Legendary producer, songwriter, composer and musician Quincy Jones died on November 3 at the age of 91. Jones left behind a huge legacy, with 28 Grammy Awards and seven Academy Award nominations. In addition, he produced three of Michael Jackson’s biggest hits: Off the Wall, excitement and bad. In particular. excitement It became the best-selling album of all time, selling 32 million copies. One of the album’s most timeless tracks would have sounded very different had Jones not intervened.
Quincy Jones and Michael Jackson were a force to be reckoned with
Michael Jackson and Quincy Jones met in 1978 while filming the movie adaptation of the groundbreaking Broadway musical. The Wiz. Jackson played the Scarecrow, while Jones composed the movie’s musical score.
The two collaborated to create the ’70s movie Outside the wallwhich ended up becoming a major career achievement for the King of Pop. When they reunited three years later, the “bad” singer wanted to create a record where “every song was a killer.” The gift of hindsight tells us that this was a success – “Beat It,” “Thriller,” “Billie Jean,” anyone?
[RELATED: The Story Behind How Quincy Jones Nearly Cut “Billie Jean” From Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’]
At Jones’ request, Jackson decided to add a rock song to the mix. Thus came “Beat It,” featuring a guitar solo by Eddie Van Halen.
“You Gotta Calm Down”
Quincy Jones recruited Steve Luthakar, a founding member of the Los Angeles rock band Toto, to play guitar. Excitement. In a recent interview with The GuardianLuthakar, now 67, admits he may have understood the initial mission of the “rock song”. Also Okay.
He remembers making the song “Beat It”.
Luthakar continued: “Quincy wasn’t there, he was in Westlake doing more dubbing on ‘Billie Jean’ while we were fixing ‘Beat It’.” So we talk on the phone and he says: “It’s very metallic, you have to calm down. I’ve got to get it on pop radio! Use the little subwoofer, there’s not a lot of distortion.'”
Luthakar said “Beat It” is a lasting testament to Jones’ true genius.
“Quincy is the only guy who can make a solo album without playing or writing anything,” he said. The Guardian. “Somehow, no matter what he did, there was a voice for Quincy Jones, even if he didn’t play or sing or write or anything else. He was a manager.”
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