In celebration of Sammy Hagar’s birthday today, veteran rock journalist Jas Obrecht is sharing with the VHND a rare 1987 interview with Sammy and Eddie Van Halen!
This is the first of a two-part in-depth interview as Jas explains:
This is the first part of my July 14, 1987, joint interview with Eddie Van Halen and Sammy Hagar. The afternoon of the interview, Eddie, his wife Verlie Bertinelli, and I traveled by limousine from a hotel to Sammy’s spacious home in Mill Valley, California, where Eddie, Sammy, and I sat down on his patio and had this conversation. By then Sammy had already sang on Van Halen’s chart-topping “5150” album, he’d completed a major tour with the band, and he’d just released his self-titled solo album.
Eddie had co-produced the album with Sammy, and we began our interview by talking about how Eddie came to play bass on Sammy’s record, which has since been re-released as “I Never Said Goodbye.” From there, we delved into many aspects of their collaborations, both on Sammy’s album and in the band Van Halen. At more than 80 minutes, this would be one of the most in-depth and revealing interviews they’d do together. Portions of it were transcribed for my October 1987 cover story for Guitar Player magazine.
I hope you enjoy this unique recording, and be sure to check out the many other historic Van Halen interviews on the Talking Guitar YouTube channel. To help us continue producing podcasts, please hit that donate button: https://paypal.me/TalkingGuitar. Thanks to engineer/producer Nik Hunt for enhancing the sound of the 36-year-old master tape. For dozens more guitar-intensive podcasts, interview transcripts, and articles, visit Talking Guitar magazine at https://jasobrecht.substack.com/.
– Jas Obrecht
Listen To Sammy Hagar’s “Eagles Fly” Featuring Eddie Van Halen On Bass