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Carl's Metal Video of the Day|Black Sabbath - Iron Man Episode
Black Sabbath formed in Aston, Birmingham, England in 1966 under the name Polka Tulk Blues Company (soon shortened to "Polka Tulk" in 1968), and later were called Earth, playing blues rock and hard rock.Black Sabbath are: (left to right) (note: classic lineup)Ozzy Osbourne - VocalsTony Iommi - GuitarGeezer Butler - BassBill Ward - DrumsGuitarist Tony Iommi was greatly influenced both by Hank Marvin's heavy guitar performances in the band Cliff Richard and the Shadows, and by jazz guitar, particularly that of Django Reinhardt. Iommi left Earth for a short time to tour with Jethro Tull. Ward has also expressed a fondness for jazz music, especially drummers like Buddy Rich and Gene Krupa. Geezer Butler cites bassist/vocalist Jack Bruce of British blues band Cream as a major influence on him: “He was the first player I ever saw who bent the strings and played the bass as a totally independent instrument”. Early incarnations of Black Sabbath merged elements of blues, jazz, and rock and paid their dues playing cover versions of songs by heavy rock acts including Jimi Hendrix, Blue Cheer, and the previously mentioned Cream. Osbourne says he was deeply influenced by The Beatles and his favourite album of all time is Revolver.Earth moved in a darker direction when their bassist, Geezer Butler, a fan of the black magic novels of Dennis Wheatley, wrote an occult-themed song titled "Black Sabbath" The band claimed however, during a concert film, that the song name has more sinister origins. They have claimed that the name was created when one night Butler allegedly saw a black figure at the end of his bed. The next day it became apparent to Butler that an occult book Osbourne had given him was missing. When the band found themselves being confused with another local band called Earth, they adopted the song title as their new band name.The group found its signature sound almost by accident. When the group was rehearsing in a studio, which was situated opposite a cinema showing a horror movie, Osbourne recalls that Tony Iommi remarked to the rest of the band how it was strange that people willingly paid to see a movie intended to scare them. The band began to purposely write dark, ominous songs in an attempt to be music's answer to horror films, and in rebellion against the prevalent happy pop music of the 1960s. In a VH1 documentary about the band, Ozzy Osbourne recalled the laughable lyrics of radio-friendly pop at the time, such as "if you ever go to San Francisco, be sure to wear a flower in your hair...," - "screw that,", they said, "let's go over there and scare everyone!"
[ Tue, 05 Jun 2007 13:12:03 -0600 ]
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