“I think I opened up Steve Vai’s eyes to what a real amplifier is all about”: Steve Stevens on how his Marshall Plexi ended up on ‘Eat ’Em and Smile’ after he turned down David Lee Roth

There are countless great “what ifs” scattered throughout rock history. What if Jimi Hendrix had lived beyond 1970? What if Randy Rhoads’ story hadn’t been cut tragically short? And what if, following the phenomenal success of ‘Rebel Yell,’ Steve Stevens had jumped ship from Billy Idol and joined forces with David Lee Roth for his first full-length solo album?

That last scenario came much closer to reality than many fans might realize.

After leaving Van Halen and scoring early solo success with ‘Crazy from the Heat,’ Roth faced the considerable task of assembling a permanent band capable of delivering the kind of musical firepower audiences had come to expect from his years alongside Eddie Van Halen.

And when it came to filling the guitar spot, Steve Stevens was very much in the conversation.

As Stevens tells Thinking About Guitar, he was deep into work on Billy Idol’s ‘Whiplash Smile’ when legendary Van Halen producer Ted Templeman called with an intriguing proposition: David Lee Roth was coming to New York and wanted to meet him.

“We were in the middle of, you know, about three-quarters of the way through ‘Whiplash Smile,’” Stevens recalls. “Ted called me and said, ‘Hey, David Lee Roth is going to be in New York. Would [you] like to meet with him?’”

Stevens took the meeting. Roth had already left Van Halen, ‘Crazy from the Heat’ had proved he could succeed outside the band, and the next step was putting together the permanent lineup that would carry his solo career forward.

For Stevens, however, accepting the gig would have meant walking away from commitments he had already made to Billy Idol.

“It would have meant bailing on the ‘Whiplash Smile’ record and also not doing the tour,” he explains. “And I was committed to that.”

So one of the most tantalizing guitar partnerships of the ’80s never happened.

“I graciously said, ‘I’m not – I’m not the guy for it.’”

Roth, of course, ultimately found another virtuoso New York guitarist for the job: Steve Vai, who joined forces with Billy Sheehan and Gregg Bissonette to form the formidable band heard on 1986’s ‘Eat ’Em and Smile.’

But in an interesting twist of fate, Stevens’ involvement with Roth’s debut album didn’t end when he turned down the gig.

In fact, his name still ended up in the album’s liner notes.

Stevens had remained on good terms with both Roth and Templeman, and when the ‘Eat ’Em and Smile’ sessions got underway in New York, the producer called him once again.

“When Steve Vai joined the band, they were in New York,” Stevens says. “They recorded the debut album in New York, and Ted called me up and asked me if I could send over a bunch of my Plexis and cabinets.”

Stevens obliged, meaning that although he never became David Lee Roth’s guitarist, some of his own Marshall firepower still found its way onto the record.

“If anyone looks on the liner notes, my name’s on there because I helped,” he says.

“I think I opened up Steve’s eyes to what a real amplifier is all about. And then he probably went out and bought every Plexi available at that time.”

Clearly a huge fan of Vai’s unique approach to the instrument, Stevens is equally enthusiastic about the guitarist who ultimately landed the job.

“He was the perfect guitar player for that band,” Stevens says. “I love his work on that record.”

And his praise doesn’t stop with Vai. With Sheehan and Bissonette completing Roth’s formidable new lineup in the mid ‘80s, Stevens was just as enthusiastic about the band as a whole.

“What an incredible cast of musicians,” he says. “Things are meant to be, you know.”

For more information on Steve Stevens, visit his official website, and to learn more about his new ACS Nylon Steve Stevens Signature 25th Anniversary guitar, visit Godin Guitars.