Hi all,
People regularly ask me about what will be included in my forthcoming book on #VanHalen, Van Halen Rising. Here’s a sneak preview of what my years of research — including 200+ interviews with everyone from former band members and club owners to fans and fellow musicians — has uncovered.

BJ Kahuna interviews me about the band’s origins, including the “pre-Van Halen” bands: Genesis, Mammoth and Red Ball Jet. We also cover VH’s early evolution up through its 1978 breakout.

You also can hear tons of unreleased early Van Halen songs.
Please take a listen; I think even the biggest Van Halen fans will learn new things about the band!
Please subscribe/download DJ’s excellent Rock and/or Roll Podcast.
http://rockandorroll.podomatic.com/entry/2014-04-10T07_15_59-07_00
Thanks! Greg

Excellent Greg !

Make sure you let us know when we can get this!!

Greg, great interview! I am totally geeking out at two people discusing VH’s early years and having a clue lol!! I definitely learned a thing or two.

Question for you – I see you hashed out thedetails for Mark Stone’s departure, which was new to me. But I seem to remember that one of the reasons was Mark wasn’t dedicated to the band full-time and instead of commiting to the band, continued with school. Now I think I heard that from Mark himself in “The Van Halen Story: The Early Years DVD” that came out a few years ago. Thoughts??

Dave: Greg, great interview! I am totally geeking out at two people discusing VH’s early years and having a clue lol!! I definitely learned a thing or two.
Question for you – I see you hashed out thedetails for Mark Stone’s departure, which was new to me. But I seem to remember that one of the reasons was Mark wasn’t dedicated to the band full-time and instead of commiting to the band, continued with school. Now I think I heard that from Mark himself in “The Van Halen Story: The Early Years DVD” that came out a few years ago. Thoughts??

Thanks for the reply. I can’t speak to Stone’s college aspirations. I do know he continued to play in bands around Pasadena for some time after he split from the Van Halens. And let’s not forget that all of those guys were taking college classes at one point or another after HS.
He says in this video – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vEQLd5kmaXY – that he felt “split” between school and the band because he was a straight A student. That said, Eddie has said in interviews that MS couldn’t remember the song list, which had gotten very long. Eddie has said those problems had to do with partying. As I tried to make clear in the interview, the other guys were probably partying as much. I’d say this was a Steven Adler/GNR situation.

What shouldn’t be forgotten is that Stone was an excellent musician who could musically keep up with Eddie and Alex and did so for years.

Great interview Greg! I’m really looking forward to you book.

Mink: Great interview Greg!I’m really looking forward to you book.

Thanks Mink. I’m working as hard as I can to get it out!

ffoner: Thanks Mink. I’m working as hard as I can to get it out!

Cool. Keep us posted with your progress.

Just listened to this (hard to find 2 hours to listen to the whole thing). Good stuff.

As Ron said good stuff lots of things I didnt know , Now I want to hear Don Dokken take on how they started to tap

Looks like Greg’s book is already getting some press.

http://ultimateclassicrock.com/you-think-you-know-van-halen/

Preorder the book here:

http://www.vanhalenstore.com/page/VH/new/B63

Van Halen Rising: How a Southern California Backyard Party Band Saved Heavy Metal traces VH’s transformation from a backyard party band to a stadium act that captivated the rock world in 1978.

After years of gigging everywhere from suburban backyards to dive bars, Van Halen — led by frontman extraordinaire David Lee Roth and guitar virtuoso Edward Van Halen — had the songs, the swagger, and the talent to turn the rock world on its ear. The quartet’s classic 1978 debut, Van Halen, sold more than a million copies within months of release and rocketed the band to the stratosphere of rock success. On tour, Van Halen’s high-energy show wowed audiences and prompted headlining acts like Black Sabbath to concede that they’d been blown off the stage. By the year’s end, Van Halen had established themselves as superstars and reinvigorated heavy metal in the process.

Six years in the making, author and historian Greg Renoff draws on extensive archival research and on more than 230 original interviews — including with former Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony and power players like Pete Angelus, Marshall Berle, Donn Landee, Ted Templeman, and Neil Zlozower — Van Halen Rising is the first book to tell the untold story of how these rock legends made the unlikely journey from Pasadena, California, to the worldwide stage.

If you’ve ever wondered what it was like to see Van Halen play a massive backyard party, host a rowdy wet-t-shirt contest, perform on the legendary Sunset Strip, and blow rock legends Black Sabbath off the stage, this is the book for you.

Over 30 never before published photos dating back to the days of Mammoth and Red Ball Jet.

472 pages, Paperback, 5.5″ x 8.5″.

Is there going to be a Kindle version?

mcs5150: Is there going to be a Kindle version?

The publisher currently doesn’t list any other formats beside Paperback….but October is a long way off.
http://www.ecwpress.com/van-halen-rising

ron: The publisher currently doesn’t list any other formats beside Paperback….but October is a long way off. http://www.ecwpress.com/van-halen-rising

Well hopefully it is released as an e-book or Amazon China stocks it.