''I Never Said Goodbye'' is the ninth studio album by American rock musician

Sammy Hagar Sam Roy Hagar (born October 13, 1947), also known as the Red Rocker, is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, entrepreneur, and philanthropist. He rose to prominence in the early 1970s with the hard rock band Montrose before launching a ...

, released on June 23, 1987, by

Geffen Records Geffen Records (formerly The David Geffen Company from 1980 to 1992 and Geffen Records Inc. from 1993 to 2004) is an American record label, founded in late 1980 by David Geffen. Originally a music subsidiary of the company known as Geffen Pi ...

. It was his first solo album since 1984's ''

VOA Voice of America (VOA or VoA) is an international broadcasting network funded by the federal government of the United States that by law has editorial independence from the government. It is the largest and oldest of the American international ...

'', released while he was a member of

Van Halen Van Halen ( ) was an American rock band formed in Pasadena, California, in 1973. Credited with restoring hard rock to the forefront of the music scene, Van Halen was known for their energetic live performances and the virtuosity of their guit ...

. The album was recorded in ten days under a contractual obligation to

as a condition of his leaving the company to join Van Halen and their record label,

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (known as Warner Bros. Records Inc. until 2019) is an American record label. A subsidiary of Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division ...

(Geffen's distributor at the time and also Hagar's label when he was with Montrose). The album spent 23 weeks on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart and became his highest charting solo album, peaking at number 14 on August 15, 1987. The album was originally titled ''Sammy Hagar'', and included an untitled cover. The album was renamed ''I Never Said Goodbye'', the name being chosen as part of an

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

promotional contest. Some pressings retain the title ''Sammy Hagar'', not to be confused with the 1977 album ''

''. It features

Eddie Van Halen Edward Lodewijk Van Halen ( , ; January 26, 1955 – October 6, 2020) was an American musician. He was the guitarist, keyboardist, backing vocalist and primary songwriter of the rock band Van Halen, which he founded with his brother Alex V ...

on bass guitar, who also plays during a brief section of the guitar solo on "Eagles Fly". The songs "Give to Live" and "Eagles Fly" were also performed live by Van Halen together with Hagar. "Give to Live" also topped the

Mainstream Rock Tracks Mainstream Rock is a music chart published by '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations in the United States. It is an administrative category that combines the " active rock" and " heritage rock" ...

chart in 1987, the first time for Hagar as a solo artist. The former song was included on the album '' Live: Right Here, Right Now'', the latter on the home video version and the 2023 remaster's bonus disk as well as on the "Jump" single. "Boys' Night Out" was performed live on the American TV show ''

Late Night with David Letterman ''Late Night with David Letterman'' is an American television talk show broadcast by NBC. The show is the first installment of the '' Late Night''. Hosted by David Letterman, it aired from February1, 1982 to June 25, 1993, and was replaced by ...

''.

Song information

*"Returning Home" was intended to be a sequel to "Silver Lights" from Hagar's first album ''

Nine on a Ten Scale ''Nine on a Ten Scale'' is the debut studio album by American musician and songwriter Sammy Hagar, released in May 1976 by Capitol Records. It was his first release as a solo artist after his departure from Montrose in 1975. It was announced i ...

''. Whereas "Silver Lights" was a story about aliens taking humans from Earth, "Returning Home" tells the story of the humans' return trip. Hagar said that it could also apply to a tale that his future self might tell a child at that time.Hagar, Sammy, Returns Home, 1987. (Geffen PRO CD-2832) *"Standin' at the Same Old Crossroads" was released in an extended version on the "Give to Live" single. *"Privacy" was inspired by several run-ins that Hagar had with the

California Highway Patrol The California Highway Patrol (CHP) is the principal state police agency for the U.S. state of California. The CHP has primary jurisdiction, including patrol and Criminal investigation, investigations, over all California Controlled-access highw ...

while driving in his car with black-tinted windows. While a court challenge would always rule in Hagar's favor, the law could not prevent the police from repeatedly pulling him over and giving him tickets. *"Eagles Fly" was demoed with three other songs as a follow-up to Hagar's ''

'' album before joining Van Halen. When they had almost finished recording '' 5150'' and "

Dreams A dream is a succession of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations that usually occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep. Humans spend about two hours dreaming per night, and each dream lasts around 5–20 minutes, althou ...

" had not yet been written, ''5150''s producer, Mick Jones, suggested that the band needed another song. Hagar presented "Eagles Fly" to the band acoustically, which was rejected as being too folksy. The band later joined Hagar performing the song live on their 1993 and 1995 tours. The song's lyrics deal with the level of consciousness immediately after birth, where humans are aware of all that is and all that was.

Legacy

In 2012, for the album's 25th anniversary, radio show "In The Studio", interviewed Sammy.

Track listing

Personnel

– lead vocals, all guitars *

– bass, backing vocals, guitar solo on "Eagles Fly" *

Jesse Harms Jesse Harms (born July 6, 1952, in Massachusetts) is an American musician and songwriter. He has worked with Sammy Hagar, David Lee Roth, Eddie Money, REO Speedwagon, Bad English, Guitar Shorty, Patty Smyth, and McAuley Schenker Group. Early ...

– keyboards, backing vocals *

David Lauser David Lauser (born 20 February 1951) is an American rock drummer, who is most famous for playing with Sammy Hagar. Sammy Hagar and David Lauser played together in a band called Justice Brothers before Sammy Hagar joined Montrose. Lauser later ...

– drums, backing vocals Additional musicians *

Albhy Galuten Albhy Galuten (born Alan Bruce Galuten; December 27, 1947) is an American technology executive and futurist, Grammy Award-winning record producer, composer, musician, orchestrator and conductor. Career Musical career Galuten attended Berkle ...

– additional keyboards and percussion *

Omar Hakim Omar Hakim (born February 12, 1959) is an American drummer, producer, arranger and composer. His session work covers jazz, jazz fusion, and pop music. He has worked with Weather Report, David Bowie, Foo Fighters, Chic, Sting, Madonna, Dire S ...

– drum overdubs on tracks "Hands and Knees" & "Back into You" Production *David Thoener – engineer, co-producer *Rob Beaton, Cary Butler, Robert DelaGarza, Marc DeSisto, Mark McKenna,

Toby Wright Toby Wright is an American record producer and mixing engineer who has worked with artists such as Alice in Chains, Metallica, KISS, Sevendust and Korn. Credits Producer * 3rd Strike - '' Lost Angel'' * 8stops7 - ''In Moderation'' *Alice in Ch ...

– assistant engineers *

Greg Fulginiti Gregory Fulginiti (born 1951) is an American recording and mastering engineer. He was nominated for the TEC Awards by '' Mix'' magazine six times, in 1985 and 1987–1991. Career Fulginiti grew up in Wildwood, New Jersey, and graduated from Wi ...

– mastering at

Artisan Sound Recorders Artisan Sound Recorders was one of Southern California's premier disk mastering facilities. It was founded by Robert M. MacLeod Jr. in the 1960s, and acquired by Kent Duncan in 1979 when MacLeod retired. In the early 1990s, it was sold to Jon Lo ...

Charts

Certifications

References

External links

Album liner notes and lyrics at Sammy Hagar's official web site
{{Authority control Sammy Hagar albums 1987 albums Geffen Records albums Glam metal albums