DAVID LEE ROTH Eat 'Em and Smile

Steve Vai pays affectionate tribute to his first truly high-profile gig — and remembers the pressure of following in the footsteps of a certain guitar maestro

- BY ANDREW DALY

DESPITE HAVING SERVED under Frank Zappa, releasing one non-genre-conforming solo record (1984's Flex-Able) and scoring a key — and now legendary — role in Crossroads, which hit theaters in March 1986, Steve Vai was still relatively unknown in the land of regular humans. But after joining the solo band of former Van Halen frontman David Lee Roth, he'd become a household-ish name.

"At 26, I got to live the ultimate guitar rock-star fantasy," Vai says. "I wish every rock guitarist could experience a piece of that, but it would need to be the Eighties when that type of thing was flourishing."

The "thing" Vai is talking about is glammed-out shred, which was popularized by Eddie Van Halen (and a few others), who, in the eyes of Roth's fans, Vai was about to be directly compared to. Not that this bothered Vai.

"I believe I worked well in the band because I've had rock in my blood since I was a teenager," Vai says. "I was able to authentically express that, with my quirk, of course."

Also helpful was Vai's habit of coming in behind iconic shredders. "I've been lucky that way throughout my career," Vai says. "I replaced Warren Cuccurullo with Zappa, Yngwie with Alcatrazz and Edward with Dave. Somehow the fans kept welcoming me in. Maybe they just like watching a guy try to keep his head above water!"

In all fairness, judging by Roth's debut solo record, 1986's Eat 'Em and Smile, Vai did more than keep his head above water. Tracks like "Yankee Rose," "Tobacco Road," "Shyboy" and Vai's favorite. "Big Trouble," tell the story of a match made in hair metal heaven.