I was born in England in 66. We emigrated to Australia in 67. We returned to England in 1974 and what you said is true. The country was bleak. The factories still had camouflage paint on them. The cities still had all the wartime signs painted on walls, such as EWS in yellow paint, with an arrow pointing to its direction and the distance in feet. This stood for emergency water supply, for the fire fighters during the bombings. Large white squares with the letter S painted in black inside, again with an arrow pointing to the location, showed where the nearest air raid shelter was. The cities were black. Coal was being phased out, but after a hundred years of it being the only source of heat and power, it had left its mark. This stood out to me as a child, being brought up in South Australia with weather like Southern California. Where the oldest buildings were Victorian, so most were less than 30 years old, the oldest perhaps a hundred. To arrive in Northern England, where most of the housing stock was built in the Victorian and Edwardian eras was a shock to say the least. Everything was run down and bleak. There was little money. It took the country over 60 years to pay off the war debt we owed your country. Unlike Ukraine we were not given freebies. Music was one of the few escapes from the grim reality of life back then
Interesting. My first album of theirs was Master Of Reality and it is still my favorite Sabbath album. I got to see three line-ups with different singers, Ozzy, Dio and Gillan. I missed on Tony Martin, but his Sabbath records are pretty good. Nicholls came in as their keyboard player and got hosed by Sharon and Ozzy, later on. I saw the Dio line-up during the Black & Blue tour, with BOC, when Appice was on drums. In all, I got to see three of their vocalists and three of their drummers, during different periods of the band. I've been a major fan, ever since I got Master. Great stuff, for sure.
Craig Gruber, original bassist for ELF & RAINBOW, came aboard shortly after this interview as Geezer Butler's replacement in '79-80 & was there for the early pre-production stages of 'Heaven & Hell' before Butler returned. Geoff Nicholls was keyboardist & remained with Iommi & Sabbath all the way up to the Ozzy reunion when Sharon & Ozzy forced Nicholls out for Rick Wakeman's son Adam. Nicholls later passed away RIP. Ronnie James Dio was not Ozzy's first replacement, nor was 1979 the 1st time Ozzy departed the group, as mentioned in the article. He had previously been replaced by SAVOY BROWN frontman Dave Walker in 1977 prior to recording the 'Never Say Die' album, with a live BBC performance of 'Junior's Eyes' featuring Walker singing available here on RUclips. It wasn't intended for Ozzy to be a solo artist initally either but as frontman for BLIZZARD OF OZZ, as evidenced by the earliest promotional materials including a promo single & their billing on the 1980 UK Reading Festival being under that name.
Your introduction to Sabbath is identical to mine! Everything you said was exactly the same. From knowing who Ozzy was. But, not knowing his involvement with Sabbath until some time later. Great video!
I live south of Fort Worth / Dallas in Texas. I was lucky enough to see nearly each touring iteration of Sabbath (when they appeared in Texas) with the exception of Tony Martin. Honestly, none of the post-Ozzy vocalists could equal Ozzy. The crushing, devastating power of the original quartet was, and still is, untouched. Their influence on every generation of heavy bands following Sabbath cannot be overstated. Particularly, Iommi’s influence on guitar players is beyond measure.
That`s really amazing. You personally witnessed the evolution. Ozzy was such a unique vocalist, personality and performer. And with those four together, their impact and influence is undeniable. Thanks for the great comment!
I saw sabbath with dio in Buffalo NY in 1980. It was a great show. We bought the concert t-shirts, and the next day skipped school and went to the house of guitars and they had the same t shirts for 5$ less, we all were p*ssed about that.
When I was 8 years old, my mother ordered the “History of Rock N Roll” video series from Time Life. I believe they sent one video per month. The first I received was one called “The 70s Have a Nice Decade”. I had heard of Ozzy, but the video included black and white footage of a band called “Black Sabbath” with Ozzy talking over it. I made the connection that that was in fact a young Ozzy, being the footage was in black and white. The song was “Paranoid”…… I went to my local record store and bought “We Sold Our Soul For Rock N Roll” on cassette. Loved the band ever since.
I never saw that series, very interesting! I remember making all those connections as I got more and more into the music scene. The Ozzy one was one of the most interesting for me since I had been introduced to Black Sabbath with Dio. Thanks for the great comment!
I was a Sabbath fan from 10 years old when Paranoid came out, I liked every thing they did. I didn’t think Technical Ecstasy or Never Say Die was any less than anything else they did, if Black Sabbath put out a record I bought it. I didn’t know they were having problems until I was in a record store and was excited to see a new album and it was Heaven and Hell and when I saw that Ozzy wasn’t on it I felt nauseous and went home.
When i first heard that Ronnie joined Sabbath i was super excited because i loved his work in Rainbow and after hearing "Down to Earth" couldn't stand them. They went from being my favorite band to being my worst. Anyway never did i think that they would create not only the best Black Sabbath album ever but my favorite album of all-time. Dio's performances on that tour were some of the best i have ever seen in heavy metal also known as the Black & Blue tour.
That`s really true. I don`t think many people expected that something so amazing would come out of that. Heaven and Hell and Mob Rules are two of my favorite albums ever. And it seems like Dio remained spectacular live until the end.
Saw them in 1978 in STL, opeining act was newcomers Van Halen. From an audience standpoint, couldn’t tell that there were issues with the band. They played a lot of Sabotage (their first album under new record label I think), that show is in my top 10 ever🎸🎤👍
I freakin loved Sabbath! Saw em the first time in 75, and became a disciple! I was crushed when the break up happened. I had mixed feelings when I heard RJD was joining. I liked him. I had seen him with Elf, and 3 times with Rainbow, it just was different. Then Heaven & Hell came out, and it was awesome! I didn't get to see that tour, but I did catch The Mob Rules tour. Another great gig! That said, Sabbath to me is 69-79. Can't help it, lol.
You saw Dio with Elf! Whoa! How many people can say that? That early Rainbow stuff was so great. I was introduced to Sabbath with Mob Rules and I love that era. How cool you saw that too!
@audiomover it was a lucky accident! I got to see Deep Purple in 74, and Elf was the warm up band. Almost a year later they were back in town as Rithie Blackmores Rainbow! Since we're talking RJD, I'll throw in that I saw the Holy Diver tour too! A lot of good music going on back then! 🤘✌️
At the age of 15, my friend and I are tripping and listening to Paranoid. We imagined that what the album cover actually dipicted was space age police bustng somone in his pot field. We pondered this for sometime. That must be why I remember it.
I was only 17 years old Bill Ward was still there on drums and I had a front-row seat in front of Geezer it was my first Black Sabbath concert I've been a fan ever since
I saw Black Sabbath with Dio during the Heaven and Hell tour, and I saw Ozzy solo for Blizzard of Oz/Diary of a Madman tours, but I never saw Black Sabbath with Ozzy. If you watch the 1970 Paris video of Black Sabbath performing "War Pigs" Ozzy is really getting into it, but if you watch videos from the late 70's of Black Sabbath Ozzy is just phoning it in.
Thats a really interesting observation. I was too young to see BS with Ozzy originally, but you're right, he brought a lot of energy to those performances. I saw them with Ozzy on that final tour, but of course it`s not really the same. Especially without Bill Ward. Thanks for the great comment!
9:42 Dave Walker contributed 2 songs to a Fleetwood Mac album and was fired. Before that he had recorded 3 LP's with Savoy Brown, arguably their best. At the time that article was written, Savoy Brown was still active!
Head on over to Joe's Black Sabbath Online fan site to see how things progressed: Ronnie played a little bass, and then his old mate, Craig Gruber, entered the fold before Geezer returned. Can you top "War Pigs"? Eh, YMMV. For my money, the quintessential Sabbath song from the Ozzy era is "Symptom of the Universe", and I had a schoolmate who played the hell out of the "Sabotage" album, to the chagrin of our teachers and admins. It was a dark day for him when Ozzy got tossed, and as I recall, he wasn't thrilled with Ronnie. "Paranoid" was a radio staple, but it was really hearing the eerie "War Pigs" on an overnight "deep cuts" show that pushed me to get the album, and by then, "Heaven and Hell" had hit and I got that one right after I picked up "Sabotage" to go on the other side of my "Paranoid" tape.
I never really listened to sabbath until the time in 82 and a friend's brother spent time while i recovered from being struck in a car/, bicycle incident , and i took severe blows to my head so we'd go fishing, riding, later drinking,the guy was good to me so i hate we've lost contact and aren't even ten miles from the other.but God bless all h he was instrumental in hearing rush, zeppelin, heart missing persons, quarter flash deep purple, ok now , so in may 86 2 friends call snd they're like how come we ain't going to see Ozzy, I said y'all know im celebrating,i mean im tore up from a break up, so i say as this is day of, who's opening? They go, what's the new band you like metal somebody ,i go METALLICA? YEAH THAT'S IT. I'M ON THE WAY gimme Memphis TENNESSEE
The Vietnam War was raging when War Pigs was released. The record company that distributed Black Sabbaths music in the USA was, rightfully, worried. WHY ? The US was in social turmoil as by the time War Pigs was due for release, journalists openly declared that the Vietnam War could not be won. There were huge rallies in the USA against and for the War bermtween 1969 - 1971 and middle-class families were torn apart. The Doors sailed too close to the truth, and the authorities went after a drug & alcohol addled Jim Morrison in 1969. The " Miami incident" cost The Doors millions in real terms as sold out concerts were cancelled. Sabbath"s record company did not want to be seen as political in any way. Worse still, making comments for OR against the war by uneducated dumb ass limeys discussing the Vietnam War. It sounds stupid now, but record companies and band managers stayed out of politics.. Opinions on War and in particular, the nightmare that was the Vietnam War were a no no. Remember, apart from we Aussies who fought there, the European NATO countries thought the US was winning the war. Unfortunately, by the time War Pigs was due for release, the War had been lost. Child in Time Deep Purple's Child in Time with Gillan"s amazing vocal prowess and Blackmore's unbelievably good solo supposed to be a worldwide singles release. It was, however, NOT released as a single at that time in the USA.
@FrostedSeagull True, very few things were allowed back then to be "controversial". I remember watching an episode of 'The Smothers Brothers' back then in prime time and the show went silent for a few minutes. The network then filled that time with a Hanna-Barbera cartoon. Was it "technical difficulties"? Most likely it was the social commentary offered by the folk duo. They ran up against the censors often. I guess if they wanted something "inoffensive", switch the channel to 'The Brady Bunch' (though I've heard there were a few stories about that show).
Geezer was mad because Dio was writing the songs and he wasn't getting the royalties he was used to when He wrote the songs / lyrics... I have Geezers book "Into the Void" but haven't read it yet...
@@audiomover I like the channel...sometimes my opinion gets in the way but I really lived these themes back in the day, playing in a band and really following these bands, info was hard to come by pre internet, but you are finding it and sharing it now, and thay's pretty cool...thanks
Sabotage was a good album, but its five predecessors are all masterpieces really. Not too many bands release 5 absolute classics in succession from their debut. In fact, only ACDC comes to mind really
The fact that England was so horribly devastated during WW2 is why Ozzy should have told Lemmy to quit wearing all of that N.S.D.A.P. garbage. Lemmy had a disgusting collection of National Socialist Party memorabilia.
You have to give it up for Iommi to be willing to let Ronnie take the reigns musical as far as direction I bet Tony was thinking shit I can really write what I want to now Ozzy was a weak link never liked him cartoon character Ronnie was awesome then I love the Tony Martin era overlooked they helped in the creation of modern power metal
I was born in England in 66. We emigrated to Australia in 67. We returned to England in 1974 and what you said is true. The country was bleak. The factories still had camouflage paint on them. The cities still had all the wartime signs painted on walls, such as EWS in yellow paint, with an arrow pointing to its direction and the distance in feet. This stood for emergency water supply, for the fire fighters during the bombings. Large white squares with the letter S painted in black inside, again with an arrow pointing to the location, showed where the nearest air raid shelter was. The cities were black. Coal was being phased out, but after a hundred years of it being the only source of heat and power, it had left its mark. This stood out to me as a child, being brought up in South Australia with weather like Southern California. Where the oldest buildings were Victorian, so most were less than 30 years old, the oldest perhaps a hundred. To arrive in Northern England, where most of the housing stock was built in the Victorian and Edwardian eras was a shock to say the least. Everything was run down and bleak. There was little money. It took the country over 60 years to pay off the war debt we owed your country. Unlike Ukraine we were not given freebies.
Music was one of the few escapes from the grim reality of life back then
Interesting. My first album of theirs was Master Of Reality and it is still my favorite Sabbath album. I got to see three line-ups with different singers, Ozzy, Dio and Gillan. I missed on Tony Martin, but his Sabbath records are pretty good. Nicholls came in as their keyboard player and got hosed by Sharon and Ozzy, later on. I saw the Dio line-up during the Black & Blue tour, with BOC, when Appice was on drums. In all, I got to see three of their vocalists and three of their drummers, during different periods of the band. I've been a major fan, ever since I got Master. Great stuff, for sure.
This format of older articles is pretty genius 🤙
Craig Gruber, original bassist for ELF & RAINBOW, came aboard shortly after this interview as Geezer Butler's replacement in '79-80 & was there for the early pre-production stages of 'Heaven & Hell' before Butler returned. Geoff Nicholls was keyboardist & remained with Iommi & Sabbath all the way up to the Ozzy reunion when Sharon & Ozzy forced Nicholls out for Rick Wakeman's son Adam. Nicholls later passed away RIP. Ronnie James Dio was not Ozzy's first replacement, nor was 1979 the 1st time Ozzy departed the group, as mentioned in the article. He had previously been replaced by SAVOY BROWN frontman Dave Walker in 1977 prior to recording the 'Never Say Die' album, with a live BBC performance of 'Junior's Eyes' featuring Walker singing available here on RUclips. It wasn't intended for Ozzy to be a solo artist initally either but as frontman for BLIZZARD OF OZZ, as evidenced by the earliest promotional materials including a promo single & their billing on the 1980 UK Reading Festival being under that name.
Your introduction to Sabbath is identical to mine! Everything you said was exactly the same. From knowing who Ozzy was. But, not knowing his involvement with Sabbath until some time later. Great video!
I live south of Fort Worth / Dallas in Texas. I was lucky enough to see nearly each touring iteration of Sabbath (when they appeared in Texas) with the exception of Tony Martin. Honestly, none of the post-Ozzy vocalists could equal Ozzy. The crushing, devastating power of the original quartet was, and still is, untouched. Their influence on every generation of heavy bands following Sabbath cannot be overstated. Particularly, Iommi’s influence on guitar players is beyond measure.
That`s really amazing. You personally witnessed the evolution. Ozzy was such a unique vocalist, personality and performer. And with those four together, their impact and influence is undeniable. Thanks for the great comment!
I saw sabbath with dio in Buffalo NY in 1980. It was a great show. We bought the concert t-shirts, and the next day skipped school and went to the house of guitars and they had the same t shirts for 5$ less, we all were p*ssed about that.
If you had those shirts today you could sell them on ebay for 100 bucks or more.
Interesting choice for a video. Fascinating stuff.
When I was 8 years old, my mother ordered the “History of Rock N Roll” video series from Time Life. I believe they sent one video per month. The first I received was one called “The 70s Have a Nice Decade”. I had heard of Ozzy, but the video included black and white footage of a band called “Black Sabbath” with Ozzy talking over it. I made the connection that that was in fact a young Ozzy, being the footage was in black and white. The song was “Paranoid”…… I went to my local record store and bought “We Sold Our Soul For Rock N Roll” on cassette. Loved the band ever since.
I never saw that series, very interesting! I remember making all those connections as I got more and more into the music scene. The Ozzy one was one of the most interesting for me since I had been introduced to Black Sabbath with Dio. Thanks for the great comment!
Great segment! Something new, to me, in the heavy metal story. Keep up the cool videos!
Glad you enjoyed!
I was a Sabbath fan from 10 years old when Paranoid came out, I liked every thing they did. I didn’t think Technical Ecstasy or Never Say Die was any less than anything else they did, if Black Sabbath put out a record I bought it. I didn’t know they were having problems until I was in a record store and was excited to see a new album and it was Heaven and Hell and when I saw that Ozzy wasn’t on it I felt nauseous and went home.
When i first heard that Ronnie joined Sabbath i was super excited because i loved his work in Rainbow and after hearing "Down to Earth" couldn't stand them. They went from being my favorite band to being my worst. Anyway never did i think that they would create not only the best Black Sabbath album ever but my favorite album of all-time. Dio's performances on that tour were some of the best i have ever seen in heavy metal also known as the Black & Blue tour.
That`s really true. I don`t think many people expected that something so amazing would come out of that. Heaven and Hell and Mob Rules are two of my favorite albums ever. And it seems like Dio remained spectacular live until the end.
Saw them in 1978 in STL, opeining act was newcomers Van Halen. From an audience standpoint, couldn’t tell that there were issues with the band. They played a lot of Sabotage (their first album under new record label I think), that show is in my top 10 ever🎸🎤👍
Black Sabbath and early Van Halen! How do you beat that! Not surprised it`s in the top 10.
I freakin loved Sabbath! Saw em the first time in 75, and became a disciple!
I was crushed when the break up happened. I had mixed feelings when I heard RJD was joining. I liked him. I had seen him with Elf, and 3 times with Rainbow, it just was different. Then Heaven & Hell came out, and it was awesome! I didn't get to see that tour, but I did catch The Mob Rules tour. Another great gig! That said, Sabbath to me is 69-79. Can't help it, lol.
You saw Dio with Elf! Whoa! How many people can say that?
That early Rainbow stuff was so great. I was introduced to Sabbath with Mob Rules and I love that era. How cool you saw that too!
@audiomover it was a lucky accident! I got to see Deep Purple in 74, and Elf was the warm up band. Almost a year later they were back in town as Rithie Blackmores Rainbow! Since we're talking RJD, I'll throw in that I saw the Holy Diver tour too!
A lot of good music going on back then! 🤘✌️
At the age of 15, my friend and I are tripping and listening to Paranoid. We imagined that what the album cover actually dipicted was space age police bustng somone in his pot field. We pondered this for sometime. That must be why I remember it.
I saw Black Sabbath on August 9th 1980 in Philadelphia at the Spectrum
Too cool! Back when that stuff was brand new.
I was only 17 years old Bill Ward was still there on drums and I had a front-row seat in front of Geezer it was my first Black Sabbath concert I've been a fan ever since
I saw Black Sabbath several times starting with the Sabbath Bloody Sabbath tour, saw them with Dio for their Mob Rules tour.
one of my greatest disappointmentsis not seeing Dio live while he was still here
I saw Black Sabbath with Dio during the Heaven and Hell tour, and I saw Ozzy solo for Blizzard of Oz/Diary of a Madman tours, but I never saw Black Sabbath with Ozzy. If you watch the 1970 Paris video of Black Sabbath performing "War Pigs" Ozzy is really getting into it, but if you watch videos from the late 70's of Black Sabbath Ozzy is just phoning it in.
Thats a really interesting observation. I was too young to see BS with Ozzy originally, but you're right, he brought a lot of energy to those performances. I saw them with Ozzy on that final tour, but of course it`s not really the same. Especially without Bill Ward. Thanks for the great comment!
The only time I saw BS was in '86 about a week or so after they fired Glen Hughs. Very chaotic time.
Uou can pull off this format others? IDK. Thank you these are good
9:42 Dave Walker contributed 2 songs to a Fleetwood Mac album and was fired. Before that he had recorded 3 LP's with Savoy Brown, arguably their best. At the time that article was written, Savoy Brown was still active!
Thank you for the added context!
@audiomover I just thought it was kinda funny. Great video!
Head on over to Joe's Black Sabbath Online fan site to see how things progressed: Ronnie played a little bass, and then his old mate, Craig Gruber, entered the fold before Geezer returned.
Can you top "War Pigs"? Eh, YMMV. For my money, the quintessential Sabbath song from the Ozzy era is "Symptom of the Universe", and I had a schoolmate who played the hell out of the "Sabotage" album, to the chagrin of our teachers and admins. It was a dark day for him when Ozzy got tossed, and as I recall, he wasn't thrilled with Ronnie. "Paranoid" was a radio staple, but it was really hearing the eerie "War Pigs" on an overnight "deep cuts" show that pushed me to get the album, and by then, "Heaven and Hell" had hit and I got that one right after I picked up "Sabotage" to go on the other side of my "Paranoid" tape.
I never really listened to sabbath until the time in 82 and a friend's brother spent time while i recovered from being struck in a car/, bicycle incident , and i took severe blows to my head so we'd go fishing, riding, later drinking,the guy was good to me so i hate we've lost contact and aren't even ten miles from the other.but God bless all h he was instrumental in hearing rush, zeppelin, heart missing persons, quarter flash deep purple, ok now , so in may 86 2 friends call snd they're like how come we ain't going to see Ozzy, I said y'all know im celebrating,i mean im tore up from a break up, so i say as this is day of, who's opening? They go, what's the new band you like metal somebody ,i go METALLICA? YEAH THAT'S IT. I'M ON THE WAY gimme Memphis TENNESSEE
See Mister God blessed you to be some one that brings the happy time smiles to these like minded others
'War Pigs' as the album title was "too controversial" for the record label.
The Vietnam War was raging when War Pigs was released.
The record company that distributed Black Sabbaths music in the USA was, rightfully, worried.
WHY ?
The US was in social turmoil as by the time War Pigs was due for release, journalists openly declared that the Vietnam War could not be won.
There were huge rallies in the USA against and for the War bermtween 1969 - 1971 and middle-class families were torn apart.
The Doors sailed too close to the truth, and the authorities went after a drug & alcohol addled Jim Morrison in 1969. The " Miami incident" cost The Doors millions in real terms as sold out concerts were cancelled.
Sabbath"s record company did not want to be seen as political in any way. Worse still, making comments for OR against the war by uneducated dumb ass limeys discussing the Vietnam War.
It sounds stupid now, but record companies and band managers stayed out of politics..
Opinions on War and in particular, the nightmare that was the Vietnam War were a no no.
Remember, apart from we Aussies who fought there, the European NATO countries thought the US was winning the war.
Unfortunately, by the time War Pigs was due for release, the War had been lost.
Child in Time
Deep Purple's Child in Time with Gillan"s amazing vocal prowess and Blackmore's unbelievably good solo supposed to be a worldwide singles release.
It was, however, NOT
released as a single at that time in the USA.
@FrostedSeagull True, very few things were allowed back then to be "controversial". I remember watching an episode of 'The Smothers Brothers' back then in prime time and the show went silent for a few minutes. The network then filled that time with a Hanna-Barbera cartoon. Was it "technical difficulties"? Most likely it was the social commentary offered by the folk duo. They ran up against the censors often. I guess if they wanted something "inoffensive", switch the channel to 'The Brady Bunch' (though I've heard there were a few stories about that show).
Geezer was mad because Dio was writing the songs
and he wasn't getting the royalties he was used to when He wrote the songs / lyrics...
I have Geezers book "Into the Void" but haven't read it yet...
I listened to that audiobook a few months back, it gave me a whole new appreciation of him.
@@audiomover I like the channel...sometimes my opinion gets in the way but I really lived these themes back in the day, playing in a band and really following these bands, info was hard to come by pre internet, but you are finding it and sharing it now, and thay's pretty cool...thanks
Sabotage was a good album, but its five predecessors are all masterpieces really. Not too many bands release 5 absolute classics in succession from their debut. In fact, only ACDC comes to mind really
Not even Van Halen or Led Zeppelin.
I never thought of it that way. Great point!
I have to say the sabbath years With dio were the best of the modern era. But I think the should have changed their name to Black Rainbow...lol.
It's GEEZER, not Giza
Thank you! I used an AI to help with the time stamps and it apparently didn't know the members of Black Sabbath very well.
The fact that England was so horribly devastated during WW2 is why Ozzy should have told Lemmy to quit wearing all of that N.S.D.A.P. garbage. Lemmy had a disgusting collection of National Socialist Party memorabilia.
You have to give it up for Iommi to be willing to let Ronnie take the reigns musical as far as direction I bet Tony was thinking shit I can really write what I want to now Ozzy was a weak link never liked him cartoon character Ronnie was awesome then I love the Tony Martin era overlooked they helped in the creation of modern power metal
Ozzy wrote all the vocal melodies for black Sabbath. He was a absolute genius. Without him all you'd have is great heavy metal instrumentals