Happy Anniversary: Van Halen, Van Halen

38 years ago today, David Lee Roth, Michael Anthony, and a pair of brothers named Eddie and Alex released their first full-length album as Van Halen.

The cover art for the band's self-titled debut consisted of four photographs - one of each member - taken at the Whiskey a Go-Go, the iconic Los Angeles nightclub that served as a regular haunt for Van Halen during their early years. But we know: you're much more interested in learning something about all of the amazing music that's going on inside that cover.

Eddie discussed the process of recording the Van Halen album in considerable depth with Guitar Player in 1978, and in doing so he gave fans a glimpse into just how prolific the band was when they first started recording.

"For the first record, we went in to the studio one day and played live and laid down 40 songs,” said Eddie. “Out of these 40 we picked nine and wrote one in the studio--'Jamie's Cryin'.' The album is very live--there are few overdubs, which is the magic of Ted Templeman. I would say that out of the ten songs on the record, I overdubbed the solo on only 'Runnin' with the Devil,' Ice Cream Man,' and 'Jamie's Cryin''-the rest are live. I used the same equipment that I use onstage, and the only other things that were overdubbed were the backing vocals, only because you can't sing in a room an amp without having a bleed on the mikes. Because we were jumping around, drinking beer, and getting crazy, I think there's a vibe in the record. A lot of bands keep hacking it out and doing so many overdubs and double-tracking that their music doesn't sound real. And there are also a lot of bands that can't pull it off live because they have overdubbed so much stuff in the studio that it either doesn't sound the same, or they just stand there pushing buttons on their tape machines. We kept it really live, and the next time we record it will be very much the same.”

If you can believe Eddie's estimate (and there's really no reason to think that you can't), it took about a week to knock out the music for Van Halen and an additional two weeks to nail the vocals. That's pretty impressive for a band's first real stint in the studio.

By the way, Eddie's Guitar Player interview ends with him providing his plans for the future: “Man, just to keep rocking out and playing good guitar!" Hey, you can't say the man hasn't made good on his vow.