I’ll start this off by saying Van Halen is probably my favorite band of all time. I’ll follow that up by saying that I’m one of the rare few that thinks Van Halen was a FAR superior band with Sammy Hagar in it than when David Lee Roth was the front man. With that housekeeping out of the way…
No pun intended, but this book rocks. RED: My Uncensored Life In Rock is just that… uncensored. If you’re a Sammy fan as I am you’ve probably already picked this one up but I’m here to tell you that if you haven’t you absolutely should. Sam talks about everything here from his childhood (which was actually pretty brutal), drug use (which was extensive), banging roadies (which was more extensive), his family, his business ventures and his musical career.
Naturally, Sammy spends quite a bit of time here on his time in (and out of) Van Halen. Sam pulls no punches here talking about drug use, personal lives and alcohol abuse. If Eddie and Alex didn’t like Sammy before you can be pretty sure that they’re going to hate him now. At times it was almost like Sam was going out of his way to disparage the Van Halen brothers. I tend to think that Sam’s right but there were a couple of times when I went, “Wow… that was uncalled for.”
One thing you’ll learn very quickly is that Sammy is genuine. He is who he is and that’s probably why I enjoy his work so much. He’s an incredible lyricist and I don’t care what anyone says, I think he’s a better front man than Dave ever was. If you’re looking for some insight into the man that is known simply as “The Red Rocker” than this is the book for you. Pick up your copy at Amazon here.
Great book, indeed! And you’re right, he certainly didn’t pull any punches against the VH brothers. Don’t see a reunion any time in the near future…