Sammy Hagar Stimulated By Chickenfoot
Some info on the future of Chickenfoot, from Billboard.com:
May 26, 2009 12:46 PM ET
John Benson, Cleveland
Tired of the tequila-friendly party shows that he’s been performing for the last 13 years with his post-Van Halen solo band The Waboritas, Sammy Hagar tells Billboard.com his decision to form Chickenfoot with guitarist Joe Satriani, former Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony and Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith was a challenge he desired as an artist.
“I just got to a point where I felt I needed to grow,” Hagar says. “I was feeling stuck and stagnant. And the whole party thing I created, I just got tired of doing that. You need to eat and feed yourself in order to grow and the best way to do it for me is to start new projects, and I don’t want to call this band a project because we’re a band. It’s just getting together with other people for new input that stimulates and inspires you to become better. That’s all there is to it.”
After making its debut at a February 2008 solo Hagar show in Las Vegas, Chickenfoot songwriters Hagar and Satriani started working in earnest last October. The band then reconvened earlier this year to record its self-titled debut effort, which is due out June 9 on Redline Entertainment.
“I don’t think I could have written a record this good by myself in 100 years,” Hagar says. “And by getting together with Joe, I think we wrote some amazing songs. It’s funny he’s in the same place as me. He’s tired of being a solo artist. We’re all on the same page so much in this band it’s scary. And we want to take this thing worldwide. We need to take this to everyone who loves this kind of music. I really think it’s Montrose, Van Halen and the thing Chad brings is a deep pocket. He plays this groove that is kind of Zeppelin-esque. We’re really coming from everywhere.”
Currently finishing up its debut mini-tour playing clubs, Chickenfoot is set to make its national television debut on during the first week of Conan O’Brien’s “Tonight Show” on Friday June 5. The band then starts looking ahead to a month-long European jaunt beginning June 20 in Austria before returning stateside for a full North American run slated for August and September. Hagar says the group will then take a break while Smith returns to the Chili Peppers to presumably work on recording that band’s next studio effort. Chickenfoot may get back together in early 2010 for an Australian tour with another American leg as well.
While the current outing finds the band playing its debut effort in its entirety, along with unreleased new track “Bitten By The Wolf” and covers such as Montrose’s “Bad Motor Scooter” and Deep Purple’s “Highway Star,” Hagar hints the band isn’t adverse to loosening up its set list in the future to include material from the members’ star-studded resumes.
“At some point, I think it will be the next album project and tour when we have more songs under our belt, we’ll deconstruct Chickenfoot,” Hagar says. “So it’ll be a little bit of Joe, a little bit of Sammy, a little bit of Van Halen and maybe a little bit of the Chilis. That’ll be a wonderful thing down the road when we’re in an arena and doing ‘An evening with,’ but right now we really want to play all of the new songs. And right now we’re paying almost two hours, so it’s crazy. It’s awesome.”
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May 28th, 2009 at 1:32 am
Uh oh now its time for the “artist” to become profound. Wait a minute, weren’t we all just having so much fun right now? I’m getting confused with all this construction-deconstruction.
May 28th, 2009 at 1:39 am
Let’s change VHND to Chickenfoot News Desk, CFND.com!
May 28th, 2009 at 2:30 am
You really are bizarre bunch. Why read this stuff if it bugs you so much? Just sit back, relax and wait for some VH news.
May 28th, 2009 at 3:06 am
and wait…………..and wait…………….and wait some more. The same old same old. Blah blah blah.
I’m just stoked that Australia gets a mention for a tour. I’d be all over that.
May 28th, 2009 at 3:22 am
Hey Rick, get over it ok. If you don’t like it don’t read any of it. You’re just opening yourself up to attacks from those who are for this new project. I don’t see what posting negative comments are going to get you except ridicule. When VH has something to add to the news desk then feel free to add your two cents. Until then give it a rest, we know how you feel and don’t really care one way or the other. Peace!
May 28th, 2009 at 5:49 am
Rick, another excellent point. I don’t understand how Sammy can get tired of “The Party Thing” he created as that is all he is about and these lyrics just further amplify the point. This fool is a one-trick pony and that is why he is no longer in VH. Funny thing is dumbass’s like SCAR are going to read this and say “Wait a minute, Sammy don’t be tired of the party thing you created because it validated my lifestyle of smokin’ dope all day and hanging out in my PJ’s at my mom’s house, and you know livin’ the life!! You mean that is not cool now????”
The sad thing here is the more I listen to this Chickenfoot stuff I am left liking the music, particularly the drums, and I can actually hear Mike now—and he isn’t bad! So I feel sorry for Joe, Chad, and Mikey that their fearless leader, Bette Midler, is letting them down because they have chops. Take this crap tune “Sexy Little Thing”. The drums are stellar and the guitar part is very cool and laid back, then comes in Bozo the clown singin’ like a cross between a very bad Kenny Chesney and DLR. He just sucks now—–
May 28th, 2009 at 7:06 am
I agree that no one has to read it, but it’s just a little frustrating seeing a bunch of chickenfoot stuff… that’s all.
May 28th, 2009 at 7:20 am
Hey Chief Rick of the Fun Police - don’t forget to set your DVR for June 5th 1135pm. Oh by the way, you are confused, as confused as a blind lesbian in a fish market!!!!
May 28th, 2009 at 8:07 am
Hey Mr Rick…Don’t think so hard-besides Its just Rock~n~Roll. oh Blah Di Oh Blah Da…or B-b-b-b-b-b-b-baaaad….B-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-baaaad, Bad To the bone! Good times….leave saving the world to Bono and Bob Geldof.
May 28th, 2009 at 8:46 am
wait a minute… are you saying that smoking dope and hanging out at my mom’s house in pj’s is a bad thing?
May 28th, 2009 at 9:23 am
Jake must be the Fun Police Commissioner!!!
May 28th, 2009 at 9:38 am
“I was feeling stuck and stagnant. And the whole party thing I created, I just got tired of doing that.”
So far that’s all he’s doing now.
May 28th, 2009 at 10:11 am
I agree that no one has to read it, but it’s just a little frustrating seeing a bunch of chickenfoot stuff… that’s all.
May 28th, 2009 at 11:03 am
Sammy wants to grow as an artist with song titles such as Sexy Little Thing, Get it Up, etc. These are the words of a 15-year old. It takes ZERO thought and artistry to come up with this banal crap.
May 28th, 2009 at 12:06 pm
I really can’t think of any Hammy lyrics that are any good- well, I guess if you like immature and pedestrian stuff, then maybe his stuff is so-so. Definitively not a stand out front-man in any aspect.
May 28th, 2009 at 12:09 pm
Sammy and Michael are just as much Van Halen as Ed, Al, and Dave! I want to know what is going on with all of them not just Ed, Al, and Dave. All of it is relevant… If we had to wait for VH news then they would just use smoke signals every eight years or so…
May 28th, 2009 at 12:35 pm
Sheesh… MORE “Sammy’s lyrics are crap!” comments.
I just don’t understand.
Rock N’ Roll ain’t about winning Pulitzer Prizes.
Man.
May 28th, 2009 at 1:13 pm
Again,
Panama ha ha ha ho ho Panama! That’s some poetry there.
Sammy didn’t write that gem.
May 28th, 2009 at 1:19 pm
I can’t believe most of the posts about chickenfoot. Most of you guys posting are pathetic losers. Get a Frickn Life!!!!!!!!!!!! Chickenfoot Rocks!!!!!
May 28th, 2009 at 1:22 pm
“”At some point, I think it will be the next album project and tour when we have more songs under our belt, we’ll deconstruct Chickenfoot,” Hagar says. “So it’ll be a little bit of Joe, a little bit of Sammy, a little bit of Van Halen and maybe a little bit of the Chilis.” (…)
A little bit of Sammy…
Well, Sammy, why don´t “a litlle bit of Michael Anthony”???
A “little bit of Van Halen”??? Or..Van Hagar??
If you want something about Van Halen, you got to call Eddie, David and Alex…
You better think before you talk man…
Now this is the chickenfoot news desk…
Sad, sad…
May 28th, 2009 at 1:42 pm
“I don’t think I could have written a record this good by myself in 100 years,” Hagar says.
…and you never will Sammy so keep on wearing that “55″ t-shirt buddy.
EVH where are you!
May 28th, 2009 at 2:47 pm
Where’s Eddie? I’m sure he’s doing just fine. I love the guy, but if he spend near as much time recording and actually releasing music as he does making over priced guitars, amps, and shoes, you’d have nothing to complain about. I hope Chickenfoot brings out a couple of VH tunes at some point. I’d like to hear Joe’s interpretations of EVH’s riffs.
I really do hope to hear some new VH music, but for now Chickenfoot is great.
May 28th, 2009 at 3:26 pm
Well maybe if there was ever any actual VH news to report it might actually be posted here.
May 28th, 2009 at 3:51 pm
To all those dumbasses who love to criticize the lyrics:
Van Halen’s biggest hit was “Jump”.
Can any of you maestros and virtuosos explain to me the deep meaning behind that song?
May 28th, 2009 at 5:46 pm
i agree ace5150,its rock and roll so how deep do ya want the lyrics anyways?rock is all about having that smoking guitarist.
May 28th, 2009 at 5:50 pm
I went and saw Crue fest and VH twice last year and i gotta say , all I see at concerts are armchair critics who stand there and critique everything Instead of having a GREAT time partying smoking , drinking and making out with strange women or the strange women they’re attached to. I guess all you critics probably look like Elvis Costello too ( most of you nerds probably wont get that reference ). Popping a cold one boys and it tastes almost as good as smiling….almost.
May 28th, 2009 at 5:54 pm
Luckyrabbit
Satch has made his entire career off of EVH’s riffs. All you have to do is use those rabbit ears of yours to hear it!
May 28th, 2009 at 7:29 pm
OK - I have not posted anything as of yet for a few reasons…
1. I have only heard the Chickenfoot songs that have been released on the internet
2. I like both era’s of Van Halen (Sam and Dave) even though I do tend to like “Hagar” better (flame away, but remember, he has actually released several albums since being fired/quitting VH)
The fact of the matter is that we can debate the “Which is better” debate until we’re blue in the face, but, in the end, there is no way to measure which version of Van Halen is better - it only depends on your personal tastes, not record sales, not lyrics. The whole debate is retarded and to the people on here who are bashing an act that is actually producing music - you need to get a life!
We can wait and wait and wait until Van Halen get’s off of their asses to produce another actual “album”, but the fact is that VHIII was the last VH Studio Album and it was released in 1998 (over 10 years ago for the math retards) and that album sucked.
That being said, VHIII was still the talk of the “net” in 1998 - at least in the Van Halen world, back when the VHND was a baby and we had something called the Van Halen Encyclopedia (not in book form) Webpage. Every little posting about VHIII and “how awesome it is” was absorbed and pondered over with great sincerity and dilligence. Everyone was so excited that EVH sang on a song (crap), and so much more praise was tossed around, back and forth, about that terrible effort. I think that most of us will agree today that VHIII is, in fact, total crap.
Don’t forget how “awesome” VH is with their fans because they arranged the “Meet and Greets” nationwide on the VHIII tour (I went to Cincinnati), but, in the end, it was all just a ploy to get people to come to the under-sold concert events.
Hagar performs free shows at several venues and seems to be a very charitable individual (set by example). He also seems to really value his fans - which seem to be something that VH (and especially EVH) has forgotten about. More importantly, Sammy hasn’t forgotten the importance of friendship - again, something that VH has forgotten the value of (for instance - kicking Michael Anthony out of a band that he helped to form and replacing him with a KID who wouldn’t even remember the last time VH released a really good album and furthermore, wasn’t even alive when DLR was in VH - ’nuff said)
For my own two cents, I’m just happy that someone is putting out some kind of music - it it happens to be Chickenfoot, then so be it. If it happens to be VH, I’ll probably buy that album as well. If you don’t like the way Hagar writes, then don’t buy the album. The fact that all of the nay-sayers actually have “something” to say about Chickenfoot, really can’t be ignored… there has to have been some kind of an interest piqued for a nay-sayer to actually listen to a new “Hagar” song.
I may not like it or it may be the best thing the VH camp has released since F.U.C.K. or Balance. Either way, I’m going to buy the album.
Dave
May 28th, 2009 at 7:50 pm
Just to be fair Dave . They may have listened but they don’t have to have liked it . Or they are frustrated at the VH camp for not posting any news . Just pointing that out not attacking your statement.
May 28th, 2009 at 7:55 pm
Well said Dave!
I love VH but they are not fan-friendly and Sammy is.
When Sammy was in VH he always tried to look out for the fans and it was always a sticking point between him and the brothers.
May 28th, 2009 at 8:29 pm
pushtoshove -
I totally agree with you.
It is your prerogative to not like any given piece of music, as long as it is heard with an opened mind. That, in my opinion, is what makes music so great.
Also, I can completely understand the frustration of not hearing VH news (good or bad), but, to be fair, I feel that Chickenfoot news is VH news, if only because it relates to news about Sam and Mike (both of whom were integral members of VH’s history).
My comments were directed at two different types of parties…
1. The people who are hating on Chickenfoot because we’re hearing mainly about Chickenfoot on the VHND and through many other reputable news outlets - as of this particular date in time.
2. The people who are hating on Hagar because they just can’t get over a feeling that DLR was/is (whichever you choose) better. The debate is moot because it is strictly up to personal taste - but, Hagar produces and DLR does not (as of now). However, that doesn’t negate the impact that DLR had with Van Halen - a once (probably never to be again, and hereunto to be referred to as moldy oldies) super power of the rock-n-roll world.
I’m certainly not mocking you, pushtoshove. Thank you for your input - it’s valuable.
=vh= / =sh= / (and now) =cf= (welcome to the family)
May 29th, 2009 at 7:38 am
I agree with you dave…I like the foot actually…like i said a couple of posts ago VH and CF are different trees in a different forrest.
May 29th, 2009 at 9:10 am
You 5150 cats seem to know what’s going down!
Word up!
May 29th, 2009 at 10:07 am
for all you cry babies whinning about all the chickenfoot news on this website check out the official van halen site for the current news, i think it is only 4 or 5 months old
May 29th, 2009 at 6:48 pm
I agree as well Dave!
I’ve been sick and tired of the same comments since this band was first reported to be a band.
All Sammy has done for music history is deliver music. This guy has been around since 1973 and still going strong. I for one love what I’m hearing and knew about it before the public. I’ve heard the whole album, it’s real good and it’s going to sell well.
The problem here is that the so called fans of Van Halen bash Sammy because he didn’t fail in Van Halen. Every song on every album was written by Sammy and Eddie as well as the music. If Eddie had a problem with it, why put it out?
The Roth heads wanted Sammy to fail because they felt Sammy stole Roth’s job. Well, Roth should’ve stayed and made music and not try to be a movie star or a solo artist.
Eddie was tired of Roth and his act and his lack of writing good songs. Debate it all day long, but Dave is not a musician and Sammy is. If Dave was a musician, he would’ve stayed and went with the keyboards that Eddie wanted to play on some albums. Roth didn’t mind that his favorite song Jump is all keyboards and went to #1.
To me, Chickenfoot is a dirty version of late 80’s rock but more polished in the sense of the musicians in the band. Joe’s guitar sounds gritty and nothing like how he usually sounds. Chad is solid and sounds nothing like the Peppers, and Mike is always solid and just does what he does best. Sammy at 62 sings better than he did 25 years ago.
The reason why everybody bashes this new music is because it reminds them of Van Halen and makes them sad that their band is in limbo as usual. It’s not Sammy or Chickenfoots fault that Van Halen doesn’t want to be a band anymore and make music.
It’s Van Halen’s fault and the sooner the fans realize that this band is to me done, the sooner these debates will end. I like all the clips and the insight. I like the music because it gives off a good vibe to just relax, have a cold one, shake your ass, and get some pussy!
The same way Van Halen made you feel from 1978-1996. If Van Halen went back and just listened to the fans and did what got them famous, they would be the center of attention again.
But the problem here is that EVERYBODY listens to all these tracks, then bashes them, and then complains it’s on the VHND all the time. Don’t read it, don’t listen to it, and certainly don’t comment on any of it. All your doing bashers is making all of us who dig Chickenfoot, knowing you like it too.
It’s okay to like Sammy and Chickenfoot. You liked Sammy in Van Halen and we all know it.
May 29th, 2009 at 11:55 pm
Bad publicity is all publicity none the less…
Anyone remember the little movie that grossed a little money entitled (and I’m not getting on a religious kick and I actually didn’t care for the movie - but the point is the same) “The Passion of the Christ”?
The Jewish community came out saying that the movie was antisemetic - and all that did was make more people want to see the movie - which contributed to the success of the project.
If the Jewish Community had just kept their mouths shut, the movie probably would have come through, making a little splash in the religious community, and then it would have been gone.
This entire conversation is kind-of like that movie because you so many VH fans “worship” the band so faithfully and they blindly follow the masses. Go ahead and worship a band that doesn’t exist anymore, and a guitarist who doesn’t produce anymore - all of that makes perfect sense. No one here will deny that EVH is arguably the best guitarist ever, and that VH was one of the best bands ever, but to “worship” a band and a musician (?) is a bit childish.
Perhaps EVH “inspired” you to learn guitar, or AVH “inspired” you to learn the drums - this is all good. Learning music, at any age, is a good thing. In that respect, perhaps EVH and the VH Camp actually did contribute something worthwhile to society other than just a few really good albums of music, but this incessant debating about something that can’t be proved, can’t be won, and won’t ever be determined, is just rediculous.
While I did (and I’ll admit it here) “worship” VH back in their heyday, I did find time to actually grow up, and then learn that idolizing a band just isn’t worth the effort - and now that I’m older, the process was actually well worth it.
Bash Sammy and Mike and Chickenfoot all you want (those of you) - it’ll just further validate that Sammy is still in the scene, and VH (which includes EVH) is not.
May 30th, 2009 at 6:10 am
:… and his lack of writing good songs.” Eh?
May 30th, 2009 at 11:55 pm
i think *the foot* as Sammy calls it, would be much better without Sammy. its like we cant see Mike do anything unless Sammy is around, come to think of it, has Mike ever done anything outside of VH and Hagar?
June 1st, 2009 at 12:10 am
What does it matter aarxn?
Has Eddie done anything without Alex?