Roth releases solo acoustic song
David Lee Roth has released another song from a 2007 recording session with guitarist and bassist John 5. “Manda Bala” was shared via YouTube last week and is the tenth in a string of surprise single releases from the former Van Halen frontman.
Roth has been releasing songs sporadically since July 2022 when he surprise 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. Five songs from those sessions were released as part of The Roth Project in 2020.
The rocker has also released a handful of songs that were recorded in May 2022 during a session at Henson Recording Studio in Hollywood with solo band of Al Estrada on guitar, Ryan Wheeler on bass and Francis Valentino on drums. Songs include a newly recorded version of Van Halen’s “Atomic Punk,” “Unchained,” “You Really Got Me,” “Dance The Night Away,” “Panama,” “Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love” and “Everybody Want Some.” Each of the songs are part of a recording session at Henson Studios in Hollywood where Roth and his solo band recorded 14 songs “live” in a two hour period on May 3, 2022 and were produced by Tom Syrowski.
It’s unclear if Roth ever plans to put the songs together in an album format.
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.
