DECADES: Black Sabbath in the 1970s

All four of the band were born and raised in Birmingham - Anthony Frank Iommi 1948, William Thomas Ward 1948, John Michael Osbourne 1948 and Terance Michael Joseph Butler 1949 otherwise known as Geezer since schooldays. They were the sons of an ice cream vendor, dustman, tool room machinist and steel tube bundler. Ozzy worked at Lucas's factory as a car horn tuner, then in a slaughterhouse and on leaving there resorted to burglary as a means to get by. He was released from prison after six weeks on account of good behaviour, but that didn't last on the outside and he punched a policeman in the face. Local band The Music Machine took Ozzy on as their singer, and the rest is history. Year by year from 1969 to 1979, Black Sabbath were undoubtedly one of the biggest rock bands to come out of Britain yet despite their success never received the same acclaim and respect from the music press as their peers. It didn't seem to bother them much in the early years, but by the time of Sabbath Bloody Sabbath onwards, the diversity and quality of that record, from the songs to the sleeve design and the copious instrumentation credits, all showed a band hungry for and deserving of respect. It never came and the band's path descended after the last hurrah of Sabotage. The 1970s saw the rise of rock and metal as a force in record and ticket sales and right there was Black Sabbath. The book covers the career of the original foursome from early bands Polka Tulk and Earth and their original nine years of Black Sabbath when the band recorded such iconic albums as Paranoid and Masters of Reality as well. Includes new interview material from Rick Wakeman and engineers Mike Butcher and Robin Black among others. It is a comprehensive roundup of all the albums and singles from The Rebel until Never Say Die examined in detail alongside related archive releases and a section covers live shows and looks at key live recordings from every tour. 174pp, paperback with colour photos.