Steve Stevens

As I drove into work this morning I heard Billy Idol's "Eyes Without A Face" and I thought of Steve Stevens.

I had the unique opportunity to work for Billy Idol's manager during the time he recorded Rebel Yell. During that time I was privy to the creative process enjoying the creation of most of the album's songs as they came to life. As a matter of course I had regular conversations with his guitarist Steve Stevens.

At the time, Steve was gaining a reputation as one of the finest guitarist working in rock music. I can attest to the fact that he took his craft extremely seriously. he was living at his parents house at the time and whenever I would call him to dish out the latest information I would invariably catch him in the middle of practising or fiddling with his effects rack to make sure that he could create sounds that no one else could copy (see machine gun sound in the solo on "Rebel Yell").

I spent allot of time in the studio while the album was being recorded. One of the most memorable days came during the recording of Steve's solo for "Crank Call." Steve was alone in the studio with his guitar and the rest of us were sitting in the control room. Producer Keith Forsey cued up the song to where the solo was to begin and, when Steve said he was ready, pushed record. Steve Stevens then laid down, in one take, what is, to this day, the greatest guitar solo I have ever heard in person! I wish I could describe what was going through my mind at the time. In one burst he through out an improvised assault that was stunning, melodic, virtuosic, fast and precise. As a guitarist all I could think was that this was something I would never even have imagined aspiring to.

When Steve was finished, Keith pressed stop and the room fell silent. I couldn't wait to hear what everyone had to say. At that moment Billy got up from his seat and leaned into the control room microphone and pressed the talk back button.

"Hey Steve," he said. "That was great. Now, could you play the same thing but with allot fewer notes?"

I was stunned. Could what I had just heard be true. He wanted that solo trashed? After a few minutes to pull himself together, Steve gave Billy exactly what he wanted and then said he wanted to go out for some fresh air. He asked me to join him for some pizza. When we got out onto 8th Street the sun hit us like a flood light. We headed over to Ray's for a couple of extra cheesy slices. Neither of us could believe that his original take wasn't going to be the solo heard on the album. At least, I assured him, he could play the solo live whenever he wanted to. He was too low though. he said that the solo had been divine inspiration and he didn't know if he could remember what he had played. Indeed, in the ensuing months, when the Rebel yell tour began to roll out across America, Steve played the solo for "Crank Call" note for note with what had been committed to the final version of the album.