Classic rock dreams come true in a new video showing guitarist Brian May (Queen) and Tony Iommi (Black Sabbath) jamming on the Sabbath classic “Paranoid”.
The video comes from the new Sky Arts documentary series Greatest Guitar Riffs, available now on streaming in the U.K. Iommi serves as the subject of the first episode, telling the stories behind such classic head-bangers as “Paranoid”, “Iron Man”, and “War Pigs”. He also welcomes his old friend May, whom he has known since the early ’70s, for a jam session.
The two guitar heroes have written their fair share of iconic riffs, with Iommi telling May that his come from within. Of course, a band’s group dynamic also plays a part in fleshing out instrumentals, with Iommi recalling, “Normally, we’d jam around and play something, and Ozzy [Osbourne] would go, ‘What the f–k’s that?’ But it just feels right.”
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As for “Paranoid”, that song, in particular, came about as a last-minute addition when Sabbath’s producer said they were one track short of an album. To complicate matters further, the song had to be no longer than two-and-a-half minutes—a difficult feat for the metal forefathers who favored lengthy, progressive song structures. According to Iommi, the rest of the band went out for a sandwich, and when they came back he had come up with one of the most iconic guitar riffs in heavy metal.
The video culminates with Iommi laying into the riff he’s performed an incalculable amount of times. Only this time, May is sitting right beside him and says, “I’m gonna commit sacrilege by joining in,” before laying a blistering solo overtop that reveals some serious metal chops. It’s too bad they only jam for a minute before May quips, “It’s a good riff! It will go far!” to end the video.
Other episodes of Greatest Guitar Riffs include The Police‘s Andy Summers, who sheds light on “Every Breath You Take” and jams with jazz guitar great George Benson, and Heart‘s Nancy Wilson, who explores her impact on the grunge era and welcomes Pearl Jam‘s Mike McCready and Soundgarden‘s Kim Thayil.
Watch Brian May and Tony Iommi jam on “Paranoid” by Black Sabbath in a clip from Greatest Guitar Riffs.
Brian May and Tony Iommi Play Black Sabbath’s “Paranoid”
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