{"id":525563,"date":"2026-04-11T17:59:13","date_gmt":"2026-04-11T17:59:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/525563\/"},"modified":"2026-04-11T17:59:13","modified_gmt":"2026-04-11T17:59:13","slug":"he-said-dont-worry-the-beatles-take-this-stuff-how-an-acid-trip-a-cassette-and-an-offhand-comment-landed-teenage-guitarist-al-di-meola-the-gig","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/525563\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cHe said, \u2018Don\u2019t worry \u2014 the Beatles take this stuff.\u2019\u201d How an acid trip, a cassette and an offhand comment landed teenage guitarist Al Di Meola the gig of a lifetime"},"content":{"rendered":"

On New Year\u2019s Eve 1971, a 17-year-old Al Di Meola walked offstage after playing the gig of his young life with jazz pianist Barry Miles. A tape of the performance eventually landed in the hands of Chick Corea \u2014 and by 1974, Di Meola was performing in Corea\u2019s band, Return to Forever, becoming famous with lines played on his now iconic 1971 Gibson Les Paul Custom electric<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It was a dramatic turn for the future fusion star. But there was one detail about that night he never told Corea, with whom he would spend the next three years. Di Meola may have played a blinder \u2014 but mentally he was in another universe.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The reason? His friend Mike Buyukas gave him the trip of his life as \u201971 turned into \u201972.<\/p>\n

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\u201cMike gave me a tab of acid, I swear to God. I\u2019m really green at the time,\u201d Di Meola told Guitar Player in 2024. \u201cI said to Mike, \u2018What is that?\u2019 And he goes, \u2018Oh, you\u2019re going to love it! Don\u2019t worry \u2014 the Beatles take this stuff<\/a>.\u2019<\/p>\n

\n

\"MILAN,\n<\/p>\n

Di Meola performs at the Blue Note in Milan, June 5, 2024. (Image credit: Sergione Infuso\/Corbis via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

\u201cSo I wound up taking a tab of acid before the gig with Barry Miles, and I\u2019m telling you, I was on a trip on that stage. I was everywhere in the world, just totally tripping out. I don\u2019t remember anything I played, but when I heard it back, it was fucking awesome!<\/p>\n

\u201cI mean, it was lines that Allan Holdsworth<\/a> would\u2019ve loved to have played. And I don\u2019t know how I played them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Di Meola looked up to Buyukas, who was seven years older. The two bonded over music, and Buyukas became a gateway to artists who would shape the young guitarist\u2019s virtuosic, genre-blending sound.<\/p>\n

All the latest guitar news, interviews, lessons, reviews, deals and more, direct to your inbox!<\/p>\n

\u201cMike and I used to sit in his living room and listen to new music, and that\u2019s when I first heard Chick\u2019s A.R.C. record\u201d \u2014 Corea\u2019s 1971 trio album with bass<\/a> guitarist Dave Holland and drummer Barry Altschul \u2014 \u201cand then the early Return to Forever with Airto Moreira and Flora Purim.<\/p>\n

\n

\"Return\n<\/p>\n

Return to Forever onstage at the New Victoria Theatre in London, , May 4, 1976, (from left) Lenny White, Stanley Clarke, Di Meola and Chick Corea. (Image credit: Dick Barnatt\/Redferns)<\/p>\n

A few years later, while studying at Berklee College of Music in Boston, Di Meola saw Return to Forever live.<\/p>\n

\u201cEarl Klugh was playing guitar with them,\u201d he recalls. \u201cThat was a short-lived interim period after Bill Connors had left the group.\u201d<\/p>\n

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After the show, he called Buyukas and casually said something that would change everything.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just offhandedly said, \u2018God, I\u2019d love to play with that band.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

\"American\n<\/p>\n

In the recording studio, July 1979. (Image credit: Michael Putland\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Without prompting, Buyukas transferred the New Year\u2019s Eve recording from reel-to-reel to cassette and took it into New York to track down Corea\u2019s management.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe just bugged the hell out of them until they would listen to it,\u201d Di Meola says. \u201cAnd that\u2019s how I got the call from Chick saying they were knocked out by what they heard and that they\u2019d love for me to join the band.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t remember doing a tryout; I just remember joining,\u201d he adds. \u201cThey called and said, \u2018We need you to come to New York\u2026 right now!\u2019 I was in a state of shock. Like, Holy shit \u2014 what do I do? So I packed, and in 10 minutes I was out the door.\u201d<\/p>\n

His debut gig a few days later was a small one \u2014 at New York\u2019s celebrated Carnegie Hall.<\/p>\n

\n

\"Al\n<\/p>\n

Di Meola and Corea perform soundcheck at New Victoria Theatre, London, 1977. (Image credit: Dick Barnatt\/Redferns)<\/p>\n

Convincing his parents proved harder.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy father\u2019s sitting at the table with his white T-shirt on, looking at the paper. He puts it down and says, \u2018What do you mean you\u2019re playing Carnegie Hall? Get the hell out of here! You\u2019re not playing Carnegie Hall. Stop it now!\u2019<\/p>\n

My father\u2019s sitting at the table with his white T-shirt on, looking at the paper. He puts it down and says, \u2018What do you mean you\u2019re playing Carnegie Hall?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014 Al Di Meola<\/p>\n

\u201cThis went on for an hour.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eventually Di Meola decided to bring them along.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe get picked up by a limo, and my father gives his whole spiel on the way to Carnegie Hall. They\u2019re in shock \u2014 they can\u2019t believe this is happening.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd my father says, \u2018You know, I always said the way to get to Carnegie Hall is practice, practice, practice.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I said to myself, Uh-uh. It\u2019s acid, acid, acid.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I don\u2019t recommend doing this, and I never did it again. But on that one night with Barry Miles, it worked for me. Oh my God! It was a great trip.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On New Year\u2019s Eve 1971, a 17-year-old Al Di Meola walked offstage after playing the gig of his…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":525564,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[96,128,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-525563","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-entertainment","tag-music","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/525563","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=525563"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/525563\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/525564"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=525563"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=525563"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=525563"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}