1
-Black Sabbath broke up before they even got out of the starting gate. Tony Iommi left to join Jethro Tull for a short time. It didn't work out
 |
| Tony is the one in the hat |
2
-It's been suggested that Black Sabbath got their name from an old horror movie starring Boris Karloff. But an American psych band called Coven boasts credit for having a song called "Black Sabbath" and a bassist named Oz Osborne
3
-The whereabouts of the mysterious witch-like figure from the band's 1969 debut album are unknown to this day
4
-Over the years, the artwork for 1970's Paranoid has confused fans. The blurry shield and sword-holding fighter was supposed to depict the original name of the album-War Pigs. But with the Vietnam War still going on, Warner Brothers, who released the album, felt uncomfortable with such a lurid, political title
-The song "Fairies Wear Boots", from the band's 1970 album Paranoid, was inspired by a dangerous encounter with combat boot-wearing skinheads during one of the band's earliest concerts
6
-Despite Bill Ward's tendency to smash his drums with John Bonham-like ferocity, his major influences were legendary big band names like Gene Krupa, Buddy Rich
7
-Yes keyboard player Rick Wakeman played keyboards on the band's 1973 album Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
8
-Legendary graphic designers Hipgnosis was brought in to design the cover for the band's 1976 album Technical Ecstasy, but Ozzy referred to it as "two robots screwing on an elevator"
-Despite the fact that Ozzy left the band in 1979, he actually quit the group in late 1977, forcing the band to bring in Dave Walker, former member of Savoy Brown, for a performance on TV the band was scheduled to do
10
-When Ozzy was fired in the late 1970s, the person who replaced him was Ronnie James Dio, who was recommended by none other than Sharon Arden, daughter of Black Sabbath manager Don Arden and later on to become Sharon Osbourne
11
-Since 1979, Geoff Nicholls has provided his talents on keyboards. He has also backed up Ozzy's concert vocals and also the iconic bass lines on 1980's "Heaven and Hell". This is said to be reminiscent of "Mainline Riders", a song by Quartz, the band Nicholls was previously with
12
-In 1983, Ian Gillan joined the band and made Born Again. There were plans to start a new band. Not only that, but the album that would become Seventh Star was supposed to be a Tony Iommi solo album, but because of the record label releasing the album, they insisted on having the name "Black Sabbath" on it
13
-The only lineup of Black Sabbath that is hardly ever mentioned or even celebrated is the 1986 Seventh Star lineup. It included former Deep Purple bassist Glenn Hughes on vocals, future Kiss drummer Eric Singer and bassist Dave "The Beast" Spitz, brother of Dan Spitz of Anthrax fame
14
-Ray Gillen, formerly of the band Badlands, recorded all the vocals for the 1987 album The Eternal Idol. But when he left, Tony Martin's vocals replaced them
15
-At one time, Tony Iommi and Lita Ford were engaged to be married. She broke it off after the album she was working on and he was producing was shelved. But she went on to sing a duet with Ozzy called "Close My Eyes Forever"
16
-Brian May, guitarist for Queen, plays on "When Death Calls" from 1989's Headless Cross
-When Sabbath was due to open for Ozzy during his solo tour, Ronnie James Dio, who had recently returned to Sabbath, refused, saying he would not open for a clown. Instead, they got another metal singer in place-Rob Halford, who luckily was playing with Priest at the same festival where Sabbath was playing
18
-Actor Tom Hanks is a strong supporter of Aston Villa football club, just like Sabbath bassist Terence "Geezer" Butler, who happens to be one of his best friends. Both Hanks and Butler can often be seen together at Aston Villa matches
19
-The four original members of Black Sabbath almost recorded a reunion album in 2001 had it not been for problems with Ozzy recording his reality TV show
20
-Tony Iommi wrote a song for the 2013 Eurovision Song Contest, which was played by an Armenian band called Dorians
No comments:
Post a Comment