Dweezil Zappa

My guess is late March of 2024...

I read them. It only confirms that Steve Lukather is just not remembering what happened correctly and it also proves that he is unaware of the “clean-funky” syncopated overdubs that sound EXACTLY like Paul Jackson Jr. Marinelli is totally aware that there was a demo session for “Beat It” which Paul played on. This was the track that was edited to Eddie’s liking for the solo section which then required the re-cutting of the entire rhythm track at Sunset as Luke described. But let’s be clear here…Luke is probably wrong about Eddie recording the solo at his home. He did not have a completed studio in April of 1982 and even if Eddie got in a time machine and recorded it at home a year later when his studio was functional, he still couldn’t have physically played back the 24-track demo on the 16-track machine that was used to record ‘1984’ beginning in April of 1983. 

Lukather has never mentioned the clean octave/syncopated overdubs on “Beat It”…not once. Not ever. He COULD have played those specific parts…but the fact that he has demonstrated no knowledge of those parts tells me that he doesn’t know about them…because even if Lukather did play those clean overdubs even he would have to acknowledge that those parts are 1000% in the unmistakeable style of Paul Jackson Jr. What Lukather can’t speak on is what happened to the “Beat It” track AFTER his involvement was over. He can’t speak on overdubs that might have been made after his work was complete and he can’t speak on the final mixing sessions. I think it’s pretty obvious that Luke is correct in saying that he recorded all the overdriven electric guitars on the final rhythm track exactly as he recalled, but because he never mentions the clean overdubs that seem likely to have been added to the track after his involvement was complete, I think it’s obvious that he’s just not aware of these parts. 

He’s just obviously and provably wrong. If he refuses to acknowledge that the Musician’s Union Contract is an indication of factual events and he thinks it is just a made-up document, then he is calling out Edward who claimed over and over again that he did the session for free. Luke had a long-standing relationship with Q and we KNOW he got paid because he was one of the most in-demand session players of all time. But I don’t believe that Eddie was lying when he said he didn’t ask for or receive payment for the session to the best of his knowledge. I would imagine that Ed did get a small check from the Musician’s Union for a payment of Union scale for the session that he was not aware of. But beyond that, I think Eddie wasn’t lying about doing the season for free or close to free if his wife or accountant deposited the Union scale check and he wasn’t aware of it. 

Do you think the Musician’s Union contract is fake or that the Musician’s Union made this document for some nefarious reason? 

With all due respect to Steve Lukather, I must say that the evidence is not in the favor of Luke’s recollection. Just because someone is famous and has a long resume and is rightfully well respected for a stellar career in music, that does not mean that their memory is automatically correct on that basis alone. 

What you are failing to recognize is that Beat It was recorded more than once. The contracts and session dates that Anthony Marinelli is talking about are not the dates of the sessions of the recording that made the album (per Luke). This “confusion” has allowed (possibly forgivably) guys like Anthony to make hay for decades….

trust Luke - I do (and he’s called Anthony Marinelli out on his bullshit and got him to back down 

I’m not sure where you get that I “failed to recognize” that “Beat It” was recorded more than once. I’m well aware of the demo and the re-recording of the track after Edward’s solo was recorded that Luke mentions. Luke can only speak to the session at Sunset Sound in which he, Jeff Porcaro and an engineer re-recorded the backing tracks. He had no involvement in “Beat It” before or after that. I don’t trust Luke’s recollections of Eddie’s solo session at all because he didn’t have any involvement in “Beat It” until after Eddie’s session was complete. Luke was not there when Eddie recorded the solo by his own admission. He has said so many contradictory things related to this session and other things-which is understandable given the years and the high times in those days. There was a demo which was made before Ed came into the picture obviously, but Luke wasn’t involved in that or any other demo of the song that might have existed before Eddie was involved. The stated time for the session from the Musician’s Union contract fits with the narrow window of time that Eddie had between the two legs of the 1982 tour. Luke’s claim that Eddie recorded the solo at home and that he never set foot in Westlake is provably false. Most importantly, Ed did not have a working studio at home anywhere near the time of the session. The home studio was not complete and capable of recording and playback of the demo tape-it never was because 5150 had a 16-track machine incapable of recording and playback on the 24-track tape that ‘Thriller’ was recorded on including the demos. Luke is just plain wrong about Eddie doing all the work on “Beat It” at home. It just never happened that way. 

What exactly do you mean about Luke having “called Anthony Marinelli out on his bullshit and got him to back down”?! I’m not being contradictory, I really want to know what evidence you have. I’m a fan of Luke, there’s no question about that. But I trust the evidence. If Luke’s recollections matched any evidence I would trust his recollections, but his recollections don’t match any evidence or logic, so I don’t trust his recollections. 

I responded above.