Beanie Books

His father was a drunk who would go on drunken binges and not be around for extended periods of time. He got married in 1968 and had his first child in 1970. Sammy says that he dreamed that aliens downloaded the information from his brain and uploaded information to his brain. In interviews, he now says that it really happened. He is fascinated that when you take the number 137, add 7 + 3 and get 10, then add 1 you get 11. Then the 11 is 1 + 1 = 2. Sammy played with various California bands like Skinny, the Fabulous Castillas, Justice Brothers, and Dust Cloud before joining Montrose. Hagar and his wife Betsy got by on welfare and food stamps while getting his music career started. If it were not for the public assistance they received, he probably would not have been able to pursue his dreams. The next time someone argues that they should get rid of welfare, tell them that welfare is indirectly responsible for “Three Lock Box” and see what they come back with. After Hagar ...

The Foreword was written by Michael Anthony who comes off as a very bitter man. It is interesting reading about the formation of the band from Anthony’s perspective. He writes about the early Van Halen days but does not mention David Lee Roth until he discusses his departure. Even then, he refers to him only by his last name. Anthony then moves straight into Sammy Hagar joining the band. He writes that Hagar took Van Halen “to a new level” which seems questionable. The Sammy Hagar version of Van Halen is great but Van Halen’s first album is one of the top rock albums of all time. All the other DLR Van Halen albums have great songs on them and compare favorably to any of the Van Hagar albums. Hagar is a better singer and the music did evolve with the use of more acoustic guitar and keyboards but there simply was not a “new level” to be reached after their first album. That is not a criticism of Hagar. Van Halen I was a masterpiece that could not be topped. If Hagar was in the ...