The band that were responsible for the term “Heavy Metal” being used to describe a music genre, Black Sabbath brought a deeper, darker sound to the airwaves.

As kids we referred to heavy rock music as ‘Underground”

The band formed in 1968 with the members (all from Birmingham England)Tommy Iommi (lead guitar), Ozzy Osbourne (vocals), Geezer Butler (Bassist) and Bill Ward (Drums) all determined to avoid a life as factory workers by making a career in music.

I am stressed that I cannot find my Masters of Reality or Vol. 4 Albums

Black Sabbath started out as EARTH, but changed their name at a later date to Black Sabbath, as told on the official website

Everything changed when Butler came to the band with an idea for a song inspired by a disturbing apparition. A fan of horror films and the black magic-themed novels of Dennis Wheatley, he flirted briefly with the black arts. But when he saw what he believed to be a figure from the dark side at the foot of his bed one night, he ceased his dabblings in the goth world. With lyrics by Osbourne, the group composed a song about the visitation, entitling it “Black Sabbath” (after the 1963 Boris Karloff film). It provoked a reaction in audiences unlike anything else in their repertoire, and they knew they’d stumbled onto something powerful and unique. Forced to change their name because there was already another band named Earth, they made an obvious choice: Black Sabbath.

We start the musical journey with the title track of their debut album(released 1970) as per the above extract

The band were initially dismissed by the critics, yet the album made the Top 10 on the British charts and stayed for more than a year in the US Album Top 40. The band high on this success followed up with the album Paranoid just seven months later. This album really established Black Sabbath with the hard hitting Paranoid and Iron Man becoming two of their biggest charters

The album went straight to the top of the UK charts and over four million sales in the US. Paranoid as a single would be the bands only Top 10 hit

The epic War Pig’s …………performed live in Paris, 1970 (thank you Youtube)

Generals gathered in their masses
Just like witches at black masses
Evil minds that plot destruction
Sorcerers of death's construction
In the fields the bodies burning
As the war machine keeps turning
Death and hatred to mankind
Poisoning their brainwashed minds...

The band was labelled as devil worshippers and black magic practitioners but that was not the case, as explained by Tommy Iommi…again an extract from the official Black Sabbath website

“We arrived at the height of the Vietnam War and on the other side of the hippie era, so there was a mood of doom and aggression,” guitarist Iommi told writer Chris Welch in 2003. That’s not to say Black Sabbath were devil worshippers or practitioners or witchcraft, as many believed. Quite a different picture of the band is painted in such songs as “After Forever” (with the lyric, “God is the only way to love”) and Osbourne’s frequent flashing of the peace sign during Black Sabbath concerts.

For me their best album was undoubtedly Master of Reality (released 1971) with not a bad or weak track on the entire album. I reckon they were at their cohesive peak at this time. The track After Forever as mentioned above appears on this album

Have you ever thought about your soul - can it be saved?
Or perhaps you think that when you're dead you just stay in your grave
Is God just a thought within your head or is he a part of you?
Is Christ just a name that you read in a book when you were in school?

When you think about death do you lose your breath or do you keep your cool?
Would you like to see the Pope on the end of a rope - do you think he's a fool?
Well I have seen the truth, yes I've seen the light and I've changed my ways
And I'll be prepared when you're lonely and scared at the end of our days

Sweet Leaf, also from Masters of Reality, reached cult status with the youth in the early 70’s and the subject matter referred to is not difficult to deduce

The band continued recording and touring throughout the 70’s with their next big success being the album Vol. 4, followed in 1972 by Sabbath Bloody Sabbath. The stresses of the arduous tours and certain personal excesses started taking their toll on the band and the quality of the material released deteriorated and in the year 1978 Ozzy Osbourne left the band to start his own very successful solo career

Tomorrow’s Dream …. Really showcasing Iommi’s riff

and possibly their most well known ballad …. Changes, also from Vol. 4

After Ozzy left, the band went through various personnel combinations with Tommy Iommi being the glue but the same heights were never reached again.

Black Sabbath had made their mark and heavy metal was born and I personally thank them for that

Credits:
http://www.blacksabbath.com/history.html
http://www.allmusic.com/artist/black-sabbath-mn0000771438/biography
http://www.darklyrics.com/lyrics/blacksabbath/volume4.html
And of course Youtube !!

I am featuring artists from the 60’s and 70’s from diverse genre’s over the next few months. If you love music … FOLLOW and take the journey with me, it is going to be one thrilling ride!! Furthermore I will only be featuring artists from MY vinyl collection, and I shall start all of the posts with a photo of an album cover to authenticate

This post only requires Steem Power

Previous Music Legends
Leonard Cohen
The Doors
Bob Dylan
The Rolling Stones
60’s Protest Artists
Janis Joplin
Jimi Hendrix
Neil Young
Deep Purple
Led Zeppelin
Van Morrison