Birthday Beat: Steve Vai
This Sunday, June 6, guitarist Steve Vai turns 50. Vai, who is best known as a hardrocking virtuoso capable of great feats of fret-board dexterity, grew up in Carle Place, New York, where he took guitar lessons from Joe Satriani before leaving to attend the Berklee School of Music in Boston. He eventually hooked up with Frank Zappa, playing on a string of his albums and touring the world throughout the ‘80s. While he’s released nearly a dozen albums under his own name, Vai is probably better known for his contributions in bands like Alcatrazz and Whitesnake and backing up the likes of David Lee Roth and Alice Cooper. Here’s a small list of the records to which he’s contributed, some of which may surprise you:
Public Image Ltd. – Album
David Lee Roth – Eat ‘Em and Smile
Whitesnake – Slip of the Tongue
Alice Cooper – Hey Stoopid
Ozzy Osbourne – Ozzmosis
Al Di Meola – The Infinite Desire
Joe Jackson – Symphony No. 1
Marty Friedman – Loudspeaker
Meat Loaf – Bat Out of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose
Spinal Tap – Back from the Dead
Fuente: LimeWire Music Blog
