BLACK SABBATH Book Excerpt 2: BILL WARD

BLACK SABBATH Book Excerpt 2: BILL WARD






Writer/Musician Joel Gausten has posted the following update on his Gausten Books MySpace Blogp:

Below is the second (and final) excerpt from the 24-page interview with BILL WARD that appears in my new book, The SABBATH Interviews.

In this excerpt, Bill talks a little about his often-overlooked post-Sabbath bands, Max Havoc and England's Glory. Additionally, I've reprinted the segment of our conversation that details Bill's STRAWS project, which you are all encouraged to learn more about at www.billward.com .

As you've probably guessed by now, I hold Bill in very high esteem. As always, I thank him for his support, interest, kindness and strong spirit.

A bit of history:

Ward One: Along the Way was Bill Ward's first solo album after leaving Black Sabbath in 1984. After nearly a decade of battling intense drug and alcohol problems (and, at one point, homelessness), Ward returned with a stellar (and seldom heard) album that featured guest appearances by Ozzy Osbourne, Jack Bruce, Eric Singer of KISS and future Thin Lizzy bassist Marco Mendoza. Without question, Ward One remains one of the most musically varied albums ever released.

If you told the average Classic Rock/Heavy Metal fan that there was an album featuring members of Black Sabbath, KISS, Cream and Thin Lizzy all in one place – and that it mostly sounded like Pink Floyd – he or she probably wouldn't believe it. But such an album does exist, and has for 17 years.

The story behind the creation of Ward One: Along the Way is perhaps one of most striking narratives in music history. Ward, who escaped his humble beginnings in Birmingham, England to achieve global fame in the 1970s as the original drummer in Black Sabbath, found himself entering the 1980s in a haze of mental illness, drug abuse and financial devastation. Upon leaving Black Sabbath following the firing of singer (and best friend) Ozzy Osbourne, Ward found himself panhandling on the streets of Long Beach, California. Following a series of suicide attempts, Ward committed himself to getting sober. Over the course of five years (and brief stints with the obscure bands Max Havok and England's Glory), he overcame his tremendous personal obstacles while assembling an extraordinary cast of musicians for his first solo album. Sadly, Ward may never be seen (or heard) as anything more than the drummer in Black Sabbath, and the music world at large has yet to embrace all that the man has to offer.

Since the release of Ward One, Ward has continued to release solo music and perform with the reunited original lineup of Black Sabbath. Additionally, Ward has donated the profits of his most recent solo release (Straws) to various charities around the world, and remains a strong public advocate for sober, spiritual living. Most important, Ward is also a brutally honest interview subject, and this interview not only provides an intimate glimpse inside the life of a Rock legend, but also serves as a fantastic "from rags to riches…to rags and riches again" story.

I'd like to start by bringing you back to 1981. How did you end up joining forces with Max Havoc?

At the time, I wanted to play with other musicians. At the time, my world was kind of getting smaller and smaller and smaller. What I mean by that was, my addiction was the most important thing to me. My addiction ruled the day, let me put it that way. My drug addiction, and my alcoholism, was king at that point. My worldly plans, so to speak, always fell apart. Any kind of plans that I made always fell apart, and that was because it was impossible to follow anything through. I might get what I thought was a good idea during the high, and by the next day, I would have forgotten the idea. For a long time, I was unable to function with drugs and alcohol. I was reaching a period in 1981 when I was becoming completely dysfunctional.
I met up with a nice bunch of guys, and we talked a lot about what we were going to do. I'm not pointing fault at them, but it just so happened I found people who liked to get high as well. We did a couple of things, but it really came to no avail because I was very, very ill. At the time, I guess it was like me trying to function and go through playing in a band or recording as one would normally do, but I wasn't even capable of that. I had "no show" days. I had sick days. I had days when I didn't even know where I was. So I was just getting iller and iller and iller, if you like. I'm afraid that that kind of fell apart, which had nothing to do at all with the guys in the band. That's all I can remember about that. They were nice guys that I was working with. I do remember that.

You did Max Havoc, and then you returned to Sabbath for Born Again. Then, you went on to England's Glory, which was a rather obscure chapter in your history. Would you mind giving a synopsis of what England's Glory was, and your experiences with that band?

England's Glory was something that I started to put together when I was about two years' sober. I met some sober guys who played instruments, so it seemed like the natural thing to do at the time, to try to play with sober people. I have to say that, when I was two years' sober, I found it pretty much impossible to be able to function very well in the real world. I still found it very difficult to be able to find anything in common with people who might still be drinking, or who I felt that I wasn't able to communicate with. That included members of my family. In other words, I wasn't very tightly wrapped at all. I'm not trying to make excuses for myself. It's just the damn truth of the matter.

I found some sober people who I could really understand, and understand what they were saying. They were the same as me, you know? I started playing with them and writing some songs, which wasn't an easy task to do. It was the first time I ever seriously started to write since I've been sober, so I had a terrible time actually trying to learn how to write sober. But we managed to put some things together, and eventually we came up with a title for the band, which was England's Glory. We brought in a singer, who sang with Allen Holdsworth. He was a nice enough guy, a nice enough singer. But it didn't go very far. It was just a project.

I think the whole thing with England's Glory lasted for about two or three years. Rob Ridgeway played bass, and Robb Howell was the lead guitar player. Great lead guitar player. We did a lot of co-writing together. As a matter of fact, we still have some gems lying back there that have never been released. Maybe one day, I can find out if we can even get those things on an album somewhere. We did some nice songs, but it really didn't come to anything. We didn't get a record deal. Things fell apart. I had a falling out with the singer. So that's all I remember with that as well. Yeah, that was England's Glory.

By 1986, you had started work on what eventually became Ward One: Along The Way. Why did you decide to pursue a strictly solo endeavor as opposed to jumping on board with another band?

I can only play drums with one band. I'm still very much like that. I like to jam with other bands. I've got no problem with that. I'd even like to cut records with other bands, in the sense of like cutting a track, being a socialite drummer. But I would never, ever consider joining a band as a drummer after being in Black Sabbath. I had always been the drummer in Sabbath, and I had a made a commitment to not be a part of Sabbath. That had come about by me recognizing my truth, which, at the time, was that the Black Sabbath I believed in was the original Black Sabbath. I failed miserably to be a part of Heaven And Hell (with Ronnie James Dio) and to be a part of Born Again with Ian Gillan, although I absolutely respect those two men. I'm totally good friends with them both. I have nothing but admiration and respect for both of them.

I felt uncomfortable in a non-original lineup, so I had nowhere to go. I had to be true to myself. I tried to look at what I could do and see what I could come up with as a songwriter, or even to find out if I was a songwriter. I had to start a journey, which has now continued on up until today, which has basically been able self-discovery, what I'm capable of as a musician, can I make money out of it, or would other people like this music too, or is this something I really want to be doing. There's all kinds of questions that come along with this, you know?

So far, as a separate musician under my own steam, I've spent a lot of money on my own music, but I've made zero, pennies. (laughs) But you know what? I don't give a fuck because it's the only thing I know how to do. So I'm gonna have to be doing this for the rest of my life, and if people buy my records, that's great. If they don't, well, there's nothing I can do about that. I can't not play music and become an accountant or something, or wait for a Sabbath reunion before I can play drums. I have to do something with my life.

What was your ultimate goal behind the Straws project?

The ultimate goal was to, one, bring awareness, just like everybody else is doing, to the fact that we have to have a world order. We're gonna have to get some peace. I know that musicians hammer away at that constantly, and I'm certainly not original by any means. I am merely a follower of values that I learned in the 1960s and things that I learned as a child, when I would see my father and his brothers crying their eyeballs out on a Saturday night over the people and men that they lost during World War Two. Every Saturday night, somebody would break down and start remembering somebody who got blown to bits or fucking stabbed in the back or whatever it might be. I will always, always, always speak out or make some kind of political statement or make some kind of musical statement when it comes to seeing young men and women dying, and innocent victims being blown up, shot or otherwise. I will always be like that until the day I die.

I'm so proud of Black Sabbath for writing "War Pigs." It's one of the most enjoyable, endearing things one can do, when we get together for these reunions that we do. To play "War Pigs," for me, is an honor.

"Straws" was yet another song about, "Hey, let's stop this shit one way or the other." I wrote "Straws" at the time that I really, really feared a retaliation, not knowing the kind of weaponry that Iraq might have after a blistering assault on Iraq, which I absolutely was so against. I could smell it coming, and I thought it was the biggest pile of bullshit that I've seen happen in quite awhile, as far as the manipulation of power. So I was very, very scared. I was scared for my neighborhood. I was scared for my friends here on the west coast. Being here on the west coast, Iraq seems such a long way away. I could see people just going about their lives quite normally, and I'm going, "Am I fucking crazy right now? Am I the only one that knows that weaponry can reach us?" If they can reach the Twin Towers, then surely they can fucking reach Long Beach Harbor or anywhere else, you know? I didn't know if the terrorists were connected to Iraq or whatever it might be. I didn't know if, at the time that Iraq was attacked, that we might get some missiles flying over this way. I just didn't know because I didn't understand the weaponry. So I feared that we were going to get molested, so that's how I responded. It was a knee-jerk response song.

"Where are all the defenses/Oh, I hope that they've arrived" was my little dig at the effort to try to protect the United States of America, and hope that by seeing it on CNN, we could all feel more secure, which I don't. So that's what "Straws" was about, and the only way that I could think of doing anything at all, was to just bring "Straws" out. We sent 1000 Straws CDs to different artists, politicians, musicians, film stars, whatever all over the world. All over the world we sent stuff. Then with another 1200, we tried to sell them for 50 bucks each. I was trying to raise money for four or five different charities, the first charity being the Veteran's Wall in Washington D.C. for the men and women who died in Vietnam, who lost their lives there. Nobody's actually employed to clean the wall. The people that clean that wall are all volunteers, so you can send money to them to help buy the cleaning fluids and pay them a little money for their services or whatever it might be. So that's one of the charities that we support. It's like, give back to those who fucking died, you know? That's what "Straws" is about.

We sold quite a lot of CDs. Interesting price. Man, people don't pay 50 bucks for The Best of Led Zeppelin, you know? But I though, "Fuck it," you know? This ain't Led Zeppelin; I just did a one-off thing. It will never be done again. It's like, "If there's any Bill Ward fans, here's a one-off Bill Ward thing." I signed every single one of them, and that's it. It will never pass this way again. It's something that people can have in their archives and go, "Oh wow, I have one of these silly Bill Ward Straws things from 30 years ago." In 30 years, maybe they'll be worth some money to whomever bought it. In the meantime, I'm looking for the dough so I give it to other people, and I make no bones about it. I'm not afraid to ask for money, plead for money, and beg for money or whatever it might be if I know it's going to a great cause and it's going to benefit other people.

You've said in the past that "Straws" is part of a war trilogy. What can fans expect from the next two installments?

Well, I wrote a song called "Soldiers" that went with that, and one's called "God And The Law." I've put them on the back burner because, on the front burner, I'm now down to 11 songs for Beyond Aston, so that's been right in my face. That's been the focus. It's like, "Finish it. Finish it. Finish it." So the actual songs that are connected with "Straws", right now, are on the back burner. I don't know whether they'll be connected up to "Straws" now. Thanks for bringing that up, actually. I might review them. (laughs)

One of the songs that I did do, that I wrote recently, was a song called "Poppies," which is a pretty hardcore song. It's about all the men and women in Iraq right now. It's about the war that's going on. I want to make sure that it goes on Beyond Aston. It's about how, on November 11, we all wear a poppy for those who have died. The original idea, of course, comes from the fields in France, Flanders Fields, where the poppies were. In 1918, it became a tradition to wear a poppy in remembrance of the Great War. So, to this day, everyone still wears poppies. It just so happens that I'll be arriving in London on November 11 from Los Angeles, so I'll be making sure I'll be getting my poppy. Some of the lyrics from "Poppies" are "Poppies tomorrow for those who died today."

I hate it, Joel. I hate seeing young men and women go to war. I fucking hate it. We've got young men and women who have so much vitality, so much strength, so much hope and so much life in them, and I just can't stand knowing that a lot of these kids are gonna go out there and end up in a body bag. It just fucking destroys me knowing that. I can't stand it.

Taken from The SABBATH Interviews, available now from GAUSTEN BOOKS. Copyright 2007 Gausten Books.

BLACK SABBATH - Purchase Information For "The Sabbath Interviews" Book Available

As previously reported, writer/musician Joel Gausten has posted the second (and final) excerpt from the 24-page interview with drummer Bill Ward that appears in his new book, The Sabbath Interviews. It was reprinted here with kind permission from Gausten.

The book is available for purchase online at this location as a download and as a paperback book.

Histoire du Groupe


Black Sabbath groupe de Birmingham qui a vendu près de 10 millions de disques au cours des années 70 se forme en 1968. Il s'appela d'abord Mythologie. ( Chant: Chris Smith - Guitare: Tony Iommi - Batterie: Bill Ward - Basse: Neil Marshall ), Polka Tulk et Earth (Terre), nom qu'il dut changer à cause de l'existence d'un autre groupe du même nom. Le groupe se composait du chanteur Ozzy Osbourne ( John Osbourne: 3 décembre 1948 ) du guitariste Tony lommi ( Frank Iommi: 19 février 1948 ) du bassiste Terry "Geezer" Butler ( Terence Butler: 17 juillet 1949 ) et du batteur Bill Ward ( William Ward: 5 mai 1948 ). Le groupe favori d'Ozzy était les Beatles c'est probablement l'une des raisons qui les poussa à jouer en Allemagne, en Ecosse et en Angleterre — sous le nom d' Earth — parce que c'était là que les Beatles avaient commencé à jouer.

Après un essai de deux semaines en 69 chez Jethro Tull, Tony lommi revient enregistrer son premier album « Black sabbath » en deux jours pour 600 livres, top 10 des palmarès Britannique pendant plus de 3 mois. Révélé au mois d'août 70 par le single de leur deuxième album, « Paranoid » et son riff, un classique du hard rock, qui plus tard est devenu Platinum. Black Sabbath est n° 1 en GB en octobre et numéro 8 au États Unis . Porté par la vague d'occultisme et de rock dur, Black Sabbath devient avec Deep Purple le principal groupe anglo-saxon hard, malgré une production discographique restreinte. Un accident lui ayant coupé le bout des doigts, Tony Iommi doit accorder sa guitare plus bas pour pouvoir jouer (avec des cordes plus détendues), ce qui donne un son plus lourd à ses rifts. Le groupe envahit le marché américain en 74. Comme en témoignent Technical Ecstasy et Never Say Die, Black Sabbath doit beaucoup à la personnalité et au timbre de son chanteur, Ozzy, personnage fantasque qui laisse ses compagnons début 79 pour une carrière solo. Il publie sans succès deux albums pour Jet, en 80 et 81, entre deux séjours dans un hôpital psychiatrique.

Ses compagnons le remplacent par Ronnie James Dio, transfuge des fameux groupes ELF et Rainbow. Au printemps 83, lan Gillan (ex-Deep Purple) remplace Dio, qui monte le groupe Dio et va obtenir aux USA deux disques d'or avec ses deux premiers albums. Holy Diver en 83 et The Last In Line en 84. Cette année-là, Gillan retrouve Deep Purple, et est remplacé par Dave Donato.

En Juillet 85, la formation originale avec Ozzy participe au festival Live Aid à Philadelphie, puis connaît un bouleversement complet. Glenn Hughes, l'ex-Purple qui chante sur Seventh Star, est remplacé par Ray Gillen. Elle tourne en GB en 86 avec Iommi, Gillen, Dave Spitz (basse), Geoff Nichols (claviers) et Eric Singer (batterie). Le groupe se stabilise autour de lommi, Tony Martin (chant), Nichols, Singer, Spitz, Bob Daisiey (second bassiste) et l'ancien batteur des Move et de l' Electric Light Orchestra, Bey Bevan, remplacé en 89 par Cozy Powell (décédé le 5/4/98 dans un accident de voiture) qui coproduit Headless Cross, En 89, Singer et Ray Gillen forment Badlands avec l'ex-guitariste d'Osbourne, Jack E. Lee.

En 91, lommi, le seul membre original encore présent, persuade Butler et Dio de revenir. La référence metal se reforme en 97 pour une tournée américaine, un concert dans sa ville et un double live de dix-huit classiques, quelques jams et une version de référence de leur grand titre « Fairies Wear Boots ».

Précurseur, avec Deep Purple et Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath a influencé la production hard du milieu des années 70. En activité depuis 69, il a survécu aux années 70 malgré un « trou » de carrière en 74-75. Une longévité et un succès confortable jamais égalés pour un groupe pourtant considéré comme mineur à ses débuts. Les critiques les ont toujours détestés tout comme les parents, les hippies de leurs débuts, les rockers, sauf les teenagers, les mêmes qui deviendront Metallica, Soundgarden et Henry Rollins. Enorme influence sur le rock de la fin du siècle, de l'alternatif au grunge en passant par le metal, etc. Le rapper Ice-T est leur invité sur Forbidden en 95.

Actuellement, une preuve de l'importance du legs musical de Black Sabbath sont les deux disque-hommage Nativity in Black I et II, dans lesquels des artistes de metal de la renommée de Biohazard, White Zombie, Sepultura, Slayer, Megadeth ou Corrosion of Comformity réalisent des reprises des classiques du groupe. Les pochettes représentent une espèce de carte de Tarot, où parmi des ruines apparaît une Vierge Marie sexy, un Enfant Jésus tatoué et diabolique dans les bras. Comme au bon vieux temps. L' Hommage continue et c'est tant mieux!





Black Sabbath et le Satanisme

Le groupe britannique Black Sabbath, bien que n'ayant jamais adoré aucun sorcier ni assisté à aucune manifestation surnaturelle de façon aussi éhontée que Jimmy Page, a quand même été un emblème du satanisme depuis son début discographique en 1970.

Le satanisme, chez Led Zeppelin, provenait presque exclusivement de l'admiration de Jimmy Page pour Aleister Crowley. C'était un satanisme revêtu d'intellectualité, qui transparaissait à peine à travers les symboles, les couvertures énigmatiques, les mystères voilés et une légende qu'ils ont laissée croître jusqu’à ce qu'elle les dévore. À l'exception des messages occultes de Stairway to Heaven, pratiquement aucune des paroles que Robert Plant a écrites pour Led Zeppelin ne contient une allusion quelconque au Diable.

Par contre, Black Sabbath, dont les membres avaient reçu une stricte éducation catholique, utilisèrent la figure du Démon dans leurs compositions. Cela, ajouté à l'atmosphère terrorisante de leur premier disque, a fait d'eux des porte-drapeaux du satanisme, même lorsqu'ils écrivirent des chansons en défense du christianisme. Naturellement, leur nom artistique ne les a pas aidés dans leur lutte pour laver leur image de marque, Black Sabbath ou Sabbath Noir, est une autre manière de définir les sabbaths des sorcières. Leur image, grotesque et ténébreuse, leurs couvertures truculentes et leurs textes lugubres ont fait le reste.

Comme nous le verrons plus tard, Black Sabbath s’est présenté d'une façon sinistre sur le conseil des responsables de la compagnie discographique qui a édité son premier disque. Il est dommage que sa sombre légende ait souvent fait oublier ce que ce groupe a apporté à la musique des années 70, non seulement comme créateur de riffs denses et lugubres, devenus par la suite les patrons du Heavy Metal mais aussi parce qu'il a été le premier à découvrir les bénéfices que rapporte la musique impudemment funeste dans le monde du rock. Sans Black Sabbath les bacs des disquaires des années 80 n'auraient pas été remplis de disques de groupes de Heavy caricatural avec des couvertures semées de représentations sataniques, tel que nous le verrons dans le prochain chapitre.

Cependant, il serait injuste d'accuser uniquement le groupe Black Sabbath de l'expansion du goût pour le satanisme. « Quand on est sortis de voir L' Exorciste, on a dû rester tous ensemble dans la même pièce - ça montre à quel point on était "magie noire"... » (Ozzy Osbourne). La promotion choisie par sa maison de disques eut une forte influence sur sa consolidation comme groupe satanique. Pourtant aucun de leurs membres, à l'exception du bassiste Geezer Butler, ne démontrait un intérêt spécial pour l'ésotérisme. Les membres de Black Sabbath n'avaient qu’une vingtaine d'années à leurs débuts, et se laissèrent convaincre par les responsables de marketing de la compagnie. Cette image et cette attitude délibérément sinistres leur donnèrent une grande notoriété, mais eurent également un résultat malheureux : leurs chansons furent mal interprétées, et les métaphores sataniques qu'ils utilisaient pour parler de la guerre, par exemple, tombèrent dans l’oreille d'un sourd.

Dans Earth déjà, et dans les premiers temps en Allemagne, Ozzy commença à se forger sa réputation de lunatique imprévisible. La légende raconte qu'en 1968, devant le peu d'intérêt du public au cours d'un concert du groupe dans un petit club, Ozzy se retira dans sa loge, et se badigeonna le visage, les mains et les pieds d'une peinture pourpre. Il réapparut sur scène en poussant des hurlements, mais ces germaniques circonspects continuèrent à ne lui prêter aucune attention. Son stratagème ne donna aucun résultat, mais fut un bon début pour l'un des chanteurs les plus désagréables de l'histoire du rock. Une grande partie de l'enthousiasme d'Ozzy en scène (ses extravagances en amenèrent plus d'un à déclarer qu'il semblait possédé du Démon pendant les concerts de Black Sabbath était sans doute dû au fait que la musique l'avait sauvé d'une vie de délinquance. Ozzy provenait d'une famille humble qui avait beaucoup de mal à joindre les deux bouts. Quand il fut renvoyé de l'école, il se mit à travailler pour rapporter de l'argent au pauvre budget familial. Chose curieuse, ses boulots (accordeur de klaxons dans une usine d'automobiles, puis employé dans un abattoir et un four crématoire) furent prémonitoires de son goût pour la musique fracassante et pour le macabre.

Mais Ozzy ne voulait recevoir d'ordres de personne, de sorte qu'il quitta son travail pour essayer de prospérer dans le monde de la pègre. Il commença par quelques vols et agressions, mais il commit l'erreur de les réaliser avec des mitaines, ce qui permit à la police de le retrouver très facilement grâce à l'analyse de ses empreintes digitales. Il fut envoyé trois mois en prison à l'âge de dix-huit ans où il retourna, peu après, pour avoir donné un coup de poing en pleine figure à un agent de police.

Après son dernier séjour derrière les barreaux, il résolut de ne plus jamais y retourner. Comme il n'aimait pas travailler, et qu'il était clair qu'il n'était pas doué pour le crime, il décida — compte-tenu de la popularité des Beatles à cette époque — que la musique était la route à suivre. Actuellement, Ozzy est millionnaire.

L’origine du nom définitif du groupe provient d'un film interprété par Boris Karloff en 1935. Les musiciens d' Earth ne jouaient que des reprises et ils décidèrent d'intituler leur première chanson Black Sabbath. Quand ils se rendirent compte qu'un autre groupe appelé Earth existait déjà, Geezer Butler proposa le nom de leur première chanson. D'après une autre version, l'un des autres motifs du choix de Black Sabbath aurait été l'intérêt du bassiste pour l'écrivain occultiste Denis Wheatley.

À cette époque, les groupes continuaient à chanter le rêve hippie de paix et d'amour libre. Black Sabbath décida de chanter le monde réel et décréta que la réalité serait sa source d'inspiration, même si l'intérêt de Geezer pour l'occultisme, dont nous avons parlé plus haut, allait aussi l'amener à inclure des paroles ésotériques. Néanmoins, compte-tenu que les Sabbath aimaient utiliser des images diaboliques pour parler du monde qui les entourait, dans un cas connue dans l'autre, ils n'échappèrent pas à l'accusation de satanistes.

Cependant, malgré la croyance populaire, il existe plusieurs faits qui prouvent que les membres de Black Sabbath non seulement n'étaient pas satanistes, mais qu'ils ne voulaient même rien savoir du Diable ni de ses adorateurs. Prenons comme exemple les crucifix que tous ses membres portaient et avec lesquels ils décoraient la scène, crucifix qui ont donné lieu à toutes sortes de spéculations et d'accusations de sacrilège. Avant l'édition de son premier disque, la réputation de Black Sabbath arriva aux oreilles d'un groupe de satanistes qui, vu les titres et les paroles des chansons du groupe, crurent qu'il communiait avec leur culte et lui demandèrent de jouer pendant la " nuit de Satan ", qu'ils pensaient célébrer à Stonehenge (ensemble de dolmens en Angleterre, célèbres pour leurs prétendus pouvoirs magiques). Les Sabbath refusèrent la proposition et furent informés, peu après, par Alec Sanders, Seigneur des Sorciers d'Angleterre et l'un de leurs fans, que les satanistes leur avaient lancé un mauvais sort. Effrayé, Ozzy demanda à son père de fabriquer pour ses compagnons et lui des croix en aluminium, qu'ils firent ensuite bénir, et qui sont devenues l'un des symboles du groupe.

Cependant, il est possible que les relations entre Black Sabbath et Alec Sanders se soient prolongées au-delà de cet épisode, car il existe une autre version qui affirme que les croix étaient une exigence de Sanders en échange de la réalisation de certaines exhortations qui leur assureraient le succès. L’une des conditions du pacte, entre autres, exigeait qu'Ozzy dansât sur les tombes des cimetières les nuits de pleine Lune.

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DISQUES: Black Sabbath - 1970 / Paranoid - 1970 / Masters Of Reatity - 1971 / Vol.4 - 1972 / Sabbath, Bloody Sabbath - 1973 / Attention : Best Of (Vertigo, rééditions Castle) / Sabotage -1975 / We Sold Our Souls For Rock & Roll - 1975 (Greatest Hits) / Technical Ecstasy - 1976 / Never Say Die - 1978 / Greatest Hits / Heaven & Hell - 1980 / Live At Last - 1980 / The Mob Rules -1981 / Live Evil - 1982 / Born Again -1983 / Seventh Star - 1986 / The Eternal Idol - 1987 (Nems et Castle) / Classic Cuts From the Vaults (Archive 4) / Blackest (Vertigo) / Headless Cross - 1989 (IRS) / Backtrackin (Masterpiece) / O. Osbourne Years (Essential) / Tyr - 1990 / Dehumanizer - 1992 / Cross Purposes - 1994 / Cross Purposes - 1994 (live) /Forbidden - 1995 (IRS) / The Sabbath Stones 1996 (Greatest Hits) / Iron Man (Ariola) / Between Heaven & Hell 1970-73 / Under Wheels Of Confusion 1970-87 [coffret 4 CD] (Castle) / Reunion Live - 1998 (Epic) / Past Lives - 2002 (Live) / Symptom of the Universe: The Original Black Sabbath (1970-1978) - 2002 (Greatest Hits) / Black Box: The Complete Original Black Sabbath (1970-1978) - 2004 / Live at Hammersmith Odeon ( 81-82 : sorti à 5000 exemplaires sur le monde en 2007 sur Rhino Records )


HEAVEN & HELL : Live From Radio City Music Hall (cd+DVD) (2007)







VIDEO: Never Say Die Live (1984) / The Black Sabbath Story : Vol. I 1970-1978 Vol. II 1978-1992 (WB) / The Best of Musikladen Live (1970) / Black Sabbath DVD (1970-1980) / The Last Supper (1999) / Cross Purposes (2003) / Inside Black Sabbath 1970-1992 (2005).

LIVRES: An Oral History par Mike Start - Wheels Of Confusion par Steven Rosen - How Black was our Sabbath par David Tangie et Graham Wright