“The guitar duel scene with Ry Cooder wasn’t working. Ry called up Guitar Player and asked who the new hotshot on the block was”: Steve Vai on how he got the career-defining Crossroads gig

Steve Vai has called starring in Crossraoads’ iconic guitar duel scene a pivotal moment in his career.

Speaking in the latest issue of Guitar World, which uncovers the stories behind 1984’s most ground-breaking guitar albums, he discussed how the success of his debut solo record, Flex-Able, helped open doors to big opportunities for the young guitarist. 

“The first thing that came in was the Crossroads movie [in 1986],” Vai remembers. 

He adds that the film's now-iconic guitar duel scene, originally scripted to be a slide guitar battle in keeping with the record’s blues theme, wasn't as effective as the movie's producers had envisioned. 

“The guitar duel scene with Ry Cooder wasn’t working,” Vai recalls. “Ry Cooder [the film’s composer] called up Guitar Player and asked who the new hotshot on the block was.”

Rumor has it that Stevie Ray Vaughan and Frank Zappa had been in the running for the role, but it was Vai’s fretboard-burning work in Alcatrazz and on 1984's Flex-Able that earned him the casting.  

“That piece of music has been a hugely pivotal moment in my life, and rightly so, I think, because it was very innovative,” says Vai. “I didn’t realize a lot of the things I was doing at that time were unique. 

“I’ve tried to maintain that trend of trying to innovate and find something unique throughout my career.”

The film’s bigwigs had hoped that Vai’s inclusion, as a young shred superstar, would help capitalize on the fast-rising virtuoso guitar scene and help it reach a far wider audience. Few could have anticipated just how iconic that guitar duel scene was to become. 

Speaking to Guitar World back in 2004, Vai was asked why he felt his character, Jack Butler, proved so inspiring to a new generation of guitar players.  

“I was projecting so much intensity into the character. Kids respond to that kind of thing,” the guitarist believes. “Take a look at most video games, blockbuster movies, contemporary rock record releases, rock videos, etc. The majority of them are centered around sex and violence. Those elements light up the senses. 

“I believe the music in Crossroads and the whole idea of the duel was energetic and well laid out, and kids respond to that too.”

“It was an honor to have worked with Ry Cooder,” he expanded. “He is truly brilliant and talented in a very earthy way. Being a part of a movie was a hoot. I had a lot of fun with Arlen Roth. The movie is like a snapshot for me of a particular time in my life. I was growing at a fast rate and was luckily surrounded by great people.” 

In the scene, Eugene Martone (played by Ralph Macchio) wields a cream finish Telecaster, but it’s Vai’s red Superstrat that caused much furor, captivating a generation. 

For Guitar World scribe Eric Kirkland, the mystery of what that guitar was and what happened to it led to a 20-year quest for answers. 

It was a quest that took in conversations with Vai, Arlen Roth, Jackson Guitars, and bribing a Hard Rock Cafe employee in New Zealand with GW merch for a photo of the guitar’s serial number. 

For Kirkland, he saw the mission to learn all about the head-cutting guitar, which was ultimately a prop – he’s called it “the most famous guitar that was never heard,” adding that “it meant so much more to starry-eyed, teenage moviegoers.”  

Spoiler: He succeeded in discovering just about every spec of information about the guitar. You can read that full story here. 

To read GW’s full interview with Steve Vai, which details the creation and legacy of Flex-Able and beyond, pick up a copy of the May 2024 issue of Guitar World.