Sammy Hagar Talks About His New Album, Reveals Track List
In an interview with Billboard, Sammy Hagar talked about his new album Sammy Hagar & Friends, which will be released on September 24. Here are highlights:
On how his album came about: “I was going to do an anthology record, four decades of rock, and I was going to license songs from each decade and have a two- or three-CD set. And then I was going to write four new songs, one from each era. So there’s be a Montrose-esque song, which is ‘Not Going Down,” and an early Sammy (solo) song, which is ‘Bad on Fords and Chevrolets,’ and then a Van Halen-esque song and a lifestyle song, which is ‘All We Need is An Island.’ Then I started recording the new songs and I wrote a couple more and started getting excited. I’ve always been anti greatest hits packages, anyway, and I thought, ‘Y’know, I can still write. I can still sing. I can still go and make a great record,’ so I kept going and the next think you know, I have a new CD.”
On working with Ronnie Dunn on “Bad on Fords and Chevrolets”: “When I listened to his vocal, he sang it so good and he’s such a great singer, I said, ‘Will you sing a couple of verses and do a duet with me, and he did. After that it started looking like a duets record. I started calling all my friends and said, ‘Let’s get together and do this, let’s get together and do that,’ and everyone responded and it started coming together little by little.”
On putting a new supergroup together: “Well, you never know what the world will accept. It was just two hours of playing and the rest of the time fucking around. It’s what it was because that band is so good that we got the first take on ‘Going Down’ and the first take on ‘Personal Jesus’ — that was the magic. If it gets any traction then, yeah, I’d do it (again) in a heartbeat.”
Here is the track list for the new album:
1. Winding Down (with Taj Mahal)
2. Not Going Down (with Bill Church & Denny Carmassi)
3. Personal Jesus (with Neal Schon, Michael Anthony & Chad Smith)
4. Father Sun (with Denny Carmassi & Aaron Hagar)
5. Knockdown Dragout (with Kid Rock, Joe Satriani, Denny Carmassi)
6. Ramblin’ Gamblin’ Man (with David Lauser, Mona Gnader & Vic Johnson)
7. Bad On Fords and Chevrolets (with Ronnie Dunn, David Lauser, Mona Gnader & Vic Johnson)
8. Margaritaville (with Toby Keith)
9. All We Need Is An Island (with Nancy Wilson & Mickey Hart)
10. Going Down (with Neal Schon, Michael Anthony & Chad Smith)
11. Space Station #5 – Live from Ronn
