Van Halen’s biggest ever hit is, of course, more known for its famous synthesizer part than it is for its eponymous band leader’s guitar playing. That is ironic, I guess. It’s one of those songs where the lead melodic part is so central to our conception of the song, it’s sort of hard to think about it without it.
Sammy Kay is a singer-songwriter and former touring musician from New Jersey. He describes his sound as “folk punk” but that’s just to explain his raspy voice. His sound is classic folk complete with tape hiss.
And that’s what he brings to “Jump,” just his voice and guitar and some mild tape hiss. There’s no Oberheim OB-Xa anywhere near this recording. Nor is there a tapping guitar solo or a keyboard solo.
Kay finger-picks his guitar and rasps David Lee Roth’s lyrics, playing the song a little slower than the original. In Kay’s hands, Roth’s life-affirming lyrics about taking risks – by doing something with the singer – come off as endearing and heartfelt. We can really picture that jukebox in some dive bar with Kay and the object of his affection feeling each other out.
It’s a beautiful version of a song that I would have never used that word for.
Love the rasp.