Guitar Today

It would be impossible for me to make a post today without mentioning the sudden death of Michael Jackson. There is no way that I, writing any kind of music blog, could talk about music today without mentioning the loss of someone who has had such a tremendous effect on all music. They called him the King of Pop, but Michael Jackson’s influence can be seen in almost all forms of popular music today. So many artists have borrowed from his repertoire of moves, developed vocal melodies and methods modelled from his phenomenal voice and covered his songs.

Just a few of the things that Micheal Jackson gave us that will never die:

• Crotch-Grabbing - This dance move and possible vocal aid coined by Michael Jackson was hijacked by rappers everywhere
• The Moonwalk - Although he is often credited for coining the moonwalk, Jackson himself attributed the credit of this move to other sources. The moonwalk has been recorded as early as 1943. However, MJ is definitely the one who brought it to the mainstream when he first appeared to defy gravity as part of his incredible live show and had the whole world trying to learn the dance.
•   Dancer Face - Another signature of Jackson’s was his facial moves while he danced. When many of us were kids (I know not all of you were kids when Michael Jackson was all over TV but bare with me) and we thought of imitating Michael Jackson we didn’t just dance around. We made the faces and made the noises. I don’t think there is anything out there more imitated.

Although it has been difficult to look at Jackson’s success in recent decades without the many contraversies surrounding the man coming up, his influence on not just his generation but popular culture can never be forgotten. However, its pretty easy to be a target for scrutiny when you are one of the most recognized people in the entire world. Say what you want about him, but this was a man who knew how to do things right. From his song choices, to his businness decisions, there were no notable flops in this man’s career. He has also worked with some amazing guitar players. And, although his music was considered pop, after listening to a few of these you will have a hard time denying that pop music can rock. Here are some of his greatest guitar driven songs.

Black Or White - I could spend the better part of a week looking for a guitar riff more simple and catchy than the main riff for Black and White. This is just a really great feel-good song. Heres a video of MJ playing it with Slash.

Smooth Criminal - Michael Jackson’s music has always had infectious beats, but one of the pinnacle’s of that signature trait comes to fruition in the main riff of “Smooth Criminal”. It is one of Jackson’s most popular songs and it was covered by Alien Ant Farm in 2001. The music video for this song is highly influential in today’s music industry. Michael Jackson’s choreography and extravagant multi-player dance routines are one of the things he is best known for. And they are probably one of the things he is least credited for when people mimic his material. Listen for the great guitar contribution by Billy Idol’s Steve Stevens.

Billie Jean - This song is one of the singles that sent Thriller to its’ commercial success and was one of the best-selling singles of 1983. The song is about a crazed fan who claimed that Jackson was the father of one the woman’s twin children. Here we can see how Michael Jackson fathered one the most well-known rock and roll stereotypes. Who hasn’t seen a reference to the groupie shouting out or holding up a sign “I’m having your baby!” Although the song is most well known for its’ bass-line and the vocal melody, it can still be a lot of fun to duplicate on your guitar. Sungha Jung has a great cover over Billie Jean.

Beat It - Released on Valentine’s Day in 1983, Michael Jackson’s “Beat it” has probably one of the best guitar solos of the songs in his career if not in all of rock music. The song was covered by Fallout Boy and it was a hit song for them as well. Metallica also worked the song into one of their live medleys. Beat it was one of the best-selling singles of all time and went platinum in ‘89. The guitar solo on the album version was recorded by Eddie Van Halen but for the Bad Tour in 1987 Jackson recruited Jennifer Batten. The following video shows a performance of Beat it with Jennifer playing guitar. Its also one heck of a performance by MJ and the band.

This video is a live jam where Batten really shows her chops while Michael dances. Watching these videos makes me miss Michael Jackson already. What a showman.

Here is our latest poll

Who is the best guitar player that Michael Jackson worked with?(survey)

Trackback URI | Comments RSS