{"id":23215,"date":"2024-12-24T11:55:31","date_gmt":"2024-12-24T11:55:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/guitarmadrid.com\/?p=23215"},"modified":"2025-01-05T21:10:18","modified_gmt":"2025-01-05T21:10:18","slug":"he-got-a-kidney-infection-so-hes-in-hospital-thats-a-bit-of-a-drag-because-he-was-going-to-be-the-lead-guitarist-the-iconic-charity-rock-song-that-misse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/guitarmadrid.com\/es\/2024\/12\/24\/he-got-a-kidney-infection-so-hes-in-hospital-thats-a-bit-of-a-drag-because-he-was-going-to-be-the-lead-guitarist-the-iconic-charity-rock-song-that-misse\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cHe got a kidney infection, so he\u2019s in hospital\u2026 That\u2019s a bit of a drag, because he was going to be the lead guitarist\u201d: The iconic charity rock song that missed out on its star guitarist due to illness \u2013 and why it could have sounded very different"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Edge, Phil Collins and Sting on one track? It very nearly happened\u2026<\/span>(Image credit: Brian Aris, Band Aid)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n
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Do They Know It\u2019s Christmas?<\/em> is one of the most iconic charity singles of all time, featuring an all-star cast of musical heroes including Sting, Bono, Phil Collins and countless others. Since its release in 1984, it has raised almost $180 million for famine relief and development in Ethiopia and Africa.<\/p>\n

Although the song was written by Midge Ure and Bob Geldof using acoustic guitars<\/a>, the final track didn\u2019t end up featuring much in the way of six-strings, despite a plethora of players in the studio \u2013 and, as it turns out, there\u2019s a good reason for that.<\/p>\n

A new BBC documentary, The Making of Do They Know It’s Christmas?<\/em><\/a>, pulls together archive footage from the creation of the track, and includes an interview with Geldof prior to the star-studded session, where he reveals one big guitar name that couldn\u2019t make it to the studio.<\/p>\n

Asked by a reporter who was arriving, Geldof says, \u201cBono\u2019s just come in. He rang me last night and said [U2 guitarist] the Edge had got a kidney infection, and so he\u2019s in hospital. So send him my love, and I hope he gets better.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s a bit of a drag, because he was going to be the lead guitarist\u2026 but there\u2019s about a million guitar players coming down.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Band Aid – The Making Of The Original ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas?\u2019 (New Documentary, 2024) [4K] – YouTube<\/span>\"Band<\/img><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Watch On <\/a><\/div>\n

Geldof wasn\u2019t kidding. The likes of Paul Weller, Status Quo\u2019s Rick Parfitt and Francis Rossi, Sting, and Spandau Ballet\u2019s Gary Kemp were among the guitarists who did turn up \u2013 but none of them made it onto the actual recording.<\/p>\n

The day before the vocal recordings took place, Midge Ure attempted to track some jangly chords on electric guitar<\/a>, while Geldof and Weller watched. But nothing could cut through the thick layer of synths.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe\u2019ve got so many fucking keyboards,\u201d Geldof says. \u201cIt\u2019s just the sound of guitar that I think it misses.\u201d<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, the sound of the electric guitar would never grace the track, although Weller and Kemp did contribute some background acoustic parts \u2013 and the Jam leader even attempted some electric lines.<\/p>\n

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Band Aid – Do They Know It’s Christmas? (Official Video) [4K] – YouTube<\/span>\"Band<\/img><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Watch On <\/a><\/div>\n

\u201cThere was nothing wrong with his guitar parts, nothing wrong with his playing at all. It just didn’t fit in this electronic-based track,\u201d Ure told Guitar Player<\/em><\/a> of Weller\u2019s electric contributions earlier this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe did a kind of picking thing with a clean sound. It was kind of jangly, probably using one of my guitars, quite \u2013 dare I say \u2013 Smiths-like\u2026 It was all very good. I think even he saw it didn\u2019t fit. He felt it didn\u2019t sound right within that track.\u201d<\/p>\n

All of which means it\u2019s a real shame that the Edge was struck down with illness just days prior to the recording of Do They Know It\u2019s Christmas?<\/em><\/p>\n

It\u2019s not hard to hear how his sparse single-note lines, sprinkled with a touch of his signature delay, could have floated atop the layers of keyboards, adding a sense of spaciousness and fragility to the recording, and ticking off the guitar timbres Geldof sought.<\/p>\n

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Paul Weller contributed several guitar ideas, but his electric parts didn\u2019t make the cut. <\/span>(Image credit: Brian Aris, Band Aid)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

Guitars were a bigger feature in Band Aid 20\u2019s 2004 recording of the track, with Radiohead\u2019s Jonny Greenwood, Busted\u2019s Charlie Simpson, and The Darkness guitarists Dan and Justin Hawkins all tracking parts, while Paul McCartney contributed bass<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The newly released 2024 Ultimate Mix finally brings guitars to the fore, reviving lost contributions from Weller, Ure, Greenwood and Kemp, and highlighting Justin Hawkins\u2019 harmony guitar solo<\/a> \u2013 although we\u2019ll always wonder what the Edge would have brought to the track.<\/p>\n

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Band Aid – Do They Know It\u2019s Christmas? (2024 Ultimate Mix \/ Single Version) – YouTube<\/span>\"Band<\/img><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Watch On <\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Mike is Editor-in-Chief of GuitarWorld.com, in addition to being an offset fiend and recovering pedal addict. He has a master’s degree in journalism from Cardiff University, and over a decade’s experience writing and editing for guitar publications including MusicRadar<\/em><\/a>, Total Guitar<\/em> and Guitarist<\/em>, as well as 20 years of recording and live experience in original and function bands. During his career, he has interviewed the likes of John Frusciante, Chris Cornell, Tom Morello, Matt Bellamy, Kirk Hammett, Jerry Cantrell, Joe Satriani, Tom DeLonge, Ed O’Brien, Polyphia, Tosin Abasi, Yvette Young and many more. In his free time, you’ll find him making progressive instrumental rock under the nom de plume Maebe<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Edge, Phil Collins and Sting on one track? It very nearly happened\u2026(Image credit: Brian Aris, Band Aid) Do They Know It\u2019s Christmas? is one of the most iconic charity singles of all time, featuring an all-star cast of musical heroes including Sting, Bono, Phil Collins and countless others. Since its release in 1984, it […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":23216,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23215","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-artists"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/guitarmadrid.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23215","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/guitarmadrid.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/guitarmadrid.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/guitarmadrid.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/guitarmadrid.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23215"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/guitarmadrid.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23215\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23219,"href":"https:\/\/guitarmadrid.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23215\/revisions\/23219"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/guitarmadrid.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23216"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/guitarmadrid.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23215"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/guitarmadrid.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23215"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/guitarmadrid.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23215"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}