When Birmingham UK gave birth to heavy metal
Blues Muse 1.
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Black Sabbath as they looked back around 1968. It looks like butter wouldn’t melt in Ozzie’s mouth (second right), doesn’t it? |
Last night, my son was lucky enough to watch the original Black Sabbath perform – thunderously live – in Melbourne, Australia.
All the original line-up were there, except the drummer, Bill Ward.
This took me back to when I saw Black Sabbath at Lanchester Polytechnic (now Coventry Uni) in Warwickshire (UK) in 1968 or 1969, before Sabbath became famous.
I remember Ozzie being a superb comedic front man, cracking jokes with the audience and Tony Iommi’s amazing thimble-drumming riffs.
Even so, after downing numerous pints of beer, I fell into a stupor against one of the speakers.The beat from Geezer’s thudding bass and Bill’s thunderous drums didn’t just punch right through me, it bounced me back and forth off the speakers, giving me the tinnitus I still have to this day.
I was managing Black Sabbath’s support act, a great blues band from Rugby (think Spiritualized) called West Bank Avenue, who were the equal of Sabbath on the night; and received just as enthusiastically by the crowd. While West Bank Avenue never recorded and disappeared from the scene to concentrate on their day jobs, Black Sabbath went from strength to strength, pioneering their brand of hardcore Birmingham blues that became heavy metal. Such is the fickleness of rock, eh?
What is it with the water around Birmingham? John Bonham, Robert Plant, Slade and Judas Priest came from around there, too, and Motorhead’s Lemmy came from nearby Stoke on Trent.
Bob Marley interview – sorry, it’s with me, not Bob.
While you’re here, there’s a link below to an interview by a Bob Marley fan I did years ago, simply because I was on nodding acquaintance with the legend, before he became so famous. The link’s below the picture.
