Tony Iommi and Brian May have teamed up to play a new version of Black Sabbath’s “Paranoid.” For the Sky Arts documentary series “Greatest Guitar Riffs” The two sat down to talk about their guitar work. During an analysis of “Paranoid” (1970), Black Sabbath guitarist Iommi and Queen musician May started jamming. The relevant excerpt from the documentary series was shared by the YouTube channel of the magazine “Guitar World”.
It shows Tony Iommi playing the solo of the Black Sabbath classic. Brian May, sitting next to him, jokes: “I’m now committing a sacrilege by joining in.” He then follows it up with a solo, embellishing the song. Iommi plays a Gibson SG replica, May’s instrument is of course his Red Special.
On the creation of Black Sabbath’s “Paranoid”
Before that, the two guitarists, who have been friends since the 70s, talk about the creation of “Paranoid”. Iommi tells how the band’s producer at the time spontaneously asked for another song to complete the album. In a time crunch, Iommi came up with the melody of “Paranoid.” With success: The song was later released as the first single from the band’s second album of the same name. “It’s simple, not technically demanding at all,” Iommi says about his riff in the video – but it’s more important to him that a melody fits the song. From this memory of the origins of the hit, the jam session of the music greats emerged.
In addition to Iommi and May, The Police’s Andy Summers and Heart’s Nancy Wilson also appear in the series. Titles such as “Smoke On The Water” by Deep Purple, Prince’s “Purple Rain” and “Sweet Child O’ Mine” by Guns N’ Roses are discussed.