Roth releases ninth track in less than a year
David Lee Roth has shared a cover of Marvin Gaye’s “Ain’t That Peculiar” on YouTube. The track was recorded at Henson Studios in Los Angeles, the same place where Roth and his solo band recorded 14 songs “live” in a two hour period on May 3, 2022 with producer Tom Syrowski. It’s unclear if the recording stems from those sessions or an earlier session in 2007, but the song was also produced by Syrowski.
“Ain’t That Peculiar” follows the release of “Unchained,” “You Really Got Me,” “Dance The Night Away,” “Panama,” “Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love” and “Everybody Want Some” that were released separately throughout the past year as part of the “Roth Lives” series.
The track is the ninth solo single the former Van Halen frontman has shared in recent months. In July, Roth surprised dropped “Pointing at the Moon,” a piano/acoustic guitar ballad, and “Nothing Could Have Stopped Us Back Then Anyway,” a song about his former band. Both stem from a 2007 recording session with guitarist and bassist John 5, drummer Greg Bissonette, keyboardist Brett Tiggle and percussionist Luis Conte. Five songs from those sessions were released as part of The Roth Project in 2020.
Roth announced his retirement in late 2021 with a “career-ending residency” at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. However, “due to unforeseen circumstances related to COVID and out of an abundance of caution for those working and attending the shows,” the entire thing was canceled, even after the addition of new shows with Roth giving Fox News a cryptic tease about not actually retiring.
“There’s always a tomorrow for a singer. Not so much for a trombone player these days, okay?” he says. “How many times did Rocky retire? Seven. I think number three was my favorite? How many times did Rambo have to come out of retirement in order to make the sequel?”
Roth has not rescheduled the residency dates nor has he shared any future plans as of press time.
