David Lee Roth has released another new “studio live” rendition of a classic Van Halen song, this time taking Van Halen‘s “Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love” for a spin. You can hear it below.
The newly released performance, which comes less than two weeks after Roth shared his live rendition of “Panama,” features Al Estrada on guitar, Ryan Wheeler on bass and Francis Valentino on drums. The singer cut both tracks during a whirlwind May 3 session at Henson Recording Studio, where he laid down 14 songs in two hours.
“It’s all live and it’s Van Halen free,” an unnamed source from within Roth’s camp told Van Halen News Desk. “No samples. No Auto-Tune.”
Roth has been characteristically coy when pressed about the prospective Van Halen tribute tour that has ignited the rumor mill in recent months. ”There’s always a tomorrow for a singer, not so much for a trombone player these days,” the singer said in June. ”How many times did Rocky retire? Seven. I think number three was my favorite. How many times did Rambo have to come out of retirement in order to make the sequel?”
In April, Roth also offered his opinion on who would be qualified to take part in a tribute tour if it ever came to fruition. “In my mind, ‘Van Halen 4K’ in the age of COVID is going to require two of us for every position,” he told Van Halen News Desk. “[Joe] Satriani and [Steve] Lukather, [Michael] Anthony and [Jason] Newsted, Al [Van Halen] or Tommy Lee. Probably the only one who could do my job is Pink.”
Roth’s comments came several months after his ostensible retirement announcement last October. The singer had planned to mark the occasion with a farewell Las Vegas residency, but he scrapped all of the dates in January.
He’s stayed busy since then by releasing a pair of singles, the melancholy piano ballad “Pointing at the Moon” and the heartfelt Eddie Van Halen tribute “Nothing Could Have Stopped Us Back Then Anyway.”
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