,159 Speaker 1: a proper balance of power. Ed Leffler would take a 312 00:18:47,160 --> 00:18:50,359 Speaker 1: bullet for his clients. In fact, he took a fist 313 00:18:50,400 --> 00:18:53,720 Speaker 1: to the face over and over and over, trapped inside 314 00:18:53,760 --> 00:18:56,320 Speaker 1: an elevator at a show in Dallas, where an unknown 315 00:18:56,320 --> 00:18:58,600 Speaker 1: assailant beat the living piss out of him and put 316 00:18:58,640 --> 00:19:02,480 Speaker 1: him in a hospital. The guys never had to worry 317 00:19:02,480 --> 00:19:05,399 Speaker 1: about ed Leffler's loyalty, but they did worry about his health. 318 00:19:06,480 --> 00:19:09,359 Speaker 1: First there was that assault in Dallas, and soon after 319 00:19:10,000 --> 00:19:14,320 Speaker 1: there was his cancer diagnosis, and it looked bad. As 320 00:19:14,359 --> 00:19:16,879 Speaker 1: bad as the scene, Eddie was now witnessing outside the 321 00:19:16,920 --> 00:19:20,240 Speaker 1: window of his studio City House every night, some crepe 322 00:19:20,280 --> 00:19:24,120 Speaker 1: parking a van across the street, watching him, watching his wife, Valerie, 323 00:19:24,160 --> 00:19:27,439 Speaker 1: and their newborn son, Wolfgang. No one ever got out 324 00:19:27,480 --> 00:19:30,320 Speaker 1: of the van, It just sat there. And the cops 325 00:19:30,320 --> 00:19:33,080 Speaker 1: could only do so much, and Eddie called them and 326 00:19:33,119 --> 00:19:35,600 Speaker 1: they came and made the van move, and the van left, 327 00:19:35,880 --> 00:19:38,760 Speaker 1: and then the van came back. Eddie wasn't about to 328 00:19:38,800 --> 00:19:41,239 Speaker 1: sit idly by like an idiot, only to find out 329 00:19:41,280 --> 00:19:44,960 Speaker 1: the hard way that the person inside was a demented psycho. 330 00:19:45,280 --> 00:19:46,760 Speaker 2: So just as it was. 331 00:19:46,720 --> 00:19:49,560 Speaker 1: Once his job to protect his musical innovations, to protect 332 00:19:49,600 --> 00:19:52,840 Speaker 1: his brand and his legacy from companies making money illegally 333 00:19:52,880 --> 00:19:55,480 Speaker 1: off of those innovations, it was now his job to 334 00:19:55,520 --> 00:19:58,960 Speaker 1: protect his young family, which is how in the early 335 00:19:59,080 --> 00:20:02,679 Speaker 1: nineteen nineties, an anxious Eddie van Halen became the owner 336 00:20:03,040 --> 00:20:07,840 Speaker 1: of a twenty five caliber Bretta. 337 00:20:08,840 --> 00:20:10,600 Speaker 2: We'll be right back after this. 338 00:20:10,760 --> 00:20:22,240 Speaker 1: We're We're, We're. Dude, Eddie van Halen is a fucking legend. 339 00:20:25,440 --> 00:20:28,040 Speaker 1: Did you see him play his guitar in that new 340 00:20:28,119 --> 00:20:33,359 Speaker 1: video with a power drill? And dude, dude, get this 341 00:20:34,359 --> 00:20:35,920 Speaker 1: van Halen's new record. 342 00:20:37,520 --> 00:20:41,399 Speaker 3: For a lawful carnal Knowledge, Dude, check it out for 343 00:20:42,480 --> 00:20:48,480 Speaker 3: unlawful carnal knowledge. F Uck fuck they named their new 344 00:20:48,520 --> 00:20:49,879 Speaker 3: record fuck. 345 00:20:53,800 --> 00:20:56,480 Speaker 1: If you were high in high school in nineteen ninety one, 346 00:20:56,920 --> 00:20:59,239 Speaker 1: you'll remember this sort of thing being said pretty much 347 00:20:59,359 --> 00:21:01,280 Speaker 1: verbatim by a kid in a jean jacket with a 348 00:21:01,280 --> 00:21:03,399 Speaker 1: peach fuzz Stash leaning up against the hood of his 349 00:21:03,400 --> 00:21:06,080 Speaker 1: car out in the parking lot next to yours, just 350 00:21:06,160 --> 00:21:08,760 Speaker 1: moments before he dipped into the pocket of his flannel 351 00:21:08,800 --> 00:21:11,080 Speaker 1: shirt to pull out a camel light to rip after 352 00:21:11,240 --> 00:21:14,159 Speaker 1: just toking that joint. Maybe that kid was you, and 353 00:21:14,400 --> 00:21:17,200 Speaker 1: if so, I salute you. Who cared about led Zeppelin's 354 00:21:17,240 --> 00:21:20,359 Speaker 1: Jimmy Page playing his guitar with a violinbo anymore? Old 355 00:21:20,440 --> 00:21:23,439 Speaker 1: fucking news Man Jimmy's little trick couldn't hold a candle 356 00:21:23,440 --> 00:21:25,840 Speaker 1: to Eddie's makita as it revved up the strings of 357 00:21:25,880 --> 00:21:28,399 Speaker 1: his brand new Ernie Ball music Man guitar in the 358 00:21:28,480 --> 00:21:32,000 Speaker 1: video for Poundcake, the lead single from Van Halen's ninth 359 00:21:32,040 --> 00:21:38,120 Speaker 1: studio album, third with Sammy, titled for Unlawful Kernel Knowledge, which, yes, 360 00:21:38,680 --> 00:21:42,840 Speaker 1: was named that way on purpose for the juvenile acronym, 361 00:21:43,119 --> 00:21:46,720 Speaker 1: but calling the album for Unlawful Kernel Knowledge saved it 362 00:21:46,720 --> 00:21:50,000 Speaker 1: from being slapped with the dreaded parental advisory sticker that 363 00:21:50,160 --> 00:21:53,000 Speaker 1: was cropping up on other notable albums released in nineteen 364 00:21:53,080 --> 00:21:56,240 Speaker 1: ninety one, such as The Red Hot Chili, Pepper's Blood Sugar, Sex, 365 00:21:56,280 --> 00:21:59,400 Speaker 1: Magic Weens, The Pod, and The Guns N' Roses. Double 366 00:21:59,440 --> 00:22:02,920 Speaker 1: album Music Illusion one and two. And though Van Halen's 367 00:22:02,960 --> 00:22:05,000 Speaker 1: new album was hailed by many as a return to 368 00:22:05,080 --> 00:22:09,320 Speaker 1: form a capital R rock record, such praise by Van 369 00:22:09,359 --> 00:22:11,880 Speaker 1: Halen's fan base couldn't save them from a two out 370 00:22:11,880 --> 00:22:16,040 Speaker 1: of five stars review in Rolling Stone magazine. Only months later. 371 00:22:16,080 --> 00:22:19,520 Speaker 1: That same publication would give Nirvana's never Mind only one 372 00:22:19,560 --> 00:22:22,520 Speaker 1: star higher than that. So what the fuck did Rolling 373 00:22:22,600 --> 00:22:27,040 Speaker 1: Stone know? Anyways? When Pepsi came calling, they use Right Now, 374 00:22:27,200 --> 00:22:31,000 Speaker 1: the album's socially conscious third single for a commercial marketing 375 00:22:31,040 --> 00:22:34,640 Speaker 1: their brand new crystal Pepsi Eddie. The band and their 376 00:22:34,680 --> 00:22:37,359 Speaker 1: manager Ed Leffler were making the kind of money Rolling 377 00:22:37,400 --> 00:22:41,400 Speaker 1: Stone could only dream of. Ed Lefler, for one, used 378 00:22:41,400 --> 00:22:43,600 Speaker 1: his steady hand to guide Van Halen through their most 379 00:22:43,640 --> 00:22:47,679 Speaker 1: commercially viable years. He was a fixer at heart. The 380 00:22:47,720 --> 00:22:50,240 Speaker 1: only thing it seemed he couldn't fix was the cancer 381 00:22:50,280 --> 00:22:54,240 Speaker 1: and his thyroid, and by nineteen ninety three, Ed Leffler 382 00:22:54,280 --> 00:22:57,520 Speaker 1: needed more than crystal pepsi money. He needed a miracle, 383 00:22:58,200 --> 00:23:01,439 Speaker 1: So Sammy Hagar went looking for one. Sammy knew that 384 00:23:01,440 --> 00:23:03,399 Speaker 1: whether or not he ended up just another blip on 385 00:23:03,440 --> 00:23:05,720 Speaker 1: the Van Halen radar, was in large park due to 386 00:23:05,800 --> 00:23:10,280 Speaker 1: Leffler's influence. Sammy went above and beyond, and then he 387 00:23:10,320 --> 00:23:14,520 Speaker 1: went under the table that is below the border, all 388 00:23:14,520 --> 00:23:17,720 Speaker 1: the way to Mexico, where samples of ed Leffler's urine 389 00:23:17,760 --> 00:23:22,200 Speaker 1: were sent. Neurotransmitters were extracted from that urine and then 390 00:23:22,240 --> 00:23:25,400 Speaker 1: sent back in tiny vials. The idea was that you'd 391 00:23:25,400 --> 00:23:28,240 Speaker 1: shoot up those tiny miracle vials directly into your muscles 392 00:23:28,680 --> 00:23:32,720 Speaker 1: and the healing would begin, which, according to Sammy, is 393 00:23:32,760 --> 00:23:37,360 Speaker 1: what Leffler did. Sammy even did it along with him whackado. 394 00:23:38,280 --> 00:23:42,719 Speaker 1: I don't know, but desperate times, you know. Ultimately, however, 395 00:23:43,080 --> 00:23:47,000 Speaker 1: neurotransmitter extracted urine was no match for the Big Sea. 396 00:23:48,200 --> 00:23:52,680 Speaker 1: In the fall of ninety three, ed Leffler was dead. Suddenly, 397 00:23:52,720 --> 00:23:55,880 Speaker 1: the layer of protection that Leffler once provided, both internally 398 00:23:55,920 --> 00:23:59,080 Speaker 1: amongst band members and from the external forces beating down 399 00:23:59,080 --> 00:24:04,359 Speaker 1: on them was gone. The wheels slowly began to come off, 400 00:24:04,960 --> 00:24:07,760 Speaker 1: but not before Eddie van Halen's hair came off first. 401 00:24:08,920 --> 00:24:12,000 Speaker 1: Eddie was sad about ed Leffler's death. He was pissed, 402 00:24:12,000 --> 00:24:15,200 Speaker 1: and he was frustrated too. He was overwhelmed by everyone 403 00:24:15,200 --> 00:24:17,560 Speaker 1: who wanted a piece, and offended by the human behavior 404 00:24:17,560 --> 00:24:20,680 Speaker 1: that his dead manager had so fiercely shielded him from. 405 00:24:21,160 --> 00:24:23,399 Speaker 1: The wine bottle in his hand was just about empty, 406 00:24:23,880 --> 00:24:25,439 Speaker 1: and he brought it to his lips and put the 407 00:24:25,480 --> 00:24:28,880 Speaker 1: thing out of its misery. His own misery was just beginning. 408 00:24:29,480 --> 00:24:32,720 Speaker 1: He walked into the bathroom, grabbed an electric razor, and 409 00:24:32,800 --> 00:24:35,440 Speaker 1: shaved his head till every strand of his trademark long 410 00:24:35,520 --> 00:24:38,720 Speaker 1: hair was on the floor. He stared at himself and 411 00:24:38,760 --> 00:24:42,000 Speaker 1: tried to understand. He didn't know why he'd just done that, 412 00:24:43,240 --> 00:24:45,359 Speaker 1: but the more he looked at himself, the more he 413 00:24:45,440 --> 00:24:48,840 Speaker 1: saw his bald head as a clean slate, a fresh start. 414 00:24:49,680 --> 00:24:52,960 Speaker 1: He quit drinking, just like his brother Alex had done 415 00:24:52,960 --> 00:24:56,600 Speaker 1: some years earlier, with the help of rehab. Eddie didn't 416 00:24:56,640 --> 00:24:58,840 Speaker 1: do it that way. He just put his mind to it. 417 00:24:59,359 --> 00:25:02,600 Speaker 1: Some zenboos, this type stuff, salvation coming from within, and 418 00:25:02,760 --> 00:25:06,320 Speaker 1: all that being sober as a total mind fuck. He 419 00:25:06,359 --> 00:25:08,720 Speaker 1: had relied on alcohol for so long as part of 420 00:25:08,720 --> 00:25:11,199 Speaker 1: his playing, as part of his work of how he 421 00:25:11,280 --> 00:25:15,639 Speaker 1: served his Lord. The music booze lowered his inhibitions, which 422 00:25:15,920 --> 00:25:17,879 Speaker 1: in his mind allowed him to attempt things he never 423 00:25:17,920 --> 00:25:21,399 Speaker 1: would have attempted had he been straight. Now he no 424 00:25:21,480 --> 00:25:25,199 Speaker 1: longer felt comfortable in his own skin. In fact, he 425 00:25:25,280 --> 00:25:28,840 Speaker 1: was noticing just how much he hurt. His hips were 426 00:25:28,960 --> 00:25:32,200 Speaker 1: killing him and Van Halen called their nineteen ninety five 427 00:25:32,280 --> 00:25:36,440 Speaker 1: tour behind their tenth album Balance the Ambulance Tour, because 428 00:25:36,520 --> 00:25:39,200 Speaker 1: Eddie was getting around with a cane and Alex was 429 00:25:39,240 --> 00:25:41,080 Speaker 1: wearing a neck brace so that he could play through 430 00:25:41,119 --> 00:25:44,920 Speaker 1: three ruptured discs in his vertebrae. It was on this tour, 431 00:25:45,240 --> 00:25:48,200 Speaker 1: in April of nineteen ninety five that Eddie van Halen 432 00:25:48,200 --> 00:25:51,119 Speaker 1: found himself racing through the Burbank Airport to catch a 433 00:25:51,119 --> 00:25:54,520 Speaker 1: flight down to a show in San Diego. The carry 434 00:25:54,520 --> 00:25:57,520 Speaker 1: on bag was gripped tight in his hand. He habbled 435 00:25:57,520 --> 00:26:01,080 Speaker 1: his way to security, those bad hips screaming at him, 436 00:26:01,119 --> 00:26:04,520 Speaker 1: just burning it. Wasn't accustomed to running from terminal to 437 00:26:04,600 --> 00:26:07,439 Speaker 1: terminal on his own like this. He was used to 438 00:26:07,480 --> 00:26:10,359 Speaker 1: a charmed life of private jets, even if he claimed 439 00:26:10,359 --> 00:26:13,080 Speaker 1: to reject all that rockstar bullshit that came along with it, 440 00:26:13,880 --> 00:26:15,800 Speaker 1: that he was no rock star. He was just a 441 00:26:15,800 --> 00:26:18,600 Speaker 1: regular rold guitar player and this is just a regular 442 00:26:18,640 --> 00:26:21,440 Speaker 1: role commercial flight that he was about to board. So 443 00:26:21,560 --> 00:26:24,240 Speaker 1: he handed that regular carry on bag to an airport's 444 00:26:24,240 --> 00:26:27,880 Speaker 1: security officer, and the officer on zipped it and looked inside. 445 00:26:28,440 --> 00:26:32,359 Speaker 1: His eyes went wide, like there's something very very wrong 446 00:26:32,400 --> 00:26:35,640 Speaker 1: here wide. He turned his gaze from the open bag 447 00:26:35,680 --> 00:26:39,119 Speaker 1: to Eddie and then back again, and this gave Eddie pause. 448 00:26:39,880 --> 00:26:42,399 Speaker 1: Eddie began to freak. His stomach was in his throat, 449 00:26:42,600 --> 00:26:44,880 Speaker 1: and the officer stuck his hand inside the bag and then, 450 00:26:45,040 --> 00:26:49,800 Speaker 1: very slowly, very carefully, he pulled out Eddie van Halen's 451 00:26:49,880 --> 00:26:57,879 Speaker 1: loaded BURRETTA. One week later, Eddie stood before Judge, rocking 452 00:26:57,920 --> 00:27:00,679 Speaker 1: that regular guy charm, explaining how the twenty five caliber 453 00:27:00,680 --> 00:27:04,000 Speaker 1: gun was something he'd initially bought for protection. You get 454 00:27:04,080 --> 00:27:07,800 Speaker 1: it right, judge, You've got a family right. A judge 455 00:27:07,800 --> 00:27:10,040 Speaker 1: has got to understand better than most that the world 456 00:27:10,080 --> 00:27:12,200 Speaker 1: is full of freaks and weirdos, all of them moving 457 00:27:12,200 --> 00:27:15,040 Speaker 1: in ways the rest of us can't comprehend. And when 458 00:27:15,160 --> 00:27:18,080 Speaker 1: Eddie van Halen is moving, moving through space and time 459 00:27:18,160 --> 00:27:21,240 Speaker 1: from one town to the next on tour, he regularly 460 00:27:21,240 --> 00:27:24,400 Speaker 1: brings that same piece of protection with him. The beretta 461 00:27:24,480 --> 00:27:27,800 Speaker 1: is second nature, just like one of his guitars. The 462 00:27:27,880 --> 00:27:31,760 Speaker 1: thing is, he normally travels on private flights where he 463 00:27:31,800 --> 00:27:32,959 Speaker 1: gets to make the rules. 464 00:27:33,720 --> 00:27:34,800 Speaker 2: This whole thing is just a. 465 00:27:34,720 --> 00:27:39,720 Speaker 1: Simple, stupid mistake. Eddie copped the plea a thousand dollars fine, 466 00:27:40,119 --> 00:27:45,840 Speaker 1: one year probation, barely a crime. The bigger crime, in 467 00:27:45,960 --> 00:27:48,960 Speaker 1: Eddie's eyes was whatever Sammy was trying to pull. And 468 00:27:49,000 --> 00:27:50,920 Speaker 1: I'm not talking about that messed down in Mexico and 469 00:27:51,000 --> 00:27:53,840 Speaker 1: Kabo Wabo, the club Sammy had built with the investment 470 00:27:53,880 --> 00:27:56,359 Speaker 1: help of his Van Hallen bandmates, the one that got 471 00:27:56,400 --> 00:27:58,520 Speaker 1: them a ton of MTV airtime but was starting to 472 00:27:58,520 --> 00:28:01,880 Speaker 1: feel like an albatross around their necks. I'm talking about 473 00:28:01,880 --> 00:28:04,399 Speaker 1: the Greatest Hits album Sammy was assembling in order to 474 00:28:04,400 --> 00:28:08,080 Speaker 1: pay for his divorce, a collection of solo greatest hits, 475 00:28:08,119 --> 00:28:11,520 Speaker 1: which whatever you do, you Sammy, But he was tacking 476 00:28:11,520 --> 00:28:14,359 Speaker 1: on two brand new songs to squeeze Moss to narrow 477 00:28:14,400 --> 00:28:17,080 Speaker 1: from the record company, and not just any two songs, 478 00:28:17,080 --> 00:28:20,679 Speaker 1: but two songs he had workshopped with Van Halen. The 479 00:28:20,800 --> 00:28:25,159 Speaker 1: fuck was up with that, Sammy, Hagar, Eddie and Alex 480 00:28:25,200 --> 00:28:28,560 Speaker 1: were operating songs booze, But they were also operating without 481 00:28:28,560 --> 00:28:31,679 Speaker 1: the usual smoke screen of Ed Leffler. So instead of 482 00:28:31,720 --> 00:28:33,719 Speaker 1: this whole thing being a simple means to an end, 483 00:28:34,119 --> 00:28:36,880 Speaker 1: a project which frankly the less ed he knew about 484 00:28:36,880 --> 00:28:39,920 Speaker 1: the better instead all that it looked to Eddie and 485 00:28:39,960 --> 00:28:42,120 Speaker 1: Alex like Sammy was about to big time them the 486 00:28:42,160 --> 00:28:45,920 Speaker 1: way they thought David Lee Roth once had Sammy prioritizing 487 00:28:45,960 --> 00:28:48,640 Speaker 1: his solo career and not giving his all to the band. 488 00:28:48,960 --> 00:28:52,280 Speaker 1: The band was the thing, The band was it, The 489 00:28:52,280 --> 00:28:56,120 Speaker 1: band was family. In the eyes of Eddie van Halen, 490 00:28:56,640 --> 00:29:00,440 Speaker 1: Sammy Hagar was clearly going against that family, against that code, 491 00:29:00,800 --> 00:29:04,560 Speaker 1: the code of honor, discipline, the morality. And if a 492 00:29:04,560 --> 00:29:07,640 Speaker 1: man doesn't have a family, doesn't have a code, then 493 00:29:07,720 --> 00:29:34,520 Speaker 1: what does he even have. In the eighteen seventies, the 494 00:29:34,520 --> 00:29:37,760 Speaker 1: modern era had arrived in Japan, and the samurai suddenly 495 00:29:37,840 --> 00:29:42,960 Speaker 1: found themselves obsolete. By eighteen seventy six, even carrying a 496 00:29:43,000 --> 00:29:47,080 Speaker 1: sword was illegal. Some of the country's most respected warriors 497 00:29:47,120 --> 00:29:51,760 Speaker 1: became beggars. Others assimilated into modern society and found callings 498 00:29:51,800 --> 00:29:56,360 Speaker 1: as merchants or farmers. Well over one hundred years later, 499 00:29:56,520 --> 00:30:00,280 Speaker 1: across the Pacific, in California, the modern era found Van 500 00:30:00,360 --> 00:30:03,000 Speaker 1: Halen trying to make sense of his place inside of it. 501 00:30:03,880 --> 00:30:07,160 Speaker 1: His Samurai von hairstyle echoed into the distant past as 502 00:30:07,160 --> 00:30:11,000 Speaker 1: he rode upon his faithful steed, an old military assault vehicle, 503 00:30:11,360 --> 00:30:13,840 Speaker 1: leaving Beverly Hills in the house of Fred Durst for 504 00:30:13,920 --> 00:30:17,080 Speaker 1: more regular guy pastures back in the valley, back to 505 00:30:17,120 --> 00:30:21,360 Speaker 1: where he belonged. Reunited with his gear, he then reunited 506 00:30:21,360 --> 00:30:25,760 Speaker 1: the band with Sammy Hagar, which didn't last, just as 507 00:30:25,760 --> 00:30:28,880 Speaker 1: the two reunions with David Lee Roth didn't last. The 508 00:30:28,960 --> 00:30:32,040 Speaker 1: Van Halen timeline, perhaps more than that of any other 509 00:30:32,160 --> 00:30:34,680 Speaker 1: rock band in history, is full of this kind of 510 00:30:34,680 --> 00:30:39,040 Speaker 1: confounding musical chairs. Even Eddie's sun Wolfgame eventually replaced Michael 511 00:30:39,080 --> 00:30:43,760 Speaker 1: Anthony on bass. Keeping it all straight is beside the point. Besides, 512 00:30:44,120 --> 00:30:47,040 Speaker 1: Eddie van Halen didn't do timelines. Maybe it was two 513 00:30:47,080 --> 00:30:49,200 Speaker 1: thousand and one, but to Eddie he was still nineteen 514 00:30:49,280 --> 00:30:51,400 Speaker 1: seventy eight in his heart, in nineteen eighty six in 515 00:30:51,440 --> 00:30:55,440 Speaker 1: his mind. Who knows if the year twenty twenty actually 516 00:30:55,480 --> 00:30:59,120 Speaker 1: felt like twenty twenty. To Eddie Van Halen, he was 517 00:30:59,160 --> 00:31:02,600 Speaker 1: sixty five, no longer wearing his hair like the samurai, 518 00:31:03,280 --> 00:31:06,120 Speaker 1: but his fate remained tied to those warriors of old. 519 00:31:06,920 --> 00:31:10,400 Speaker 1: Eddie's kind was now the antiquated one, the innovator, who 520 00:31:10,440 --> 00:31:12,760 Speaker 1: did what he had to because he had no other choice, 521 00:31:13,040 --> 00:31:19,160 Speaker 1: no means, only an unquenchable creative drive. Now in twenty twenty, 522 00:31:19,520 --> 00:31:23,800 Speaker 1: there was nothing but choices, cheat guitars, kind of decent 523 00:31:23,840 --> 00:31:26,320 Speaker 1: I guess available at the click of a button, free 524 00:31:26,400 --> 00:31:29,480 Speaker 1: apps on which you could record your own songs, the 525 00:31:29,520 --> 00:31:33,000 Speaker 1: world's music library from all of human existence on your phone. 526 00:31:33,680 --> 00:31:35,600 Speaker 1: There was even a video game which you held a 527 00:31:35,600 --> 00:31:38,160 Speaker 1: piece of plastic in your hands and you were the 528 00:31:38,160 --> 00:31:44,680 Speaker 1: guitar hero. Eddie van Halen was a dying breed, and dying, 529 00:31:44,720 --> 00:31:47,560 Speaker 1: by the way, was part of the whole deal. You 530 00:31:47,640 --> 00:31:50,880 Speaker 1: live by your code, you serve your lord, which for 531 00:31:51,080 --> 00:31:54,880 Speaker 1: Eddie was the music, even if it kills you. And 532 00:31:55,000 --> 00:32:00,400 Speaker 1: death was coming for him first to try to strike 533 00:32:00,480 --> 00:32:03,000 Speaker 1: him in his tongue, part of which was removed to 534 00:32:03,000 --> 00:32:07,080 Speaker 1: cut out the cancer. Eddie went into experimental mode. Just 535 00:32:07,120 --> 00:32:09,320 Speaker 1: like years ago. He experimented on the edge of his 536 00:32:09,360 --> 00:32:12,280 Speaker 1: bed with his Frankenstrat and a six pack of Schlitz Talls, 537 00:32:13,120 --> 00:32:16,680 Speaker 1: Only this time the experiments were medical. In a two 538 00:32:16,720 --> 00:32:19,680 Speaker 1: thousand and six interview with Howard Stern, Eddie revealed that 539 00:32:19,720 --> 00:32:22,560 Speaker 1: he'd secretly started a pathology lab in Long Island with 540 00:32:22,600 --> 00:32:24,959 Speaker 1: a doctor, then that through that lab he'd beaten his 541 00:32:24,960 --> 00:32:27,960 Speaker 1: tongue cancer, but that he couldn't reveal exactly how he'd 542 00:32:27,960 --> 00:32:30,720 Speaker 1: beat it because by doing so, he'd piss off Big 543 00:32:30,720 --> 00:32:34,920 Speaker 1: Pharma and maybe go to jail. Which sounds crazy to 544 00:32:35,000 --> 00:32:36,720 Speaker 1: some of you, I know, But a few years later, 545 00:32:36,880 --> 00:32:39,440 Speaker 1: Sammy Hagar and his memoir wrote that what Eddie had 546 00:32:39,480 --> 00:32:41,680 Speaker 1: done was to take a piece of his tongue, a 547 00:32:41,720 --> 00:32:45,040 Speaker 1: healthy piece, liquefy it, and then inject it back into 548 00:32:45,080 --> 00:32:48,840 Speaker 1: his body. If this sounds like the failed ed Leffler 549 00:32:48,880 --> 00:32:52,440 Speaker 1: fix all over again, you're not wrong. But did Eddie 550 00:32:52,480 --> 00:32:56,480 Speaker 1: van Halen's fix actually work? Eddie thought so, at least 551 00:32:56,480 --> 00:32:58,960 Speaker 1: for the moment, at least until the cancer came back 552 00:32:59,040 --> 00:33:04,440 Speaker 1: later strong, in this time fatal, despite the chemo he received, 553 00:33:04,760 --> 00:33:06,920 Speaker 1: and also despite the fact that he was using again 554 00:33:07,360 --> 00:33:11,320 Speaker 1: not just alcohol but drugs. He was also convinced that 555 00:33:11,360 --> 00:33:13,800 Speaker 1: the cancer came not from the enormous amount of cigarettes 556 00:33:13,800 --> 00:33:16,280 Speaker 1: he smoked throughout his life, but from the metal guitar 557 00:33:16,360 --> 00:33:18,600 Speaker 1: picks he would hold in his mouth whenever he needed 558 00:33:18,640 --> 00:33:22,440 Speaker 1: both hands free to exhibit his two handed tapping technique. 559 00:33:22,560 --> 00:33:25,240 Speaker 1: I'm not saying that Eddie van Halen thought he was superhuman, 560 00:33:25,280 --> 00:33:28,479 Speaker 1: though to many of us he certainly seemed so. But 561 00:33:28,520 --> 00:33:31,680 Speaker 1: from a very young age he pursued alternative methods when 562 00:33:31,680 --> 00:33:35,000 Speaker 1: it came to overcoming obstacles. A guy who has to 563 00:33:35,040 --> 00:33:38,320 Speaker 1: create his own guitar, create his own style is going 564 00:33:38,400 --> 00:33:40,440 Speaker 1: to be the same guy who creates his own cure 565 00:33:40,480 --> 00:33:44,440 Speaker 1: when he's staring down a fatal disease. But Eddie van 566 00:33:44,480 --> 00:33:47,960 Speaker 1: Halen was no doctor. He was a guitar player who 567 00:33:48,040 --> 00:33:51,760 Speaker 1: was incapable of any other profession, Just a regular guy 568 00:33:52,160 --> 00:33:56,680 Speaker 1: trying to stay in music's good graces. Tom Jake Brennan 569 00:33:57,320 --> 00:34:01,200 Speaker 1: in this is Disgraceland. 570 00:34:13,280 --> 00:34:14,960 Speaker 2: All right, hope you dug this episode. 571 00:34:15,000 --> 00:34:18,320 Speaker 1: Apple podcast listeners, make sure you have auto downloads turned 572 00:34:18,360 --> 00:34:20,799 Speaker 1: on so you never miss an episode of Disgraceland. This 573 00:34:20,840 --> 00:34:24,400 Speaker 1: week's question of the week is not easy. Which four 574 00:34:24,440 --> 00:34:28,080 Speaker 1: guitar players belong on the Mount rushmore of guitar playing. 575 00:34:28,360 --> 00:34:29,960 Speaker 1: It's Eddie van Halen, that's for sure? 576 00:34:30,200 --> 00:34:30,360 Speaker 2: Is it? 577 00:34:30,400 --> 00:34:32,239 Speaker 1: All? Dudes? Are there? Any women? Does clap to make 578 00:34:32,280 --> 00:34:35,040 Speaker 1: the cut? All I know is Eddie is on it. 579 00:34:35,120 --> 00:34:37,480 Speaker 1: Hit me up voicemail Tech six one seven nine oh 580 00:34:37,520 --> 00:34:39,680 Speaker 1: six six sixty three eight and let me know. I 581 00:34:39,719 --> 00:34:42,640 Speaker 1: can also be reached on Instagram, Facebook, and x at 582 00:34:42,680 --> 00:34:45,759 Speaker 1: disgracelam pod and disgrace lampod at gmail dot com. 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