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Wikipedia disputes this story, although it does not cite any sources on the "real" story: > Right before Van Halen's guitar solo begins, a noise is heard that

Wikipedia disputes this story, although it does not cite any sources on the "real" story: > Right before Van Halen's guitar solo begins, a noise is heard that sounds like somebody knocking at a door. It is reported that the knock was a person walking into Eddie's recording studio. Another story has claimed that the sound was simply the musician knocking on his own guitar.[25] The sound, however, is that of Jackson knocking on a drum case, as he is credited in the album's liner notes. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beat_It#Eddie_Van_Halen's_guitar_solo https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beat_It#Eddie_Van_Halen's_guit... So I suppose if you've actually got a source from Van Halen's mouth, that's probably more authoritative. I also enjoyed this tidbit: >The engineers were shocked during the recording of Van Halen's solo to discover that the sound of his guitar had caused the monitor speaker in the control room to catch fire, causing one to exclaim, "This must be really good!"[26]

woodpanel 6y ago
So I suppose if you've actually got a source from Van Halen's mouth, that's probably more authoritative. Yes, that's exactly why I was searching for that transcript. Maybe Howard Stern will re-air it or re-publish the interview in his app (I don't live in the US, so I don't have proper access to the show's content sadly). Thats why I added the IIRC. But whatever VH said in that interview clarified were that knocking came from.
- toyg 6y ago
  Because musicians never lie or self-aggrandise, of course ;) i bet it’s one of those things where half the people in the recording studio have a different story to tell.
  - Klinky 6y ago
    Yeah, some of these stories you should take with a grain of salt, probably a 51/50 chance they're true.
  - woodpanel 6y ago
    I agree, but there were conflating stories about the knocking for decades. That MJ is listed as "drum case beater" in the credits is surely not helping. However this HS interview was done at least 15 years after, a time after which I assume any secret joke they conspired must have worn off. I've listened to a rerun from that interview, which might was recorded in 1998 (http://marksfriggin.com/news98/3-16-98.htm http://marksfriggin.com/news98/3-16-98.htm)
fireattack 6y ago
The source is supposed to be the album's liner notes, which list MJ as "drum case beater" (see below). So if anyone have the physical copy, they should be able to confirm. But I'm not sure if it's sufficient to say that noise id done by MJ beating drum case, though.
- coldpie 6y ago
  There's a scan of it here: http://vinylalbumcovers.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/michaeljacksonthrillerlyricback.png http://vinylalbumcovers.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/micha...

woodpanel 6y ago

So I suppose if you've actually got a source from Van Halen's mouth, that's probably more authoritative. Yes, that's exactly why I was searching for that transcript. Maybe Howard Stern will re-air it or re-publish the interview in his app (I don't live in the US, so I don't have proper access to the show's content sadly). Thats why I added the IIRC. But whatever VH said in that interview clarified were that knocking came from.

toyg 6y ago
Because musicians never lie or self-aggrandise, of course ;) i bet it’s one of those things where half the people in the recording studio have a different story to tell.
- Klinky 6y ago
  Yeah, some of these stories you should take with a grain of salt, probably a 51/50 chance they're true.
- woodpanel 6y ago
  I agree, but there were conflating stories about the knocking for decades. That MJ is listed as "drum case beater" in the credits is surely not helping. However this HS interview was done at least 15 years after, a time after which I assume any secret joke they conspired must have worn off. I've listened to a rerun from that interview, which might was recorded in 1998 (http://marksfriggin.com/news98/3-16-98.htm http://marksfriggin.com/news98/3-16-98.htm)

fireattack 6y ago

The source is supposed to be the album's liner notes, which list MJ as "drum case beater" (see below). So if anyone have the physical copy, they should be able to confirm. But I'm not sure if it's sufficient to say that noise id done by MJ beating drum case, though.

coldpie 6y ago
There's a scan of it here: http://vinylalbumcovers.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/michaeljacksonthrillerlyricback.png http://vinylalbumcovers.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/micha...