So, let’s talk about “Beat It”…
“Beat It” was one of the later songs that arrived on Thriller, when Quincy was looking for a more rock song… Michael had the demo in acapella form, which they decided was the rock song they needed.
Thus, the initial track was put together in the studio in early October: a Roland TR-808 drum machine, Rhodes piano, keyboards, Paul Jackson Jr.’s guitars and a backbeat from Michael hitting a drum case… This was the backing track that Michael sang to for “Beat It”.
Before long, Quincy Jones invited Eddie Van Halen to add a guitar solo to the song. Eddie received a cassette of “Beat It”, but didn’t like the initial section they wanted him to solo over –presumably with the main song riff being repeated… Instead, he felt the verse section was better suited for his guitar solo, with the chord changes underneath to make it more interesting. Thus, he suggested this to Quincy, and the necessary edits would be made.
On 4 October 1982, Eddie Van Halen recorded the guitar solo for “Beat It” at Westlake… It was, according to him, just 20 minutes of his time and he did it as a favour for Michael. He was set up in Westlake Studio B with his Frankenstrat, a rented Marshall amplifier & an Echoplex: at least two takes and that was the track.
After Eddie’s guitar solo was added, Toto bandmates Steve Lukather and Jeff Porcaro added their parts to the existing track… Lukather claimed they re-created the entire track to just Michael’s vocals, a case beater and Eddie’s guitar solo on tape, relying on headphone bleed from Michael’s vocal tracks.
While it’s clear that the edits to the song ruined the SMPTE code needed to sync other tape reels of the song, it does not make sense they had so little to work with… There would have been a cue mix made of the existing track.
“Beat It” was one of the later songs that arrived on Thriller, when Quincy was looking for a more rock song… Michael had the demo in acapella form, which they decided was the rock song they needed.
Thus, the initial track was put together in the studio in early October: a Roland TR-808 drum machine, Rhodes piano, keyboards, Paul Jackson Jr.’s guitars and a backbeat from Michael hitting a drum case… This was the backing track that Michael sang to for “Beat It”.
Before long, Quincy Jones invited Eddie Van Halen to add a guitar solo to the song. Eddie received a cassette of “Beat It”, but didn’t like the initial section they wanted him to solo over –presumably with the main song riff being repeated… Instead, he felt the verse section was better suited for his guitar solo, with the chord changes underneath to make it more interesting. Thus, he suggested this to Quincy, and the necessary edits would be made.
On 4 October 1982, Eddie Van Halen recorded the guitar solo for “Beat It” at Westlake… It was, according to him, just 20 minutes of his time and he did it as a favour for Michael. He was set up in Westlake Studio B with his Frankenstrat, a rented Marshall amplifier & an Echoplex: at least two takes and that was the track.
After Eddie’s guitar solo was added, Toto bandmates Steve Lukather and Jeff Porcaro added their parts to the existing track… Lukather claimed they re-created the entire track to just Michael’s vocals, a case beater and Eddie’s guitar solo on tape, relying on headphone bleed from Michael’s vocal tracks.
While it’s clear that the edits to the song ruined the SMPTE code needed to sync other tape reels of the song, it does not make sense they had so little to work with… There would have been a cue mix made of the existing track.