 |
 |
 |
|
May 11, 2005
Geezer Butler's Ohmwork Is out, plus Journal Update
 I neglected to mention this yesterday, but Geezer Butler's new album is out! Ohmwork was released yesterday, and should be available in your local store. If not, there's plenty of online alternatives to purchase the latest disc by GZR. Here's some links for you to buy it..
Amazon.com
Amazon.co.uk
iTunes
There's some samples from Ohmwork over on Geezer's site. You can also check out the info on Ohmwork here on this site. And if you use iTunes, they have sound samples for all 10 songs, so check it all out. Better yet, order yourself a copy of Ohmwork today!
In other Geezer news, he's posted an update to the Journal over at his site. In the update posted today, he talks about various topics. They are Tony Iommi's new album (which Geezer calls "the best album I've heard in years"), the War in Iraq, his new kitten, and of course has something to say about Black Sabbath. Check it out over at Geezer's Official Site!
Posted by Joe Siegler at 2:52 PM
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
May 10, 2005
Tony Iommi's "Fused" Cover Art Released
Today we can bring you the cover art to Tony Iommi's third solo album, "Fused". Posted to Tony's official site, we have a copy here for you to check out:
The cover art was designed by Hugh Gilmour, who has also done work for some other heavyweights in the music industry. Some examples are Deep Purple, The Rolling Stones, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Bob Dylan, and many many others.
There's still no pre-ordering links available yet; once they are, you can be certain I'll be bringing them to you. More info on Fused is available here.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 3:18 PM
Live 1969 Recording "Unearthed"
There was a rather interesting developemnt in the live recording department recently. Robert Dwyer, whom I've worked with a lot on tour date history, posted a very intersting story to his site. I'm not going to bother commenting on it for now, I'll just let you read his words..
------------
EARLIEST KNOWN LIVE RECORDING OF SABBATH SURFACES!: DUMFRIES '69 - PT. I
How does a Sabbath fan like myself even begin to encapsulate the joy of finding an unheard gem from 1969 - the era which we've only been able to imagine. Until now that is! A few weeks ago, I received a letter from Alex W. of Dumfries, Scotland who informed me that I was missing a gig date on my Shows list for the BLACK SABBATH era.
Alex W.: "Hi, I've just become aware of this site. My name is Alex W. and I see that I can add a date missing to your timeline section. On 16th November 1969 Sabbath played at Rugman's Youth Club, Whitesands, Dumfries, Scotland, backed by local band Amplified Heat. I was at the show (2 shillings and 6 pence admission!) and also recorded most of the set that evening. They played a mixture of songs from the first upcoming LP, and fast "jazz-blues" type songs, much in the vein of Alvin Lee & 10 Years After. I still have the tape and can give you a breakdown of the recording and equipment the band used if you wish..."
I get a lot of very interesting e-mail's from people, but this short missive immediately reduced me to into a slack-jawed primate. For a few moments, my vocabulary was limited to short dazed grunts and guttural noises. But as I gradually came back to normal consciousness, my eyes gravitated over the words I have underlined in Alex's e-mail. A 1969 live recording??!!
Allow me a moment to put this into perspective for us. The earliest known live recording circulating at the moment would be the Koln, Germany tape from April 3rd, 1970 (if that date is even correct). Unfortunately, that one only has two songs and the quality is "good" at best. Next up would be their BBC Radio performance for John Peel's Sunday Show (a.k.a. Ozzy's Basement Tapes) from 4/26/70, but this again is not a complete show - only 4 songs. One of the most famous early live recordings of Black Sabbath would have to be the Berlin 6/26/70 tape, which first surfaced about a decade ago. The quality of the Berlin tape was at least VG quality and is as close to a complete show as we've heard from that point in time. One bootleg even tried to claim it was recorded in '69 (RETURN TO 1969), but this was more a wish than a reality.
The common thread between all three of these tapes is that they present the band during the time that they were working on PARANOID. What's truly been missing is a snapshot of the band while they were BECOMING Black Sabbath. Fans have long begged to hear complete versions of "The Rebel", "Song For Jim" and most recently "When I Came Down", but none of those songs would seem to accurately represent their live act during 1969. The demos were done mainly to appease Jim Simpson and hopefully garner some interest from the record labels.
Alex's reel to reel recording from 11/16/69 captured the 2nd set of their show in Dumfries. During that evening, they performed several songs from their newly recorded and yet unreleased debut album, including one rarely heard live rendition! In addition, Black Sabbath (3 months after the name change) also played several blues covers, as well as an introductory drum & flute solo section! This is all I have time to share for tonight, but I will continue with part II of Alex's great story as soon as I am able. Before I end for the evening, I have one last thing to share with you...
Here is a blues cover that may be titled "Early Morning School". (Alex thought it might be "Early Warning School" too. I'm still looking into this one for us. More details and a complete set list soon. For now, just have a listen! Extra special thanks to Alex for coming forth after 30+ years with this vintage recording! If we had a pub here on the Internet, I think we'd be carrying you out tonight, mate!
------------
You can download a sample of this song by clicking here - the sample comes from Rob's excellent sabbathlive.com site. Check it out, if you haven't.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 8:26 AM
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
May 5, 2005
How Black was our Sabbath in Paperback
Folks who regularly read my site know that I pushed awhile back for you to buy the book "How Black Was our Sabbath: A View From the Crew". It's a wonderful book on the early history of Black Sabbath from some of the guys that lived it with the band - the tour crew. This book has been out for little while now, and the one thing that irked me about it was that it was really expensive to buy in the US, as it wasn't published over here. That's changed. It's now available in paperback form in the US and in the UK. If you've never read this book, and are a Sabbath fan (particularly of the Ozzy era), you owe it to yourself to check this out. I'm going to provide some ordering links to the paperback version here, then copy my original review of the book for you to check out. I also have a books page here on my site which has info about other Sabbath related books, too.
Amazon.com Order Link
Amazon.co.uk Order Link
My Review of the book:
This is an absolutely wonderful book written by David Tangye & Graham Wright. There's been plenty of books on Black Sabbath before. Some good. Some not so good. This one falls in the category of being EXTREMELY GOOD. The difference between this book and the others on the Ozzy history of the band is the fact that this one was written by folks who were there. A lot of these things are written by people who retell stories, regurgitating things that are already out there. Not this one. David was Ozzy's personal assistant, and Graham was Bill Ward's assistant. So these stories are told from folks who lived them. There are some other stories by other folks who were involved with Sabbath directly as well.
This book goes into some areas of the band's history that have never been talked much about before. Specifically the days when they were known as Polka Tulk, as well as Earth. There's tons of stories about life on the road, the legendary "Satanist attacks Tony Iommi on stage with a knife" story, to one their hotel room doors being painted with a bloody red Cross, to the story about the band blowing out the candles of a group of Satanists in the hallway by singing "Happy Birthday" to 'em. There's other things, like Ozzy's first wife Thelma, and the kids Oz had with her. That's something that's almost never talked about. Graham tells stories about Bill's drive over the Australian Outback in 1974 for about 500 miles to avoid flying. And a few about how some vehicles ended up in swimming pools.
What's best about this book to me is that it's an easy free flowing style. I've read many books, and some are hard reads, but this was one that I could quite easily have read in one sitting, had I had that much time available when I read it. David & Graham are to be applauded for their work on the book, both in content and in style.
The only negative thing I have to say about it is that it's not the easiest book to get in the US. There's no direct US publisher that I'm aware of, and as such, it can be a bit expensive to get it here in the States. In fact, if you're in the US, it might be cheaper to buy it from the UK site That issue aside, I feel it's well worth it due to the quality of the stories and the writing in the book. You can't go wrong reading this if you're a fan of Black Sabbath.
UPDATE Apr 05: The book is now out in paperback in the United States, and is significantly cheaper to obtain in the US now. Check out the links below.
I cannot recommend this book highly enough. Stop reading this page and order it. Right now. The authors have an online group available to discuss the book, you can reach that here.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 5:19 PM
Fused Press Release
Today I noticed that the Official Tony Iommi site had posted the Sanctuary Records Press release for "Fused". I'm copying it here. You've probably seen this around the net already, but as I'm still catching up, I wanted to make sure I had it posted on my site as well. :)
BLACK SABBATH AXE-SLINGER JOINED BY VOCALIST/BASSIST
GLENN HUGHES AND DRUMMER KENNY ARONOFF
TOUR PLANNED AFTER THIS SUMMER'S OZZFEST
Tony Iommi, the legendary Black Sabbath guitarist, will release his new album Fused on July 12, 2005, via Sanctuary Records. This will be Iommi's third solo album.
Joining Iommi on Fused is former Deep Purple vocalist/bass guitarist Glenn Hughes and former John Mellencamp drummer Kenny Aronoff, who has also played sessions with the likes of the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Rod Stewart, Alice Cooper, Bob Seger, Lynyrd Skynyrd and countless others. The trio will hit the road to promote Fused later this year after Black Sabbath finishes headlining the 10th anniversary Ozzfest tour.
The 10 songs on Fused are: "Dopamine," “Wasted Again,” “Saviour Of The Real,” “Resolution Song,” “Grace,” “Deep Inside A Shell,” “What You’re Living For,” “Face Your Fear,” “The Spell” and “I Go Insane.”
Iommi has worked with both Hughes and Aronoff in the past. Hughes is a longtime friend who sang on the 1986 Black Sabbath Featuring Tony Iommi album Seventh Star. In 2004, previously unreleased songs they had collaborated on eight years earlier were completed and released by Sanctuary as The 1996 DEP Sessions. Aronoff played drums on the song "Black Oblivion" on Iommi's self-titled 2000 solo album, which was loaded with all-star guest appearances. Fused was produced by Bob Marlette, who also manned the studio boards for 'Iommi.'
"I put some ideas for four or five tracks down about three years ago, but I hadn't written them specifically with Glenn in mind," Iommi says. "After The 1996 DEP Sessions was finished last year, I said to my manager that I should try Glenn on my solo album. Glenn came over to England and we did a trial run writing more material and it was unbelievable. His enthusiasm is amazing. He is so full of energy and great song ideas.”
"The ideal thing for me is to work with collaborators. I can come in with riffs until the cows come home, and I do that all the time. I like to do it that way and then build the song with somebody else."
Iommi and Hughes tend to write quickly when they settle in. Once the basic song ideas were written for this new album, Hughes worked on overall melodies and lyrics. The songs were in place, but a drummer was needed to tie it all together. Iommi was eager to work with Aronoff again and had him in mind from the beginning. The highly respected skins-basher was thrilled about the invitation, especially when Iommi said he wanted to tour to promote Fused.
"I definitely knew that for my next album I wasn't going to use a lot special guests again. I wanted to use just one singer, and I also wanted it to be more like a band this time. The idea was to go into the studio with Glenn and Kenny play everything live. It was great. I really enjoyed doing it that way," says Iommi. "That was the original way you used to record, and that was the only way I knew how to record for a long time. Only a few years ago did I start recording the other way, by building up and layering tracks. By playing live in the studio, you can hear exactly how the songs are going to sound and whether they work."
These new songs most definitely work, and they rage with the same fire and intensity that mark Iommi's best. There is nothing quite like the sound of a power trio, because there can be no weak links -- each musician's efforts stand out. There is no place to hide. Iommi, Hughes and Aronoff feed off each other, whether it's the concise punch of "Dopamine" and "What You're Living For" or the fluid twists and turns in the nine-minute epic "I Go Insane."
Iommi's lethal guitar crunch leads the charge. Hughes truly pushes himself to the edge and adjusts his voice to fit the overall direction of each song while simultaneously propelling the rhythm with his pounding bass guitar. The volcanic thunder Aronoff unleashes from his drums sounds like nothing he has done before. Marlette's sparkling, crisp production results in a hard-hitting, modern, in-your-face sound.
"Bob is a fantastic producer. He also played a few keyboard parts on this album because he wanted to get his hands in there!" laughs Iommi.
Marlette's major role as the producer was to provide that extra, objective pair of ears and determine when a song was finished. He also judged Iommi's solos and usually found what he looking for after four or five takes. However, Iommi often wanted to lay down more solos with the purpose of topping himself with each pass.
"I tend to keep trying solos until I get to where I say, 'Oh yeah, I really like that one.' It's not often I say that, but you're always trying to get that one you're happy with," he says. "Sometimes it is difficult working with a producer when you have been a producer yourself, but it's good to compare ideas. To get the best end result you do whatever it takes."
Iommi's excitement about Fused is at a fever pitch and he cannot wait to tour with Hughes and Aronoff.
"In addition to playing material from this album, we'll probably do a couple of tracks from The 1996 DEP Sessions and a few Sabbath songs too," he says.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 4:40 PM
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
May 3, 2005
Tony Iommi Updates
Since I've been away doing the parent thing, there's been some cool updates from Tony Iommi. First is that his third solo album has a name. It's "Fused". It's to be released on Sanctuary on July 12th. The band lineup is Tony on guitars, Glenn Hughes on vocals and bass, and Kenny Aronoff on drums. Both of which have worked with Tony in the past. Glenn sang on Tony's previous solo release "The 1996 DEP Sessions", and on the 1986 Sabbath album "Seventh Star". Aaronoff appeared on the track "Black Oblivion" on Iommi's 2000 solo debut, "Iommi".
Here's the track listing:
1. Dopamine
2. Wasted Again
3. Saviour Of The Real
4. Resolution Song
5. Grace
6. Deep Inside A Shell
7. What You're Living For
8. Face Your Fear
9. The Spell
10. I Go Insane
Featured among the tunes is a nine-minute rendition of "I Go Insane." "I wanted to do a long track basically with a lot of different changes," Iommi said.
"I put some ideas for four or five tracks down about three years ago, but I hadn't written them specifically with Glenn in mind," Tony Iommi says. "After 'The 1996 DEP Sessions' was finished last year, I said to my manager that I should try Glenn on my solo album. Glenn came over to England and we did a trial run writing more material and it was unbelievable. His enthusiasm is amazing. He is so full of energy and great song ideas."
"The ideal thing for me is to work with collaborators. I can come in with riffs until the cows come home, and I do that all the time. I like to do it that way and then build the song with somebody else."
Bob Marlette produced the album, and from everything I've read about it, it's supposed to be absolutely badass stuff. I'll have more on it's pending release when I get info from Iommi's folks.
There is supposed to be a tour with Iommi/Hughes after the Sabbath stuff is done this year. I hope it comes to the US, and I get to see it, it'll be an awesome show! Of possible Iommi/Hughes lives dates, Tony has this to say.. ""We can draw from that album, we can draw from the [1996 release] 'The DEP Sessions' and even some 'Seventh Star' stuff," Iommi says. "I think we can even do a couple of Sabbath tunes. We don't really know exactly what we're going to play but I think there is certainly plenty of material."
Also, in a Billboard interview, Tony says that there might be a DVD release from Sabbath gleaned from the 2005 Ozzfest shows. No further details on that available yet.
And finally, in the same Billboard interview, Tony makes a remark that he thinks he owes it to the fans to put out another Sabbath album. His exact quote is "I really think we owe it to the fans as well to do the album." That's certainly true, there hasn't been a new Sabbath studio album in TEN YEARS NOW! :)
Posted by Joe Siegler at 7:26 PM
Bill Ward's Audio Diary available
Bill Ward has left the States to head to England for rehearsals for the European Black Sabbath shows and Ozzfest. As a present, Bill has recorded an audio diary for you, his website visitor. The diary talks about a bevy of topics. Some of the topics he talks about are:
Bill's radio show Rock 50, The start of Sabbath rehearsals, how he gets in shape for Sabbath's drumming and his exercise regimen, some of the things he does offstage on tour, some of Bill's favourite music, the other bands on Ozzfest, Ozzy's bike accident and his recovery from that, what it's like playing with Geezer Butler, updates on Bill's new record deal, future things on billward.com, various Sab members' solo albums, and of course the prospects on a new Black Sabbath album!
The entire audio diary entry is 21 minutes and 15 seconds long. You can download the file here. It's an m4a (aka mp4) audio file.
http://www.billward.com/news/archives/2005/05/bill_wards_audi.html
You need one of any number of free audio players (Winamp, iTunes, or Musicmatch Jukebox) to play this file.
The plans are for Bill to continue these audio diaries once the Sabbath tour starts, so make sure and check back during the summer for more from Bill! In the meantime, download and enjoy Bill's audio diary!
Posted by Joe Siegler at 7:25 PM
Twenty Questions with Geezer
There's a very amusing and extremely entertaining interview with Geezer over at the Metal Sludge website now. It's quite good and several things will probably make you laugh out loud. Here's a few samples from the entire interview:
Q: There must be a million Black Sabbath tribute albums out there. Have you ever listened to any of them, and if so, was there any particular band's cover of one of your songs that stood out and impressed you?
A: Yeah, I listened to quite a few of them, but there's, like, so many of them now. I get about 10 of them every week in the post. I really like Type O Negative's version of "Black Sabbath." And I love The Bad Plus' version of "Iron Man."
Q. Of the following, which do you prefer:
A: Poison or Warrant = Uuuuuurrgghhhhhhhhh!!!!! (Note: That's the sound Geezer actually made when we asked him that question! "Uuuuuurrgghhhhhhhhh!!!!!" There's no other way to transcribe it.) Uuuuuurrgghhhhhhhhh! Hahahahhaha! Neither of them!
This is a very good interview, if you haven't checked it out already, you should do so straight away. The full interview is available here.
http://tinyurl.com/afqtw.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 7:22 PM
Geezer Butler Ohmwork Single Now Out there
The first single from Ohmwork has been released to radio and is available to your local radio station right now. The song is "I Believe". You can download a 30 second sample of this song here. This single will not be released commercially, it's only available to radio. However, several radio stations are playing it now (along with other GZR tracks). Here is a list of all the stations that are currently spinning the album and what tracks they have spun, along with the station website so that you can go there and e-quest or find out how to request Ohmwork tracks via phone.
"Aural Sects"
WEBN 102.7 Cincinnati www.webn.com
KXXR Minneapolis www.93x.com
"I Believe"
WYSP Philadelphia www.94wysp.com
"Misfit"
WAXQ NY 104.3 www.q1043.com
KDLD LA www.indie1031.fm
KIOZ San Diego 105.3 www.kioz.com
KBER Salt Lake City www.kber.com
KATT Oklahoma City 100.5 www.katt.com
WHEB Portsmouth www.wheb.com
WHJY Providence 94.1 www.whjy.com
WKRL Syracuse www.krock.com/syracuse
"Pardon My Depression"
KISW 99.9 Seattle www.kisw.com
WAAF Boston 107.3 www.waaf.com
WEBN 102.7 Cincinnati www.webn.com
WTFX 100.5 Louisville www.foxrocks.com
"Pseudocide"
WRIF Detroit www.wrif.com
"Pull the String"
WRQC 92.5 www.realrock925.com
Visit http://www.geezerbutler.com for further details on this.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 7:21 PM
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
May 2, 2005
Ozzy: The Real Story Magazine
 Available now is a special magazine you might find interesting. It's called "OZZY: THE REAL STORY"
It's a 148-page, full-colour Q & MOJO Classic Special Edition mag. Some of the highlights:
- Ozzy's Most Revealing Interview Ever
- Insane Eyewitness Tales
- Over 200 Classic, Rare & Unseen Pictures
- The Greatest Ozzy & Black Sabbath Songs Of All Time... As Chosen By Fans Worldwide
- Complete Ozzy & Sabbath Buyers Guide
- Plus New Black Sabbath Interviews, Original Articles, Competitions and All The Good Stuff You Just Won't Find Anywhere Else...
On Sale Now!
Available as a Q Classic special edition in the UK and a MOJO Classic special edition overseas, including the US. On sale in all good newsagents or by ordering online from here...
http://www.subscription.co.uk/products/mojoozzy
http://www.subscription.co.uk/products/qozzy
Posted by Joe Siegler at 4:27 PM
|
|
|
|
|
|
