Leave it to the author of ‘Van Halen Rising’ to dig up a never heard cool moment in VH’s sonic history.
Think you’ve already heard all VH’s club days recordings? Not this one.
“To say thank you for all of the pre-orders of author-signed copies of Van Halen Rising from the Van Halen Store, I have a special surprise for everyone on this VIP list: a super-rare Van Halen live performance dating from around 1976.
“Back in 1976, Van Halen used to play five 45-minute sets of cover songs at the Gazzarri’s nightclub on Hollywood’s Sunset Strip. Most of this material consisted of Top-40 tunes, things you’d hear on AM radio, with a few ZZ Top and Queen tunes thrown in for good measure. Heck, club owner Bill Gazzarri even had a policy that mandated that his bands play one disco song per set! Clearly, he was no fan of heavy metal.
“So you can imagine my surprise when I recently learned that late one night at Gazzarri’s, Van Halen actually played a Black Sabbath song for the crowd. And what a tune it is – “Tomorrow’s Dream,” from Sabbath’s 1972 LP Vol. 4. Check it out [the audio is embedded above].
“Once again, thank you for all of the support of my forthcoming book.
“I so appreciate all of the shares on social media – when you share this email message via Twitter, Facebook, or by forwarding it to a friend, it really helps me spread the word about a project that I’ve thrown my heart and soul into over the past few years.
Rock on . . . Greg” (Follow him on Twitter & Facebook)
More about ‘Van Halen Rising’:
‘VAN HALEN RISING’ is Coming! [Book description]
The ‘VAN HALEN RISING’ Manifesto [The author’s promise to readers]
Van Halen Rising: The VHND Review