VAN HALEN NEWS DESK

John Mayer covers “Panama”

July 16, 2008 33 Comments

Here’s a Van Halen cover for ya – John Mayer, July 13th, Columbia, MD.

Filed Under: Van Halen

theREALchris

I’ll give it to the singer….he sounds better than Dave! Although I can’t stand Mayer, it is nice to see him try and immitate someone else other than Dave Matthews for once.
Dan

that guitar player moves around that stage just like eddie haha.
L.A.

John Mayer is such a dufous!!!! He’s bouncing around the stage like the jackass that he is. Why he’s made it big is beyond me, his music is so boring that’s why he’s playing some Van Halen. Which he can’t even do………. Yuck
kyle thompson

I want whatever the REALchris is smoking if he thinks that sounds better than Dave.. OK we get it you hate Dave and love crap like Love Walks In and Finish What you started.
RossG

The singer is named David Ryan Harris, and he is an fantastic singer, songwriter, and guitarist in his own right (www.davidryanharris.com). I was amazed to see this cover and see that John was letting David take the lead vocals, but was not surprised at all to hear how well David did with the task.
http://VHND Jimmy

Eddie Van Halen started a school, and nobody has graduated…Certainly not Mr. Mayer, but hey man it looks like it pumped up the crowd.
Rob

OK…….first of all, I was not a John Mayer fan at all, but if you listen to the Trio, you will see that he has all of the makings of a guitar legend. He covers Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughan chops as well as ANYONE right now. Remember, great guitarists always copy who preceded them and then end up having some uniqueness to their style. Check out his new DVD and you’ll see what I mean. He will go down as doing something special for the blues when it’s all said and done…..JUST like Eric Clapton. Keep in mind, Clapton put out a bunch of poppy crap to go along with his great guitar playing. Fellas…..it’s just not worth comparing Mayer and Van Halen…..they are totally different and great for different reasons leaving all personal taste aside.
R.S. Frothingham

Although Mayer is a fine guitarist, mentioning his name and Clapton’s in the same sentence is a bit of a stretch. I do appreciate when guitar players try different things and branch out a bit – shows a side we usually don’t see. That said, I thought he did a nice job playing Panama. Much much better than the tone-deaf hacksaw job he attempted for the solo in Fall Out Boy’s ” Beat It “…
charlie

It was nice to see Van Halen be covered by another act just goes to show how hard it is to cover the Mighty Van Halen even in thier fifties they still do it better than most young acts!!
http://VHND Jimmy

I’m not dogging him, i was actually surprised when i saw the footage. He did just fine. Maybe him and Eddie played sometime during or after that magazine cover shoot. Maybe Eddie inspired him.
J.N.

Sounds like any other cover band doing, “Panama”. This type of music isn’t exactly Mayer’s forte, but he did fine. They’re just having fun. Mayer is a monster on guitar…love the Trio album.
http://www.magnesiumjake.com Magnesium Jake

Mayer did O.K but that just goes to show how great of a guitarist Edward really is. It is one thing to play the notes, which Mayer pretty much did, but it is an entirely different thing to get them to sound the way Eddie does. I almost like Mayer at times but then I hear “Your Body Is A Wonderland” and lose that idea immediately—
Brian

He might play guitar, but He’s no guitar player. You Tube
has better talant than that playing VAN-HALEN.
Brian

My bad. talent
DTrain

John Mayer is such a tool. I’ve never seen a guitar player try so hard. John quit trying to be something you obviously are not, an ok musician. It will never happen.
Davet

Who the heck is john mayer!
rddrum

let’s not confuse our not liking the guys music w/john having no “talent”…if there is any question as to the guy’s “talent”, we should ask herbie hancock, steve jordan, pino paladino or the countless others that he’s worked with what they think–unless, of course, you think that these guys couldn’t spot talent if it bit them in the arse…
Gary

I think that John is a cool guy. He has his own style so he can’t play exactly like Ed (but who can?). Anyway, he took time out of his schedule to learn the song so that he can perform it live (weather you think he did a good job or not). He obviously is a fan just like the rest of us.
theREALchris

HAHAHAHA!!!! Usually what I’m smoking is top notch. If you were here, you’d be welcome to it!! I just wanted to give the Pro Dave nuts something to nibble on. OBVIOUSLY Dave is better than the guy here. And what’s wrong with Finish What Ya Started? And you don’t like songs about Aliens?
Vinny

Come on guys! Give Mayer a chance and try to listen to different styles, it helps sometimes. Eddie is Eddie, Jimi is Jimi, Jimmy is Jimmy, Stevie is Stevie… and so on…what is it with people’s comments always proclaiming this guitarist is BETTER than this one?

It’s not all about speed and distortion. I love VH, AC/DC, Metallica etc but I also like the more recent stuff John has made. It’s bluesy and his live album in trio is what made me try to open my mind and give him a chance. Then I saw him on the crossroad shows on DVD, and this guy has the feeling, the vibe and the passion, whatever you say.

I think he’s got a very good future.

And as for this cover, in my opinion it sucks. The singer is off key and out of breath many times. Dave has never been the best singer out there, but on the last tour, he sang better than 20 yrs ago. Just listen to bootlegs and watch videos on You Tube you’ll see what I’m talking about. 90% of his act was jumping and posing. He skipped many lyrics, and personnaly it annoys me when a singer does this.

I really hope VH will give us a new good studio album. We need new music from them! The World needs more HARD ROCK. The music scene needs more REAL guitarists!

Those pseudo punk rock zit kid bands need to go forever!
theREALchris

I thought Mayer was awesome on the Chappele show when they did the test to see how different ethnicities reacted to electric guitar. Funny!! Like I said before though, can’t stand his radio material. Since I don’t like that, I don’t want to buy his other stuff. And vinny you’re right as rain. Has anybody had the displeasure of hearing the latest crap fest band cover Beat It? Unfortunately the “guitarist” tries to solo. Eddie, please bring us some new material!!!!!
someone sue him

THAT SUUUUUUUUUUUUUKED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
pskibobby

although mayer isnt (and will never be)as good as eddie, u have to give an appreciation to the art as a whole.
geno

needs to stick with banging jenifer aniston insteed of trying to bang out vh tunes
Paul

For all of you Mayer haters, I want you to know that this 47 year old front rower for the earliest of Van Halen shows in 1978 is a HUGE John Mayer fan. It’s all about the musicianship in my diversified musical world. PERIOD. Anyone can listen to the same shit every day. Boring.
Chris

That was pretty weak. Bad singing and sloppy guitar.

He’s even wearing Eddie’s stage outfit.

It cracks me up how people say things like “Dave has never been the greatest singer.”

If you define great singers as people who have a unique voice and have made an impact on popular music, DLR certainly qualifies as a great singer, and an important artist. Guys that say he can’t sing seem to narrowly define a good singer as people with high screeching voices. They probably think Sinatra sucks.
Brandon Moss

I’m really really biting my tongue about this. Being the die-hard Van Halen Fan that I have been since I was a little kid (just like everyone else here I’m sure), Mayer should have cranked up the gain on his guitar for this song. Why the crap is he playing so clean for such a bitchin’ song?! Vocals were great though. I won’t say I am displeased at the effort but… is anyone else with me when I ask “John, if you like this type of music why don’t you tell the music execs above you that you want to play real rock and no more of the chicky-crap that gets stuffed down everyone’s throats?”
DIAMOND STEW

dAVE IS AN ALWAYS WILL BE THE GREATEST SINGER ON THE pLANET THIS VIDEO BITES! nOT EVEN A hAIR ON DAVE’S B_ _ _ S !
DTrain

When it comes to taste in music the youth of today couldn’t find it if they fell out of a boat and landed in it. This same audience fuels the entertainment industry.

It’s not a question of these guys spotting talent, as it is having the brains to spot a good business opportunity. Let’s not forget that herbie hancock, steve jordan, pino paladino are in the business to sell records. If they can influence a younger audience by occasionally playing with someone like John Mayer who has the following he does, why not?

He’s written a couple catchy tunes, the girls like him and he dates high-profile celbrities who are constantly in the tabloids. Follow the money people.

Is it just me or does that John Mayer song “Waiting for the World to Change” sound a lot like Sexually Healing by Marvin Gaye? …When I get that feeling I want sexual Healing…
iain5150

quit yer bitchin everybody at least he’s playin, if you got a problem with him playin put up a video of you doin your job so we can scrutinize you. and lets see how well you deal with everyone being judgemental about your performence. otherwise suck it let the kid play.
tmac5150

Reiterating previous posts, let’s quite yer bitchin’, everyone. Gettin’ self-righteousness out o’ the way:

(1) I luv Dave for his presence + showmanship;
(2) I luv Sam for his musicianship and vocal abilities;
(3) I luv Gary for his contributions to Extreme;
(4) I *like* John Mayer for his SRV-laden guitar contributions;
(5) Who !!!HASN’T!!! dreamed of covering “Panama” and getting laid infinite times for doing so, goodonya, John Mayer, even if ‘ya do look like an idiot with your sandal-wearin’, light-pants-laden, although-appreciated-Paul-Reed-Smith-playin’ @$$?

Seriously, think of (5).
Fred Tubbs

I like peanut butter and honey.
John

He Tried. I agree with many that hes a musician. I’m not even going to compare him to Eddie. This was no good. Singer was ok, but the guitar was sloppy and the solo was a joke. The worst solo has got to be beat it with fallout boy. That was the worst. He did entertain the audience and gets to go home to Jennifer Anniston. Not bad.