One Song Played a Key Role in Metallica’s guitarist Kirk Hammett’s Development
Legendary music guitarist Kirk Hammett from Metallica joined the latest episode of the Pop! Talk. He revealed the name of the song which played a key role in Kirk Hammett‘s development.
During the interview, Brian Mariotti asks various questions to Kirk Hammett as a host. Those questions about Kirk Hammett’s impressive collection of vintage horror movie posters and comic books. Also, Kirk Hammett talks about his music tastes from his early career. Then Brian Mariotti is continued to ask questions about Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett’s personal preferences. Brian Mariotti asked Kirk Hammett’s favorite album cover – visually.
Kirk Hammett answered, “You know, there are so many great albums covers out there and so many memorable ones. But the one that made me want to buy the album and it fulfilled everything they expected it to be was the very, very first Iron Maiden album. You know, with Eddie on the cover. I saw that with my friend John Marshal, I saw that, and we were just like: ‘That’s something we need to get.’
“And I flipped it over and it all looked familiar. Do you know? guitar, bass, drums lead singer – they’re all dressed in leather. You know, they had the look. Checks the titles: ”Phantom of the Opera’, Okay! Yes, I’m behind this!’ And yes, my hunch was correct.”
Kirk Hammett is known for his love of vintage horror movies. That’s why Iron Maiden’s the “Phantom of the Opera” album caught his eyes when he saw it first. We do not know when he saw the “Phantom Of The Opera” cover. However, Kirk Hammett was 18 at the time when Iron Maiden released his masterpiece.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFHrpDKjK-A
Brian Mariotti continued his questions. He asked; “What a music band that you love that Metallica fans would go to?” This was a catchy question, that’s why Kirk Hammett stopped before he answered this question. Then he answered, “Well, I mean – I love all types of music, I just don’t like bad music [laughs]. And for me, I love The Association. It’s this band from the ’60s, there were four singers, and they did that song ‘Windy’ -uh, that band! I love their harmonies, I love their arrangements.” Kirk Hammett continued, “Being Asian-American, there was an Asian-American in that band, and I think he was one of the very first Asian-Americans in pop music. It was very cool to find that out too.”
The Associations’ Lary Ramos was born in Flippin like Kirk Hammett. With The Association band, Lary Romos had dominated U.S charts during the ’60s. Because of this popularity, the band handled become part of the famous 1967 Monterey Pop Festival.
Every Metallica fan wonders the last question’s answer. The last question is Kirk Hammett‘s favorite song. Kirk Hammett answered this question without hesitation, “One of my all-time favorite songs is ‘Shoot, Shoot’ from the UFO when I was 15 or 16 years old. You know, just learning how to play guitar in my room. [When] I first learned that song earlier that afternoon, I was just so blown away by the guitar playing, and just the riffs and everything.
He continued, “When I learned it, it gave me a real sense of accomplishment because – first of all, it was UFO, a band that was unlike any other band in America at that time, the late ’70s, and no one knew who UFO was, to this day a lot of people don’t know [laughs]. But, when I learned that song as I said, it gave me a real sense of accomplishment, ’cause I could play it from beginning to end, and the guitar solo.” This solo played a key role in Kirk Hammett‘s development.
Kirk Hammett added, “And then I proceeded to play it like throughout all my teenage years – in my bedroom, just alone with the recording. And so, when I look back at that time, I think why that song is kind of, like – it was a big part of my development as a guitar player and just finding my style; it has a lot of the elements that I learned then, and that I still use now today in Metallica. Very basic elements – but it’s still there. And so, that’s why it’s my favorite song I think.”
With this answer, Kirk Hammett given name a song that played a big role in Kirk Hammett‘s development. If you want to be a successful guitarist, you need to keep the “Shoot Shoot” song in your mind.
You can watch the interview below.
