Black Sabbath: History of Creation, First Successes, Conflicts, Disintegration of the Original Band
At the end of the 1960s, rock music became dominant in all popular culture. Its versatility allowed us to open up more and more opportunities for musicians, expand the boundaries of the genre and create new subgenres. One of them was hard rock with energetic heavy riffs and a strong rhythm section.
Of the hard rock, the one that stood out was heavy metalThe genre is still current and popular in wide circles. In this regard, of course, it is impossible not to mention the pioneers of this style, which significantly influenced the following generations of musicians. We are talking about the British from Black Sabbathwho were able to take rock to a new level.
From hatred to collaborative group one step
In 1968, the guitarist Tony Iommi and drummer Bill Ward, who played in the band Mythology, decided to form a new band, which they planned to lead in the style of heavy blues. In a Birmingham music store they found an ad in which Ozzy Osbourne and Geezer Butler, the members of Rare Breed, were looking for work. The lineup was assembled, and all that was left was to start writing music.
Ozzie and Tony went to the same school, but they were initially unfriendly to each other there. Ozzie was insane. weirdoand Tony is a pedantic man with strong character. The British had to find a common language, because it was vital for the creation of the group.
"I always said: no matter what Tony Iommi and I had with each other personally, musically he was a genius. There's not a guy in the world who could come up with riffs like him," Ozzy said.
First serious successes
Already from the first entries Black Sabbath began to stick to "dark" music and the occult. The debut track, which supports the band's name, turned out to be similar to "the devil in music". The guitar chords Iommi played created complete musical dissonance. The British realized that such "frightening music" might appeal to young people.
Tony Iommi: "I must confess that in the very early days we were in touch with the head of the English devil worshipers. He even tried to get us to speak at their meeting! It was curious, of course, but we weren't seriously into anything like that...".
At first, Black Sabbath played in blues clubs. They were even invited to the Star-Club in Hamburg, where they began their career The Beatles. The beginning was made, but all the record companies rejected the young musicians because the music did not please the rich breeders.
"One producer told us, 'Go away, learn to play and learn to write decent songs.' They were deliberately trying to make us into a pop band. That's something I'll never forget," Geezer recalls.
It was only after a year of battles with labels that the band was finally able to release the record officially: Philips supported the musicians and the first single was the song "Evil Woman.". Then a few weeks later, Philips' underground subsidiary label released its debut full-length album Black Sabbath with a witchy pink cover.
The album received high marks, had commercial successand subsequently received platinum certifications on both sides of the Atlantic, in 1970 his innovative sound was not to everyone's liking, so many critics with a certain amount of skepticism regarded debut record. groups.
Internal strife
Conflicts between the British began in 1976 when Black Sabbath have already made a splash all over the world. The albums "Paranoid", "Master of Reality" and "Volume 4", "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath" and "Sabotage" received due recognition everywhere the Aston guys went. However, the frequent release of records played a cruel trick on the musicians - their songs began to sound mainstream, which led to Tony Iommi began to suggest different ways to diversify the sound of the band.
Ozzy Osbourne, of course, not betraying his tradition, entered with Tony in contention. He strongly insisted that it was unacceptable to betray the principles of heavy metal. But the majority won: on the album "Technical Ecstasy" keys and wind instruments appeared. As a result. mixed reviews and the public reaction. Ozzy wasn't satisfied either, so, disappointed with the band's chosen path, he decided to leave the job.
"I don't like the latest Sabbath albums. So I was just working to get something out of our label, to make money - and, of course, to put out a record," Ozzy said.
Unexpectedly, the vocalist quickly returned to his home band. However, the muddled recording of the album "Never Say Die!" clearly showed that something was needed. change. Black Sabbath's eighth record was not to the critics' liking, noting that it had little in common with the heavy metal that the band had produced at the height of its career.
Allmusic: "The songs on Never Say Die! reflected the internal tensions in the band and the constant conflicts between the members.
Ozzie becomes the Prince of Darkness and hires "Ronnie"
At some point it became clear that Ozzy had dried up and could no longer be of any use to the band. The year Black Sabbath were preparing a new record, but the recording was very slow. Osborne was just unable to offer ideas, so Iommi told Ward to tell Ozzy about his dismissal.
The band has a new vocalist Ronnie James Diowho came from Rainbow. And that was good for Black Sabbath. Musically, Ronnie was much more interesting than Ozzy, despite the latter's showmanship.
Ronnie's arrival has given us a whole new perspective on the very essence of the songwriting process," Iommi said.
Ozzie, on the other hand, began solo careerwhich was undoubtedly a success. In typical Osborne style, another of the singer's crazy fascinations emerged. He got carried away with the idea of presenting a midget at his live shows. Ozzy hired an actor named John Edward Allenwho had a role in Blade Runner, to accompany him on his Diary of a Madman and Speak of the Devil tours.
The most interesting thing about this story is that Ozzy was never able to let go of his past and forget how he was treated by Sabbath. He deliberately renamed Allen to... Ronnie! And he began to act at his concerts. "hanging" the dwarf. It became apparent that such a joke meant a reference and criticism of Ronnie James Dio, who had just replaced Ozzie in his native Black Sabbath.
