“It only felt right to return the favour”: Al Di Meola is the latest guitarist to play Greeny – so he let Kirk Hammett play his ‘71 Black Beauty in return
Al Di Meola has become the latest guitarist to get his hands on Greeny – the iconic 1959 Gibson Les Paul Standard once owned by Fleetwood Mac’s Peter Green – courtesy of its current owner, Metallica’s Kirk Hammett.
And to return the favour, the jazz fusion maestro has let Hammett have a go on his legendary Black Beauty Gibson Les Paul.
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Kirk Hammett and Al Di Meola recently both attended the Hamptons launch party for Metallica’s SiriusXM radio station, and the event saw Di Meola get the chance to get his hands on Greeny for the first time.
The event also saw Beatles legend Paul McCartney attend to watch Metallica perform.
In footage posted on social media, Di Meola can be seen examining the iconic LP, asking “Was [Fleetwood Mac’s Oh Well] done on this guitar? Oh, shit!” before playing the track’s classic pentatonic riff.
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A post shared by Al Di Meola (@official_aldimeola)
And after being granted the honour of playing one of guitardom’s most revered instruments, Di Meola was determined to repay the favour, and later let Hammett have a go on his 1971 Black Beauty Les Paul.
“After Kirk introduced me to Greeny last week, it felt only right to return the favor by introducing him to my 1971 Black Beauty,” he writes in a new Instagram post. “That’s the guitar you hear all over [his 1977 album] Elegant Gypsy.” The Black Beauty Les Paul also featured on Al Di Meola’s 1976 album, Land of the Midnight Sun.
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A post shared by Al Di Meola (@official_aldimeola)
Having existed for decades, the Greeny Les Paul has passed through the hands of a plethora of high-profile guitarists. Once owned by Fleetwood Mac’s Peter Green, the instrument is now owned by Kirk Hammett, who is impressively charitable with regards to who he lets play it.
Recently, former Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Jake E. Lee revealed Hammett gave him the opportunity to play Greeny at Black Sabbath’s Back to the Beginning farewell, and admitted that he’s “missed it since”.
And earlier this year, Hammett revealed he had let White Stripes hero Jack White play the guitar onstage.
The post “It only felt right to return the favour”: Al Di Meola is the latest guitarist to play Greeny – so he let Kirk Hammett play his ‘71 Black Beauty in return appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
Source: www.guitar-bass.net
