4 Timeless Songs With Uncredited Guitar Solos

Sometimes, a producer needs a guitar legend to elevate a potential hit single. Or, for reasons of youth, addiction, or lack of skill, professional session players are called upon to rescue a track. Not every musician’s name makes the liner notes. But the uncredited guitar solos in these timeless songs are widely recognized, partly due to who played them (and who didn’t).

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“Beat It” by Michael Jackson

Eddie Van Halen quietly performed the guitar solo on “Beat It”. Though initially uncredited, his signature playing is impossible to disguise. However, when Van Halen recorded the solo, he edited the tape because he wanted to play over a different section of the song than the one producer Quincy Jones had suggested. But the spliced tape no longer synced to the rest of the track. So Jones brought in a band to rerecord “Beat It”, keeping only Van Halen’s guitar solo and Michael Jackson’s vocal performances. Guitarist Steve Lukather played the iconic rhythm guitar parts, which Jackson had sung to him. Credit or no credit, the shredding solo is undeniably Van Halen’s.

“While My Guitar Gently Weeps” by The Beatles

One of Eric Clapton’s most memorable guitar solos almost didn’t happen. George Harrison had presented “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” to The Beatles, but his bandmates were indifferent to it. So Harrison invited Clapton in to play on the track. Initially, Clapton refused.

“Oh, no, I can’t do that,” Clapton said. “Nobody’s ever played on a Beatles record and the others wouldn’t like it.”

But Harrison changed Clapton’s mind, and with “Slowhand” in the studio, the tension between Harrison, John Lennon, and Paul McCartney eased. It’s a defining moment for Harrison as a songwriter, and “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” joins “Crossroads” and “Layla” in helping Clapton live up to his other nickname, “God.”

“Train Kept A Rollin’” by Aerosmith

Joe Perry and Brad Whitford are now considered guitar legends. But neither recorded one of Aerosmith’s best lead guitar moments. Producer Jack Douglas invited guitarists Dick Wagner and Steve Hunter to play on “Train Kept A Rollin’”, thinking Perry and Whitford lacked the chops. Whitford explained to Guitar World how he handled the arrival of session guitarists.

“At first you fight, and you’re a little bit angry,” he said. “And then you get sad… but that solo is blistering.”

According to Whitford, Wagner also appears on “Same Old Song And Dance”, and Hunter took the solo on “S.O.S. (Too Bad)”. Nevertheless, by the band’s third album, Toys In The Attic, Perry and Whitford established themselves as bona fide guitar heroes on timeless hits like “Sweet Emotion” and “Walk This Way”.

“I Love It Loud” by KISS

Creatures Of The Night was Ace Frehley’s last album with KISS until Psycho Circus (1998). Though Frehley’s on the album cover, he didn’t play on Creatures Of The Night. “I Love It Loud” features guitarist Vinny Vincent, who co-wrote the song with Gene Simmons. Vincent continued as the band’s lead guitarist when the makeup came off for KISS’s 1983 release Lick It Up.

Robben Ford and Steve Farris also recorded guitar parts for additional tracks on Creatures Of The Night in Frehley’s absence. The album marked KISS’s return to hard rock after experiments with disco and pop had alienated longtime fans. “I Love It Loud” was the first single and a declaration. Meanwhile, Frehley does appear in the music video, miming Vincent’s playing. As many KISS fans already know, the band is no stranger to uncredited musicians helping Simmons and Paul Stanley complete records.

Photo by Getty Images/Bob Riha Jr.