OZZY OSBORNE DID A GREAT BIG TURDS ON A PROMOTERS JACK IN THE EARLY DAYS, BLACK SABBATH GEEZER BUTLER SAYS
Geezer Butler, Black Sabbath bassist, recalls meeting Ozzy OSBORNE for the first time when he was a member of Rare Breed, a band that existed prior to Black Sabbath.
Geezer tells Classic Rock’s Paul Rees, “One of my brothers answered the door when he first came to our house.” I was told by my brother as he entered the front room, “There’s something for you at the door.” He replied, “You’ll see,” when I asked him what he meant by “something.”
“Ozzy was there when I opened the door. His hairstyle was shorter than that of a skinhead. His dad’s toolmaker’s work gown was on him. He was carrying one shoe on a dog lead while holding a chimney sweep’s brush over his shoulder. Rain was also making it stink. He just made me laugh out loud.
Soon, Geezer found out that Ozzy had a new party trick: He could pee whenever he wanted. He saw this when Ozzy played his absolute first gig as an individual from Uncommon Variety at Aston College in Birmingham.
Geezer recalls, “We were so bad, the guy who booked the night refused to pay us.” Although he may have eventually paid us a few pounds, we noticed his Jag was parked outside the front door as we were leaving. After scarping, Ozzy climbed onto it and performed a willful big turds on the bonnet.
Into the Void, Geezer Butler’s brand-new autobiography: From Black Sabbath’s inception to today and beyond. was published last month by Harper Collins’ Dey Street Books imprint in North America.
The title of the book: The heavy metal musician and Black Sabbath founding member writes a rollicking, exuberant, and honest memoir about his time as the band’s bassist and main lyricist all the way through his later projects and how one of rock’s most influential bands came to be.
With their distinctive heavy riffs, tuned-down guitars, and apocalyptic lyrics, Black Sabbath, who were dubbed “the Beatles of heavy metal” by Rolling Stone and sold over 70 million records, contributed to the genre’s creation. Geezer Butler, the band’s bassist and primary lyricist, was a big part of the band’s success. He came up with the name and used his fascination with horror, religion, and the occult to write the songs and lay the groundwork for heavy metal as we know it today.
From the band’s beginnings as a scrappy blues quartet in Birmingham to the struggles that led to the numerous well-documented lineup changes while touring London’s gritty clubs (where Eric Clapton, Jim Hendrix, Frank Zappa, and The Who make notable appearances!), Butler tells his side of the story in Into the Void. and the significant later years of the band. He writes openly about growing up in a seven-person working-class family in Luftwaffe-bombed Birmingham, his almost-life as an accountant, and how his disillusionment with organized religion and class systems would lead to the lyrics and artistic themes that would so strongly resonate with fans worldwide.
Without holding back, Into the Void reveals the softer side of the heavy metal legend and the formation of one of the most exciting rock bands. It is original, dramatic, and always surprising, just like Geezer’s bass lines.
