3 Legendary 1980s Guitar Solos That Were Improvised in the Studio

Some of the greatest guitar solos of the 1980s weren’t carefully written and composed ahead of time. In fact, many of them were improvised, either partially or entirely, while in the studio. Let’s look at a few surprising examples, shall we?

Videos by American Songwriter

“Beat It” by Michael Jackson (1983)

The totally wild guitar solo you hear in this iconic dance-rock song from the King of Pop himself comes from none other than the King of Guitar, Eddie Van Halen. And, interestingly enough, Van Halen’s solo was a guest appearance that was recorded quickly and more or less off-the-cuff in the studio. Though, Van Halen was spontaneous in his solos for the most part, including in his own band’s songs.

Funnily enough, Van Halen thought a prank was being pulled on him when he was asked to record a guitar track for a Michael Jackson song.

“I went off on him,” said Van Halen on receiving a call from Quincy Jones. “I went, ‘What do you want, you f-ing so-and-so!’ And he goes, ‘Is this Eddie?’ I said, ‘Yeah, what the hell do you want?’ ‘This is Quincy.’ I’m thinking to myself, ‘I don’t know anyone named Quincy.’ He goes, ‘Quincy Jones, man.’ I went, ‘Ohhh, sorry!’”

“Purple Rain” by Prince (1984)

This famous guitar solo was recorded live and mostly improvised and extended from a live take. This wasn’t exactly uncommon for Prince, either. He preferred to record first-take solos instead of composing them down to the nitty-gritty. The result is a piece of work that is emotional and honest. While his solo in “Purple Rain” isn’t 100% improvised, it was derived from a live performance at First Avenue in Minneapolis. And it’s absolutely incredible, decades after it was captured.

“Tunnel Vision” by Tribal Tech (1990)

While Nomad by Tribal Tech was released in 1990, it was recorded in 1988 at Studio Sound Recorders in California. So, I’ll include the legendary fusion song “Tunnel Vision” on this list. Scott Henderson is the guitarist on this track, and that solo is on a completely different level. And yet, only the first eight bars of the guitar solo were “written.” And even then, there wasn’t much writing involved. Songwriter Gary Willis hummed those first eight bars to Henderson, and he took the gist of it and turned it into a powerhouse solo for the ages.

Photo by Getty Images/Bob Riha, Jr.