Back in May, Queen‘s Brian May posted a photo with his good friend Black Sabbath’s Tony Iommi, sharing that they were filming a documentary on guitar riffs. Now, fans in the U.S. are finally getting to see what went down.
The two rockers teamed for the three-part Sky News series, Greatest Guitar Riffs, which aired in the U.K. back in November. Guitar World has just debuted a clip of them chatting and performing together.
Asked how he came up with his Sabbath riffs, Iommi explains, “I don’t know. I think it’s within.”
“Normally, we jam around and play something, and Ozzy (Osbourne) will go, what the f**** that,” he continues, adding, “It just feels right.”
They then discuss Black Sabbath’s “Paranoid,” which Iommi says happened because they didn’t have enough tunes for their album, and their producer told them they needed another song.
“The others had gone out to have something to eat. I came up with this riff, so when they got back I played them this idea of ‘Paranoid’,” he explains. “It’s basic. It’s not technical by any means. What I’ve always done is, not try and play anything that’s flash. I play things that I think is right for the song.”
Iommi and May then jam on the song’s classic riff, although May seemed hesitant to play.
“I’m going to commit sacrilege by joining in!” May jokes, before adding, “It is a good riff. It will go far.”
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