On this Al DiMeola interview, overcoming a life-threatening fractured skull accident at age 7 & how this led to his obsession to becoming a talented guitarist and a success before age 30, the serendipity of how he got the gig with Return to Forever and the top things he learned from Chick Corea, the “John McLaughlin button” and the reams of legal papers that created it, Paco de Lucia smoking weed before Mediterranean Sundance, the difficulty of making records,  Scientology and mixing the last live RTF album, his Top 3 musical experiences, battling depression & tinnitus for pretty much his entire life, the crazy origins of his precise articulation on guitar, becoming happy, getting the girl, and more. GREAT interview, Al let loose like never before – a MUST listen!

Al DiMeola joined Return To Forever in 1974, when he was 19 years old. In addition to Al, the band consisted of Chick Corea, Stanley Clarke & Lenny White. Al’s had an incredibly successful career releasing close to 40 LPs since RTF. In addition to the members of RTF, Al’s played as a sideman or worked on his own LPs with Anthony Jackson, Steve Gadd, Barry Miles, Paul Simon, Phil Collins, Larry Coryell, Derek Sherinian, Steve Vai, Luciano Pavarotti, Wayne Shorter, Jean-Luc Ponty, Jan Hammer, Jaco Pastorius, John Patitucci, Tony Williams, Herbie Hancock, Steve Winwood & dozens of other top players. Al, along with Paco de Lucia & John McLaughlin, also released the most popular live acoustic guitar LP of all time, Friday Night in San Francisco, which sold more than 7 Million copies