
Armed with material from his first new album in five years, quintessential rock-and-roll frontman David Lee Roth remains on the road into the fall.
Roth has extended the itinerary for his ongoing tour into late September, and has also filled in some of the blanks in his August schedule. The dates support "Diamond Dave," a covers-heavy set that is Roth's first album since 1998's "DLR Band."
Released on Tuesday (7/8), "Diamond Dave" includes Roth's renditions of The Doors' "Soul Kitchen," The Beatles' "Tomorrow Never Knows," Jimi Hendrix's "If 6 Was 9," The Hombres' "Let It All Hang Out," and three Savoy Brown cuts: "You Got the Blues, Not Me," "Made Up My Mind" and "Stay While the Night Is Young."
Also included is the Steve Miller Band's "Shu Ba Da Du Ma Ma Ma Ma," though Roth has reduced the title for his version of the song to "Shoo Bop." The song's companion music video has been airing on VH1 Classic.
In addition to its bevy of cover tracks, "Diamond Dave" also features several original tracks, including "Thug Pop," which Roth co-wrote with his one-time guitarist John Lowery (now John 5 of Marilyn Manson).
Guests on the album include saxophonist Edgar Winter and guitarist Niles Rodgers, both of whom appear on Roth's revamped version of the 1969 John Brim track "Ice Cream Man," which Roth first covered on Van Halen 's 1978 self-titled debut.
Streaming audio samples of most of the new album's 14 tracks are posted at Magna Carta's website.
Over the course of his career, Roth has had a penchant for cover songs; during his six-album tenure with Van Halen, the group recorded eight covers (five of which appear on 1982's "Diver Down"), and all four tracks on his 1985 solo debut, "Crazy from the Heat," are covers.
Roth's live show has, in recent years, also been heavy on covers; nearly every song in the singer's set has been culled from his Van Halen days. To that end, Roth's current band features guitarist Brian Young, whose previous gig had him impersonating guitarist Eddie Van Halen in a popular VH-tribute outfit known as the Atomic Punks.
Longtime Roth-band drummer Ray Luzier, former White Lion bassist James Lomenzo, and rhythm guitarist Toshi Hiketa round out the group's lineup.