Black Sabbath

The Holy Sabbath

Ozzy and Tony talk drugs, the devil and how they invented heavy metal

It is March 31st, and two days later Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne will announce that daughter Kelly, following the family tradition, is being sent to rehab. But today, Ozzy is in Los Angeles, happily reunited with guitarist Tony Iommi to discuss what made Ozzy famous long before MTV: the glory days of Black Sabbath, the band from Birmingham, England, that put the heavy into heavy metal.
The occasion for this interview is the imminent release of Black Box, a box set containing the eight classic albums from Sabbath's debut in 1970 to Osbourne's exit in 1978. (After the interview, Osbourne will suggest that a Sabbath reunion is also in the cards.) "It's the major part of Sabbath -- all the Ozzy years," Iommi says. "It means a great deal." "So many bands come up and say, 'Sabbath is my biggest influence,' " Osbourne adds. "Being inside, you don't realize what you're achieving. We were just four local guys who went to school with each other who just formed a band. We didn't set out to influence the world." Here, Osbourne and Iommi talk about the heavy-metal thunder that changed music forever.

Black Sabbath 1970

Osbourne: We started off playing jazz and blues. Cream, Fleetwood Mac, John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, the Beatles and Jethro Tull were our influences. At one point, we had a bottleneck-guitar player and a saxophone player.

Iommi: That lasted about five fucking minutes.

Osbourne: We used to rehearse across from this movie theater [in Birmingham] that would play hokey horror films. One day, Tony comes in and says, "People pay money to get scared -- why don't we start writing scary music?" Then we wrote a song called "Black Sabbath." We told our friend Alvin Lee from Ten Years After that we'd changed our name to Black Sabbath, and he says, "You won't go very far called that."

Iommi: Being mean and frightening just came naturally. When Ozzy sang, we made that sort of sound.

Osbourne: We recorded the first album on our way to catch a ferry. The manager goes, "Just stop off for the day and record them fuckin' songs you've been playing." It was fucking primitive: Two four-track machines in a studio smaller than this room! Twelve hours later, we were finished. It was like, "Wow, I thought recording records would be a lot harder."

Iommi: Within the band we had our own little communication, and people would read into it.

Osbourne: Everybody thinks "N.I.B." stands for Nativity in Black, but it's actually named after [drummer Bill Ward's] pointy beard. I was stoned, and I said to Bill, "You look like a fucking pen nib!" However, just recently I worked with an arranger who told me about the "devil's interval" -- it's a musical term for a tonality that at one point in history, like, in seventeenth-century-fucking-something, was banned for being evil. It turns out a lot of Sabbath's music is in the devil's interval! We had no idea!

Paranoid 1971

Osbourne: We originally called the album War Pigs, after some black-magic party we read about in an Aleister Crowley book. That's why the guy on the cover is wearing a pink suit with a shield and sword: He's dressed like a pig.

Iommi: They wouldn't let us use War Pigs as a title. It was basically about Vietnam.

Osbourne: I didn't know about Vietnam. I was a dim bulb when it came to world events. I was always loaded.

Iommi: We used to play this place in Sweden where hookers would hang out, owned by a mad doctor who'd always scream, "No drum solo!" at us. We came up with "War Pigs" just jamming there. We'd start playing something, somebody would say, "Oh, I like that," and then we'd make it a song.

Osbourne: We'd finished recording already when we wrote "Paranoid." That song came about when our producer told us to jam for four minutes. I came up with the vocal line, Tony came up with the riff, and Geezer [Butler, Sabbath bassist] came up with the lyric. It was done within an hour. If I couldn't create a great vocal melody, I would just sing along in unison to the riff, like on "Iron Man." It was the easiest solution -- I wanted to get the fucking thing done.

Iommi: We first came to the U.S. to promote Paranoid.

Osbourne: It's every British band's dream to play the States. When we got there finally, we fucked as many groupies as we could. In San Francisco, they even had a Black Sabbath parade! Coming from Birmingham, England, where the fuckin' sun never shines, it was magic to us.

Iommi: Our first tour was with Rod Stewart, and we went down better than him. When he went on, he'd get booed.

Osbourne: There were lots of ego problems. At the second show, the audience was stoned asleep, so Bill threw his drum kit at the crowd. His parents came to one of our shows, and Bill's mum had brought a fucking shopping bag. She goes into the backstage canteen and fills it full of knives, forks and spoons, all while security is watching her on camera. A guard comes to her and says, "Madam, I don't think what's in the bag belongs to you."

Iommi: If we made a movie, it'd leave Spinal Tap behind.

Osbourne: "Hand of Doom" was about heroin, but we weren't into smack. We'd only smoke dope and drink booze -- we didn't think anything of cocaine until later. Then we had fucking problems.

Master of Reality 1971

Iommi: We said we'd never write another hit single after "Paranoid." We started attracting the wrong sort of audience, all these screaming kids. And we were smoking a lot of pot -- it got very out of hand, dancing naked in the studio. . . .

Osbourne: Geezer wrote a song about it, "Sweet Leaf." That's Tony coughing at the beginning of the song.

Iommi: I was outside recording an acoustic thing, and Ozzy brought me a joint. I had a puff and nearly choked myself, and they were taping it!

Osbourne: Geezer wondered if it was a bit too heavy when he wrote, "Would you like to see the pope on the end of a rope?" in "After Forever"; Geezer's Catholic, you know. You remember that guy from New York, Son of Sam, who was killing all the chicks? When they got into his apartment, he supposedly had the lyrics to "After Forever" written on his wall. I thought, "Fuck me, are we going too far?"

Iommi: John Bonham, Robert Plant and John Paul Jones came down to the studio and jammed with us when we were finishing the album. We were friends with John Bonham -- he was "local" -- but Bill would never let Bonham play his drums. He was afraid he'd break them. That time we let him, and he did! There's probably a tape of it somewhere.

Osbourne: We had left our manager at that point, and Led Zeppelin wanted to manage us. We didn't want that. We thought it would be . . . degrading to be managed by another band.

Black Sabbath Vol. 4 1972

Osbourne: We were originally going to call this album Snowblind because we'd discovered that magic white powder, but the record company said, "No way." We did so much fucking coke making it.

Iommi: We came to L.A. to record, and we stayed at a house in Bel Air. At the end of the day, it was all dope, booze, drugs, fucking chicks. Oh, dear, we had some fun in that house.

Osbourne: One day, I'd just done a line and was feeling really hot. I pressed this button on the wall thinking it was the air conditioner -- instead, it alerted the police! All these cop cars show up, so I go into the toilet with all the drugs, trying to do them all before they came in!

One night me and Bill were fucking drunk and taking a piss together. I see this aerosol can and squirt his dick with it. He starts screaming and falls down. I look at the can and it says, WARNING: DO NOT SPRAY ON SKIN - HIGHLY TOXIC. I poisoned Bill through his dick!

Iommi: We sprayed Bill gold once. He was pissed drunk, so we painted and lacquered him. We never realized we could've killed him.

Osbourne: The coke was good when it was working. We used to sniff and jam for days, recording everything on big spools of tape. But it was the beginning of the end. Cocaine was the cancer of the band.

Sabbath Bloody Sabbath 1973

Osbourne: It was "tour, write, record," over and over. Black Sabbath had become a . . .job.

Iommi: So we rented a castle in Wales, which, yes, was supposedly haunted. Bill saw this ghost jump out the window in his room, so he started taking this big dagger to bed with him. He said if he saw the ghost, he was going to stab it. As if you can stab a ghost!

Osbourne: I was the ghost!

Iommi: We set up our gear in the dungeons, and it was a great vibe for coming up with ideas. When we wrote Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, all these riffs started coming out. We started using synthesizers, too -- musically, we went to another level.

Osbourne: That, to me, was the pinnacle of Black Sabbath. I also discovered, as a singer, the best person to harmonize with is yourself -- there's no one that sounds more like you than you.

Iommi: We almost lost Ozzy. We had a room with a big fireplace. Ozzy had a big fire going but had fallen asleep when a piece of coal tumbled onto the carpet. We forced our way in, and the room was ablaze!

Osbourne: I'd set my foot on fire. We were so hellbent on frightening each other, we frightened ourselves! We then made a collective decision to fucking stop this coke thing -- it was destroying us. So I started sniffing it behind the amps, where they couldn't see me.

Sabotage 1975

Osbourne: We didn't stay true to our roots. On Sabotage, we tried to be "un-Sabbath" -- anything but evil and satanic.

Iommi: We had loads of management and legal problems. We were recording the album at night. During the day we were in court.

Osbourne: I must be a dim bulb: I didn't understand one fucking thing they were discussing in court. We were no longer four kids from Aston, Birmingham, having fun -- we were working to pay our lawyers. We toured Japan to pay legal fees.

Technical Ecstasy 1976

Osbourne: I was fucked up all the time, more concerned about my next bag of powder than performing. It was very sad. We wrote "Rock and Roll Doctor" about a real person, Dr. Max, who's dead now.

Iommi: Dr. Max was Elvis Presley's old dentist who'd give us Demerol. He went from Elvis to Black Sabbath -- good change, innit?

Osbourne: We'd go see Dr. Max at seven in the evening. He'd put us in the chair, shoot us up, put on the Rolling Stones and then fuck off.

Iommi: He'd come back at 5 a.m., wake you up and say, "I'm ready to do your teeth."

Never Say Die! 1978

Iommi: Never Say Die! was written under difficult circumstances. Everything had to be done too quickly: Ozzy returned, but we only had a few days left to record. We'd gone to Toronto to escape British taxes. We had no new songs, so we hired a freezing-cold cinema where we'd write a song during the day, then record it at night.

Osbourne: The legal stuff was over. But the early days when we had nothing to lose were still the most fun. We weren't interested in being on TV, we didn't hang out with celebrities. I've played with some great players since, but there's not a fucking band in the world that plays like Sabbath. When we did a reunion tour, I thought, "What the fuck have I been doing?" Nobody plays it like the original.

Sabbath to Headline Ozzfest

Metal masters will take stage for first time in three years

Ozzy Osbourne will thaw Black Sabbath for a headlining slot on this summer's Ozzfest tour. The concerts will be the first by the legendary metal troupe since 2001.

This year's roving festival offers a horn-throwing nod to more than three decades of classic metal. In addition to Sabbath, Judas Priest (recently reunited with original frontman Rob Halford) and Slayer will also be on the bill. Superjoint Ritual, led by former Pantera screamer Philip Anselmo, Zakk Wylde's Black Label Society and Norwegian black metal mavens Dimmu Borgir will also play the main stage. Slipknot, Hatebreed, Lamb of God and Otep are among the fourteen second-stage acts. "It's definitely the heaviest bill we've put together yet," Sharon Osbourne told Rolling Stone.

The newfound interest in the classic metal bands has been fed by a series of recent reissues. Black Box: The Complete Original Black Sabbath was released in April and collected all of the group's studio recordings. And this week, Metalogy, a new Judas Priest box set was released. There are also plans for a Slayer retrospective later this year.

As for Ozzfest, the mayhem begins on July 10th in Hartford, Connecticut.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - British heavy metal pioneers Black Sabbath will reunite for the first time since 2001 for Ozzfest, which begins July 10 in Hartford, Conn., a spokeswoman for the annual road show said on Tuesday.
Ozzfest co-founder and headliner Ozzy Osbourne will revisit such hard rocking classics as "War Pigs" and "Paranoid" along with guitarist Tony Iommi and bass player Geezer Butler. But original drummer Bill Ward will be replaced by Mike Bordin, who backs Osbourne on his solo gigs.

Along with three-quarters of the original Black Sabbath, Ozzfest will also feature four-fifths of the original Judas Priest, and such acts as Slayer, Dimmu Borgir, Superjoint Ritual (featuring former Pantera singer Phil Anselmo) and Zakk Wylde's Black Label Society.

Black Sabbath, with Ward on board, last played live during the 2001 version of Ozzfest, but plans to play its own shows afterwards were canceled because Osbourne had to finish work on his solo album.

Bill Ward Speaks Up About Black Sabbath Snub

Black Sabbath drummer Bill Ward has been left out of the Black Sabbath reunion for the upcoming Ozzfest Festival because there was no room for him to negotiate.

In a statement to media today, Bill writes "This morning I received the very sad news that Mike Bordin is to play drums with Black Sabbath on Ozzfest '04."

He says he was asked to join by only on their terms. "Last week I did receive a proposal which allowed no room for negotiation" he says. "It was a cul-de-sac proposal in my opinion, where the only answer was yes or no. I was asked to respond by Friday, May 14th. I wrote a brief letter of decline on Thursday, May 13th. I answered directly at the proposal, and left out any personal comments, other than I was sad to have to decline. What I did not put in my response was this: I'm willing to be flexible, I'm willing to compromise, I'm willing to negotiate, I'm willing to play".

This isn't the first time he has been left-out of a Sabbath reunion. "I've walked down this street before when Sabbath did the first reunion without me and had Mike Bordin play instead. I want you to know, I'm not being the bad guy here. I'm not trying to hold anyone to ransom. And I'm not trying to reverse my decision to decline in hope of a positive managerial response to this letter".

According to Ward, he would have done the tour if there was some give and take on the other side. "I'm ready, willing and able to rock" he says. "There are some details on the proposal that don't work for me. I guess it's a case of the importance of things on both sides and I think that's all I can say for now."

He still says he has the utmost respect for Sabbath. "Black Sabbath is, and always will be an important priority in my life. I support Geezer's, Tony's and Ozzy's decisions to move ahead into Ozzfest '04 without me".

The statement is signed "Bill Ward, 5/18/04"

Black Sabbath: Bill Ward explains why he hasn't rejoined

Original Black Sabbath drummer Bill Ward has posted a statement online over at www.black-sabbath.com discussing the reasons why he will not be performing with the band on this years Ozzfest trek, it reads as follows:

"Dear Sabbath People,

This morning I received the very sad news that Mike Bordin is to play drums with Black Sabbath on Ozzfest '04.
Black Sabbath is, and always will be an important priority in my life. I support Geezer's, Tony's and Ozzy's decisions to move ahead into Ozzfest '04 without me. I can appreciate they may not be overjoyed with the decision, and I'd really like to be with them. Nothing would please me more than to be a part of the show.

Last week I did receive a proposal which allowed no room for negotiation. It was a cul-de-sac proposal in my opinion, where the only answer was yes or no. I was asked to respond by Friday. May 14th. I wrote a brief letter of decline on Thursday, May 13th. I answered directly at the proposal, and left out any personal comments, other than I was sad to have to decline. What I did not put in my response was this:

I'm willing to be flexible
I'm willing to compromise
I'm willing to negotiate
I'm willing to play.

I understand and believe in a united front when it comes to Sabbath. I can appreciate the fallout from such a decision will upset some people, and I am so sorry. I'm more than willing to support Ozzfest in any way I can.

I've walked down this street before when Sabbath did the first reunion without me and had Mike Bordin play instead. I want you to know, I'm not being the bad guy here. I'm not trying to hold anyone to ransom. And I'm not trying to reverse my decision to decline in hope of a positive managerial response to this letter.

I'm ready, willing and able to rock. There are some details on the proposal that don't work for me. I guess it's a case of the importance of things on both sides and I think that's all I can say for now."

Bill Ward
5/18/04"

А кстати, знатоки, кто просветит на предмет того, почему/за что Билла так не взлюбили его бывшие "согруппники"? Заранее благодарю.

Молодая певица Келли Осборн, дочь знаменитого Оззи, записала дуэт с вокалистом группы AFI Дэйви Хэвоком. Композиция войдет в саундтрек к фильму "Live Freaky, Die Freaky" ("Страшно живи, страшно умри").
Действо фильма, главные роли в котором исполняют куклы, происходит в 3069 году. После многих лет войны все природные ресурсы на Земле окончательно истощились. Когда у людей совсем заканчивается еда, Бог "назначает" нового спасителя — Чарльза Мэнсона (маньяк, в 1969 году зверски убивший актрису Шэрон Тейт, жену режиссера Романа Полански — прим. ред.).
В озвучивании фильма приняли участие Билли Джо Армстронг (Green Day), Трэвис Баркер (Blink 182), Дэйви Хэвок (AFI), Бенджи и Джоэль Мэддены (Good Charlotte), Fat Mike (NoFx).
Участник Rancid Тим Армстронг и Green Day также записали по несколько песен для саундтрека. Фильм должен выйти на экраны в августе.

2 ARoad
Всеми делами заправляет Шэрон Осборн, и переговоры между ней и Уордом пока еще не закрыты, судя по www.billward.com. Из всего это я могу заключить, что изначально она ему посулила недостато высокий гонорар. Воистину эта женщина может быть гением добрым и злым по желанию.

Фаны подписывают петицию с просьбой записать новый альбом, пока они будут вместе.

Several BLACK SABBATH fans have launched an online petition to convince the original SABBATH members — Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Terry "Geezer" Butler and Bill Ward — to record a new studio album following their scheduled appearance at this year's Ozzfest. "BLACK SABBATH is all together at the moment, so we would like to have this petition succeed while BLACK SABBATH is still in their current state of unity," they write. "If we wait until after the Ozzfest, there is a great chance that this opportunity will pass." To view and/or sign the petition, click here.
http://www.petitiononline.com/BlackSab/petition.html

Bill Ward: He's back..

According to updated pictures on the official OZZFEST 2004 website, BLACK SABBATH drummer Bill Ward has found his mug thrown back into the group picture of the band, which would imply that things have settled down and it's official that Ward will be behind the kit this Summer for BLACK SABBATH.

DEPP MAY TAKE OZZY ROLE

Johnny Depp is understood to be in talks to play Ozzy Osbourne in a film about the rocker's life.

In an interview with Kerrang! magazine, Ozzy's wife Sharon said nothing was 100% certain.

But she said the former Black Sabbath frontman was talking to the Pirates of the Carribean star about the role.

Sharon also hinted that Ozzy, who was badly hurt in a quad bike accident a few months ago, might retire in a couple of years.

Johnny Depp has recently returned to the big time with Chocolat and Pirates of the Caribbean.

But his acting career has focussed on offbeat films like Edward Scissorhands and Benny and Joon.

Depp is currently spending most of his time in France with model partner Vanessa Paradis and their two children.

Papa I'm Going On Tour

Black Sabbath are welcoming some new blood into their fold. The godfathers of heavy metal have recruited Adam Wakeman, son of Yes' Rick Wakeman, to play keyboards with them during this year's Ozzfest.

In other news, a compilation titled Black Sabbath: The Ronnie James Dio Years that features tracks recorded during Dio's stint as the band's vocalist, reportedly is due out in September.

Warner Bros./Rhino Records is releasing a new BLACK SABBATH compilation in September focusing on the Ronnie James Dio era(s). "Black Sabbath: The Ronnie James Dio Years" features the following track listing:

01. Neon Knights
02. Lady Evil
03. Country Girl
04. Voodoo
05. The Mob Rules
06. Turn Up The Night
07. TV Crimes
08. Time Machine
09. Letters From Earth
10. Heaven And Hell

In a recent interview with Guitar World magazine, BLACK SABBATH guitarist Tony Iommi talked about the Ronnie James Dio-era SABBATH albums. "I'm really satisfied with them," he said. "No disrespect to Ozzy, but I think it's a shame that they've been buried by all the Ozzy stuff. I think they're good albums, and I think Dio deserves a bit more credit than what he did get. He rarely gets mentioned when people talk about the band. Same with Tony Martin."

Iommi is currently working on another solo album and performing this summer at Ozzfest with original SABBATH members Ozzy Osbourne, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward.

Ozzy reunites with Sabbath
Monday, July 12, 2004

HARTFORD - "I'm baaack," announced Ozzy Osbourne much like he had in years past, but this time the Ozzman brought along some old friends.

Ozzy Osbourne reunited with his groundbreaking metal band Black Sabbath for a downright old school Ozzfest 2004 which also featured other nostalgic metal acts like Judas Priest and Slayer as well as newer acts like Slipknot, Superjoint Ritual and Black Label Society.

But the real news was Osbourne's return to Sabbath. The unofficial king of metal once again found himself singing with Sabbath's original lineup: drummer Bill Ward, bassist "Geezer" Butler and guitarist Tony Iommi.

As a group, Black Sabbath created, or at least defined, popular heavy metal music. And so Saturday night found them defining this year's kickoff of Ozzfest at the CTNOW Meadows Music Center before a thoroughly sold-out crowd of dedicated metal heads.

Sabbath opened its 60-minute set with its 1971 metal masterpiece "War Pigs" from the classic album "Paranoid." "War Pigs" sounded as pertinent and vital Saturday as it had over 30 years ago thanks in part to the giant screen behind the band that projected images of war and less than subtle images of our current president, George W. Bush (including a shot of him wearing a superimposed red clown nose).

"I didn't die Christmas" said Osbourne, referring to his near-fatal ATV accident this past winter, "and I'm not dying now - I've got too much rocking to do!"

With that Osbourne and his band reached even further back for the satanic "N.I.B" from their self-titled 1970 record debut. The band continued to please with classic favorites during its eight-song set including "Fairies Wear Boots" also from "Paranoid" as well as "Into the Void" and "Sweet Leaf," both from 1971's highly influential "Master of Reality."

Though Osbourne's voice has never been brilliant, it sounded a bit weak, but not as weak as one might have thought not that long after such a serious accident. What's more, Iommi's guitar playing was as strong and riff-filled as always, providing just the right amount of oomph to Sabbath's vintage material.

Other highlights included the band's epic namesake "Black Sabbath" and the slightly more forgettable tune "Snowblind" from the 1972 album "Black Sabbath, Vol. 4." However, it was the natural set-closer "Iron Man" that truly stole the show.

Though its place at the end of the set was predictable, it was nonetheless enjoyable. Fans reveled to see metal's first great bands perform one of metal's most enduring songs.

Still, Sabbath wasn't the only reunion Saturday night. Their fellow Brits from Judas Priest gave it another go, performing their own hard-rocking 75-minute set. Priest ran through most of its dark classics including "Living After Midnight" from 1980's "British Steel" and "Victim of Changes" from 1976's "Sad Wings of Destiny." But it was the band's smash hits "Breaking the Law" also from "British Steel" and "You've Got Another Thing Coming" from 1982's "Screaming for Vengeance" that still roused the most applause even after all these years.

BLACK SABBATH set list:

01. War Pigs
02. N.I.B
03. Fairies Wear Boots
04. Sweet Leaf
05. Into The Void
06. Snowblind
07. Black Sabbath
08. Iron Man
09. Children Of The Grave
10. Sabbath Bloody Sabbath intro -> Paranoid

JUDAS PRIEST set list:

01. The Hellion (Intro)
02. Electric Eye
03. Metal Gods
04. Heading Out To The Highway
05. Touch of Evil
06. The Sentinel
07. Victim Of Changes
08. Breaking The Law
09. Beyond The Realm of Death
10. Painkiller
Encore:
11. Hell Bent For Leather
12. Living After Midnight
13. You've Got Another Thing Coming

а мне вот не нравится эта группа
уж извините:))

BLACK SABBATH's Video Montage Compares BUSH To HITLER - July 16, 2004

DrudgeReport.com is reporting that BLACK SABBATH are opening their shows on the Ozzfest 2004 tour with the song "War Pigs", featuring a video portrait comparing President Bush to Adolf Hitler.

The video featured Bush and Hitler on the same screen, with the caption: "Same shit different asshole," says a DrudgeReport.com source. Footage of bombs dropping and Hitler marching flashed as Ozzy screamed and guitars screeched.

SABBATH also flashed a picture of Bush with a clown nose, caption: "The White House Circus."

Other bands in the Ozzfest lineup, such as BLACK LABEL SOCIETY, expressed support of the war.

BLS lead singer Zakk Wylde told the crowd in a profanity laced tirade against the terrorist: "Those fuckers crashed the planes into the Towers."

The concert featured a few dedicated songs to the our men and women serving overseas.

BLACK SABBATH Bassist Sets Working Title For New Solo Album - July 16, 2004

BLACK SABBATH bassist Geezer Butler has set "Ohmwork" as the working title of his new solo album, tentatively due next year. "It would have been out this year, but I've had to delay it because of Ozzfest," Butler told Bass Player magazine. Asked what he's been listening to recently, Geezer replied, "I don't really listen to a lot of heavy stuff at the moment — mostly just jazz or blues — but I listen to an increasingly wide range of music. I always love to hear interesting bass playing. Usually I only find that in jazz, but there can be some great bass riffs in drum-n-bass. I love the riff in 'Paper Bag' by RONI SIZE, for instance. I've recently discovered lots of great jazz, like THE BOB JAMES TRIO, THE BRAD MEHLDAU TRIO, JOHN SCOFIELD, THE BAD PLUS, JIMMY COBB, and such. I've always loved COLTRANE, MINGUS, METHANY, but I never liked fusion very much. I've tried to incorporate some jazz into my new songs, but I don't want to do it just for the sake of it, or to just regurgitate what other bassists are more accomplished at playing." Read the rest of Geezer's interview with Bass Player magazine at this location http://www.bassplayer.com/archive/0704/0704_Features1.htm. Geezer's last solo album, "Black Science", was released in 1997 through TVT Records.

BLACK SABBATH Drummer: I Have Nothing To Do With BUSH/HITLER Video - July 20, 2004

BLACK SABBATH drummer Bill Ward has issued a statement distancing himself from the video portrait comparing President Bush to Adolf Hitler that is being used as part of the band's stage act.

SABBATH are opening their Ozzfest 2004 gigs with the song "War Pigs", featuring a video of Bush and Hitler on the same screen, with the caption: "Same shit different asshole." Footage of bombs dropping and Hitler marching is also being shown as part of the montage. SABBATH also flash a picture of Bush with a clown nose, along with the caption "The White House Circus."

In a statement posted at BillWard.com, Ward writes: "When BLACK SABBATH open their show with 'War Pigs', it has been brought to my attention that the wide screen portrays President George W. Bush with a clown nose appearing with past war mongers, including Adolf Hitler. I wish to say this video structure does not represent my personal views towards President Bush. This video was made without my prior knowledge or consent."

Волшебник страны Озз


Какая глыба, какой матерый человечище! Оззи Осборн — больше чем музыкант, хотя и в этом качестве он уникален. Хотя бы в силу того, что он — единственный артист тяжелой музыки, на протяжении вот уже почти тридцати пяти лет остающийся модным в полном смысле этого слова: каждая новая пластинка певца звучит в духе времени и занимает престижные места в списках хитов. Однако в этом году — который, стоит заметить, еще далек от завершения — активность Оззи превзошла все мыслимые пределы.

Отказ от многолетнего пристрастия к "бодрящим" веществам явно пошел Осборну на пользу, и дело даже не в том, что 9 мая пятидесятичетырехлетний артист получил престижную награду "PRISM" — за великолепное описание мучений наркомана, алкоголика и курильщика в песне "Junkie" из прошлогоднего альбома "Down To Earth"; причем месяцем ранее, 12 апреля, англичанин удостоился собственной звезды на голливудской Аллее славы, и день этот был объявлен местным мэром Днем Оззи. Главное — здоровый образ жизни позволяет "отцу хэви-метала" выдерживать супернапряженное расписание.
25 мая стартовало — вот уже седьмой год подряд — мероприятие под названием "OzzFest". Трасса "металического" фестиваля, проходящего под эгидой Осборна, протянется по шестнадцати городам Европы, включая Москву и Питер, и подарит тридцать четыре концерта американским поклонникам. Так что Оззи будет находиться на гастролях до 25 июня, когда в продажу поступит "живой" диск "Live At The Budokan", записанный в Японии в феврале. Пока еще не объявлено, какие именно две или три студийные композиции дополнят альбом, но поговаривают, что одной из них должна стать "Black Skies". Изначально песня предназначалась для видеоигры с таким же названием, однако разрабатывавшая ее компания умудрилась обанкротиться. Музыкант, однако, особо по этому поводу не опечалился. Некогда было.
Чем он был занят? Ну, самой невинной — на взгляд Оззи — забавой можно посчитать переиздание четырех программ артиста — "Blizzard Of Ozz", "Diary Of A Madman", "Tribute" и "No More Tears". Вместо того, чтобы этому обрадоваться, ценители творчества Осборна страшно оскорбились. Во-первых, диски эти заявлены как ремастированные, что странно, ибо лет пять назад их уже выпускали в оцифрованном виде, а "No More Tears" 1991 года и вовсе был записан дигитальным способом. Во-вторых, на первых двух альбомах классические партии басиста Боба Дэйсли и барабанщика Ли Керслейка перезаписаны соответственно играющими с Оззи в настоящее время Робертом Трухильо и Майком Бордином. Таким образом певец наконец кардинально решил старую проблему, которая возникла вследствие того, что музыканты-ветераны, сочинившие существенную часть материала "Blizzard" и "Diary", причитающихся им гонораров так и не дождались. Супруга Оззи, Шарон, по этому поводу заметила: мол, Ли и Боб доставали нас много лет — вот и получили по заслугам.
Шарон Осборн, включенная недавно журналом "People" в число пятидесяти наиболее красивых людей планеты, является Оззи не только женой и матерью четырех его детей, но и менеджером. Первая женщина-менеджер в шоу-бизнесе, свою деловую хватку она унаследовала от отца, легендарного британского рок-менеджера Дона Ардена, известного весьма жесткими методами управления. Так что нечего удивляться тому, что Шарон более жестко, нежели сам Осборн, отреагировала на выпад другого старого музыканта, Теда Нюджента, обозвавшего Оззи выжившим из ума идиотом. Певец сумел сдержаться и в ответ отпустил Нюджу комплимент. К вежливости нужно привыкать.
На то есть свои причины. Ведь никак нельзя было повторить свой классический трюк и откушать голову у летучей мыши во время состоявшегося 4 мая в вашингтонском отеле "Хилтон" ужина, на котором присутствовал Джордж Буш. Однако без сенсации не обошлось — во избежание наплыва поклонников чету Осборнов пришлось впустить в здание раньше президента, тем самым продемонстрировав сравнительную популярность двух знаменитостей. Буш даже заикнулся о том, что, возможно, приглашение артиста было ошибкой. Счеты у них старые. В 1982 году Оззи навсегда запретили выступать в штате Техас — за милую шалость: он помочился на мемориал в Аламо, поправ патриотические чувства американцев. Запрет отменили, но историю эту Буш не забыл и в презентованном им звездной аудитории слайд-шоу присутствовал кадр, изображающий вице-президента Дика Чейни писающим на дверь Овального кабинета Белого дома. В этот момент Осборн встал и поклонился, чем сорвал шквал аплодисментов.
Манеры певцу приходится отрабатывать еще и потому, что 3 июня ему предстоит прибыть в Букингемский дворец, дабы исполнить "Paranoid", классический боевик BLACK SABBATH, на концерте, посвященном пятидесятилетию правления королевы Елизаветы Второй. Судя по всему, приглашением присоединиться к более традиционным артистам вроде Пола МакКартни, Рода Стюарта и Элтона Джона, Оззи обязан сумасшедшей популярностью телешоу "The Osbournes", в любви к которому признался даже Джордж Буш. Семейство Оззи распахнуло двери своих домов перед съемочной группой, а так как все члены клана — фигуры яркие, то к экранам прильнули многие миллионы зрителей. Не зря ведь вывеска у жилища Оззи гласит: "Не бойся собаки — бойся хозяина".
Хозяин, активно готовившийся в Англии к собственному фестивалю, на состоявшейся 15 мая в Нью-Йорке пресс-конференции присутствовал виртуально — посредством спутника. Во плоти же перед журналистами предстали элегантная Шарон и двое младших детей — Джек и Келли. Предстали, чтобы объявить о том, что 11 июня в продажу поступит "The Osbourne Family Album". В диск войдут не только творения самого Оззи — как в его исполнении, так и в чужом, — но и отобранные членами семьи песни, вроде "Imagine" Джона Леннона и "Wonderful Tonight" Эрика Клэптона, а также запись группы Джека Осборна DILLUSION и дебют Келли с композицией Мадонны "Papa Don't Preach". Яблоки от яблони...
Популярность шоу столь грандиозна, что на днях Оззи подписал с издательством "Pocket Books" более чем трехмиллионнодолларовый контракт на издание сразу двух книг: первая, описывающая эпизоды сериала "The Osbournes", должна дойти до читателя уже в ноябре, а выход второй, семейных мемуаров, намечен на весну 2003-го. Значительно раньше, в июле нынешнего года, начнется прокат "Goldmember", нового фильма о супершпионе Остине Пауэрсе. С месяц назад Осборнов посетил исполняющий роль шпиона Майк Майерс и предложил засветиться в одном из эпизодов. Семейка согласилась.
А до конца года еще далеко...

Дмитрий М. ЭПШТЕЙН