# David Lee Roth on Tonight Show **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 7, 2006, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-lee-roth-on-tonight-show/359713 "2006-06-07T05:08:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2006, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-lee-roth-on-tonight-show/359713/1 "2006-06-07T05:08:54Z")
Holy Crap! That was terrible! I don’t expect him to be able to do the kicks like in the olden days, but his voice was shot too. How humiliating. so… what did you guys think? E3 ---
**Author:** ![sleeping\_mud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58f4c7/32.png) [@sleeping\_mud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sleeping_mud)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2006, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-lee-roth-on-tonight-show/359713/2 "2006-06-07T05:13:03Z")
I missed it. Was he still blonde? i hope not, that look is just too “young” for a grizzled old dude like him. I do love his speaking voice, however. ---
**Author:** ![Harvey\_The\_Heavy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Harvey\_The\_Heavy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harvey_The_Heavy)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2006, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-lee-roth-on-tonight-show/359713/3 "2006-06-07T12:19:51Z")
It’s up on [YouTube](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9TlsVXnBn0&search=david%20lee%20roth). He looks like a Chucky doll. ---
**Author:** ![phall0106](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/phall0106/32/5934_2.png) [@phall0106](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phall0106)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2006, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-lee-roth-on-tonight-show/359713/4 "2006-06-07T12:50:27Z")
David Lee Roth at a Ho-down. What is the world coming to? Horrible. Simply horrible. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2006, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-lee-roth-on-tonight-show/359713/5 "2006-06-07T13:17:04Z")
Whomever came up with the genius idea to try to do an 80’s VanHalen song in a bluegrass style just failed miserably. I can’t put the blame on Roth, he looked like a fish out of water. Pained in trying to restrain the rock’n’roll lyrics into something more subdued. ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2006, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-lee-roth-on-tonight-show/359713/6 "2006-06-07T13:39:26Z")
That’s the sort of thing that would be so cool if I went to a bar and heard a local bluegrass band doing a cover of Jump in their style. To see Davind Lee Roth doing it himself… well, it makes the baby devil cry. ---
**Author:** ![BubbaDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bubbadog/32/333_2.png) [@BubbaDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BubbaDog)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2006, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-lee-roth-on-tonight-show/359713/7 "2006-06-07T13:40:08Z")
Just the other day some friends and I were saying that we just didn’t understand how Van Halen got away with recording “Jump” without the essential banjo part. ---
**Author:** ![KidCharlemagne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@KidCharlemagne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KidCharlemagne)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2006, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-lee-roth-on-tonight-show/359713/8 "2006-06-07T15:04:04Z")
Alright, that was painful, BUT, DLR is still my fucking hero. That boy is fearless. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2006, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-lee-roth-on-tonight-show/359713/9 "2006-06-07T15:13:01Z")
Forget whoever that was in front doing some karaoke. The musicianship of the backing instrumentalists was first rate. 90% of the groups that show up on any late night program could learn a lot from them. ---
**Author:** ![mack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mack)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2006, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-lee-roth-on-tonight-show/359713/10 "2006-06-07T16:04:18Z")
uh…interesting. I thought the band smoked, but DLR seemed to layer the standard Jump vocal on their treatment rather than work the vocal into the style the rest of the band was playing it in. I thought he looked like Robin Williams. ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2006, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-lee-roth-on-tonight-show/359713/11 "2006-06-07T16:06:35Z")
Oh yeah, it’s already been mentioned, but I forgot to include in my OP that it was country version of great Van Halen song Jump. DLR’s last good performance was in the Sopranos playing himself in a high dollar poker game where he has the great line about how he could write-off condoms as a tax deduction back in the day. Look what I just found on his website: [“Strummin’ With The Devil: The Southern Side Of Van Halen” on sale now!](http://www.davidleeroth.com/news/?id=4) I wonder what kind of money he’ll make on that deal? > [@](#): > > “Strummin’ With The Devil” is a compilation of some of Van Halen’s biggest hits done in an authentic down home country/bluegrass style by some of the best players in the genre. You’ll be amazed at how some of the songs that you let your hair down and rock to can transcend musical boundaries and still feel natural, it’s a must have for any Van Halen fan. ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2006, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-lee-roth-on-tonight-show/359713/12 "2006-06-07T16:08:18Z")
After listening to DLR on the radio in the morning, it is not that the man is fearless. It is that his ego is so large it has sat upon his fear and squashed it. This is generally kickass in a rock and roll band, mind you. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2006, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-lee-roth-on-tonight-show/359713/13 "2006-06-07T16:11:07Z")
I turned on the Tonight Show last night to see the kewl widescreen HD pic on my new plasma. Then I see DLR grinning like a maniac singing “Jump” with a bluegrass band. WTF?? He looked uncomfortable and the whole performance seemed forced. That toothy smile on his face was bizarre. The song itself wasn’t so bad, and as someone else noted the band was great. I’ve got an album called Fade to Bluegrass that has Metallica songs done in a bluegrass style, most of the songs are very good. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Hamster\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@The\_Hamster\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hamster_King)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2006, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-lee-roth-on-tonight-show/359713/14 "2006-06-07T16:11:07Z")
Back in the 80’s the band **Aztec Camera** did an excellent acoustic cover of _Jump_. Very slow and soulful – it’s actually my favorite version of the song. But that bluegrass cover was crap. ---
**Author:** ![Greywolf73](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d9b06d/32.png) [@Greywolf73](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greywolf73)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2006, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-lee-roth-on-tonight-show/359713/15 "2006-06-07T16:40:53Z")
God, that was painful. I felt embarassed _for_ him. The band rocked though. They looked embarassed too. ---
**Author:** ![Mal\_Adroit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df788c/32.png) [@Mal\_Adroit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mal_Adroit)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2006, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-lee-roth-on-tonight-show/359713/16 "2006-06-07T17:15:02Z")
a.) They played the new bluegrass version of “Jamie’s Cryin” on local radio two mornings ago, which sounded much less forced. It sounded great, truth be told. And I’m far from a country fan. b.) Whoever said DLR’s voice is “shot” wasn’t watching the same YouTube clip I was. c.) Think about something sad, Dave, I’m beggin ya. Great Gunnar Nelsons, that is an unholy grimace. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2006, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-lee-roth-on-tonight-show/359713/17 "2006-06-07T18:08:05Z")
An acoustic, bluegrass version of “Jump” was an inspired idea. And the musicians playing it were first-rate. _But not with David Lee Roth_. He was basically doing the same vocals he did for the rock version, instead of coming up with a new style for bluegrass. An example of a successful (and funny) bluegrass adaptation is the Austin Lounge Lizards’ version of Pink Floyd’s “[Brain Damage](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000000MRL/qid=1149703556)”. ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2006, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-lee-roth-on-tonight-show/359713/18 "2006-06-07T21:09:37Z")
1. He has not aged well 2. He must be desperate for attention This will rank up there with Shatner’s ‘RocketMan’ before long as a comedy piece. Like others said, the Band itself was great, but DLR ‘must’ be parodying himself or something. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2006, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-lee-roth-on-tonight-show/359713/19 "2006-06-07T21:26:03Z")
Somebody fill me in… When and how did DLR get the rights to all those VanHalen songs? ---
**Author:** ![DfrntBreign](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f6c823/32.png) [@DfrntBreign](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DfrntBreign)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2006, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-lee-roth-on-tonight-show/359713/20 "2006-06-07T22:53:26Z")
There is a whole series of bluegrass versions of popular bands’ music [Pickin’ On Series](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/stores/series/-/89638/ref=pd_sr_ec_ser_m/104-0937027-7165542). I had assumed this (Van Halen) was just the latest, but don’t know really know anything about it. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-lee-roth-on-tonight-show/359713.md?page=2)