California Rock News has uploaded video footage of former MARILYN MANSON and current ROB ZOMBIE guitarist John 5 (real name: John William Lowery) and his band JOHN 5 & THE CREATURES performing a cover version of Michael Jackson’s “Beat It” on November 8 at Discovery in Ventura, California. Check it out below.
Asked about his decision to record a verion of “Beat It” for his 2012 solo album “God Told Me To”, John 5 told Guitar World: “[I decided to do it] partly because it’s such a massive, massive song. You can go pretty much anywhere in the world and people know ‘Beat It’. When I was growing up, you heard it everywhere. I remember being a kid and going to school dances and stuff, and they always played it. And I thought the riff was amazing, the song was amazing, and Eddie’s [Van Halen] solo was amazing.”
Speaking about the fact that he actually recreates Eddie’s solo almost note-for-note on his version, John 5 said: “I put a lot of thought into that. My feeling was, that solo is a piece of music in and of itself. And it’s iconic; I didn’t want to mess with it. So I go off at the end a little bit and do my own thing, but otherwise I play it pretty close. And it was fun trying to pull that off.”
John 5 earlier this summer joined up with his buddies from THE CREATURES — drummer Rodger Carter and bassist Ian Ross — to film a video for a brand new John 5 track titled “Black Grass Plague” in North Hollywood, California. The clip is being directed and produced by Coffin Case founder Jonny Coffin, who previously worked with John 5 on the mini-series “Tales From The Crossroads” as well as the DVD for “God Told Me To” in 2012.
JOHN 5 & THE CREATURES toured in support of John 5’s eighth solo album, “Careful With That Axe”, which was made available on August 12, 2014 through 60 Cycle Hum. The effort features Rodger Carter on drums and Matt Bissonette on bass.
Source: Blabbermouth
