SAMMY HAGAR:

SAMMY HAGAR: "The New Album Is Not A Metal Record"




Classic Rock Revisited ( www.classicrockrevisited.com ) has issued an interview with SAMMY HAGAR, conducted by Jeb Wright. The following is an excerpt:

Q: The new album Livin’ It Up seems to be a perfectly titled album.

A: "It will make you feel good. If you wake up in the morning in a bad mood then just put the album on. If you wake up unmotivated and go, 'Man, I don’t feel like doing anything today', then by the third song you will be giving someone a call saying, 'Want to hit the beach?' It is really a feel-good record.

Q: The album causes some mixed feelings. On one hand you notice right away that this is not what we are used to from Sammy Hagar but on the other hand it is good stuff.

A: "It was not intentional. I don’t do many things intentionally anymore. I am like a one-dimensional bug. If you put me on a leaf and I get cold then I move toward the sun. I go through life like that and it is working for me.

The new album is not a metal record but, lyrically, it is a Sammy record. Musically, I have taken the metal out. I didn’t do it intentionally but there is just not much anger on this record. What do I have to be angry about? I am sitting on the beach in Cabo. If that pisses you off then you have got a problem. The record is strictly a Sammy record without the anger. When you are younger, you’re pissed off about the government and you’re pissed off about the world. You might feel like somebody is holding you down or telling you what to do. Nobody is holding me down or telling me what to do. I am not happy with the war but I don’t have a solution so I am not going to go yell and scream about it. My new philosophy of life is that if you can’t fix it then go out and have fun and have a good time until the right person comes along who can fix it."

Check out the complete interview here. http://www.classicrockrevisited.com/Interviews06/sammy2006.htm

SAMMY HAGAR - With DAVID LEE ROTH, VAN HALEN "Wrote Some Of The Greatest Songs In Rock History"


Melodicrock.com spoke to rock legend SAMMY HAGAR (VAN HALEN?) this week about a number of topics. A few excerpts from the chat follow:

On the legacy of Van Halen: "No question about it. My era…Dave era….all of it together it….you can't get much more rock n roll history than that. It's a shame that it is not functional anymore....I think Eddie is as innovative as Jimmy or anyone else and together we wrote some of the greatest songs in rock history and with Dave they wrote some of the greatest songs in rock history."

And on his relationship with Eddie Van Halen (Van Halen guitarist): "It's not any fun to be around Eddie, he's not a fun guy to be around. He's just really angry and I don't know why. He doesn't want to share the spotlight…he doesn't want to share the creativity anymore. He doesn't want to be a band; he wants to be a solo artist....You know, on that Gary Cherone (EXTREME) trip, he played drums on a few songs. C'mon! Fucking do a solo album! Not this when you have a drummer like Alex Van Halen. And he sang lead on a song. My God! Am I gonna let this guy sing? That'd be like me saying 'Eddie, I'm going to play lead guitar on that song instead of you.'"

On PLANET US: "Yeah, that could have been a great band, but as you well knew, I couldn't come out and say it at the time, but the Van Halen reunion was coming up and I couldn't have three bands! I didn't want to take these guys down that road and then leave them high and dry."

On JOURNEY: "They got big because they were so fucking good. They made such great songs. It wasn't because they were hit makers…they created those hits through just great musicianship and great songwriting. Neal (Schon - guitar) has never gotten his due and probably never will, but he's an awesome guitar player....Jeff's a great singer…Jeff's the real deal. Jeff's himself…he sings like Jeff Scott Soto. He doesn't sing like somebody else..."

On"MONTROSE" :To say I'm going to put Montrose back together and go out and do a major album and major tour – I can't do that. It was a great band…really really a great band. But I'm just so different from that now."

And finally...on Michael Anthony (Van Halen bassist): "So I forced Mike into the band and by doing that, they were really really not cool to Mike. And Mike is the greatest fucking guy on the planet...he's one of the greatest bass players on the planet… one of the greatest background vocalists on the planet and he's valuable."

The entire Sammy Hagar interview can be read here. http://www.melodicrock.com/interviews/sammyhagar.html

SAMMY HAGAR - "After The Last VAN HALEN Reunion, The Onstage Volume Was Enough To Make Somebody My Age Go, 'You Know What, I Can’t Handle This Anymore'"


FMQB Retro-Active's Ken Sharp spoke to SAMMY HAGAR (ex-VAN HALEN) recently about a number of topics including his new CD, Livin' It Up. A few excerpts from the chat follow:

FMQB Retro-Active: In recent years, your live shows (Sammy Hagar & The Cabos) have taken on a life of their own and become events ala shows by the GRATEFUL DEAD and PHISH.

Sammy Hagar: "I think I’ve grown into that and I don’t know how or why. I’ve never been influenced by The Dead or Phish or JIMMY BUFFET or those people that do the same thing. But I just fell into it myself. I’ve been friends with the guys in The Dead and have jammed with them two or three times. My shows go around the normal system. As long as I’ve been performing, if I was still doing a regular show and playing a specific set, I don’t think I could do it anymore. As a performer you have to grow in some way and change. The way I’ve grown is I’ve become more and more myself. I’ve been living in Cabo St. Lucas since 1983. The way you do it down there is I’m sitting in a bathing suit. You go down to the Cabo Wabo and get something to eat, and the next thing you know you’re onstage with no shoes and no shirt and wearin’ a bathing suit. And you’re going, "Hey, this is a gas!" (laughs) Eventually you start breaking down those barriers. I think I got brave enough to go out in front of 20,000 people in St. Louis the same way saying, 'I’m here but on a casual level.'

FMQB Retro-Active: Stylistically, your new CD, Livin’ It Up, shows off your versatility. It’s not just Hard Rock. There’s Country, there’s Blues, and there’s Roots Rock.

Sammy Hagar: "This record is not an experiment. It’s not something I thought over saying, 'I think I’ll do this or that.' When I went out on the last tour with Van Halen, I moved the studio from my house. I did my last three or four studio albums at my house since the Marching To Mars record. So I moved the studio out of my house and built a real professional studio. My band got in there and just started getting really great sounds. To make a long story short, when I came off the road with Van Halen I was a little frustrated to say the least. I just went into the studio with my band and I wrote songs and recorded them one at a time. I was strictly letting out exactly who I was, what I felt, what I liked to do. It’s like the manual for Sammy’s lifestyle. (laughs) It’s like, 'beach all day and dance all night.' It’s pretty much what the whole record’s all about.

The country side, the blues side, all of that stuff is totally my roots. If anything, throughout my whole career I’ve been distracted from my roots by the bands I’d been in. Long before I started MONTROSE I was in a hardcore funk band. We were playing songs by JAMES BROWN, OTIS REDDING, WILSON PICKETT and TOWER OF POWER. Then I joined Montrose and we were a heavy metal band, so I just began singing like that to fit within the heavy metal format. I loved that band and when I left Montrose I was still hanging onto that style a little bit. Then all of a sudden I’m in Van Halen. Van Halen was a pure Southern California metal band. As much as I loved being in those bands, I wasn’t being a phony and I was totally lovin’ what I was doing. It’s a blast playing music like that. But I can do a lot of other things. Also, after the last Van Halen reunion, the pure onstage volume alone was enough to make somebody my age go, "You know what, I can’t handle this anymore." (Laughs) I mean, why be onstage and wear ear plugs? Everybody in the band had ear plugs on except for me. I don’t like wearing ear plugs because I like to communicate with the audience and I like to hear what they’re doing and what the band’s doing. My band plays loud too, but if you’ve gotta wear ear plugs, turn down, you’re too loud. (laughs) It’s as simple as that."

To read the entire interview head to this location. http://fmqb.com/article.asp?id=115421

SAMMY HAGAR To Perform At Gibson Amphitheatre At Universal City Walk For KLOS' Red Rocktober Extravaganza

BW&BK has received the following press release:

WHO: Rock legend, entrepreneur, restaurateur, tequila connoisseur, and former VAN HALEN frontman SAMMY HAGAR. KLOS’ Mark & Brian and the winners of their cocktail waitress contest.

WHAT: Sammy Hagar will play one of the last shows on his cross-country summer Livin’ It Up Tour for KLOS’ “Red Rocktober” Extravaganza. In anticipation of the Extravaganza, Mark & Brian will hold an on-air contest to choose some of the hottest cocktail waitresses to serve them drinks while they’re up on stage.

WHERE: Gibson Amphitheatre at Universal City Walk - Universal City, CA 91608

WHEN: Friday, October 20, 2006 - 7:15 PM Doors Open, 8:15 PM Showtime

COMMENTS: Recently, Hagar released his fifteenth studio album on July 25, 2006 on Rhino Records. On the album, Livin’ It Up, Hagar sings about what he knows best– parties, beaches, and love. The album’s first two singles—'Let Me Take You There' and 'Sam I Am'—both spent more than two months at #1 on Classic Rock radio.

Livin’ It Up contains 11 new studio tracks featuring Hagar and The Wabos - drummer David Lauser, guitarist Vic Johnson, and bassist Mona. The album mixes eclectic styles that range from the hard-driving hits 'Sam I Am' and 'Mexico', to the roots rocker 'The Way We Live', and the country-rock ballad 'Halfway'. Livin' It Up also spotlights two covers - a boozy take on Bob Dylan’s 'Rainy Day Women' and country superstar Toby Keith’s hit 'I Love This Bar'.

Hagar’s obsession with life where the land ends and the party begins bubbles to the top on several tracks. Founder of Cabo Wabo - a premium tequila and a cantina in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico - Hagar sounds at home behind the bar mixing up a love potion on 'One Sip', a track he co-wrote with contemporary-country hitmaker Kenny Chesney.

Hagar is also wrapping a very successful cross-country summer Livin’ It Up Tour 2006 with The Wabos and sets with former Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony, completing over 40 performances in three months.

SAMMY HAGAR - "New Year's Eve Anyone?"


SAMMY HAGAR's official website has been updated with the following news:

"SAMMY AND THE WABO'S will be doing a New Year's Eve show at the Cabo Wabo Cantina in Cabo and unfortunately because it will be more of a dinner, champagne tequila all inclusive type of show we have to charge. We are working out the price and will post asap. And the other good news is we will be doing free shows on January 2, 3, 5 and possibly one more in that first week in January. On January 7 we have the band that Sammy hired for Kari's private birthday party at the Cabo Wabo, WONDERBREAD 5, Sammy's favorite party cover band will play on the 7th to the public. Go to their website and have a hoot. You know I'll be jamin with them. Are we having any fun yet?"

SAMMY HAGAR - Cabo Uno ~ Un Perfecto Tequila Due Spring 2007

According to SAMMY HAGAR's website, "Look out! The finest tequila ever made is soon heading across the border. Cabo Uno ~ Un Perfecto Tequila! Sammy Hagar’s Cabo Wabo Tequila Company is launching an Anejo Reserva in a crystal decanter packaged in a beautiful wood and leather box in Spring of 2007. Hagar's Cabo Wabo Tequila was brought to life in 1996 on the back roads of Guadalajara -el centro of the state of Jalisco, Mexico. Hagar linked with a small Mexican Tequila maker that had been in operation since 1937. It continues to be grown and hand made by a well-established tequila family with deep roots in the tequila fields of Jalisco. Hagar's website adds: "Cabo Wabo Tequila maintains its smooth, no after-burn flavor by sustaining its respect of the long-standing tequila traditions that made it the drink of choice of the wise and venerated mystics. We do not cut corners like other brands which legally mix up to 49% of fillers and still call their product "tequila" - Cabo Wabo Tequila is nothing less than 100% pure blue weber agave. Join the real, pure trip - drink Cabo Wabo Tequila and party as well as the mystics of the days of yore!"

SAMMY HAGAR Issues Birthday Bash Recap

SAMMY HAGAR has updated his website with a Birthday Bash Recap. Check it out at this location. http://www.redrocker.com/index.php?s=news_detail&id=122

Hagar recently issued the following "New Year's Eve" update:

""SAMMY AND THE WABO'S will be doing a New Year's Eve show at the Cabo Wabo Cantina in Cabo and unfortunately because it will be more of a dinner, champagne tequila all inclusive type of show we have to charge.

We are working out the price and will post asap.

And the other good news is we will be doing free shows on January 2nd, 3rd, 5th and possibly one more in that first week in January. On January 7th we have the band that Sammy hired for Kari's private birthday party at the Cabo Wabo, WONDERBREAD 5, Sammy's favorite party cover band will play on the 7th to the public. Go to their website and have a hoot. You know I'll be jamin with them. Are we having any fun yet?"

SAMMY HAGAR - Cabo Wabo And Emeril Lagasse’s Ultimate Birthday Celebration Goes For $210,000 In Charity Auction

SAMMY HAGAR, owner of Cabo Wabo Tequila, teamed up with close pal, Emeril Lagasse to auction off the Ultimate Birthday Celebration at Emeril’s annual bash, the Carnivale du Vin. The culinary event was held by the Emeril Lagasse Foundation to raise funds to benefit the children in the New Orleans area. This year’s sold-out event raised over $2.5 million for the charity, $1.6 million of which was garnered from a live auction filled with one-of-a-kind experiences.

On the top of everyone’s wish list was the Ultimate Birthday Celebration. The Cabo Wabo package included first-class travel to Cabo where the winner will join Emeril and his family at the gorgeous private home of Sammy and Kari Hagar, equipped with panoramic views of the beautiful Cabo beaches. While enjoying an exclusive “all access” evening, Emeril and Sammy will prepare the freshest local ingredients in Sammy’s home kitchen, where the winner will not only enjoy the finest wines from their personal collections, but be served rare samplings of Cabo Wabo Tequila. The party doesn’t stop there. The winner will then be whisked away to Sammy’s Cabo Wabo Cantina for a private concert. The winner – a New Orleans businessman who took home the Cabo Wabo prize package for a whopping $210,000, the highest bid of the evening.

Over 600 guests attended the event on Saturday, October 28 at the Hilton New Orleans Riverside. Guests of the event came from across the United States, with huge support from local New Orleans businesses, individuals and national sponsors.

SAMMY HAGAR - HDNet Broadcast To Air On December 3rd

SAMMY HAGAR's website has posted the following update:

"SAMMY HAGAR AND THE WABOS - Livin' It Up Live! - Caught live in St Louis on their sold out 2006 US tour, Sammy And The Wabos bring down the house with songs from their new album, Livin' It Up as well as some of Sammy's famed solo work. Joined on stage for the second half of the show by legendary VAN HALEN bassist, Michael Anthony, the band rips through some of rock radio's classic tunes. From 'I Can't Drive 55' and 'Mas Tequila' to 'Finish What You Started' and 'Right Now', it's one big Cabo party with the Red Rocker!

The HDnet broadcast is on December 3rd at 9pm EST/8pm central/ 6pm Pacific. It repeats at midnight EST

SAMMY HAGAR To Be Honored For Promoting Tourism In Los Cabos Tomorrow

According to Voanews.com, on December 5, former VAN HALEN lead singer SAMMY HAGAR will be honored for promoting tourism in Los Cabos, Mexico. Mayor Luis Armando Diaz will attend the event, which will showcase more than 20 local restaurants and several jazz, salsa and rock bands. A portion of the proceeds from the event will go to the Red Cross and Fire Department of Los Cabos. Hagar first visited Cabo San Lucas in the early 1980s and later wrote the song 'Cabo Wabo' about his love for the area. He now owns a world-famous nightclub and restaurant in Cabo San Lucas called Cabo Wabo and a world class tequila of the same name.

SAMMY HAGAR - New Year's Eve At Cabo Wabo; Ticket Details Revealed

As previously reported SAMMY AND THE WABO'S will be doing a New Year's Eve show at the Cabo Wabo Cantina in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Ticket information is as follows:

Dinner Shows:
1st seating: $120 US – includes dinner, welcome waborita, show admission and reserved table for show
2nd seating: $80 US – includes dinner, welcome waborita, show admission – does not include table for show

Club & Show admission:
General admission tickets $50

Further information and reservations will be taken over the phone at 011 521 624 132 4514 with Carlos Ortega from 9:00 PM to 5:00 PM starting Dec 4th. Or via e-mail at carlos_cabowabo@prodigy.net.mx. January 2,3 and 5 shows will be free of charge and tickets will be handed out at 8:30 am the morning of the show on first come first serve basis. Two tickets per person in line.