Praise the Lord for Black Sabbath?

Been trying to get back into running lately and as you know, it can be hard without some good music to keep you going. So the other night I pulled up a record on my iphone I haven’t listened to in ages: Black Sabbath Vol 4.

All I can say is… Wow. Everyday for weeks I would come home from 8th grade and listen to this record. I can see why. It rocks. Ridiculously. Yes it’s much about drugs. Yes it has some cheesers and clunkers on there (Changes, FX) but the standout tracks are masterpieces of riff-rock mayhem.

Unfortunately there isn’t much good footage of them playing this material. But they were still smoking (musically I mean, although there was much else they were smoking) in 1972. Here is some good footage of them in 1970 playing their classic ‘War Pigs’. Long before drugs had taken hold of them and Ozzy was a cartoon on reality TV. Bill Ward is a maniac on the drums! It amazes me to think FORTY YEARS (!) later if you walked into a club and these guys were there, you’d be like, “DUDE! These guys are JAMMING!”

They were a rock band. With absolutely NOTHING else to live for. They were from Birmingham, England -a dreary factory town that was dark and heavy as their music would become.

So yesterday I was at Barnes and Noble and stumbled upon Ozzy’s autobiography “I Am Ozzy”. I looked around to make sure nobody was watching and flipped through the first few pages. I ended up stuck for a solid hour. I laughed out loud, got all teary eyed and gained a deeper respect for who they were and where they came from.

Ozzy is the real deal.

Poor family. Struggled in school. Worked in a slaughterhouse for 18 months tearing out cow stomachs and stuff. Now THAT is the stuff that will make you desperate for something better. And it did. But first it was a bit of crime.

Petty stuff, but enough to land him in jail for 3 months. He begged his Dad to pay the fine but he refused. Said it would teach him a lesson. Ozzy thanks his Dad to this day for letting him experience prison because after that experience, he vowed to never go back. And aside from some short stays for stupid stunts like urinating on the Alamo, he didn’t.

Reading about Ozzy’s early years is highly amusing, and oftentimes moving. Amusing when he talks about being a horrible fighter so in order to survive school he would make friends with the biggest guy to get protection. Moving when he talks about how thankful he is to his Dad for spending 250 pounds on a PA system when he couldn’t afford to pay the bills. Ozzy says his Dad must have seen it as the only way he might have a future so it was worth the money.

But the real story is in the camaraderie and brotherhood of the four guys who eventually turned into Black Sabbath. They were a real band. A type of band that everyone who ever wants to be in a band wants to be in. They were friends. Brothers. A family. When Ozzy eventually got the boot he said, “It hurt like hell man. We were a family…” Here’s them screwing around before a show in 1970:

Their dedication, determination, drive and ambition is pretty inspiring. I mean, they had nothing to look forward to in life so they HAD to make this work. And they were able to do it in an honest and organic way. Like the whole Black Sabbath/dark imagery thing was just an idea they got after seeing a line going out the theatre door to  a scary movie. Tony Iommi remarked, “Isn’t it strange that people will pay money to see a movie that will scare the crap out of them”. So he then had the idea to write something ‘evil’ sounding -Like a scary movie put to music and the song ‘Black Sabbath’ was born. Incidentally the name ‘Black Sabbath’ was from an old Boris Karloff movie that was showing at that same theatre one night. Bassist Terry “Geezer” Butler saw it and said, “Hey that’s a great name…” Later Ozzy said, “All the dark religious stuff was just a joke for us; scary movie stuff to create an image around. We had no idea there were real Satanists out there until these people started showing up to shows in white robes. They invited us to one of their meetings and we were like,”F*** off you freaks”!  So then they put a curse on us. We laughed our asses off…”

And their low-tuning (1 1/2 steps down to a c#) was done -get this- because guitarist Tony Iommi cut the tips of his fingers off in a factory and had to make these little leather finger tips and detune his guitar to be able to play it. This happened after he already knew how to play so when it happened it was a tragedy. He had to completely re-learn. But like Ozzy says though, “It turned out to be the best thing that ever happened though because it gave him a totally unique sound and style.”

Their music was honest because they could not in any way, shape or form relate to the hippie love-child stuff happening at the time. Their music spoke of the harsh world from which they came. And the harsh life to which they were destined if they didn’t ‘make it’. Their music was true. It resonated. It resonated with millions of kids out there like myself -even years later- who also were trying to survive junior high school, broken homes and evil stepdads.

Their determination was seen in craziness like Iommi’s idea to pack up all their gear and go to big name shows in hopes they could fill in if the act didn’t show.

What? That’s insane! And a long shot. But guess what? It worked.

Jethro Tull was booked in town one night and was a no-show. So Iommi went to the production manager 15 minutes before showtime and offered to play in their place. He said yes, they played and won the irritated, beer bottle throwing crowd over. Jethro Tull ended up showing during their set and Ozzy says he still remembers looking over and seeing Tull leader Ian Anderson nodding his head giving a, “Hell yeah!” nod of approval. When they came off the stage they were elated and triumphant. If that isn’t an ultimate rock and roll moment I don’t know what is. Iommi actually got hired to play in Tull as a result of this. The other guys were heartbroken but happy for him, knowing they would do the same if offered a pro paying gig. Fortunately, he left after four days saying it just wasn’t the same.  He wanted to play with his bros. The others were incredulous he left a national gig to come back and play with them but it was the kick in the pants they needed to really get down and work.

So yeah, they descended into crippling drug use and in-fighting which eventually tore the band apart. But their beginnings are still inspiring and their music has stood the test of time. And they are friendly today doing the occasional reunion show which draws three generations of fans.

Must have Albums:

This was my first. This is like the foundation of Metal/Hard Riff-Rock. My friends and I were listening to this in the 7th grade while reading our “Choose Your Own Adventure” books. It was way before our time and they were old enough to be our dads but we loved it. And we were WAY cooler than anyone else in school because we were the only ones listening to it. Also the song ‘Paranoid’ was the first song I played on the drums with another human so it holds a special place in my black, rocking heart.

Their fourth record (duh!) and one where they started showing more matured, layered work. Maybe that’s why I can keep coming back to it. Unfortunately, this where their drug use started to get the best of them.

Their first record. Much more raw than anything else but a must have just for the fact the whole thing was cut live in one day. Many of the songs were recorded in one take and only one take.

So forget about the drug use and the ‘Satanism’ and just try and dig the fact these were just four desperate but fairly talented kids from the pits of England just trying to get out.  And this was the only way they could do it.

And they did.