Here’s a five-part Chickenfoot update as of February 7th:

1) READER’s POLL WINNERS:
Chickenfoot won “Best New Talent” in the 16th annual Guitar World Reader’s Poll Results, published in the March 2010 issue.

2) NEW ALBUM UPDATE:
Classic Rock magazine got an update from chickenfoot’s manager, who dispelled a silly rumor and told them Chickenfoot will start recording their second album in April:

Rumour Of The Week: Hagar To Join Aerosmith
gbarton / News / 05/02/2010 12:50pm

Is Sammy Hagar going to replace Steven Tyler as Aerosmith’s frontman?

Earlier this week Classic Rock heard the news that the Chickenfoot (and former Montrose/Van Halen) singer had agreed to sing with the Boston band on a forthcoming world tour.

A source told us:

“The idea is for Sammy and Aerosmith to rake in big bucks on the road while leaving Steven Tyler to sort out his problems. Then Tyler would return to the band in a couple of years’ time.”

Hagar, we reckon, is one of the few singers who could handle Tyler’s scat singing style and idiosyncratic lyrics. So the story made a strange kind of sense.

We contacted Hagar’s manager, John Carter, and told him we had it on good authority that Sammy was joining Aerosmith.

Carter reponded: “Good authority must mean The Enquirer because his Led Zep gig conflicts with the Aerosmith job.

“Seriously, Sam is very happy to be going into the studio with Chickenfoot to start the second album in April.”

The Aerosmith camp declined to comment.

3) LIVE DVD UPDATE:
Joe Satriani was interviewed at the VOX booth during the NAMM 2010 show and said that Chickenfoot’s upcoming DVD will be released in sometime in April and will contain at least one hour of really cool bonus features in addition to the live concert filmed in Tempe, Arizona last year.

4) MICHAEL ANTHONY VIDEO INTERVIEW with LICK LIBRARY at NAMM (click here)

5) MASHUP VIDEO:
‘Foot fan Curtis Lanclos created a mashup video using Chickenfoot’s song “Get It Up” and Larry Platt’s American Idol audition performance of “Pants on the Ground:

Check out the official CHICKENFOOT merchandise

WolfgangsVault.com has a soundboard recording of an entire 1978 Sammy Hagar concert from Winterland (San Francisco). You can click the PLAY button to hear the first track (”Urban Guerilla/Red”) or click “Play entire concert”

Bill Church - bass
Alan Fitzgerald - keyboards
Sammy Hagar - vocals
Jimmy Lyon - guitar (guest on 12-13)
Eddie Money - horns, vocals (guest on 12-13)
Gary Pihl - guitar
Chuck Ruff - drums
Neal Schon - guitar (guest on 11-13)

Song List:

Urban Guerilla / Red
Rock ‘n’ Roll Weekend
Make It Last / Reckless
Free Money
I’ve Done Evrything For You
This Planet’s On Fire
Turn Up The Music
Bad Motor Scooter
Little Star / Space Staion No. 5
Cruisin’ and Boozin’
Rock Candy

This headlining gig by Sammy Hagar comes a few years after concluding his tenure in Montrose. At the end of a tour opening for Alvin Lee and Ten Years Later, the “Red Rocker” got to headline this Winterland gig, which was the Tenth Anniversary celebration of KSJO, the San Jose-based FM radio station that, at that time, had a hard rock format. A native West Coaster (he was born in Monterey), he seems genuinely excited to be playing to such a large crowd: “This is the loudest goddam audience I ever heard in my life!” he exclaims at one point.

An epic opening jam showcases the group’s live chops before launching into “Red,” a signature Hagar cut, and a set of rousing, beer-fueled rockers with a couple of ballads (namely, “Free Money” and “Little Star”). “Bad Motor Scooter,” a song that Hagar wrote while frontman for Montrose in the early ’70s, is the 17-minute centerpiece of the show, featuring ample guitar and keyboard solos, as well as spoken words of encouragement to his audience to get excited. Excited they would be: This show featured some famous guests, one of whom had never played with Hagar before. For “Rock Candy”, guitarist Neal Schon of Journey came to the stage, and laid down fiery leads for the set’s final three tracks. Although this was their first show together, Hagar and Schon would later collaborate as part of the short-lived HSAS (Hagar Schon Aaronson Shrieve, which also featured bassist Kenny Aaronson and drummer Michael Shrieve). Then, for “Gimme Some Lovin,’” Eddie Money and his guitarist, Jimmy Lyon, joined Hagar’s ensemble onstage, bringing affairs to a whole new level. This show was also the second-ever performance of “Free Money” following their show shortly prior at the Concord Pavilion.

Hagar points out in the introduction to “I’ve Done Everything for You” that he was releasing a live album that had recently been recorded at Winterland, All Night Long, which would come out later that year. He would become a bigger star in the years to come, scoring a major solo hit in 1984 with “I Can’t Drive 55″ and taking over as the singer in Van Halen following David Lee Roth’s departure in 1985. Although it’s doubtful that a song like “Cruisin’ and Boozin’” could ever be a hit today, Hagar continues to play sold-out shows with the Waboritas, and runs a successful tequila brand and restaurant chain, Cabo Wabo.

“Feel Your Love Tonight” & “Loss Of Control” guitar tracks, and “Panama” backing track for guitar, which means all you hear is Drums, Bass, Vocals (and unfortunately the audience singing along from the Guitar Hero game).

This is the earliest know recording of Eddie Van Halen playing guitar. He is basically noodling and working out ideas. Recorded at home (in his parent’s house) in 1974, when he was only 19 years old! The genesis of “Somebody Get Me A Doctor” and other great ideas.

The guitar playing ends at 7:16, and then you can hear a short recording of David, Eddie and Michael hanging out in a hotel talking to one or more girls.

A new Van Halen guitar tablature book has just been released -

30 Classics from the Legendary Guitar God
Price: $24.95

This book contains authentic TAB transcriptions of Eddie Van Halen’s legendary guitar work.

Titles:
Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love
And the Cradle Will Rock . . .
Atomic Punk
Beautiful Girls
Cathedral
Dance the Night Away
Eruption
Everybody Wants Some
Feel Your Love Tonight
Hang ‘Em High
Hear About It Later
Hot for Teacher
Ice Cream Man
I’m the One
Intruder
Jamie’s Cryin’
Jump
Little Guitars
Little Guitars (Intro)
Loss of Control
Mean Street
Panama
(Oh) Pretty Woman
Romeo Delight
Runnin’ with the Devil
So This Is Love?
Somebody Get Me a Doctor
Spanish Fly
Unchained
You Really Got Me

In stock now at Van Halen Store

File this under “Humor” (Or Attempted Humor, at least):

A bloodthirsty roasted turkey, Turk, and mild-mannered midwestern man, Jim, comprise an unlikely duo. Episode 5 - Van Halen.

From MTV:

Band names are difficult. Some of them are naturally iconic and sound instantly classic, like U2, Led Zeppelin or Black Sabbath. Others sound legendary only because the bands transcended them (yesterday, Chris Jericho pointed out that Audioslave really doesn’t work without those particular band members, and is there really a sillier band name than the Beatles?). Still others never quite get there (no matter how many records they sold or big-time shows they headlined, Limp Bizkit will always sound kind of dumb; same goes for you, Stone Temple Pilots). When Eddie Van Halen and his brother Alex got together to form a band, they luckily didn’t have to look past their surname for any further inspiration. Sure, there was a bit of ego in it, but David Lee Roth always liked to point out that “Van Halen” also sounded like some sort of hydrogen bomb, which was appropriate for the group’s brand of explosive, stadium-filling metal that made them the biggest band in the world for a few years.

Eddie Van Halen turns 55 years old today, and he’s really just moving into the prime of his life. His band is back together (featuring original singer Roth and son Wolfgang Van Halen on bass), he just got married to longtime girlfriend Janie Liszewski last year, the truly amazing “Guitar Hero: Van Halen” was recently released and supposedly the reunited group is going to have a go at new music following their ultra-successful tour. Like Hendrix and Clapton before him, Van Halen’s guitar playing completely redefined what could be done with the instrument (just listen to all the different sounds he is able to make on “Eruption,” from the band’s self-titled 1978 debut). He also made it cool for serious rock bands to dabble in keyboards (there’s no better synthesizer jam on the planet than “Jump”). But he mainly trafficked in big molten slabs of riffage, like the line on “Unchained,” one of the group’s signature shout-alongs.

“Unchained” video will play after an advertisement: