Gimme A Bottle of Anything…And a Glazed Donut…To Go!

What do you do after leaving one of the biggest rock bands of all time? You assemble a virtuoso supergroup, consisting of guitarist Steve Vai (previously of Frank Zappa's band), bassist Billy Sheehan (previously of Talas), and drummer Gregg Bissonette (previously of Maynard Ferguson's big band) and you bring in Ted Templeman who produced your former band's best albums.

All bold choices, but bold is what David Lee Roth was all about. The album that they created and released on this day in 1986, is Eat ‘Em and Smile. What else was bold about the time of this release? It came out the same year as Van Halen’s first album, 5150, with new lead singer Sammy Hagar.

Kicking off the album is the banging (yes, I used that word) song “Yankee Rose” - The Van Halen influence is evident in this song (I hear shades of “Panama”). Despite the over-the-top lewdness of the music video, the song was actually written as a tribute to the Statue of Liberty as it celebrated the 100th anniversary of its dedication. It’s a roll down the windows, turn the radio up, kind-of song. There interplay between Roth and the guitar playing of Vai is clever and cool.

Things don’t slow down with the second track, “Shy Boy” (another song with VH vibes - I hear shades of “Hot For Teacher”). A cover song originally performed by Sheehan’s band Talas, it completes the one-two punch from the band that serves as a statement. Just because he’s not in one of the biggest bands ever, Roth is still a rock and roll legend who can bring it.

There are two times Roth strays from the heavier, “trashy fun” sounds. In a nod to his hit solo EP, Roth included two lounge song covers on Eat 'Em and Smile, "That's Life" which was a minor hit at the end of 1986 and "I'm Easy."

Roth was always a showman - so these two covers were no real surprise (be sure to check out his solo EP that was released in 1985), it’s also the deeper tracks that show how diverse and creative Roth could be. Tracks like “Ladies’ Nite in Buffalo” is a jazzy, smoldering track while “Big Trouble” has a distinct ZZ Top vibe, a bluesy rock track (I get some “Cheap Sunglasses” vibe).

The song that brings it all together for me, combining all of Roth’s loves musically is “Tobacco Road,” a blues song written and first recorded by John D. Loudermilk in December 1959. The blues combines perfectly with Roth’s soaring vocals and the band rips through the song with a feverish pace.

I was never really impressed with much of Roth’s later solo work, but for one year, it was easy to hear who won the war of music - Van Hager goes down to DLR in a triumphant knock out.