Given their accomplishments as the guitarists for two of the biggest rock bands of all time, you might well think that Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath and Sir Brian May of Queen might have difficulty even briefly interacting without their egos getting in the way, but as is revealed in a clip from a new documentary series, they're actually pals who have no problem playing together.
The clip comes courtesy of the three-part Sky Arts series Greatest Guitar Riffs, which made its debut in the UK in late November. Iommi and May start in the first part, with the two legends – who, as it happens, have been besties since first crossing paths in the early 1970s – sitting down and not only talking up the way Black Sabbath effectively helped create heavy metal but also jamming together for a bit.
Brian May and Tony Iommi chatting about their respective gifts as guitarists
In the clip, Iommi cheerily reminisces about an occasion when May came down to a Black Sabbath rehearsal and the two became so immersed in jamming together that they ended up being the last men standing, watching as the rest of the band’s equipment was wheeled away whilst they continued playing.
“Everyone got bored and left,” admitted May, while Iommi laughed and said, “They’d all gone to the pub!”
May also quizzes Iommi about the origins of the riffs he constructed for Black Sabbath, including "Paranoid," which - as Iommi reveals - only came about because the band needed to fill space to finish off the album they were working on at the time. (As filler goes, you have to admit, it's not half-bad.) This, in turn, leads to Iommi playing the song's classic riff, at which point May says, "I'm going to commit sacrilege and join in," which he promptly does.
In the second episode of the series, Police guitarist Andy Summers chats about his favorite riffs of all time, discusses the origins of his work on “Every Breath You Take,” and then has a discussion with one the greatest modern jazz guitarists of all time, George Benson. Then, in the series’ third installment, Nancy Wilson of Heart talks about the riffs that influenced her as a guitarist and ties her band’s origins into the birth of grunge, which provides the perfect opening for a joint conversation with Mike McCready of Pearl Jam and Kim Thayil of Soundgarden.
Popping up elsewhere in the series: Dave Keuning (The Killers), Richie Sambora (Bon Jovi), Hank Marvin (The Shadows) and Orianthi (Michael Jackson/Alice Cooper).
You can watch Greatest Guitar Riffs in the US through Xfinity’s Now TV, or if you prefer to view it guerilla-style, it’s not impossible that You(Tube) could possibly find all three episodes somewhere on the internet if you actively searched for them.
