Michael Jackson’s Beat It was originally “too metal” until Quincy Jones stepped in: “I gotta get it on pop radio! Use the small amp, not so much distortion”
Quincy Jones rescued Michael Jackson’s Beat It from going “too metal”, according to Steve Lukather.
The track formed part of Jackson’s famous Thriller album, released in 1982. Jones, who sadly passed away earlier this month, produced the record, and had stepped in via a phone call to offer some guidance on the track, suggesting it was straying a little too heavy.
READ MORE: Eddie Van Halen broke a Van Halen “band rule” to play the solo on Michael Jackson’s Beat It
Lukather, who was working as a session guitarist on the album, has reflected on Jones’ vital direction on the song in a new piece for The Guardian. He recalls, “Beat It, we did it backwards: Michael’s lead vocal and the Eddie Van Halen guitar solo were done with a couple of small overdubs but no click track.
“Jeff [Porcaro] made a click track and then a drum part, and I played a bunch of really wild guitar parts, because I knew Eddie’s solo was on it – I was doing real hard rock, a quadruple-track riff. Quincy wasn’t even there, he was at Westlake doing overdubs on Billie Jean while we were fixing Beat It – so we’d be on the phone and he goes: ‘It’s too metal, you gotta calm down. I gotta get it on pop radio! Use the small amp, not so much distortion.’”
He later adds, “Quincy is the only guy that can do a solo album without playing or writing anything. Somehow, no matter what he did, there was a Quincy Jones sound, even if he didn’t play, sing, write or whatever. He was a director.”
Beat It of course went on to be one of Jackson’s biggest hits. It was launched as the album’s third single, and peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, where it stayed for three weeks. It is certified x2 platinum in the UK, and 8x platinum in the US.
Jones passed away on 3 November, at the age of 91. He won 28 Grammy Awards over the course of his esteemed career, and also worked with the likes of Frank Sinatra, Ray Charles, and many more.
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