Originally Posted by
soulster
I have been reading Guitar World's collector's edition featuring Van Halen. I just read the section about how Eddie Van Halen came to do the famous solo on the song "Beat It". In the article, Eddie tells of how Quincy called him one day and how he didn't think it really was him and called him an asshole! LOL! Once convinced it really was Q, and agreed to play on the track, he grabbed his guitar, jumped in his car, and went to the studio. He did two takes, and MJ was standing in the back just loving it. Eddie did the gig for free because he thought his bandmates, who were all out of town, would never find out, and that Van Halen fans would never know. As it turns out, the song broke racial barriers at Black and FM radio, MTV, helped "Thriller" become one of the best-selling albums of all time, and made MJ a superstar. Eddie was never even paid for it, and was just very happy to play on a Michael Jackson record. Of course, Eddie is a fan.
I bought the album in early December of 1982, just a couple of days after it was released. I wasn't too impressed with the album overall, but once I got to side two and hear "Beat It", I thought "Cool! Michael did a rock song! Sounds good!" But, it didn't sound all that unusual, as The Time had their blistering guitar solo on the album version of "777-9311". Earth, Wind & Fire, Prince and Slave, among others, had been doing hard rock guitar solos on their records too. And, even though I was a big Van Halen fan, I somehow never made the connection until I read the liner notes as I listened.
Now, I know there aren't many rock fans around here, but, since Eddie Van Halen never thought anyone would know or care, I wondered how you all felt about the song, and Eddie Van Halen's participation on the song.
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