|
|
| Home > Music > music > |
-- The Osbourne's FAQ -- |
Section 1 of 9 - Prev - Next
All sections - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9
Archive-name: music/ozzy-osbourne-faq
Posting-Frequency: every 21 days
Last-modified: April 2003
Version: April 2003
The Complete Ozzy Osbourne Biography and FAQ
The largest source of info on Ozzy on the Internet
Last Updated: April 2003
Written By: Mike L.
Note: This FAQ is seriously out of date. It is no longer maintained on
a regular basis. It is posted automatically every month by the FAQ
maintainers at MIT.EDU
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
*READ* Disclaimer *READ*
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
This article is provided as is without any express or implied warranties.
While every effort has been taken to ensure the accuracy of the information
contained in this article, the author/maintainer/contributors assume(s) no
responsibility for errors or omissions, or for damages resulting from the
use of the information contained herein.
All statements made in this file are those of the author.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Author's Note
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Most web pages, which offer you information on Ozzy Osbourne, are sketchy.
Other pages are never updated and remain the same for over a year. Even
the commercial pages run by record companies can't beat the pages run by
Ozzy fans. This text file is without a doubt the largest source of
information available on Ozzy, which can be found on the Internet.
This file may be freely distributed in all forms, or put on your web page,
providing the contents are not changed, though I doubt much would
happen even if you did :)
I welcome any suggestions, corrections or complaints you may have.
I have been asked if it is alright to use this FAQ. The answer, as stated
above, is YES. The only condition is that you DON'T MODIFY THE FILE
OR REMOVE THE CREDITS. (* Read the last sentence *)
I no longer post on the newsgroup or actively collect Ozzy material.
The reason is that I feel Ozzy is turning from a singer into a money
marketing tool that everybody including his own wife is attempting to
exploit.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Revision History
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
April 2003:
- Added section 1.2b and 2.20.
- Added to 3.5, 3.7, 2.18.
March 2003:
- Updated everything! (dead links removed, added new links,
continued the timeline from 2000-2003, new song definitions, did you Know,
dates, more childhood information, where they are now, etc etc etc)
- Added sections 1.8 (much more information), 2.14-2.19
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Table Of Contents
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
[1.0] Introduction
[1.1] What was Ozzy's childhood like?
[1.2] How did Ozzy start his music career?
[1.2b]Ozzy in Approach
[1.3] Who was Jim Simpson? (Manager Number One)
[1.4] Who was Earth/Black Sabbath?
[1.5] How did Black Sabbath come to be?
[1.6] Paranoia
[1.7] An act of SABOTAGE?
[1.8] Don Arden
[1.9] Manager Number Two
[1.10] When and how did Ozzy leave Black Sabbath?
[2.0] Ozzy and Randy
[2.1] What the hell is this about biting a bat? (Diary of a Madman)
[2.2] When and how did Randy Rhoads die?
[2.3] What is this about a dove?
[2.4] Wife as Manager/Speak of the Devil
[2.5] Suicide Solution
[2.6] Bark at the Moon
[2.7] The Ultimate Disaster
[2.8] No Rest for the Wicked
[2.9] No More Beers
[2.10] Ozzmosis
[2.11] Why did Zakk leave Ozzy?
[2.12] Of Priests and Devils
[2.13] Will there ever be a reunion?
[2.14] After Ozzmosis/Ozzfest
[2.15] 2002 and the world goes crazy!
[2.16] Kelly Osbourne
[2.17] Jack Osbourne
[2.18] Aimee Osbourne
[2.19] Who is Robert Marcato
[2.20] The Family
[2.21] Money money money
[3.0] Ozzy Album Discography
[3.1] Rare/B-sides/etc.
[3.2] Song Definitions
[3.3] Did You Know?
[3.4] Tattoos
[3.5] Milestones
[3.6] Questions
[3.7] Quotations
[3.8] Fan Club Info
[3.9] Where to find lyrics, tabs, links, and other info
[3.10] Ozzy's Movie Career
[3.11] Where are they now?
[4.0] Closing Remarks
[4.1] Credits
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.0 INTRODUCTION
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
1968
====
In a small German club, a band by the name of "Earth" is
up on the stage. The audience is ignoring the band as audiences typically
do.
The lead singer, Ozzy, decides to get their attention. He goes back to the
dressing room, unnoticed by the audience. Backstage, he coats his hands,
face and feet with purple paint. He returns to the stage and then screams at
the audience. The audience remains oblivious to this purple man screaming
at them. The band resigns themselves to the fact that the audience is just
not going to pay them any attention.
2003
====
Ask someone if they have heard of Celine Dion or Tom
Cochrane, and even if their answer is no, they have most likely heard about
Ozzy Osbourne or Black Sabbath. Since his debut in the late 60's as a
blues/rock singer, this man has had a world wide impact on the music scene.
You may think of him as a drugged out lunatic who sacrifices animals and
eats dead frogs for supper while worshiping Satan with dead bodies around
him. This is of course complete and utter nonsense... I have never heard
of him using more than one dead body. :)
The most common stories are the beheading of the bat, wasn't there something
about a dove?, and what was that about the Alamo? From his childhood right
on
up to his current Ozzmosis album, this file will attempt to explain it all.
At the age of 55, this man still has the mind, and at times, the body of
a 22 year old. His records still continue to sell and make it to the
charts, his concerts sell out within minutes, all this despite his never
having followed any given 'trend' as a lot of music groups try to do today.
When Britney Spears is 48, do you think she will still have sell out
concerts?
With the introduction of The Osbournes on MTV, a new younger generation of
Ozzy
fans are heading to the internet, exposed to the singer in a new light. The
newsgroup
has never so much activity. Unfortunately most of it comes from young people
who
have no ability to express themselves without the use of profanity
"When I left school I wanted to become a plumber. When I heard the Beatles
I wanted to become a Beatle" ...Ozzy
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.1 What was Ozzy's childhood like?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The year was 1948 and John Michael Osbourne was born on December 3rd in
the industrial town of Birmingham, England to Jack and Lillian Osbourne.
John was the fourth of six children (2 brothers, Paul and Tony) and 3
sisters
(Jean, Iris and Gillian) in a small two bedroom home at 14 Lodge Road in
Aston, England. Needless to say the house was more than a little crowded.
Ozzy's father worked nights in a steel plant while his mother worked days in
the Lucas car plant assembling electrical circuits. His family was in
poor financial shape with no money, no car and little food. Ozzy says his
childhood consisted of one pair of shoes, one pair of socks, no underwear,
one pair of pants and one jacket. There would be a bucket at the end of the
bed to urinate in, which sat there for months. Their beds never had clean
sheets, and sometimes they used overcoats as bed shets.
Ozzy was beaten quite a bit by his father, most of it was deserved for
stunts like trying to kill his siblings. (Ed: While I don't condone the
beating of a child, I also don't think one should attempt to kill one's
siblings either. Take the above comment with this in mind.)
One day Ozzy's friends gave his brother a used condom and told him it was a
balloon. His brother went into the house with the condom blown up, and his
father washed his mouth out with soap.
In his spare time, Ozzy would watch television. He liked shows such as
"I love Lucy", "Lassie" and "Roy Rogers". This was the lifestyle of
Birmingham, a time where you went to work all day and then to the pub to
drink and play darts until deciding to stagger home. For the Osbourne
family,
life was no different. It was all work and little time to enjoy the finer
moments in life. While the Beatles were singing about flower power and
loving one another, the people of Birmingham simply had to take a good look
around them to see the reality of the world: it was hard. Life was no
different for the Osbourne family.
While in school, other students called John, "Ozzie" or "Oz-brain" with
respect to his last name. Quite the rebel, Ozzy did however take part
in various school opera-plays such as H.M.S. Pinafore, The Mikado
and The Pirates of Penzance. There was one student at school named
Tony Iommi whom Ozzy did not get along with. Tony and John were from two
different crowds and there was no love lost between the two. Tony and his
mates would make fun of Ozzy's high voice and compared his singing to that
of a girls. The two of them would later reunite later on under totally
different circumstances.
Ozzy did not do particularly well in school and wanted to get out as soon
as he could. When asked on a school survey what his ambition was, he wrote
that he wanted to become a plumber. This was not to happen however. Ozzy
was kicked out from school. His parents argued often, and the main issue was
their lack of money. Ozzy decided that he could fix this if he could go out
and get a job. So at the age of 15, Ozzy took his first job as a plumber's
assistant. He proceeded to cut the end of his thumb off, and it had
to be reattached. He still bears a scar.
His second job was as a toolmaker's apprentice. Ozzy then went on to
work in a slaughterhouse in Digbeth for two years, killing cows. Perhaps
this influenced his musical style, I do not know. Other jobs included an
auto mechanic, house painter and even two weeks at a mortuary. His first
musical job was working in the Lucas electrical plant tuning car horns.
He later said, "I liked heavy metal better because it was louder".
Ozzy did not care for working for other people so he decided to try crime
instead. He once tried stealing a 24 inch television set. Balanced on top of
a wall with it, and trying to keep his balance, he fell off with the
television landing on top of him. He did some more break and enters but
used a pair of gloves with the fingers cut off. Naturally he was caught.
Unable to pay the fine, Ozzy spent three months (or was it 6 weeks?)
in Birmingham's Winson Green Prison for breaking into an occupied boarding
house.
While incarcerated there, Ozzy tattooed the now famous letters O-Z-Z-Y on
his left knuckles and happy faces on his knees using sewing needle and a
graphite slab. One happy face can be seen on his left knee on the "Diary of
a Madman" album cover. He would later be put in jail again for punching a
police officer in the mouth.
Shortly after his release from prison for burglary, Ozzy wound up in the
hospital on glucode for 12 hours after being thrown through a glass window
while fighting 3 men.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.2 How did Ozzy start his music career?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
After getting out of jail, Ozzy decided he did not want to go end up going
back. At this time, The Beatles were becoming increasingly popular and
becoming the craze. Ozzy thought that this would be the way to go. There was
money to be made in singing as opposed to crime. In fact the Beatles were
one
of his main influences. Even to this day he still listens to the Beatles
before going out on stage. It is of interest to note that this would not be
his first musical experience though: earlier at the age of fourteen he
had already been in a band named 'The Black Panthers'.
A band by the name of "Music Machine" needed a singer because theirs was
sick. Ozzy liked the idea of being able to travel to gigs and meeting women
so he filled in. Later on he joined a band named "Approach" but didn't like
the band so he quit. He then decided to call himself "Ozzy Zig" and placed
this ad in the local music paper/shop: "Ozzy zig requires gig. Ozzy's
father loaned him some money and together they purchased a 50 watt amp.
Ozzy placed an ad in a local record store reading, "Ozzy zig requires
gig. Owns own P.A.". Another 18 year old Brummie named Terence 'Geezer'
Butler had been playing guitar for just six months when he saw Ozzy's ad
on a shop bulletin board and decided to go look him up. After the two met,
they decided to form a band named "Rare Breed". Rare Breed lasted only two
shows before disbanding.
Elsewhere Ozzy's old schoolmate, Tony Iommi had teamed up with an 18 year
old
assistant truck driver named William Ward who had just quit his job. Tony
and
Bill also decided to form a band, "The Rest", and recruited a singer named
Chris Smith. The Rest eventually moved north to a small town named Carlisle
where they renamed themselves "Mythology" and gained a large following of
fans. They played mainly blues songs inspired by such groups as The
Yardbirds, Cream, The Beatles and John Mayal.
Mythology eventually split up; Tony and Bill returned to Birmingham and
went to the music shop where they also saw Ozzy's ad. Tony was hoping this
was not the same 'Ozzy' he had went to school with because that Ozzy could
not sing well and the two of them disliked one other. It turned out that it
was indeed the same Oz and decided it would not be a good idea to form a
band
together. Tony was also not impressed with Ozzy because he had very short
hair (really!). Since Ozzy and Geezer still needed a drummer they later
approached Tony to see if he knew of a drummer. Bill was at Tony's place and
agreed to join them but only if they'd let Tony join too. So along with a
slide guitar player named Jim Phillips and a saxophone player, they formed
a new band. The new band returned to Carlisle where Tony and Bill had been a
success and played some gigs. Not being pleased with a six piece band, they
broke up and then rejoined once the two extras had gone. This was a
polite way of getting rid of the two unnecessary members. The foursome them
learned 18 songs in their first week together. Ozzy named the band "Polka
Tulk Blues Band" after a tin of talcum powder. It has also been said that
the name came from a Pakistani clothing store named the 'Polka Tulk Trading
Company'. Geezer Butler switched to playing bass guitar since Tony was now
the lead guitar player. Unable to afford a bass guitar, Geezer simply took
two of the guitar strings off his guitar and re-tuned it to make a bass
guitar. Another name change ensued and the group was soon known as "Earth".
History:
-------
Ozzy Osbourne Geezer Butler Tony Iommi Bill Ward
| | | |
Black Panthers (1962) | Rocking Chevrolets |
| | | |
Music Machine/Approach | | |
| | >>> The Rest <<<
>>>> Rare Breed <<< |
| |
>>>>> Polka Tulk Blues Band <<<<<
|
Earth (Autumn 1967-August 1969)
|
Black Sabbath (Aug. 1969-1978)
|
Black Sabbath (1978-) [After Ozzy left, Ronnie James Dio left 'Rainbow'
to replace him)
"Black Sabbath makes Led Zeppelin look like a kindergarten house band"
...Advertisement by Jim Simpson
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.2b Ozzy in Approach
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
An old aquantaince of Ozzy's named Jeff Hibbard sent me his story on his
time spent with Ozzy. I'm reprinting the article as it was published from
"Swinging in the 60's" by Dave Reeves. Jeff has a webpage here where you
can find the article too. http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Aegean/4974/
Unfortunately Jeff doesn't have any recordings with Ozzy, I already asked.
"Alright mate?", I said to this mechanic who has come from another garage to
collect some spare parts from us. He used to come on a regular basis for
parts. He said he played in a band. He played bass guitar and there was also
a lead guitar and a singer. "We practise in a cellar below this church up
the road from Witton Island."
"Oh, really" said I, "I've got a guitar. Don't play much really , but I like
it
though." "What guitar you got ?" said he. "Oh it's a Vox" said I.
"Fancy joining our band? Said he "Yeah! " said I. That was it, I was in a
group.
The next time I meet him is in the concrete cellar. "Alright mate ?"
"Alright Jeff ?" "Yeah!" "This is the lead guitarist." "Alright mate?"
"Alright Jeff?" "Yeah!" "And this is the singer, Ozzy." "Alright Jeff ?"
"Alright Ozzy?" They both have smart guitars; Ozzy just has a michrophone
and
they all play through one amplifier. A small combination guitar amp. There
isn't
a drummer or a P.A. system.
The lead shows me how to play bar chords. I pick them up pretty quick, and
we are
soon playing as one, all those soul songs, but still drummerless. I think
the idea
is to get a drummer when we get somewhere larger to play. This place is OK.
It has a concrete floor and ceiling and square supporting columns with a
wider
square at the bottom which could serve as seats. The winter draws closer
though and
there's no heating in here. Some nights I can hardly play because my fingers
are so
cold. We play away as Ozzy launches into Midnight Hour, and sings for all he
was
worth, and worth all he was singing for. My fingers are hurting and Ozzy's
breath
is freezing as it leaves his mouth.
Last time we practiced here, we shared our cellar with another group,
probally to
cut the cost. The one guitarist works at Music Exchange at Snow Hill; he's
the one
who sold me this amp, and guitar I've bought.When I tried them out at the
shop,
I asked him if he played. He said "Oh no, I don't play." And there he is
playing
in a group. Bleeding liar! Why do they do that?
Anyway, we picked Ozzy up tonight in the van from his house in Lodge Road.
Yeah!
Our van with the name of the group, The Approach, written on both sides.
Funny that,
Ozzy lives in Lodge Road and we live in Witton Lodge Road. That kid lives
next door
but one to me,the kid who taught me my first guitar piece. And over the road
lives
another kid who plays the drums. I think his name is Bill Ward.
We have fun in that van. We were driving through Erdington on Saturday and
the lads
were shouting to the girls "Drop your lingerie!". I shouted "Drop your
laundry!"
"What did you say?" says Ozzy. "Drop your laundry" said I. I think I get the
words
mixed up sometimes! Ozzy has a funny way with words too. "Go on Ozz, make us
laugh."
"OK. Brass Boots, Hot pumps, Brass Boots, Hot Pumps." We all laugh. We
trundle up
Perry Common Road then in our van, drop me off first, then I say "OK, lads,
see you
at the next practice".
Moms quite proud. She tells everyone, "Oh, our Jeff's in a group, you know."
She likes to see the van with The Approach written on the sides. Ozzy's Mom
always
waves us off from their house. She stands on the doorstep. "Hey Mom! Did I
tell you
what Ozzy did the other night?" "Whats that, Jeff ?" says Mom. "Oh, he got
drunk at
the Aston Hotel, upstairs, and fell down the stairs and nearly crashed
through a
stained glass window.""The kids drink too much today" says Dad. Well, he
came to
practice the other week with his arm in bandages.`Must have been fighting.
"Hey! Guess what? We've got a better place to play." "Where's that, Jeff ?"
Underwood School, in their hall, on the Lyndhurst Estate. It's quite new. If
we're
gonna play louder, Ozzy's gonna need a P.A. system. So me and Ozzy went up
town
today, to George Clays on Broad Street. I bought a Vox Conqueror, a piggy
back amp,
and a speaker on chrome swivel stands. Ozz bought a Vox P. A. system and
microphone. 0zzy doesn't use a stand.
Along with the new place of practice, came a drummer. He left after a while
and was
quickly replaced. Ozzy looks smart, standing there, out front, microphone in
hand,
with his shiny suit on and short hair. He launches into Knock On Wood.
"Hey lads! Did I tell you about that kid? He came to our house on Saturday
night."
"Oh, him." "Yeah! He only wanted to borrow me new amp." "Who for?" said Ozz.
"For that new group who play in Erdington." "What group?" "I think they are
called
The Idle Race" "Oh, them! Yeah! The singers called Jeff Lyne. Anyway, did
you lend
it to him?" "No" said I, "I axed Dad and he said "No, son, it's not paid
for.
Here we are again practicing. The surroundings are better but this group
thing is
becoming more like a job. My hands aren't cold anymore and there's Mom and
Dad
standing in the doorway. I told them to drop by. I look across and they
smile and
wave, I smile back. Ozz doesn't bat an eyelid. He always looks straight
ahead,
microphone in hand. Gone are the days and nights at the little church where
we
began with one amplifier, one microphone, and three guitars. Gone are the
nights
outside the Curry Shop after practice, standing there under the street lamp
with
a carton of Chinese curry each.
We start to learn a new song tonight, it's called Purple Haze, by that
coloured guy.
It's a strange song-strange words, strange sounds from that guitar. Its
sticks out
like a sore thumb amongst all the soul songs we play. I find I can play some
of the
lead, the bass doesn't like it. "You're the rhythm, play rhythm" says he.
People are
coming into the hall to ask us to play at their weddings and parties. The
bass tells
them "No! We're not ready yet". I have to stand next to this guy through
each and
every song. We should be playing to people. That's why we do it. There's no
applause.
Things are changing or is it me?
I sense some rebellion in them veins again. We finish the set we have worked
on for
months. I take my guitar off, place it against the amp, and walk towards the
toilets.
The bass follows me. He stops me, looks me in the eyes and says, "The groups
splitting". Ozzy follows the lead. He must be telling him. I couldn't
believe it.
"Don't cry" the bass says. It's alright for you I thought, you're almost out
of these
teenage years . I ain't too bothered about you, the drummer ain't been with
us too long,
the leads a lot older than me, but I'll miss the singer, he's dedicated.
I'll probably never see him again, that Ozzy Osbourne.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.3 Who was Jim Simpson? (Manager Number One)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jim Simpson was a musician who played jazz trumpet. He was also the manager
of a Brummie band named 'Bakerloo Blues Band'. Unable to find a place where
he could promote the band, he opened his own place called "Henry's
Blueshouse". Henry's, located at Hill Street and Station Road was an
instant success. It wasn't before long before the club had to stop
accepting new bands. A band that was just starting out, Led Zeppelin, would
also be one of the first bands to play Henry's.
In 1969, the four members of Earth approached Jim and asked if they could
play at Henry's. They also wanted him to be their manager since they knew
nothing of the business sense of things. He told them that they could open
for the band 'Ten Years After', which pleased them. Happy to have a manager
who supposedly cared for their interests, they recorded a song in tribute
to him, "Song for Jim". The song was a spoof of their manager and the jazz
music he played. This elusive song is still sought after by Sabbath fans
worldwide. Simpson would also give the band some of his jazz records to
inspire them to write songs.
It is of interest to mention that around this time, Tony left to join
Jethro Tull. While Tony did not appear on any of Tull's albums, he did make
an appearance at the "Rolling Stone's Rock and Roll Circus" which was never
released, because the Stones were upstaged by other acts. Tony and Jethro
can be heard on a bootleg called "Archangel Rides Again". The movie was
eventually released in the movie festival circuit.
Tony's stint with Jethro Tull was very brief (for two weeks). He left Tull
and was soon back in Earth.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.4 Who was Earth/Black Sabbath?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
BAND MEMBER FULL NAME BIRTHDATE
Tony Iommi [guitar] Anthony Frank Iommi Feb 19, 1948 in Aston
Bill Ward [drums] William Ward May 5, 1948 in UK
Ozzy Osbourne [vocals/harmonica] John Michael Osbourne Dec. 3, 1948 in Aston
Geezer Butler [bass] Terence Michael Butler July 17, 1949
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.5 How did Black Sabbath come to be?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
"When we hit America we were the wild bunch. We bought dope and f***ed
anything that moved" ...Ozzy
While waiting to go into a rehearsal one day, they noticed a Boris Karloff
movie playing named "Black Sabbath" (1935). Geezer mentioned it was strange
that people would go to a movie to scare themselves silly. Until this time
they had only played other artist's material. They decided to use the name
of the movie as the name for their first original song.
One day the band showed up to do a gig at Henry's. There, someone mentioned
they liked the bands single. The only problem was the foursome hadn't ever
released a single! They then realized that there were two bands by the same
name. The audience were of upper class and expecting a totally different
type of music. Unable to back out of the show, the scruffy four played
blues and rock to the audience. It was a disaster! The band however did
have some fun in watching the crowd try to dance to their type of music.
As a result, Geezer came up with the idea to change their name to that of
the Karloff movie, 'BLACK SABBATH' to avoid being confused with the other
band named Earth. They now had a song and a band name taken from the
movie's title. This would also reflect the groups interest in the occult.
It has also been said that the name Black Sabbath came from Geezer's
interest in occult writer Denis Wheatley.
Not having any money, the band relied on Tony's mother who owned a
chocolate shop, for the use of a van, food and cigarettes. Sometimes the
group would get gigs on their own, other times they would show up at a
place where another band was to be playing. In the event that the scheduled
band failed to show up, the Sabs would take their place. They played the
Star Club in Hamburg in Jan. 1969, a place the Beatles had made famous.
They were so popular that they were booked to come back for 5 more shows.
They would play 7 shows a day, and write new material as they went along.
This would also explain why their early songs had different lyrics than the
final album versions.
As Black Sabbath made news, a group of Satanists asked them to play at
their "night of Satan" at Stonehenge. They refused. The head witch of
England, Alec Sanders who was a regular fan of Sabbaths, informed them that
these Satanists had placed a hex on the band members. Ozzy asked his father
to make aluminum crosses, which he did, and then had them blessed. They
wore these crosses 24 hours a day for protection. The cross remains a well
known Black Sabbath symbol even to this day. You see, Black Sabbath as
Satanic and dark as the name sounded, had nothing to do with the devil when
they chose their name.
An independent producer named Tony Hall paid for the band to record some
demo songs at the Regent Sound studio on Tottenham Court Rd. These were
produced by Roger Bayed, whose name appears on many of their albums. One
demo cut, a single called "Evil Woman", was released on the Fontana record
label in Jan. 1970. This was a cover song from a Minnesota band named Crow,
which did quite well unbeknownst to the band. One demo was called "The
Rebel"
and is played as a 10 second sample in "The Black Sabbath Story - I" video.
The song, about a reclusive voyeur, is one of the rarest Sabbath songs in
that it did not make it to the final album. (For those who are trying to
track down
The Rebel and A Song for Jim, the only known person who has these is said to
be Pete Sarfas who used to run the old Black Sabbath Fan Club. Jim Simpson
won't even answer your mail.)
Their first completed album was released on Friday, Feb. 13th, 1970. It
took them only eight hours to record and cost a mere 800 British pounds
(approx. $1200 US). The album was recorded in four tracks on an 8 track
machine. The band was not that popular at this time, they simply wanted to
do what they liked best... sing about the darker, more depressing things
that surrounded them. It was not likely they ever intended to make the big
time, in fact Ozzy has said he was just happy to show his mother that his
voice was recorded on a piece of vinyl. It was not as easy as it sounds
though, it took them 14 tries before Jim Simpson found a record company
(Vertigo) that would carry the album.
The record company chose to put an upside down cross on the
gatefold of the album and thus people readily associated the band with
Satanism. The band knew nothing about this and did not want the upside down
cross, however they backed down from the record company's "wiser and
higher" marketing methods. Inside the inverted cross was a poem. The poem
seemed to correspond with the album's cover showing a woman standing in a
countryside, apparently in a gothic setting. The poem is called "Still
Falls the Rain". Due to requests by fans, it is shown below:
*** STILL FALLS THE RAIN ***
"Still falls the rain,
the veils of darkness shroud the blackened trees,
which, contorted by some unseen violence,
shed their tired leaves, and bend their boughs
toward a gray earth of severed bird wings.
Among the grasses, poppies bleed before a gesticulating death,
and young rabbits, born dead in traps,
stand motionless, as though guarding the silence
that surrounds and threatens to engulf
all those that would listen.
Mute birds, tired of repeating yesterdays terrors,
huddle together in the recesses of dark corners,
Section 1 of 9 - Prev - Next
All sections - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9
| Back to category music - Use Smart Search |
| Home - Smart Search - About the project - Feedback |
© allanswers.org | Terms of use