Corey Taylor is metal’s go-to guy for cover versions. Alice In Chains, Bon Jovi, Cat Stevens… you name it, the Slipknot singer/solo artist/all-round light entertainer has had a crack at one of their songs.
This video of CMFT (as we're contractually obliged to call him) rocking it up on a version of Van Halen’s You Really Got Me isn’t that much of a surprise. What is surprising about it is that he’s doing it on the same stage as an actual member of VH - namely original bass monster Michael Anthony.
You can thank John 5 for releasing it in the wake of Eddie Van Halen’s death. The footage was filmed at a stop off in LA on the former Rob Zombie/David Lee Roth guitarist’s 2019 tour, when he was joined onstage by Taylor and Anthony (the show was filmed for 5’s recent Live Invasion DVD, but You Really Got Me didn't make the final cut).
While it’s easy to sneer at Corey’s obsession with giving rock classics the karaoke treatment, he absolutely nails this one – not everyone can match Dave Lee Roth’s sheer star wattage. And the fact that he’s got an actual member of Van Halen up there with him rubber stamps it in our book (and yes we know You Really Got Me is really a Kinks song, but are you seriously telling us this isn’t the Van Halen version?).
“It’s difficult to put into words the impact that Eddie Van Halen had on my life,” says John5 of the footage. “There’s no one that influenced me more than Eddie, he was an inventor an amazing songwriter and the greatest guitar player that ever lived. R.I.P my friend. As a special tribute here’s an unreleased track from the LIVE INVASION album featuring Michael Anthony, Corey Taylor and Fred Coury from The Whiskey which was one of the venues Eddie played the most in LA.”
Respect to all involved. We’re off to crank up Van Halen’s debut album for the 150th time since last week.
