15 Facts About BLACK SABBATH – Listed
They have been making music for nearly 50 years. Black Sabbath albums have sold 70 million copies and have thousands of concerts.
They have earned the nickname godfathers of heavy metal. Have you ever wondered if we know every detail of Black Sabbath? I do not think so. We have listed unknown and 15 facts about Black Sabbath.
Unknown facts about Black Sabbath
What was the Black Sabbath band’s original name?
1-Earth
Once band members founded Black Sabbath, they used the name of Earth instead of Black Sabbath. However, there was another band called ‘Earth’. While they were performing in London, a fan told the situation. When members of the Earth –Black Sabbath– realized the problem, they decided to use a different name. They found the inspiration from the horror film Black Sabbath starring Boris Karloff.
Did Black Sabbath invent metal?
2-Birth Of Heavy Metal
When somebody asks you who started heavy metal music, the answer is crystal clear. With the debut album, Black Sabbath had started heavy metal music. With this album, “metal” became a distinct form of music separate from “rock.”
3-Tony Iommi almost left Black Sabbath
Because of the conflicts between Tony Iommi and Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi almost left the Earth(Black Sabbath) to join Jethro Tull. However, they solved the problem between them. Yet, Jethro Tull leader Ian Anderson remembers this situation differently: “He didn’t leave his band. I think it became apparent to me while he could understand where I was headed, the limitations that he faces as a guitarist due to the physical injury to his fingers, meant that he really couldn’t play some of the things that I would have wanted him to play like a guitar player in Jethro Tull. He simply didn’t have the fingers to do it.”
4- Tony Iommi’s Lost Fingers
Tony Iommi was a worker in a factory. While working, he lost the tips of two fingers at the pressing machine. He says about the accident, “As I was pushing the metal into the machine, it came down with such a force and bang, it just chopped my fingers. There was blood going all over the place. The bones were sticking out of them.” If you want to learn more about this accident, you can read this article.
5- Sweat Leaf
The cough at the beginning of ‘Sweat Leaf’ belongs to Tony Iommi. While recording this song, Tony Iommi was smoking the cigarette given by Ozzy Osbourne. Also, the song took the name from the package of Irish cigarettes. On the pack, it says, “It’s the sweet leaf,”. That refers to marijuana, which band members usually used.
6-A Title Came From The Boots
In the song “Fairies Wear Boots,” they mentioned an experience that they have had with the Skinheads. When they had the experience, Skinheads were not racist. They usually wore boots. That was the inspiration for the name of this song. Tonny Iommi said about the lyrics, “We smoked a lot of dope, so that might be why some of the lyrics are a bit unusual.”
7- Castle
For the fifth album, Black Sabbath rented a castle called Clearwell. This castle is in The Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, England, and some famous bands like Led Zeppelin, Mott the Hoople, and Deep Purple have used this castle to record their album, as well. Although the surrounding boosted their creativity but also terrified them. Tonny Iommi mentioned that in the documentary of Black Sabbath Volume 1 and said: “I’ve got to be honest, we frightened the life out of each other. We had to leave in the end everybody was terrified of each other because we were playing jokes on each other and, nobody knew who was doing it. We rehearsed in the armory there and, one night I was walking down the corridor with Ozzy Osbourne, and we saw this figure in a black cloak. We followed this figure back into the armory, and there was absolutely no one there. Whoever it was had disappeared into thin air! The people that owned the castle knew all about this ghost and they said, ‘Oh yes, that’s the ghost of so and so. We were like ‘What!?’”
8- Night of Satan
Early days of the group, a satanist group wanted them to perform their ‘Night of Satan’ at Stonehenge.
The band did not do what Satanists wanted. Members also claimed that they were placed in a hex.
After that, Ozzy Osbourne wanted his father to make crosses for all of them to protect.
9- Ozzy Osbourne
After Ozzy Osbourne left Black Sabbath, Tony Iommi took Dave Walker from Savoy Brown. With the new member, the band occurred in a tv show called ‘Look Hear’. They performed “War Pigs” and a new version of “Junior’s Eyes.” After some time, Ozzy Osbourne wanted to join the band. Because of that, Dave Walker left Black Sabbath before ever recording. However, Ozzy Osbourne left the band in 1978 again.
10-The Wife of Ozzy
Ronnie James Dio from Rainbow took the place of Ozzy Osbourne in 1979. Ironically, Sharon Arden-the daughter of Don Arden- recommended Dio. Later on, she became Ozzy’s wife.
11- A Problematic Marriage
Tony Iommi was engaged to Lita Ford. Lita Ford has seen him as a superhero. Yet, their relationship was different from the of Lita Ford expected. Their relationship was abusive relationship Lita Ford explain this situation with those words: “When I was growing up, the first concert I ever saw was Black Sabbath, when I was 13, and Tony Iommi was just like a God in my eyes; he was a hero to me, and still is. Even though he almost killed me — literally. And I did not expect that from my superhero.”
Lita Ford added: After snorting tons of blows, he got angry and choked me unconscious. When I woke up, I saw him holding a chair above my head. It was a big, heavy leather chair with studs around the arms, and he was about to smash it over my face. I rolled over, and luckily I moved fast enough that he missed me, and the chair smashed into the ground.”
She could not take it anymore, and they divorced. After the breakup, she wanted to continue her career. She recorded “Close My Eyes Forever” with Ozzy Osbourne. With this record, Ozzy and Lita Ford achieved success beyond their expectation.
12-Pranks
The band always likes to make pranks to each other. Yet, their target was often the Billy Ward. While recording “Heaven and Hell,” the band members set Billy Ward’s beard on fire. This prank resulted in third-degree burns.
13- Immortal Black Sabbath
All members of the Black Sabbath are still alive. Nobody expects that because then band was founded in 1968.
14-Witches in the Show
Tony Iommi confessed that they brought witches to their concerts with Geezer.
Members claimed that once they turned back to the hotel, they found the witches while they were singing.
15-Satan Followers
In the 1970s some weirdos started to come to the Black Sabbath concerts. Moreover, they wanted to bring members of the Black Sabbath to the black masses at Highgate Graveyard in London.
