Steve Stevens on recording his epic 64-bar Top Gun solo: “I remember saying, ‘Come on, you’re gonna edit it down to, what, four bars?’ Harold goes, ‘No, no, I’m telling you, man, we’re gonna keep everything that you did’”
Steve Stevens, best known as Billy Idol’s longtime guitarist, has opened up about recording one of cinema’s most iconic guitar solos — the soaring lead part on the Top Gun Anthem.
The solo, recorded in 1985, came about during the final days of tracking Idol’s Whiplash Smile album in New York. Composer Harold Faltermeyer, who was in town contributing keyboards to the project, casually invited Stevens to contribute to a new movie he was working on — a film about fighter pilots starring a then-rising Tom Cruise.
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“Harold used to work with Keith Forsey, who was Billy Idol’s producer,” Stevens tells MusicRadar. “He mentioned to me, ‘I’m working on this new movie about fighter pilots called Top Gun. It’s with Tom Cruise…’”
“Now, the only thing I knew about Tom Cruise was [1983 comedy] Risky Business, but Harold said, ‘You should play guitar on this song,’ and that’s how it got started.”
The session took place on a Saturday night after wrapping up with Idol. Stevens’ gear, including his vintage Marshall Plexi, was already set up, making for a swift and easy process.
“We’d gotten done recording with Billy around ten,” the musician recalls. “Harold put on the multi-track, and I think we did the whole Top Gun session in about three hours.”
“The guitars sounded great. My vintage Marshall Plexi was there, so I didn’t have to get a sound together. I just plugged in, played, and we nailed the melody and solo.”
Stevens also recalls his surprise at how Faltermeyer had decided to leave his entire solo intact.
“That solo is 64 bars!” he says. “It was such a long solo! I remember saying, ‘Come on, you’re gonna edit it down to, what, four bars?’ Harold goes, ‘No, no, I’m telling you, man, we’re gonna keep everything that you did.’ And they did!”
Now, nearly four decades on, Stevens still hears from fans whose lives were touched by the music.
“It was a great experience. It was absolutely amazing,” he says. “And all these years later, I get amazing compliments from servicemen, and enlisted people, too. They say it touched them in some way. So, it’s great to be recognised.”
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Source: www.guitar-bass.net
