The classic song Eddie Van Halen forgot how to play and the guitarist how taught him it
It’s never easy to keep track of every song you’ve written. Even though many artists can boast a strong lineup of classics in their back catalogue, there will always be those few lesser songs that are not particularly memorable when listening to them years later. Although Eddie Van Halen may have had an enormous wealth of fantastic guitar solos, one of his trademark lead breaks completely left his mind after recording.
Granted, Eddie already had to remember his massive back catalogue starting from Van Halen’s debut record. From the first minute that ‘Eruption’ graced listeners’ ears, they knew they were listening to the next major guitar hero, with Eddie employing different techniques that no one had ever thought of before.
Although most artists might try to cram all of their best ideas onto one project, Eddie would see every subsequent Van Halen album as a new creative endeavour, finding different ways to twist his original sound into something new, whether that meant incorporating keyboards and synthesisers or using power tools on his equipment on tracks like ‘Poundcake’ off For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge.
During recording sessions, Eddie got a call outside his main studio asking if he would appear on the next Michael Jackson album. Quickly becoming the breakout star of the Jackson 5, the pop idol was on the cusp of changing the pop landscape with Thriller, only to be told that he needed a few more hooks to fill out the rest of the album.
At the time, the idea of a hard rock guitarist appearing on a pop record of that scale was far from conventional. Jackson was already pushing boundaries with Thriller, blending genres in ways that hadn’t quite been attempted before. Bringing in Eddie Van Halen was another bold move that helped bridge the gap between rock and pop audiences.
For Eddie, though, it was simply another opportunity to experiment outside his usual environment. Rather than overthinking it, he approached the session with the same instinctive flair that defined his work with Van Halen. That spontaneity is part of what made the solo so memorable, even if he didn’t think twice about it afterwards.
Writing ‘Billie Jean’ and ‘Beat It’, the leaning musician knew that he needed a heavy metal guitarist for the lead break on the latter and thought that Van Halen’s tone would be a perfect fit. Although Eddie delivered a searing solo that would become the signature part of the song, his memory of doing it went in one ear and out the other.
When putting together the massive tour for the follow-up album Bad, Jackson initially wanted Eddie to come down to play the solo to ‘Beat It’ live. Once touring guitarist Jennifer Batten was warming up, though, one of the guitar maestro’s guitar techs had her meet Eddie to give him some pointers for the show.
Since it had been a few years, Batten recalled that Eddie forgot how to play the classic solo, telling Guitar World, “As soon as I walked in the room, he put his guitar on me and wanted me to play the solo. So, of course, I did. As soon as I finished, he grabbed the guitar and asked me to remind him how the solo went. Because it’s not something he had played with Van Halen – it was a one-off in the studio, and then he went on his way. But I’d say he picked it up again mighty quickly!”.
While the solo fits outside of the Van Halen mould, it’s still easy to guess Eddie’s playing from the opening notes, featuring his signature whammy bar dips and the excellent tremolo picking delivered at near-supersonic speed. Eddie may have had the opportunity to play with ‘The King of Pop’, but in terms of his performance, it was just a chance day at the office.
