Unreleased Van Halen instrumental; “Ripley”

September 21, 2010 131 Comments

UPDATE: We just learned that Alex Van Halen is indeed playing the drums on “Ripley.” That is one of the few tunes from the “Wild Life” sessions that had Alex playing…most of the others were Ed programming a LINN DRUM machine!

“The Wild Life” movie score is legendary to Van Halen fans, as Eddie Van Halen wrote the score for the movie (Universal Pictures, 1984). “The Wild Life” stars Chris Penn and was the first script Cameron Crowe wrote after the success of “Fast Times At Ridgemont High” and is a typical ’80′s comedy and is somewhat of a “Fast Times” clone. The movie was only released on VHS – never on DVD, unfortunately.

The film has an official soundtrack, but it contains only one song by Eddie Van Halen, “Donut City” (3:57). So “Donut City” is the only officially released complete track for the movie that was written by Edward Van Halen.

But sharp-eared VH fans will recognize unreleased music from Eddie interspersed several times throughout the film. Portions of early versions of “Right Now,” “Good Enough,” “Feels So Good,” “A.F.U. (Naturally Wired),” and “Strung Out” can be heard throughout the film. In addition, the synthesized backdrop music for David Lee Roth’s “Tai Chi Solo” on the 1984 tour also made its debut in this film. Die hard VH fans have re-watched the movie for years just to hear the bits of EVH genius throughout. The movie’s score is one of the best kept secrets in rock music. The songs were recorded and mixed at 5150 by Donn Landee and Ken Deane. Eddie Van Halen on guitar and bass and Alex Van Halen on drums.

Presented here is a compete song from the movie score which has never circulated before now. Eddie played it on a Ripley guitar and the song is rumored to be called “Ripley.” It’s a wonderful piece of music and is about the closest thing to “new” Van Halen music that we’ve had in a long time. Enjoy!

Filed Under: Eddie Van Halen, Van Halen

Ron H

Sounds like Big Al on drums even though the article says Ed played all instruments. Must have been tracked during the 1984 recording. The drums sound exactly the same. Really glad to hear this!
IleneVHRocks

Makes me feel like a kid again. Love this stuff! Thanks for getting on the web site! This however makes me want more, more, more……
Darth Hater

It’s classic VH!!!! Minus Dave. But pretty cool that this is what Ed, Mike and Al would give to Dave to “finish”. Friggin’ AWESOME. Darth Hater like very much.
Mike V.

80′s EVH. Guaranteed you won’t hear this on any new album.
shawn

this is obviously just eddie noodling around. nothing particularly “amazing” about this.

i have no doubt eddie loathes some of this stuff. there are some seeds of future hits in the film as mentioned. very cool.

what about unreleased stuff from back to the future? i wanna hear more of that crazy space music.
WHAT?!

YEEESSSSSSSS!!! Finally!! I’ve searched for this track for years!
D.O.A.

I thought Diver Down as soon as I heard this. I liked a couple of the other “likenesses” pointed out earlier. I can hear a touch of Deja Vu and BOBW with Dave.

EJ..c’mon. Don’t be silly. I have as much respect for EVH as the next guy, but feel like your post is just absurd. We’re talking about a rhythm track here.
Outta Love Again

I’m pretty sure part of this plays at the end of the movie…this could be Ed or Al on drums; listen to Crossing Over as they each play on that track, Ed on one side of the mix, Al on the other.
Jim

This piece is part of what Ed and Donn Landee recorded at 5150 sometime in 1984, probably January 1984.
Liam

Wow — what a sweet song…I agree, Eddie is overlooked as a rhythm guitarist; I guess that’s a downside of being such a first-rate shredder! Can’t wait for new Halen in 2011!!
Jor-L5150

agreed.
THIS is what box-sets are for.
but knowing van halen, a box set would just be greatest hits AGAIN! YAY!
knipper

Awesome, renews one hope that there will be new stuff coming….they should throw some words over this piece and call it “Ripley” (believe it or not) a punn for actually putting out new tunes after so long
bsc

Listening to that I actually think some of the writing on VHIII had this kinda flavor to it. Reminds me so much of The Unreleased song off VH III “That’s why I love you” .. Which is a Great song IMO that def should have been on VH 3.. God I miss Eddie.. Most creative Rock songwriter of all time.
http://esp@yahoo.com alberto

Its too bad eddie has waisted so much talented and time !
Wolfgang76

Jesper, Yes it is Ed and Al on that tape. If I remember correctly I read that the director of Back to The Future ask the VH brothers to just jam. They did and the few seconds you hear on the movie is all us fans ever got to hear.
Robert

There’s nothing wrong with this track, but it doesn’t do much for me. Kind of sounds like filler or a working copy of something that could have been something greater with more time and input/effort. I’m not trying to slam it — and it is great to hear “new” music from VH — but this track is a little boring to me.

Sure wish they would put out a box set of rare gems.
EJ

DOA- My comment may be a little one sided but my opinion is that this piece has so many textures and flavors and great rythym and melody all packed into 3 minutes. His effects are very minimal, all the cool sound he gets are from the way he picks. Satriani and Vai are great, but I get bored listening to them after a while. I can honestly say there is not 1 piece of music that Eddie has ever written that I have totally disliked.
Just like a lot of the comments on this section, this leaves you wanting to hear more, which makes him brialliant. Guys like Satriani and Vai, I’m done after about 10 minutes.
The Booger Man

This tune doesn’t even NEED lyrics or even a solo, it just holds up perfectly on it’s own. Actually I think it would ruin the cool vibe on it.
http://reverbnation.com/colbybransonforrester colby

I have been looking for the song that was in the movie when Chris Penn gets caught looking in his girlfriend’s window. The track is also in Back to the Future when Marty pretends to be Darth Vader to his Dad!! Can anybody help me…..do you know what I am talking about?
bgibson72

Definitely NOT the song during the credits. That was more of a keyboard tune, unless they changed it. It’s played after Jim blows up the statue at the school. All you get is the first minute or so of the track, so this is VH gold!

If you have the movie on Laser Disc, for the love of God, get it into digital format on your PC and upload it to the torrent sites! PLEASE!!

Can’t wait to get home and download it to mp3…
Chester

How can this website keep releasing all these cool tibits, but we can’t get an “official” release from Van Halen? I remember after the Balance ablum, Sammy mentioned a song they wrote that was supposed to be their “Stairway.” Boy what a missed opportunity this has been for the fans. We definitely would be more tolerant of the delay between albums if we at least had some unreleased back tracks or B-sides from previous sessions. Eddie has never been big on that because he feels that they did not make the ablum for a reason. When you’re starving, even a saltine cracker tastes good!
jb

What a beautiful piece of music. Nobody can hit the strings like ed,he truly has a magic touch.Ed is A true origonal while joe satriani though a great player is not. Keep in mind folks that this instumental is 3 years before joes album surfing with the alien.After listening to this Im begining to wonder if we would have ever heard him if it werent for ed.
Ron R.

HELL YES!! VAN HALEN MUSIC TOUCHES THE SOUL
phillster

Pure Magic.
I can hear Diamond Dave skreeching&squeeling
over it right now with somekinda voodoo/secrets lyrics.lol
As far as”Sammy vs.DAVE”?
Everyone`s a winner with music like this.
This is what makes us”eternal cheerleaders”for these dudes.
I`ve had this tune burned into my head for the last 26yrs.
I needed this.
thank-you VHND.
MooseJaw

Hey it’s a crosss between Eric Johnson and Steve Vai.
http://none 12beerstogo

I’m with ya EJ.Thanks for havin’ the sack to tell the truth.
Van Foot

EJ,

You obviously haven’t listened to much Satch or Vai. No need to bring on the hate or comparisons, Van Halen, much like Satch or Vai, stand by themselves very well on their own.
Matt ( from Mass )

Too bad Eddie doesn’t think a lot of his unreleased stuff is worth releasing.

C’mon Ed, Give us (fans) a Break!
Fear of a Sparkless Horizon

Right on Chester. Plus, Ed should take a cue from a fellow musician he respected, Frank Zappa. Frank hated all of the bootleg stuff floating around that was HIS music someone else was profitting from. He cleaned up the recordings and officially (fanatics love official things) released them on either his own label or Ryko or something. A. That let some of the air out of the bootleggers tires B. His fans were thrilled and C. He made coin! C’mon Ed. You can DO eeet!!
Tater Salad

Andy: amen! I agree 150% haha
EJ: when I read yor first post, I thought, geez this guy’s bitter! But after seeing your second post, I gotta agree with you. I can listen to a couple Satriani and Vai albums at a time, but I could listen to EVH all day long(and night too for that matter)!
Dude: Aint that the truth! I don’t listen to a lot of artists today just for that reason.
http://heavymellowmusic.com johnny beane

@colby

Yes i know the music you are talking about.
I have the movie on vhs but don’t remember when that scene takes place in the film?
Jeff

Man, I can (and did, and will) listen to this over and over again…

@EJ, I’m with the crowd that says, “Make your comment but leave other people’s [other] favorite musicians out of it.”
http://vhnd Mr. Jimmy

Colby, I know what your talking about…I only know of it on Back to the Future and Wild Life, however I do know those drums sound like Alex. That is an awesome instrumental.
EJ

Tater Salad: I agree that the original post came across as bitter but it wasn’t supposed to be. I will say one thing- I’m sure he could care less but I get tired of Sammy Hagar recently saying how much better Satriani is than Eddie. Sam’s still taking shot’s at Eddie. But anyway who cares. Ted Templeman even said it a while back: “Ed has the ability to not show you all of his cards.” But I wasn’t trying to knock anyone else, I just do think Eddie is just better than everyone else.
PeteP

Great tune. Everyone thinks of Ed as a riffing and tapping guitarist but this tune shows just what a great rhythm player he is also. This brought a smile to my face.
anythingleftinthatbottle

I always loved this sound when he used it. You hear it in ‘Little Guitars’,'Top Jimmy’,'Girl Gone Bad’, etc. I play guitar and have always tried to use (rip off) this sound. It’s somewhere between clean and dirty. He’s got a lot of overdrive on a clean patch, I think. Or at least thats how I do it. Love the sound. Those of you who don’t particularly like this; it’s probably cause it’s not layered with vocals and other guitar tracks. I enjoyed it. Thanx VHND!
KenHalen

What i`m thinking now is that his hand is healed and the honeymoon`s outta the way,will there be more of this to come.Man i sure hope so!!!!
Herb

Sorry EJ…wrong! He hasn’t and doesn’t say Satch is better. In fact, he constantly gives credit to Ed for being one of the greatest guitarists the world has ever known.

I do admit to liking your second post explaining your first about that tiny piece of Ed’s work being better than ANYTHING Vai or Satch has done. That was on the fanatical side of things to say.
EJ

Herb, Yes he does! He has said it on more than 1 occasion. He has stated that on articles posted on this website. He has said Satch is the best guitarist he has ever played with. I will find an article and post it!
EJ

Herb, here is 1 example taken from an article on VHND:

How do Joe and Eddie Van Halen differ in their approach to the guitar and in their approach to songwriting?

As a writer, Joe is faster. That makes him easier for me to work with, because I come up with things really fast as well. As soon as I hear a chord structure, I have a melody, instantly. And then five seconds later I’m writing lyrics. Working with Joe is great. If I say to him, “Hey, let’s do something funky,” next thing I know he’s saying, “How about this?” It’s like, bang, he’s done. Whereas with Eddie, he would come back a week later and want to re-do something.

But that said, working with Eddie was great, and we wrote great songs together. The Van-Hagar stuff still holds up fantastically well, but it was a slow process. It took three years to write the For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge album. And when I tried to do the Van-Hagar reunion, in 2004, and we were trying to make a new record, Eddie could only squeeze three songs out. He’s just not as prolific, and not as fast. So that’s the difference between them as far as writing.

As far as playing goes, they’re both phenomenal. The innovations Eddie came up with in early Van Halen — before I was in the band – were just so unique, he gets lots of points for that. But as just a straight-up player, who can play anything, and plays perfect every time, there’s no one better than Joe.
YesEye812

EJ: What the hell is Sammy supposed to say? Eddie’s the best? So, at a Chickenfoot show, you want Sammy to say Eddie’s better than Joe? You DO realize how irrational that sounds, right?

Besides, Eddie might not even be the SECOND best guitarist Sammy has played with.

Here’s the list, in no particular order:
Montrose
Schon
Slash
Van Halen
Satriani

ALL of them EXCEPT Eddie are still active. Yet, you want support for Eddie.

All of Van Halen’s problems are Eddie’s fault. Period.
EJ

Eddie might not even be the second best guitarist Sammy has worked with? That is about as irrational a statement as they get.
Herb

OK..and what the hell is your point? You intimated that Sam’s denegrating Ed.

According to that article, it supports exactly what I said about you being flat out wrong.

I’m not getting behind what YesEye812 says, but it sure sounds to me that for right now, Joe is the “best” for where he is today. So what?

He clearly gives credit to Ed for being an innovator and straight up great, great player.
D.O.A.

EJ..you’re a little blinded by your “fandom” of Ed. He is one of the greatest, acknowledge in the article you copied. C’mon man, it’s ok for someone to love where they are today, while CLEARLY paying homage to where they’ve been.
http://www.guitaristnation.com Todd

Ahhh, new music from VH at last, I like it. Now, I’m going to close my eyes and pretend it’s 1984 or 2020 … not sure yet.
charlie

I always figured this was Al on drums. Its too much like him and his cymbals. I love this riff, it is SO quintessential So Cal Eddie. It sounds sunshine-y. Id like to see it show up on the new record with Dave.
D.O.A.

Tru dat, Charlie!
tony

this track was recorded in 1983 then was put out on the wild life soundtrack.plus if you watch the movie he scores the whole movie.you want the movie not the soundtrack.the soundtrack only has donut city on it.saw this movie back in the day in theatre that shows you how old i am.but it sounded awesome.
http://reverbnation.com/colbybransonforrester colby

Johnny Bean and Mr. Jimmy

thanks guys for the reply! In back to the future its when he puts the headphones on his Dad in the bedroom. In Wildlife its near the beginning when Chris Penn gets thrown down out of his girlfriends bedroom window….and takes off in his car. Does any one know where I can get it!! I’ll have to go 5150 myself and dig through his reel to reels if I have too. I loved that jam!!! Thanks guys 5150!!
http://heavymellowmusic.com johnny beane

@colby

You mean a studio version like the track above?
We would all love to have that.

The film is filled with EVH gems.