“Yankee Rose” was written by David Lee Roth and Steve Vai and was Roth’s first single on his 1986 first full-length album “Eat ‘Em and Smile”. In this awesome video posted on Youtube you can watch Steve Vai and Extreme’s Nuno Bettencourt performing the song in a bar recently.
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The song
After releasing Crazy from the Heat, an EP of lounge standards that became a surprise hit during early 1985, and subsequently parting ways with Van Halen while the band was at its commercial zenith, Roth assembled a new backing band: bassist Billy Sheehan (later of Mr. Big); drummer Gregg Bissonette (later of Ringo Starr and Elton John, among others); and guitarist Steve Vai, who had worked previously with Frank Zappa, PiL and Alcatrazz.
After releasing Crazy from the Heat, an EP of lounge standards that became a surprise hit during early 1985, and subsequently parting ways with Van Halen while the band was at its commercial zenith, Roth assembled a new backing band: bassist Billy Sheehan (later of Mr. Big); drummer Gregg Bissonette (later of Ringo Starr and Elton John, among others); and guitarist Steve Vai, who had worked previously with Frank Zappa, PiL and Alcatrazz.
The song was recorded as a tribute to the Statue of Liberty in New York City, as the statue was completing a major renovation for the 100th anniversary of its dedication in 1886.
The song was Roth’s third Top-40 hit, the first two being covers of “California Girls” and “Just A Gigolo/I Ain’t Got Nobody”.
It also appears as a radio tune on the video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City on the rock station V-Rock. A cover of the song is the title song for the video game Rumble Roses and Rumble Roses XX performed by Teresa James.
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