Henry Rollins says he and David Lee Roth had plans to turn Roth’s 1997 book Crazy From The Heat autobiography into a spoken-word tour.
In a recent interview with The Hype Magazine‘s Darren Paltrowitz, Rollins talked about the ’97 collaboration that almost was with Roth, his thoughts on Roth’s “blazing intellect”, whether he thinks DLR is the greatest frontman of all time and more.
Here’s the excerpt:
Q: One of my favorite projects you were involved with was David Lee Roth’s Crazy From The Heat autobiography. Around that time there were reports of you “advising” Dave on a spoken word album or accompanying project. Any recollection of what happened with that one?
Henry Rollins: I worked with DLR closely on that project. At one point, he expressed interest in being onstage and telling stories from the book, I think. As I remember, I suggested that he have someone onstage with him to ask him questions that would prompt the stories. I think the record idea sprang from the fact that he did the book out loud onto tape. Almost 100 hours, which I have listened through three times.
The man has a blazing intellect. He is a multi-lingual, multi-disciplined self-starter. He is a voracious reader and student of history. Mark Twain meets Groucho Marx, who’s also a black belt. That’s DLR. The book came out and did really well. It’s a great read and only a fraction of what he put on tape. He’s had an eventful life.
Q: When I interviewed your old friend Kennedy, she told me a story of you two listening to The Jerky Boys and laughing hysterically, but Dave not finding it funny, feeling that the people on the phone with The Jerky Boys were not in on the joke. Is that a sign that we, the everyday people, don’t know a lot about David Lee Roth beyond the music?
Henry Rollins: I think he’s a warrior and in that, he wouldn’t dig someone being disadvantaged and made sport of. If he showed up to a sword fight and the other guy didn’t have a sword, DLR would wait for a sword to be brought in for the other guy and then commence. I don’t remember the story, but I’m not surprised he wasn’t into it.
Q: Last Roth question: Is he the greatest rock frontman of all time?
Henry Rollins: One of the many great things about music is that there’s a ton of room. DLR is one of the greats, absolutely. Along with Iggy Pop, Mick Jagger, Lux Interior, David Bowie, Perry Ferrell, etc.
Read the rest of Paltrowitz’s interview with Rollins at The Hype Magazine‘s official website HERE.
Paltrowitz is also the co-host of the The DLR Cast, which you can listen to HERE.