AVH Book?

[Little Dreamer]

Because some random guy we've never heard of posted it on FB, we assume it's true?

We're not talking about some random guy here. We're talking about the guy who did all the pyro for VH for 15 years. Also he's talking about pre-87 AVH, when he was drinking heavily. It's not too hard to believe, IMO.

[Dutchie5150]

If Gregg Emerson was treated so badly by Alex, it makes you wonder why he saved all that old memorabilia and wanted to give it back to him???

If I, and most likely anyone else here, was treated so badly, I would of filmed myself burning all that stuff and then sent him the video and told him to go fuck himself and wouldnt welcome a visit...

A bad story about one of the Van Halen brothers.... It must be true...

Some of you guys will believe anything

[EJC]

I never bought a VH album because of how Ed or Al treated a tech. All drunks are miserable abusive assholes. Has no bearing on the music they created nor my childhood memories... I'm sorry the guy took his life, but to say it's because of losing a job almost 20 years prior is probably a stretch.

I have a very good friend who was a drum tech with a pretty popular band and got to see the world and live a few years of his life as a dream come true. I remind him of that when he bitches about his boring life now...

[Little Intruder]

I have no doubt Alex can be a royal asshole, especially during his dark years, but why bring this up now? If it was so bad, why did Pyro John Watkins last 15 years with the band? And Gregg Emerson isn't here to give his side of the story. How convenient. Sounds like Watkins is butt hurt he didn't get an acknowledgement in Alex's book. Well join the club!

[Dont disturb my Paradise]

I absolutely agree that Al was the big brother who would protect his knucklehead genius little brother at all costs. And I completely agree that Ed was totally naïve in most things. I think Al had a much better grasp of reality than Ed did, but sometimes following the little boy you love into the fire isn’t always the smartest thing in the world. And I think he did that way too much.



I still am not of the belief that he’s the nicest person in the world, although he was very personable at the book talk. But again that’s a whole thing about him and his family. I think you get him out of that element, and he’s very distrustful of almost everyone. And I’m not saying he doesn’t have good reason to be, but sometimes he goes after the wrong people.

And his attitude certainly about Mike bothers me a lot. And I’m not a fan of his disowning the Sam years as well. It’s bullshit. And we all know it is.

I didn’t like his sarcastic dig at Sammy in the book. I can’t remember the wording, but if it was almost like he didn’t exist. I showed Aaron, and Dennis (Mikes brother). They both knew of it already, but they gave me impression Sammy has given up on Al.

[YankeeRose]

I didn’t like his sarcastic dig at Sammy in the book. I can’t remember the wording, but if it was almost like he didn’t exist. I showed Aaron, and Dennis (Mikes brother). They both knew of it already, but they gave me impression Sammy has given up on Al.

Yeah I didn't like it either. Alex says in the book that he doesn't like to talk about things like politics since it creates division. But him skipping the entire Van Hagar era in his book creates division big time to me. Especially when VH recently re-released the Van Hagar albums remastered plus a live concert on blu ray. You would think he would be promoting that?

Alex should be very thankful Van Halen was able to continue to sell millions of albums and have hit songs with Sammy.

[S.A.A.]

Al said he was working on sobriety and could not be around someone who was pounding shots or something to the effect. So what does that say about how Emerson treated Al? Your friend is struggling and that is how you support him? Sometimes relationships become toxic and you have to set them aside for a bit and save your own life. I would bet that Al tried to get Gregg on the wagon with him. But you can't get someone else to sober up, it is a choice they have to make for themselves. Gregg made the wrong choice apparently

Everything John Watkins said should be taken with a pinch of salt by anyone who wasn't there. And one has to be careful about believing bad stuff about someone if they had their sobriety in mind.

But all that said, I don't think Alex' "we had to let him go when I got sober in 87" thing stacks up at all.

First of all, there's pictorial and video evidence that Rob Kern had replaced Gregg during the 5150 tour, which is months before Alex got sober (he was still drinking heavily until at least early 1987 - he appeared on Dutch TV around then and it's drunkest I've ever seen him). In other words, it's fact that Gregg was gone well before Alex got sober.

Secondly, John Watkins says that Gregg wasn't a problem drinker and was always professional - admittedly this is only one man's take on the situation. I've never heard anyone say anything negative about Gregg though.

Thirdly, even if Gregg was drinking a lot, what about all the other people Alex was close to? Sam and Mike still drank socially around him; his brother who he was closer to than anyone, was a full blown alcoholic for at least the next 8 years, and in reality, most of the next 20 years. That doesn't at all tally with getting rid of Emerson for sobriety's sake.

I'm not saying we need to take every word of what John Watkins said as gospel, and none of us really know for sure why Alex and Gregg parted company. But at the same time, I don't think Alex' take on the situation rings true at all when you dig into it.

[Heisenberg]

The competition between Dave and Ed reminds me a lot of the competition between Shaq and Kobe. In both cases, they were far better together than they ever were apart.

[Heisenberg]

I have no doubt Alex can be a royal asshole, especially during his dark years, but why bring this up now? If it was so bad, why did Pyro John Watkins last 15 years with the band? And Gregg Emerson isn't here to give his side of the story. How convenient. Sounds like Watkins is butt hurt he didn't get an acknowledgement in Alex's book. Well join the club!

My take the reason Pyro John Watkins is bringing it up now is after reading Alex’s book he took issue with the way Gregg Emerson was described as being unprofessional.

I’m guessing he wanted to stick up for him as a fellow road crew guy & set the record straight about the timeline facts since he’s no longer here to speak for himself & explain that Gregg was a true professional but left the 5150 tour after being frequently treated like shit & completely unappreciated by Alex who was allegedly a piss drunk prick to him but he still struck around & helped find & train his replacement before quitting. Thus proving that Alex’s comments about Gregg drinking beers & whatnot couldn’t possibly be true since he wasn’t there when Alex became sober as he’d already left long before Alex became sober.

Everything John Watkins said should be taken with a pinch of salt by anyone who wasn't there. And one has to be careful about believing bad stuff about someone if they had their sobriety in mind.

But all that said, I don't think Alex' "we had to let him go when I got sober in 87" thing stacks up at all.

First of all, there's pictorial and video evidence that Rob Kern had replaced Gregg during the 5150 tour, which is months before Alex got sober (he was still drinking heavily until at least early 1987 - he appeared on Dutch TV around then and it's drunkest I've ever seen him). In other words, it's fact that Gregg was gone well before Alex got sober.

Secondly, John Watkins says that Gregg wasn't a problem drinker and was always professional - admittedly this is only one man's take on the situation. I've never heard anyone say anything negative about Gregg though.

Thirdly, even if Gregg was drinking a lot, what about all the other people Alex was close to? Sam and Mike still drank socially around him; his brother who he was closer to than anyone, was a full blown alcoholic for at least the next 8 years, and in reality, most of the next 20 years. That doesn't at all tally with getting rid of Emerson for sobriety's sake.

I'm not saying we need to take every word of what John Watkins said as gospel, and none of us really know for sure why Alex and Gregg parted company. But at the same time, I don't think Alex' take on the situation rings true at all when you dig into it.

Bingo. The actual timeline shows Alex’s comments about Gregg drinking at a time when Alex was sober can not be true. One of Alex’s drinking buddies at the time was Hank Williams Jr. They appeared in one of his videos. Alex shaved his head.

[Speedway]

C'mon guys, we're all old enough now to know that the truth rarely if ever lives at the extremes. Will Watkins be 100% correct? no. Will AVH be 100% correct? no.

My bet? Everyone was an asshole.

[S.A.A.]

C'mon guys, we're all old enough now to know that the truth rarely if ever lives at the extremes. Will Watkins be 100% correct? no. Will AVH be 100% correct? no.

My bet? Everyone was an asshole.

Don't think anyone is really saying that either side is 100% truthful. For my part, all I've said is that facts don't corroborate what Alex says in his book. At the same time, I'm not taking anything from Watkins as gospel.

I'm sure Alex got better as a person and I have no doubt he reconciled with Gregg Emerson later. But at the same time, I just think it's worth pointing out that the "we let him go because of my sobriety" thing is clearly not true and doesn't stack up with clear evidence. Making Gregg out to be a drunken loose cannon that they had to ditch is pretty low if it's not the absolute truth.

[Dutchie5150]

Thirdly, even if Gregg was drinking a lot, what about all the other people Alex was close to? Sam and Mike still drank socially around him; his brother who he was closer to than anyone, was a full blown alcoholic for at least the next 8 years, and in reality, most of the next 20 years. That doesn't at all tally with getting rid of Emerson for sobriety's sake.

They were his band mates... Gregg Emerson worked for him... HUGE difference.

[ziggysmalls]

I know people are upset at him not discussing Sammy era but had he you had one of two things which would occur.

A) Would likely contain some not so nice things about Sam. Considering he really prefers on era, I am sure his criticisms of Sam would be far more than Dave. So not its a "he said-she said" argument. Sammy is far more vocal than Alex and is far more open (and better) to do interviews. It would be 1985 again with Van Halen vs DLR. Accusations would fly and it would get ugly. Alex likely would rather just do some interviews and that is it. Just retire on his lemon farm and do whatever Alex does. This way wouldn't allow it and would just result in a spitting contest between guys who should be more worried about not taking 5 pisses at night.

B) He would lie and paint the Sammy era as the best thing ever (when he truly doesn't feel that way) and it would simply not be true to Alex. This isn't written by Sammy or anybody here but Alex. Its what he feels. Doesn't meant its right or fits with how one here should feel but its "his" story.

Obviously he felt that when it was all said and done, the adage of "if you can't speak well of someone, don't say anything at all" Yes its not perfect and we would all prefer a full encompassing book of VH from the parties to Dave, Sam, Gary, Sam, and then Dave again. However like everything VH, we can't get what we want.

[fudd]

Apparently Al lied and Greg wasn't the one drinking. This happened a year before Al got sober.

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Interview Alex and get the straight dope for us.


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[S.A.A.]

They were his band mates... Gregg Emerson worked for him... HUGE difference.

It's a valid point, but...

It ignores the fact that Gregg was gone quite some time before Alex decided to get sober. He was a raging alcoholic all through the 5150 tour and beyond. I wasn't there, but I don't think Gregg in any way left because of Alex not wanting to drink anymore.

Who knows though - maybe Alex genuinely thought Gregg was doing his job badly, decided he wanted a change, and thought by saying it was to do with sobriety in the book, that he was actually covering for his friend. I don't know.