BLACK SABBATH ....THE BOOK! "Peu de groupes peuvent prétendre avoir révolutionné la musique moderne. Black Sabbath est de ceux-là. Première biographie en français, « La bête venue de Birmingham » vous invite à revivre l’histoire des parrains du heavy metal. Osez passer le seuil et découvrir comment quatre gamins fauchés d’une banlieue prolétaire anglaise ont changé la face de la musique populaire à tout jamais. Soyez les témoins privilégiés de la descente aux enfers puis de la renaissance d’un groupe considéré par tous comme un des plus influents du XXe siècle. Avec des témoignages inédits de Tony Martin, Eric Singer, Patrick O’hearn, John Sloman, Neil Murray, Nicky Moore et de nombreux autres, ainsi que des interviews exclusives de Bill Ward et Neil Murray. Derrière la légende, découvrez enfin la véritable histoire de Black Sabbath." "Not many bands could claim to have radically changed modern music. Black Sabbath is one of those. For the first time in French, "The Beast from Birmingham" invites you to live the history of the godfathers of heavy metal. Pass the gate and discover how four poor kids from a working class British suburb have transformed popular music forever. Be the privileged witness of the fall from grace and rebirth of a band considered by all as one of the most influencial of the XXth century. Featuring exclusive quotes from Tony Martin, Eric Singer, Patrick O’hearn, John Sloman, Neil Murray, Nicky Moore and many more, and exclusive interview of Neil Murray.nterviews with Bill Ward and Neil Murray. Behind the legend, discover the true story of Black Sabbath. BLACK SABBATH       BLACK SABBATH MY SECOND BLOG HERE: http://black-sabbath-live.kazeo.com/ PARIS 1992 PICTURES & MORE.... BLACK SABBATH LINE-UP TREE   Cette réalisation n’a  pour but que d’étudier les différents mouvements des musiciens au sein du groupe. Les spéculations, les auditions, répétitions, rumeurs…l’ensemble des éléments susceptibles d’établir une chronologie qui permet à chacun d’apporter sa propre pierre à l’histoire du groupe. Cette dernière n’est jamais figée, une rumeur peut se confirmer ou s’évaporer par un simple témoignage d’un membre du groupe. J’ai lu l’ensemble des livres édités sur le groupe à ce jour. Aucun n’est en mesure d’établir dans son ensemble avec précision une chronologie du groupe avec les détails appropriés. ‘Never Say Die’ de Garry Sharpe Young demeure à ce jour une bible pour la période 1978 à 1997, j’ai relu par deux fois ce livre. Une mine de renseignements, mais attention, il ne faut pas rêver, ce n’est pas qu’un simple copiage de l’œuvre de l’auteur qui est mis en images ici, c’est une étude minutieuse des informations, et certaines sont infondées et erronées.   J’ai contacté personnellement des artistes tels que John Sloman ou Tony Mills qui étaient annoncés comme potentiellement auditionnés pour le poste de chanteur au sein du Sabbat Noir sans le moindre fondement ! En outre Nicky Moore nous explique plus clairement son approche avec le groupe. Tony Martin durant 6 ans m’informe régulièrement des activités de Black sabbath.           IOMMI WAY   THE ROCKIN’ CHEVROLETS 1964 to 1965 ? ? ? ? NEIL CRESSIN – TONY IOMMI – PAT PEGG – DAVE WHADDLEY – ALAN MEREDITH Vocal – Guitar – Drum – Bass – Guitar   Played instrumental covers as the Shadows & the Dakotas. UK & Germany. Le groupe joua  des reprises des Shadows et des Dakotas en Angleterre et Allemagne.       IOMMI WAS ALSO IN DIFF BANDS AS : - THE IN CROWD – BIRDS & THE BEES -   Years & members ?         THE REST 1965 to 1967   CHRIS SMITH – TONY IOMMI – BILL WARD – Vocal – Guitar – Drum   First meeting between Ward & Iommi. Première collaboration entre Ward & Iommi.       BUTLER WAY       RARE BREED 1966 to Summer 1968 ? ? ? ?   JOHN BUTCHER – ROGER HOPE – TONY MARKHAM – MICK ‘REM’ HILL – GEEZER BUTLER Vocal – Lead Guitar – Drum – Bass – Guitar   Psychedelic rock, including covers of The Doors : Light my fire also : My white bicycle, walkin’ the dog, Lucifer sam. Rock psychédélique incluant une reprise des Doors : Light my fire et des classiques comme : My white bicycle, Walkin’ the dog, Lucifer sam.     OZZY  WAY   THE PROSPECTORS  1966 ? ? ? ? ?   OZZY OSBOURNE – JIMMY PHILLIPS - ? ? ? – ? ? ? – ? ? ?   Vocal – Lead Guitar – Drum – Bass   Ozzy tested his untrained vocal chords at the tender age of 14 with an outfit called The Prospectors, notable only for their guitarist Jimmy Phillips with whom he would play again later.  (SBS book page 16) Ozzy teste ses cordes vocales à l’âge de 14 ans dans un groupe appelé The Prospectors, dont on se souviendra uniquement qu’il comporta le guitariste Jimmy Phillips que l’on retrouvera quelques temps plus tard avec Ozzy de nouveau.           THE BLACK PANTHERS  ? ? ? ? ?   OZZY OSBOURNE – ? ? ?  - ? ? ? – ? ? ? – ? ? ?   Vocal – Lead Guitar – Drum – Bass    Then he moved on to the now-obscure Black Panthers. Ozzy rejoindra ce groupe dont on ne devine pas grand chose !         THE MUSIC MACHINE End 1966 ? ? ? ? ?   OZZY OSBOURNE - ? ? ? - ? ? ? – ? ? ? – ? ? ?   Vocal – Lead Guitar – Drum – Bass   Doing a few gigs with this local band. Ozzy donna quelques shows avec ce groupe local.           THE APPROACH Early 1967 ? ? ? ?   OZZY OSBOURNE – ? ? ? - ? ? ? – ? ? ? – ? ? ?  Vocal – Lead Guitar – Drum – Bass   The Approach rehearsed in an Aston church cellar where they played R&B covers like ‘Knock On Wood’ and ‘Midnight Hour’, sometimes in front of small audience of friends. Unfortmately, Ozzy did not get along well with other members of the group and left before the band could play any bookings.       OZZY  WAY>>><<< BUTLER  WAY       RARE BREED 02 1968 ? ? ?   OZZY OSBOURNE – ROGER HOPE – TONY MARKHAM – MICK ‘REM’ HILL – GEEZER BUTLER Vocal – Lead Guitar – Drum – Bass – Guitar   Ozzy Zig Needs a Gig !  Ozzy Zig à besoin d’un show ! (la fameuse petite annonce)           Back to : IOMMI WAY !   MYTHOLOGY 01 Early 1967 to Dec 1967 ? ? ?   MIKE GILLAN – FRANK KENYON – TERRY SIMS – NEIL MARSHALL Vocal – Lead Guitar – Drum – Bass   After a short european tour in 67’ Mike Gillan quit the band. Après un bref tour européen Mike Gillan quitte le groupe.           MYTHOLOGY 02 December 1967 ? ? ?   ROB– FRANK KENYON – TERRY SIMS – NEIL MARSHALL Vocal – Lead Guitar – Drum – Bass   Very short time. Line-up pour une très courte période.           MYTHOLOGY 03 Jan 1968 to Feb 1968 ?   CHRIS SMITH – TONY IOMMI – TERRY SIMS – NEIL MARSHALL Vocal – Lead Guitar – Drum – Bass   Tony Iommi arrived for his audition with ex The Rest singer Chris Smith. Quand Tony Iommi arriva à l’audition il était accompagné de l’ex chanteur de The Rest Chris Smith.       IOMMI WAY>>><<<WARD WAY 2 !   MYTHOLOGY 04 Feb 1968 to July 1968   CHRIS SMITH – TONY IOMMI – BILL WARD – NEIL MARSHALL Vocal – Lead Guitar – Drum – Bass   Terry Sins leave the band in mid-february and the ex-The Rest drummer Bill Ward joined the band. Terry Sins quitte le groupe en mi-février et batteur de the Rest rejoind le grp.     IOMMI / WARD >>><<<OZZY/ BUTLER     POLKA TULK BLUES BAND  August 1968 ? ?   OZZY OSBOURNE – TONY IOMMI – BILL WARD – GEEEZER BUTLER – ALAN ‘AKER’ CLARKE – JIMMY PHILLIPS Vocal – Guitar – Drum – Bass – Saxo – Guitar Slide   The band split and come back without the saxo & slide guitar players. Iommi’s overdriven blues style left little room for a second guitar and the saxophone sounded bizarre in context. After two shows in august 1968, one at the Banklands youth club in Workington and the other at Carlisle’s County Ballroom, Phillips and Clarke were dissimined. Ozzy, Tony, Bill, Geezer font spliter le groupe pour se séparer du saxo et de la guitare slide.       EARTH 01   September 1968   OZZY OSBOURNE – TONY IOMMI – BILL WARD – GEEZER BUTLER Vocal – Guitar – Drum – Bass   1968 the year of the four legendary members. 1968 L’année de la légendaire formation des membres fondateurs.       EARTH 02  First two weeks of Dec 1968   OZZY OSBOURNE – BILL WARD – GEEZER BUTLER Vocal  – Drum – Bass     VELVET FOGG + JETHRO TULL The initial line-up of VELVET FOGG featured guitarist Tony Iommi, he stayed in the line-up for only one gig before leaving to be replaced temporarily by Ian Leighton. Tony left the band  and was with ‘Jethro Tull’. In mid december 68, 11 & 12 at the Internal studios in Wembley for R’N’R Circus Movie. Tony Iommi quitte Earth pour rejoindre le légendaire grp  ‘Jethro Tull’ pour 15 jours ! Et assure un play-back lors des enregistrements du film R’N’R Circus le 11 & 12 décembre 1968 aux studios Internal à Wembley. Iommi participera également à quelques répétitions avant de retrouver ses amis.       EARTH 03  January 1969   OZZY OSBOURNE – TONY IOMMI – BILL WARD – GEEZER BUTLER Vocal – Guitar – Drum – Bass   Tony Iommi is back at home ! Tony Iommi qui vient de se faire jeter de ‘Jethro Tull’ s’en retourne rejoindre ses amis. Recording of : ‘A SONG FOR JIM’ + ‘BLUE SUEDE SHOES’ + ‘THE REBEL’       THE BIG BEAR FFOLLY  Jan / Feb 1969 OZZY OSBOURNE – TONY IOMMI – BILL WARD – GEEZER BUTLER Vocal – Guitar – Drum – Bass   + MEMBERS OF LOCOMOTIVE – BAKERLOO AND TEA - SYMPHONY     Black Sabbath 01   09 August 1969 to ? ? 1969   OZZY OSBOURNE – TONY IOMMI – BILL WARD – GEEZER BUTLER Vocal – Guitar – Drum – Bass   A legend is born ! Black Sabbath vient de naître ! On tour 26 August 1969 Workington (UK)   30 August 1969 Worcestershire (UK) 1st show under the name of Black Sabbath. 30 aôut 1969 à Worcestershire, Grande Bretagne, premier show sous le nom de Black Sabbath !   (Norman Haines)   Black Sabbath 02 ? ? + Oct 1969   OZZY OSBOURNE – TONY IOMMI – BILL WARD – GEEZER BUTLER- NORMAN HAINES Vocal – Guitar – Drum – Bass  - Keyboards     Black Sabbath 03 ? ? Oct 1969   OZZY OSBOURNE – TONY IOMMI – BILL WARD – GEEZER BUTLER Vocal – Guitar – Drum – Bass         Black Sabbath 04 End 1969 (Guest)  Early  1970 ?   OZZY OSBOURNE – TONY IOMMI – BILL WARD – GEEZER BUTLER – ROGER BAIN Vocal – Guitar – Drum – Bass – Jew’s Harp   Please note : Roger Bain is not a member,  but he is the Jew’s harp player on the track ‘Sleeping Village’ Norman Haines : played keyboards on : ‘When I Came Down’ never published (Black Sabbath First LP). Roger Bain en profite pour jouer de cet étrange instrument ‘une guimbarde’ sur le titre ‘Sleeping Village’ tiré du premier album du groupe Ozzy Osbourne joue de l’harmonica sur ‘The Wizard’.   13 Fev 1970 ‘Black Sabbath LP.     Black Sabbath 05 March 1970 ‘Black Sabbath tour’   OZZY OSBOURNE – TONY IOMMI – BILL WARD – GEEZER BUTLER Vocal – Guitar – Drum – Bass     1st Black Sabbath tour / line-up de la tournée du premier album.     Black Sabbath 06 Early  1970 to  1972   OZZY OSBOURNE – TONY IOMMI – BILL WARD – GEEZER BUTLER Vocal – Guitar – Drum – Bass   The classic line up between the recording of 1st LP to ‘Volume 4’ inc. Le line-up classique de Black Sabbath du premier LP à l’enregistrement ‘Volume 4’ inclus en 1972. 16 June 1970 ‘Paranoid’ recording sessions   13 Jan 1970 Birmingham show …. 18 Sept ‘Paranoid’ LP UK , Jan 1971 ‘Paranoid’ LP USA. Dec 1970 ‘Master Of Reality’ recording studio sessions. 21 July 1971 ‘Master Of Reality’ LP USA. June 1972 Recording sessions of ‘Volume 4’, 25 Sept 1972 ‘Volume 4’ LP     Black Sabbath 07 1973           ?   OZZY OSBOURNE – TONY IOMMI – BILL WARD – GEEZER BUTLER – RICK WAKEMAN– WILL MALONE Vocal – Guitar – Drum – Bass – Piano & Synthesiser (guest) – Guest (see infos)   ‘Sabbath Bloody Sabbath’ lp with guest Rick Wakeman from ‘Yes’ he play on one song : ‘Sabbra Cadabra’ Enregistrement de l’album ‘Sabbath Bloody Sabbath’ avec Rick Wakeman de ‘Yes’ en guest sur un seul titre UNIQUEMENT :‘Sabbra Cadabra’ et rien de plus ! ! ! pour la version officielle, néanmoins la perspective que ce dernier puisse jouer sur d’autres titres est relativement probable. July 1973 ‘Sabbath Bloody Sabbath’ sessions,  Nov 1973 ‘Sabbath Bloody Sabbath’ LP UK,  Jan 1974 for the USA.       ‘Sabbath Bloody Sabbath’ > Tony Guitars,Ozzy Vocals,Bill Drums & Percussion, Geezer Bass & Fuzz Bass ‘A National Acrobat’ > Geezer Bass, Tony Guitars, Ozzy Vocals, Bill Drums & Percussions ‘Fluff’ >Tony Acoustic and Steel Guitars Piano Hapsichord, Geezer Bass ‘Sabbra Cadabra’ > Ozzy Vocals, Bill Drums & Percussion, Geezer Bass, Tony Guitars & Piano, Rick Wakeman Piano and Synthesiser ‘Killing Yourself to Live’ > Bill Drums & Percussions, Tony Guitars Synthesiser, Ozzy Vocals Synthesiser, Geezer Bass ‘Who Are You’ > Tony Guitar & Piano, Geezer Fuzz Bass & Synthesiser Mellotrons, Ozzy Vocals and Synthesiser, Bill Drums Timpani Percussions. ‘Looking For Today’ > Ozzy Vocals Hands, Bill Drums Percussions Hands, Geezer Bass Hands Toy & Electric & Acoustic Guitars & Flute & Organ + hands ‘Spiral Architect’ > Bill Drums Percussions Timpani Fuzz Bass-Drum, Geezer Bass/Nose (Geezer said in interview, he never play ‘nose’ ! ! ! that’s a joke in the credits !), Ozzy Vocals, Tony Electric & acoustic Guitars + Bagpipes( Tony said in some interviews, he can’t play bagpipes ! that’s just a joke in this credit !), Will Malone conducted The Phantom Fiddlers. (Source officielle du booklet de l’édition remasterisée de Castle Communication de 1996)       Black Sabbath 08 1973/74 Tour (09 Dec 1973… 16 Nov 1974)   OZZY OSBOURNE – TONY IOMMI – BILL WARD – GEEZER BUTLER Vocal – Guitar – Drum – Bass   'Sabbath Bloody Sabbath' tour 09 Dec 1973 Newcastle (UK)  16 Nov 1974 Sydney (Australia)       Black Sabbath 09 1975 ?   OZZY OSBOURNE  - BILL WARD – TONY IOMMI – BILL WARD – GEEZER BUTLER  – WILL MALONE Vocal – Vocal + Piano  on ‘Blow on a jug’ - Guitar – Drum – Bass - For the english  choir (guest)-   For the recording of ‘Sabotage’ LP (1975) Sabbath used the english choir under the direction of Will Malone on ‘Supertzar’ Also Tony Iommi’s wife on this instrumental track ! Pour l’enregistrement de l’album ‘Sabotage’, Black Sabbath, Will Malone est chargé de la direction de la chorale anglaise, sur le titre ‘Supertzar’. La femme de Tony Iommi y joue aussi de la harpe sur ‘Supertzar’  + keyboards by diff members see the booklet ‘Castle Communication’ remaster CD Exclusive Bill Ward letter: ‘It was Bill singing and playing the piano and was just something that the engineer caugh during a session and it was put into the album.         Black Sabbath 10  May 1975 + Tour : 14 July 1975 to  22 Nov 1975   OZZY OSBOURNE – TONY IOMMI – BILL WARD – GEEZER BUTLER – GERALD WOODROFFE Vocal – Guitar – Drum – Bass – Keyboards   Gerald joins the band in May 1975. Exclusive Gerald Woodroffe message : ‘I joined Sabbath as keyboard player in May 1975, and my place was to recreate the overdubs from all the prievious albums. I did not record anything with the band until the ‘Technical Ecstasy’ album, which I actually wrote about half of the music for ! You will notice that in the reissues my name has been erased from all the credits. I do not know why. I think it is a legal issue, but I do not mind as it was such a long time ago. I always got on well with all the band I especially was fond of Bill as he was suck a kind caring person. Yes, it is me playing on the Geezer Butler solo stuff, the drummer is Gary Ferguson who works with Gary Moore, the guitarist is Pedro House (Geezers nephew) the vocalist was Carl Sentance who was from Cardiff in south wales, I don’t know what happened to him. Black Sabbath was really only the start of my carrer as you know I went on to record 3 multi platinum albums with the greatest rock singer ever Robert Plant, and now I concentrate on my first passion which is to play the blues on my grand piano. ‘ Gerald Woodroffe on stage for the ‘Sabotage’ tour 1975. Gerald Woodruffe attaque la tournée avec le groupe pour l’album ‘Sabotage’. 28 July 1975 ‘Sabotage’ LP ,  Jan 19765 ‘We Sold Our Soul For Rock’N’Roll’ LP. 14 July 1975 Toledo OH (USA) to 22 Nov 1975 Cardiff (UK). Gerald (Jezz) Woodroffe :    ‘Je suis arrivé dans Sabbath comme clavier en mai 1975, et mon rôle était de recréer des overduds pour les albums en prévisions. Je n’ai rien enregistré avec le grp jusqu’à ‘Technical Ecstasy’ lequel j’ai écrit la moitié de la musique pour ce dernier ! Vous pouvez noter que dans les dernières rééditions mon nom a été effacé des crédits. Je ne sais pas pourquoi. Je pense que c’est légal. Je me suis toujours bien entendu avec le groupe et plus particulièrement avec Bill. Oui, c’est moi qui joue sur les démos solo de Geezer Butler (vers 1985-86) et le batteur était Gary Ferguson qui travailla avec Gary Moore, le guitariste est Pedro House (le neveu de Geezer) et le chanteur : Carl Sentance qui était originaire de Cardiff, je ne sais pas ce qu’il est devenu. Black Sabbath était vraiment le début de ma carrière comme vous le savez, j’ai participé à trois albums de platines avec le plus grand chanteur de Rock Robert Plant, et maintenant je me consacre à ma première passion qui est de jouer du blues sur mon grand piano’.       Black Sabbath 11   09 July 1975   OZZY OSBOURNE – TONY IOMMI – BILL WARD – GEEZER BUTLER Vocal – Guitar – Drum – Bass   Only for 30min , the ‘Don Kirshner’s rock show’ Santa Monica (US TV). Gerald n’est pas convié au show télévisé de ‘Don Kirshner’ à la TV américaine   Black Sabbath 12   Sept  1975 to  13 Jan 1976   OZZY OSBOURNE – TONY IOMMI – BILL WARD – GEEZER BUTLER – GERALD WOODROFFE Vocal – Guitar – Drum – Bass – Keyboards   Second part of the ‘Sabotage’ tour. Seconde partie de la tournée du LP  ‘Sabotage’. Sept 1975 to 13 Jan 1976 London (UK).       Black Sabbath 13 1976 ?   OZZY OSBOURNE –  BILL WARD - TONY IOMMI – BILL WARD – GEEZER BUTLER –  GERALD (JEZZ) WOODROFFE  - MIKE LEWIS - Vocal -  Vocal on ‘It’s Alright’ - Guitar – Drum – Bass – Keyboards – Strings     Bill Ward sing  ‘It’s Alright’ ! Gerald on keyboards (‘Technical Ecstasy’ LP) Mike Lewis on guest, he play the strings (arranged & conducted) only for the ‘She’s Gone’ song. Mike Lewis also played on the Zakk Wylde record : Book of Shadow ! Bill Ward devient chanteur le temps d’un titre sur le morceau ‘It’s Alright’ de l’album ‘Technical Ecstasy’ .Gerald Woodroffe est aux claviers .  Mike Lewis est invité à diriger et conduit les cordes sur le titre ‘She’s Gone’. Gerald Woodroffe : keyboards and additionnal arrangements. < see booklet of the ‘Technical Ecstasy’ CD by Castle Communication 1996.    In this booklet the name of WOODROFFE is credited as : WOODRUFFE, he asked to him, and he gave me his correct artist name is today JEZZ WOODROFFE !   Black Sabbath 14  22 Oct 1976 to 21 April 1977   OZZY OSBOURNE – TONY IOMMI – BILL WARD – GEEZER BUTLER – GERALD WOODROFFE Vocal – Guitar – Drum – Bass  - Keyboards   ‘Technical Ecstasy’ Tour 22 Oct 1976 Tulsa OK (USA) to 21 April 1977 Lund (Sweden)     Black Sabbath 15 Sept 1977 to Nov 1977   TONY IOMMI – BILL WARD – GEEZER BUTLER Guitar – Drum – Bass     Ozzy out ! Sabbath need a new vocalist, during this time, the Bill Ward brother’s found the idea for ‘Dave Walker’ as new boy ! Bill Ward est chargé d’annoncer l’éviction d’Ozzy à ce dernier. Le frère de Bill Ward fan de Dave Walker, propose cette idée au groupe qui engage ce dernier ! Il semble peu probable que Geoff Nicholls apparait à ce moment.     Black Sabbath 16   26 Nov 1977 to end 1977   DAVE WALKER – TONY IOMMI – BILL WARD – GEEZER BUTLER –  GEOFF NICHOLLS Vocal – Guitar – Drum – Bass –  Keyboards help   Before he officially joined Black Sabbath in mid 1979 Geoff Nicholls had, at Tony Iommi's request, been asked to help out with the fleeting Dave Walker. Ozzy leaves the band in Sept 1977. Dave Walker ex ‘Savoy Brown’ vocalist is the new boy, and Geoff Nicholls first coming, not as a member but just help. Tony also meets David Coverdale, but without success. Ozzy quitte le groupe en Sept 1977, Dave Walker (ex ‘Savoy Brown’) remplace le Madman et travaille sur les démos de ‘Never Say Die’ Ce line-up ne fera qu’une brève performance TV avec la chanson : ‘Junior’s Eyes’. C’est à cette époque que Tony fait appel pour la première fois à Geoff Nicholls pour lui donner un coup de main.  Tony Iommi rencontra David Coverdale pour remplacer Ozzy, mais sans succès. Ozzy rencontra Glenn Hughes pour former le grp ‘Blizzard Of Ozz’, sans lendemain.       Black Sabbath 17 End 1977   DAVE WALKER – TONY IOMMI – BILL WARD – GEEZER BUTLER – DON AIREY Vocal – Guitar – Drum – Bass - Keyboards It could be now, this ‘virtual’ line-up for the keyboards parts of the forthcoming ‘Never Say Die’ Album, because it could be really possible, Don never met Dave in studio ! Just works on his keyboards parts and left the band early january for Rainbow ! Il semble fort probable que ce line up ‘virtuel’ dans le send où il n’est vraiment pas certain que Don Airey est pu rencontrer lors d’une séance de studio Dave Walker, mais plus probablement bossé sur bande ses parties de claviers. Encore une partie obscure du groupe.     Black Sabbath 18  06 Jan 1978   DAVE WALKER – TONY IOMMI – BILL WARD – GEEZER BUTLER Vocal – Guitar – Drum – Bass   BBC Midlands TV appearance for ‘Junior’s Eyes’     Black Sabbath 19   31 Jan 1978   OZZY OSBOURNE – TONY IOMMI – BILL WARD – GEEZER BUTLER  Vocal – Guitar – Drum – Bass    Ozzy is back at home ! Ozzy est de retour ! Du coup Geoff Nicholls compose pour Quartz le morceau ‘Back in the Band’ titre édité sur une compilation.       Black Sabbath 20 Early  1978 ‘VIRTUAL LINE-UP’ for ‘NEVER SAY DIE’ LP ? ?   OZZY OSBOURNE –  BILL WARD – TONY IOMMI – BILL WARD – GEEZER BUTLER – DON AIREY-  JOHN ELSTAR – WILL MALONE Vocal – Vocal ‘Swinging the Chain’ –Guitar – Drum – Bass – Keyboards – Harmonica – Brass       Black Sabbath 21 16 May 1978  to  May  1979 or 27 April 1979.   OZZY OSBOURNE - TONY IOMMI – BILL WARD – GEEZER BUTLER  Vocal -Guitar – Drum – Bass   ‘Never Say Die’, Ozzy recorded demos versions of ‘Children of the Sea’ and ‘Lady Evil’ for a ten anniversary LP. Ozzy left the band the 27 april 1979. (NSD book page 11) ‘Never Say Die Tour’, Ozzy enregistra avec le groupe des versions démos de ‘Children of the Sea’ & ‘Lady Evil’ pour un album célébrant le dixième anniversaire du groupe. Ozzy ‘quitta’ le groupe le 27 avril 1979.         Black Sabbath 22  27 april 1979 to August 1979   TONY IOMMI – BILL WARD – GEEZER BUTLER  Guitar – Drum – Bass   Some months without any singer. Le groupe reste quelques mois sans le moindre chanteur. ‘Before Ronnie joined there had been some talk of getting David Coverdale or Robert Plant involved after Ozzy had left.’ (Geoff Nicholls NSD page 11)     Black Sabbath 23     August 1979 to Sept 1979   RONNIE JAMES DIO – TONY IOMMI – BILL WARD – GEEZER BUTLER Vocal -Guitar – Drum – Bass   Dio is officially in Sabbath in August 1979 and Geezer still in this virtual line-up until Sept 1979. Dio est officiellement dans Sabbath et Geezer Butler est encore compté dans l’effectif jusqu’à son départ officiel en Septembre.     Black Sabbath 24     Sept 1979   RONNIE JAMES DIO – TONY IOMMI – BILL WARD – RONNIE JAMES DIO Vocal -Guitar – Drum - Bass   From the famous SOUNDS mag : ‘GEEZER LEAVES SORRY SABBATH’ The great Black Sabbath bust-up continues ! Following Ozzy Osbourne’s departure from the band which was exclusively revealed in Sounds June 9 issue, Geezer Butler has now quit the band. He walked out on the group in California where they were preparing a new album and flew back to England. All efforts to try and contact him have failed and he has to all intents and purposes disappeared. But the remaining Sabs duo of Tony Iommi and Bill Ward have already recruited replacements for Osbourne and Butler. Ex-Rainbow vocalist Ronnie James Dio, who has been reherasing with the band, has now become Ozzy’s official replacement and Butler has been replaced by Geoff Nicholls, guitarist and keyboard player with Midlands band Quartz. It’s assumed he will now play bass with Sabbath. Nicholls and Iommi are writing material together for the next Sabbath album, which should be releashed later in the year. The group’s touring plans are unclear at the moment. Ex ELF singer/bassist played here rehearsal bass during this time. Rehearsals  at Iommi’s house,   Ronnie James Dio ‘At rehearsals I would very often play bass but of course I had no intention of carrying on with that. I was asked it I knew of any bassists and as it happened I had only just spoken to Craig Goldy’ (NSD p.20)              The ex ‘ELF’ / ‘Rainbow’ is the new Sabbath singer, Geezer leaves  sorry  Sabbath ! Le nouveau chanteur de Black Sabbath est l’ex frontman de ‘Rainbow’, Butler ne fait plus partie du groupe. Dio ex bassite/chanteur de Rainbow, prend en charge la partie basse durant ces répétitions.         Black Sabbath 25  Sept   1979   RONNIE JAMES DIO – TONY IOMMI – BILL WARD – GEOFF NICHOLLS Vocal -Guitar – Drum  – Geoff : Rhythm Guitar & Bass Guitar(‘Children of the Sea’ & ‘Heaven and Hell’)   Nicholls: 'Tony phonedme up and asked me to go over to California to help themout with some song writing. He had got Ronnie already by this point and I was asked to come in as second guitarist.  (NSD book page 11) Geoff Nicholls:'I originally joined Black Sabbath as a rhythm guitarist' Never Say Die book (page 4) At this moment we have no info about Geoff and keyboards works, probably only Guitar & Bass way first.   Demos sessions, Geoff Nicholls mid 1979 is now in Sabbath for the rhythm guitar, and also on bass ideas for ‘Children of the Sea’ & ‘Heaven and Hell’.  Ronnie James Dio played some bass part for find ideas.  Geoff Nicholls arrive mi-1979 au sein du groupe pour y seconder Tony à la guitare rythmique pour deux semaines, qui se transformeront finalement en plus de vingt ans !  Néanmoins Geoff Nicholls propose ses services à la basse pour les sessions démos de ‘Children of the Sea’ & ‘Heaven & Hell’, il s’inspire du titre de Quartz ‘Mainline Riders’ pour composer ‘Heaven and Hell’. Ronnie James Dio joue également de la basse pour y développer des idées durant les démos. Pour cette période nous n’avons aucune information fiable ou même la moindre trace, d’un travail de Geoff aux claviers. Cela me semble fort peu probable.             Black Sabbath 26   End of Sept to Nov 1979   RONNIE JAMES DIO – TONY IOMMI – BILL WARD – CRAIG GRUBER - GEOFF NICHOLLS Vocal -Guitar – Drum – Bass – keyboards   Ronnie James Dio put forward his former Rainbow ally Craig Gruber. (NSD book page 20) Gruber got through the auditions, but Geoff believes Tony Iommi was never really convinced 'Craig's playing was good but not exactly amazing. He was an OK guy, I guess he would have been good enough but there was a feeling that he wasn't able to fit into the unit’. (NSD book page 20) Craig Gruber (ex ‘Rainbow’) is the new bassist, but was not the right guy. Craig Gruber ( ex ‘Rainbow’) prend le poste de bassiste pour la composition de ‘Heaven and Hell’, ce dernier sera vite remplacer par le retour de Geezer Butler.   ‘When asked if any of Craig Gruber’s bass work made it to be final cut of the ‘Heaven And Hell’ album, a continual subject of speculation amongst Sabbath fans, Geoff replied with a flat ‘Absolutely not’.       Black Sabbath 27 Nov 1979 to Jan 1980   RONNIE JAMES DIO – TONY IOMMI – BILL WARD – GEOFF NICHOLLS – GEOFF NICHOLLS Vocal -Guitar – Drum – Bass – Keyboards   Geoff takes official the bassist job during this time. Geoff Nicholls prend officiellement le poste de bassiste après l’éviction de Craig !     Black Sabbath 28  Jan 1980   RONNIE JAMES DIO – TONY IOMMI – BILL WARD – GEOFF NICHOLLS Vocal -Guitar – Drum  – keyboards   The band play in a studio, their new songs for Geezer Butler, and Geezer is back ! Le groupe sans bassiste joue leurs nouveaux morceaux devant Geezer Butler dans un studio à Miami, séduit ce dernier revient dans le groupe.     Black Sabbath 29 Jan 1980 + Heaven and Hell tour : 17 April 1980 to 19 August 1980   RONNIE JAMES DIO – TONY IOMMI – BILL WARD – GEEZER BUTLER – GEOFF NICHOLLS Vocal -Guitar – Drum – Bass – Keyboards   Geezer Butler rejoins BS and recording resumes at Ferber Studios. Official recording of ‘Heaven and Hell’ LP.  April 1980 ‘Heaven And Hell’ UK,  27 May 1980 USA. Enregistrement officiel de ‘Heaven and Hell’. + ‘Heaven and Hell’ tour : 17 April 1980 Aurich (Germany) to 19 August 1980 Bloomington MN (USA) last show of Bill Ward.   Ceoff Nicholls recalls Cozy’s name cropping up too, ‘Yes, Cozy was approched but there has halways been a bit of a problem between Ronnie and Cozy. Basically, they never liked each other, so that would been difficult. At the time, we were really trying to build a kind of family unit and the last thing Tony wanted was to have another band fall out’ (NSD p.43)     Black Sabbath 30 31 August 1980 to 21 jan 1981   RONNIE JAMES DIO – TONY IOMMI –VINNIE APPICE – GEEZER BUTLER - GEOFF NICHOLLS Vocal -Guitar – Drum – Bass – Keyboards   Bill Ward is out ! Ex ‘Axis’ drummer : Vinnie Appice is the new boy (Carmine’s brother) Second part of ‘Heaven and Hell’ tour with Vinnie. Bill Ward vient de craquer, Vinnie Appice, l’ex ‘Axis’ arrive ! Vinnie n’aura que quelques jours pour répéter. 31 August 1980 Honolulu Hawai (USA) to 21 Jan 1981 London (UK) before ‘encore’.   ‘Heavy Metal’ the intro and outro work on the movie is also Sabbath stamped by Geoff Nicholls, ‘There was a lot of keyboard work I put down for that film around the ‘Mob Rules’ song. A lot of the special effects noises, the spaceship coming down and the atmospherics around the horse on the moutain and the glass city. That’s all mine too’.       Black Sabbath 31   21 Jan 1981   RONNIE JAMES DIO–TONY IOMMI–VINNIE APPICE –GEEZER BUTLER -BRAIN MAY –GEOFF NICHOLLS Vocal -Guitar – Drum – Bass – Guitar guest – Keyboards   Brain May  guitar guest only on ‘Children of the Grave’ 21 jan 1981Hammersmith Odeon in London (UK). Brain May est invité à jouer de la guitare sur le titre ‘Children of the Grave’ à L’Hammersmith Odeon de Londres.       Black Sabbath 32   1981 - 1982  23 Jan 1981 to end of Mob Rules tour 31 August 1982   RONNIE JAMES DIO – TONY IOMMI –VINNIE APPICE – GEEZER BUTLER - GEOFF NICHOLLS Vocal -Guitar – Drum – Bass – Keyboards   Return of the classic line-up. / Retour du line-up classique. 10 Nov 1981 ‘The Mob Rules’ LP USA. 05 August 1982 David Coverdale (Whitesnake) & Cozy Powell asked to join Black Sabbath ? ? ? ? Le 05 août 1982 David Coverdale et Cozy Powell seraient invités à rejoindre Black Sabbath, selon les rumeurs. 23 Jan 1981 Bridlington (UK) to 31 August 1982 Hoffman Estates IL (USA).   Warned Bros, had re-signed the band-and Ronnie James Dio. ‘I got signed up for a solo deal when Black Sabbath signed back to Warner Bros’ The singer confides. ‘I guess they thought they were onto a good thing with me.       Black Sabbath 33   1982   TONY IOMMI – GEEZER BUTLER - GEOFF NICHOLLS Guitar – Bass – Keyboards   Need a new vocalist ! Le groupe est la recherche d’un nouveau chanteur !     Black Sabbath 34   ‘AUDITION’  1982   NICKY MOORE – TONY IOMMI – GEEZER BUTLER – GEOFF NICHOLLS Vocal -Guitar  – Bass – Keyboards   Geoff Nicholls : ' I remember we auditioned Nicky Moore from Samson because his tape was excellent. We had a good jam with him. He had a phenomenal voice, absolutely brilliant, but he just didn't look the part, which was a shame, great, great singer.'  (NSD book page 64) Jam with the ex ‘Samson’ frontman. //// Jam avec l’ex chanteur de ‘Samson’, sans lendemain.    Exclusive message from Nicky Moore (13 june 2006) ‘Hi Thierry, Thanks for the e-mail. The audition with Sabbath was a long time ago now and what I remember is that I was recording with Samson at the Music Works when I was put forward for the gig. It was quite strange but rather amazing at the time – I don’t remember the year or the month I’m afraid. I sang ‘War Pigs’ and one other (can’t remember which one it was now). I auditioned to backing tracks, so it wasn’t really a jam. I knew that they were impressed with my voice, but felt at the time that they were looking for someone with a different image –probably younger- shame I would have like to work with them. As I recall, the three original members of Sabbath were there, along with Geoff Nicholls and Arthur Sharp. Hope this helps. Cheers mate . Nicky’         Je voulais en savoir plus sur cette jam, alors le mieux c’est de demander directement à Nicky Moore l’ex frontman de Samson ! En fait ce dernier chanta bien, mais sur des bandes musicales, aucune répétition avec le groupe, il y avait les trois membres originaux, ce qui inclus visiblement bien Bill Ward déjà à cette époque ? La présence de Geoff Nicholls, Nicky nous dit que le groupe était visiblement impressionné par son style vocal, mais recherché quelqu’un avec un look plus jeune, selon Nicky. Ce dernier semblait bien emballé par l’idée de chanter avec Sabbath. Dommage nous n’entendrons probablement jamais cette version de ‘War Pigs’ avec Nicky, l’autre titre qu’interpréta Nicky semble totalement lui échapper de ses lointains souvenirs ! Enfin, merci Nicky pour cette précision !       DAVID COVERDALE & COZY POWELL David Coverdale was also back on the Black Sabbath wish list. ‘Tony Iommi and I met up with David Coverdale and Cozy Powell at the Rainbow Club to talk about getting them into the band at that point’ reveals Geoff ‘We had good chat and we kind of agreed in principle that it could work. Tony has always been keen on working with David. Anyway, we left it awhile and the next thing we hear is that they had gone off camping on Dartmoor and were getting Whitesnake back together’. (NSD p. 65)             Black Sabbath 00  REHEARSALS 1982 ?   JOHN SLOMAN – TONY IOMMI – GEEZER BUTLER – GEOFF NICHOLLS Vocal -Guitar –Bass – Keyboards   Geoff Nicholls: 'There was a guy from Wales too, John Sloman of Lone Star. I tell you who else sent a tape in -Michael Bolton! Imagine that? Wonderful voice, but obviously completely wrong for what we were doing' 'David Coverdale was also back on the Black Sabbath wish list' (NSD book page 64 & 65) John Sloman exclusive info 12 june 2006 : ‘Hi Thierry, Thank you for your ‘interesting’ email, which gives me an opportunity to put the record straight one more time on a story which seems to come up a lot. The first time I read about it was on a flyer advertising a gig I was about to play. All I knew was it had originated in some badly researched book. I say this with complete respect for the band, but the fact is I have never ever met the guys in Black Sabbath, let alone played with them. And I have no idea who is Geoff Nicholls is. I’d love to know the title (and author) of the book so I could ask them to correct the information contained in it. Can you help ?     Regards, John’ L’information qui spécule sur une éventuelle audition de John Sloman (ex Lone Star & Uriah Heep) demeure totalement infondée, puisque j’ai demandé à ce dernier si cette news ne relève pas d’une erreur, effectivement, John n’a jamais ‘postulé’ pour le poste de chanteur de Black Sabbath !       Black Sabbath 35 Feb 1983 to Spring 1983     TONY IOMMI – MALCOLM COPE – GEEZER BUTLER – GEOFF NICHOLLS Guitar – Drums - Bass – Keyboards Rehearsal for early ‘Born Again’ sessions. Répétions pour les guides batteries des sessions de ‘Born Again’.       Black Sabbath 36  1983   IAN GILLAN – TONY IOMMI – MALCOLM COPE – GEEZER BUTLER – GEOFF NICHOLLS Vocal -Guitar  –  Drums - Bass – Keyboards   Geezer Butler: 'That 'Born Again' album with Ian Gillan.That wasn't supposed to be Black Sabbath. That was the manager and the record company insisting we use the name and I was opposed to it'(NSD book p. 67) Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Ian Gillan spent a month long period in a small Birmingham studio crafting songs with Iommi's old ally Malcolm Cope of Quartz on the drums. Malcom: 'We worked up quite a bit of music before Ian cmae on the scene and when he arrived I can remember him writing up the lyrics in the studio. I just kept all of the drums really simple because I knew Billy was coming in to do the actual recording. Bill wasn't in the country, he has was stuck in America for some reason, so Tony asked me down to get all the songs ready for the album, Bill arrived to do the actual recording and I stayed on throughout the album helping Bill out. I would drive him. Bill was always a lovely bloke. Bill put down the drums just great, no problem there. He had some emotional problems at the time though I remember' (NSD book page 70) ‘Born Again’ demo with Malcolm Cope ex ‘Quartz’ at the drums, and Ian Gillan. Avant l’arrivée de Gillan, le grp rencontre au ‘Rainbow Club’ David Coverdale et Cozy Powell pour remplacer Dio & Ward sans succès. Ian Gillan devient le nouveau frontman du grp, Malcom Cope ex ‘Quartz’ compose toutes les parties de batterie de ‘Born Again’ avec le grp lors des démos. Néanmoins, Tony  doit  trouver un ‘nom’ pour occuper le poste de batteur afin de couvrir la tournée à venir.       Black Sabbath 37 1983   IAN GILLAN – TONY IOMMI – BILL WARD – GEEZER BUTLER – GEOFF NICHOLLS – MALCOLM COPE Vocal -Guitar – Drum – Bass – Keyboards- Drums Technical help   Malcolm stayed on throughout the album helping Bill Ward on drums for the final ‘Born Again’ LP recording ! Malgré l’arrivée de Bill, Malcolm reste au sein du grp pour aider Bill à l’enregistrement de ‘Born Again’.     Black Sabbath 38 26 june 1983….   IAN GILLAN – TONY IOMMI – BILL WARD – GEEZER BUTLER – GEOFF NICHOLLS Vocal -Guitar – Drum – Bass – Keyboards-   26 June 1983 ‘Born Again’ recording sessions.  07 August 1983 ‘Born Again’ LP in UK,  04 Oct 1983 for USA       Black Sabbath 39 18 August 1983 to  Dec 1983   IAN GILLAN – TONY IOMMI – BEV BEVAN – GEEZER BUTLER – GEOFF NICHOLLS Vocal –Guitar – Drum – Bass – Keyboards   ELO’s drummer is the new boy, Bill is tired ! L’ex batteur du groupe ‘ELO’ arrive à la batterie, Bill usé quitte le groupe. 18 August 1983 Drammen Oslo (Norway) to Dec 1983 Los Angeles TV.       Black Sabbath 40 ? ? Dec 1983   IAN GILLAN – TONY IOMMI – BEV BEVAN – GEEZER BUTLER Vocal –Guitar – Drum – Bass   Dec 1983 Sabbath played at the ‘Rock Palace’ in Hollywood California, USA, lip-synched performance without Geoff, for the TV.   Le groupe joue en Décembre 83 au ‘Rock Palace’ à Hollywood, Californie, USA en playback sans Geoff pour la TV US, la légende veut que c’est en regardant Ian Gillan se faire suer lors de cette performance que Ritchie Blackmore lança l’idée de reformer Deep Purple !       Black Sabbath 41 Dec 1983 to  04 March 84   IAN GILLAN – TONY IOMMI – BEV BEVAN – GEEZER BUTLER – GEOFF NICHOLLS Vocal –Guitar – Drum – Bass – Keyboards   The band is back on the road with Geoff. Le groupe repart en tournée avec Geoff Nicholls.       Black Sabbath 42  05 March  1984   TONY IOMMI – BEV BEVAN – GEEZER BUTLER – GEOFF NICHOLLS Guitar – Drum – Bass – Keyboards   Kerrang ! Speculation also surrounded drummer Bev Bevan’s future in the band. The ELO drummer joined Sabbath after they’d recorded their ‘Born again’ album last summer, and played on their reading festival headlining appearance as well as their European and American tours. With ELO’s future also unclear at present his positionwith them is somewhat confused but David Arden said that ‘He is still with Black Sabbath at this moment’ and he was particuarly scornful of reports that he was being replaced by Carmine Appice, who ironically has just been fired from Ozzy Osbourne’s band. 05 march 1984 Ian is out of Sabbath, but the manager said : ‘Bev is still the Sab drummer’. Virtual line-up. 05 mars 1984, Ian vient de quitter le groupe, mais le manager du groupe affirme que Bev reste le batteur du groupe. Bref, un line-up virtuel.         Black Sabbath 43 March  1984   TONY IOMMI – GEEZER BUTLER – GEOFF NICHOLLS Guitar– Bass – Keyboards   Sabbath needs a new singer and a new drummer !         Black Sabbath 44 ? 1984 (Virtual line-up)   RON KEEL – TONY IOMMI – GEEZER BUTLER – GEOFF NICHOLLS Vocal – Guitar – Bass - Keyboards   Mark Cloer message : ‘Just got back from a Kiss expo. One of the guests was Ron Keel. I asked him how far involvement with Sabbath REALLY went. He chuckled and told me that he was ‘in’ the band for 3 days. He said they actually recorded a 3 song demo and then, Tony & Geezer hung out a couple days and had to constantly listen to them whine about trying to get Ozzy back in the band. He said there was no official parting of the ways but that they did the demos and then he just didn’t hear back from them. He laughed and said he ough to bootleg those 3 songs but that it wasn’t his place.         I pressed him as to whether he really had those recordings but he sort of dodged the question. I assured him that if he did, there were legions of Sabbath fans waiting to hear it. To his credit, he admitted that his ‘involvement’ with Sabbath was a mere insignifiant blip on the screen and that he didn’t list Sabbath was on his ‘resume’. He just said it was an interesting episode in his career. I wish I had thought to ask him if the songs they demo’ed were originals and if any of it was recycled by him or Sabbath for later use. I’d REALLY like to hear these alleged demos. Ron did a short performance and he’s still got a good voice with a lot of range. Him singing for Sabbath might have been interesting.  I just find it interesting that he claims he was in the band and they recorded a couple songs while Iommi & Butler claimed (in the Donato article in Kerrang) That they only got as far as going to see him perform and were not impressed. Of course they admit nothing as far as Donato & Fenholt either.’   Ron Keel : ‘Spencer had just signed on to produce Black Sabbath’s follow-up to ‘Born again’. Ian Gillan had just left the band. Spencer had heard my voice on the Keel demos and brought me into a meeting concerning the vacant position in Sabbath. I was of course very excited. The opportunity to go from a struggling unsigned LA musician to be the vocalist for one of rock’s legendary bands was a dream come true, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want it. Seeing Sabath on ‘Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert’ TV show when I was very young was a pivotal moment for me ; Sabbath records always had a place on my turntable and I never missed a Black Sabbath concert when they came to my town. I remember once, my father found my hidden Black Sabbath concert tickets and tore them up and threw them away, thinking I was going to be attending some sort of Satanicrally or something, he didn’t know it was a rock band. I signed a management contract with Spencer Proffer, giving him the rights to negociate with Black Sabbath on my behalf.’ (NSD book page 90)   Geoff Nicholls : ‘Ron Keel had sent this tape in and I rememberit being OK. Tony Iommi phoned him up and it got quite funny because Tony was talking to Ron about this one particular song on which he really liked the singing to Ron about this one particularsong on xhich he really liked the singing style. Ron, credit it to him, admitted that he hadn’t sang on that song. It was another singer ! So yes, there is some truth to that rumour. Ron was still worth checking out though’ (NSD book page 91)     Ron Keel : ‘Spencer set up a recording session where I was to put my voice on three songs he had hand-picked for the new Sabbath album. These were not written by Tony, this was outside material, and I’m not sure who played on the demo. It was not typical Black Sabbath, but commercial eighties metal. The songs were called ‘Hunger’, ‘Metal victory’ and ‘Running wild in the streets’. (NSD book page 91)   Ron Keel : ‘When I walked into the studio, Jake E. Lee was there- I believe Spencer or Dana had requested him to come in and give me a pep talk Jake shared with me what it had been like for him, getting the gig with Ozzy, what I could expect, advice and insight, and I really appreciated him taking the timeto come in and have that talk with me right before the session. Dana Strum, in my opinion, did a great job producing the vocals on that demo session.  He worked me very hard, pushed and pulled me into doing some amazing screams and I remain very proud of my work on that session. I still have a copy of it, and have resisted all requests to make copies of it or even play it for anyone, including my wife and band mates. It’s very special piece of my history, which I will keep all for myself’. (NSD book page 92)   The tape was duly dispatched to the Black Sabbath camp and, as hoped for, Keel’s promise had obviuosly shone through. Ron records the next stages of his adventure.  Ron : ‘Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler heard the demo and apparently liked it. Arrangements were made for us to meet, and I went to their hotel in Los Angeles. For several days we hung out, talked about music, snorted coacine and drank a lot. Tony was dating Lita Ford back then, and she would hang out with us from time to time. Tony gave me a song list of classic Sabbath tunes, a killer set that began with ‘Neon knights’. I made a tape of all the songs in order, and spent every day rehearsing with the tape blasting through my PA system while I sang along and choreographed my stage moves. I was determined to kncok them on their ass at the very first rehearsal. I was anxious for this to happen, because I knew once we played together it would be a done deal. Unfortunately, Bev Bevan, who was their drummer at the time, was involved with other commitments and could not participate. They discussed the possibility of getting Bill Ward back. Tony was very gracious and treated me great. Geezer made it clear that I was to be a hired gun and what they really wanted was to get Ozzy back.’ (NSD book page 94)   Geezer and Tony showed up the Keel’s debut gig (with his solo band) Ron : ‘The time came for the debut Keel show. Tony, Geezer, and Lita came to the gig together, came backstage and hung out before the show. I never spoke to them or saw them again. Granted, there is a world of difference between a Keel concert and a Black Sabbath concert. There was nothing dark or evil about Keel. Our shows were full of smiles, high fives, and rock anthems with a predominantly positive message. Had I been onstage with Sabbath, I would have been the devil in black leather, but that wasn’t what Keel was about and perhaps Tony and Geezer didn’t see what they wanted to see at that gig. It was a great show, the first in a long line of kick ass Keel concerts, and the beginning of something very special in my life and career’ (NSD book page 94)   Ron Keel : ‘The question remains : Was I actually ‘in’ Black Sabbath ? The bottom line is : there was never a contact between the bandand I. I never performed live or appeared on a Black Sabbath release. Tony himself told me I was their man, but my belief is that the only singers that were truly ‘in’ the band were Ozzy and Dio’ (NSD book page 95)   Bev Bevan ne fait plus partie du groupe, Ron Keel est annoncé comme le nouveau chanteur de Black Sabbath par une presse qui semble anticiper l’avis même du groupe. Ron enregistre une démo à cet effet pour la présenter à Tony & Geezer. Iommi & Lita Ford se rendent à un concert de Ron Keel, mais ne donnèrent plus jamais de nouvelles, Ron pense qu’il y avait trop de sourrires dans ses concerts !     SOMEWHERE IN 1984 French Mag ‘HARD ROCK MAG’ write : ‘KAL SWAN l’ex chanteur de TYRANT, vient de rentrer au poste de chanteur de Black Sabbath. La question que tout le monde se pose est ‘est-ce qu’il restera au sein de Sabbath plus de trois minutes? ? ? ! !’ Aucune autre trace de cette info dans le reste de la presse mondiale ! Bref, un scoop à la française ! The French press in 1984 said Kal Swan is the new Sabbath frontman ! ! !       Black Sabbath 45 March 1984   TONY IOMMI – BILL WARD – GEEZER BUTLER – GEOFF NICHOLLS Guitar – Drum – Bass – Keyboards   Creem Magazine :  about Bill Ward , he stopped writing, stopped playing drums.  Ward :  ‘I didn’t want to be with Black Sabbath ; I dind’t want to be with anybody. I just wanted to be left alone. And I went through this self-pity bullshit for months where I didn’t feel anything at all. And then one day I just started to write a few songs, and I continued writing, and I was thinking about the fellas. I’ve always wished them well, I love the guys. It’s just that I didn’t know where I was coming from and that was really hard’ Tony and Geezer called him up in March.   Kerrang ! Mag : Drummer Bill Ward has rejoined Black Sabbath according to spokeswoman for the band : ‘Bill has offered his services to Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler for both recording and touring purposes. And he’s healthier now than for a long time’ Ward was sighted living in a lock-up garage in Los Angeles with only his drumkit for company. Sabbath are still auditioning vocalists and hope to announce their complete line-up in the near future.   Bill Ward est de retour après avoir vécu dans un garage avec son kit de batterie, il voulait resté seul, le groupe recherche de nouveau un chanteur !   Geoff Nicholls : ‘We were always at clubs checking these guys out, but nobody came close. The problem with most of them was a simple lack of range. We wanted to walk into a club and hear the next Dio, the next Glenn Hughes, the next Rob Halford, but we couldn’t find anything’ (NSD p.95)       Black Sabbath 46 March 1984 ?   DAVID ‘DA-VERD’ – TONY IOMMI – BILL WARD – GEEZER BUTLER – GEOFF NICHOLLS Vocal -Guitar – Drum – Bass – Keyboards   There would be another contender who came under serious consideration.Geoff Nicholls can only remember the vocalist’s Christian name, as well as some other, rather odd bodily characteristics. ‘There was another guy we tried out before David Donato. He was an American guy, funnily enough as short as Ronnie, but he had this huge voice. He owned a recording studio and was also a karate teacher. The thing was, his name was DAVID but he insisted on being called ‘DA-VERD’ we were doing some song writing up in my hotel room and he kept on correcting me every time I called him David. Anyhow, the tapes he submitted were great but we needed to hear him sing live in rehearsal. What did it for us was that we were watching him from behind whilst he sang. We were in hysterics, literally crying with laughter. Well, he knew something was up and kept looking around suspiciously and we would all rapidly adoptstony faces and look away. As soon as he turned to the frontand started singing again, this little bum started to wiggle and we would all be rolling in tears again. Of course, when you’re playing live you need to be concentrating on the show, not your singer’s bum ! Geezer stopped laughing, finally saw the serious side, and said ‘This is not very fucking HeavyMetal it is ? There is no way we could have done a full gig with the guy !’.    Juste avant l’épisode de David Donato, Black Sabbath tenta l’aventure avec un chanteur du gabari de Ronnie James Dio avec une voix bien puissante, Geoff se souvient juste de son nom ‘David’ qu’il fallait étrangement prononçer ‘DA-VERD’un américain qui était également prof de karaté ! Sur cassettes il cassé des briques, mais au final en répétition, terminé… ! Qui est donc cet étrange chanteur ?     Black Sabbath 47 01 May 1984 to Dec 1984   DAVID DONATO – TONY IOMMI – BILL WARD – GEEZER BUTLER – GEOFF NICHOLLS Vocal -Guitar – Drum – Bass – Keyboards   This line-up works on these songs ‘No Way Out’ (forthcoming ‘The Shining’), ‘Don’t Beg The Master’, ‘Dancing With The Devil’, ‘Sail On’ .       July 1987 mag ‘The Sabbath Stint’ David Donato :  ‘I met Lita Ford at a party at the time when sha was seeing Tony. She confirmed that they were looking for a singer, so I sent my tape to Jet. Tony called to tell me he loved my voice and he wanted to set up a 20 minutes meeting with me. 20 minutes lasted over three hours. We got along pretty well. They auditioned me by having me sing ‘Black Sabbath’, ‘Heaven and Hell’ and ‘Neon Knights’, basically, the spread from Ozzy and Dio. I replaced Ian Gillan, but they didn’t want to do that material for some reason. I personnaly love Ian Gillan as a vocalist, but I feel that he didn’t work out at all in Sabbath. When I joined there were a lot of outside situations going on surrounding their history ; they were trying to get back together with all the original members but still retain me (sigh). I have nothing negative on any of the guys. I got along with each one of them very well, as a matter of fact, after Sabbath fell apart. I worked with Geezer Butler on solo material in 1985. I wrote some lyrics for him. That was a tremendous compliment. Then I got a phone call on a Friday morning that freaked me out. They just said ‘Well that’s it !’ It took me about a year to find out what I think really happened. At first, I was told that Geezer dind’t like me, which was obviously untrue.   His wife was managing him at the time, and he called me up saying, ‘I think you’re the best singer around’ However, I got a phone call from the management and it turned out that Geezer didn’t know anything about it ! I worked a little with Bill Ward, who moved to California. He wanted me to arrange some stuff. Finally, I just told them, ‘I can’t do anything with any of you guys, I’m sorry’. He realized why and understood. I saw Tony last year at the annual NAMM convention. I really had no problem with the guys. And I don’t think I had any problems with management. There were a bunch of outside circumstances that kept the project from moving along. Black Sabbath just…thrived on having a mysterious mystique for a long time. I was treated well. If someone could have gone to the bathroom for me, they would.As a writer, I couldn’t concentrate on the points I was trying to get across if I was consistently worried about sales, demands and such. The business people are all out for themselves, anyway. It seems that all the former singers of Sabbath have gone solo Ozzy, Dio and Ian Gillan, but didn’t get enough exposure. I got good write-ups, but nobody ever really heard me sing. They will now, I think people will be surprised with this new record. Year of the Tiger.’   David Donato ex : Armageddon, with Keith Relf of Yardbirds and Bobby Caldwell from Captain Beyond on drums. Also frontman of Virgin, Hero, Headshaker.  David Donato : ‘I was asked to learn a set list of ten songs, but I knew 99% of it already because I was a major fan, there was only one off the ‘Born again’ album, ‘Disturbing the priest’. I auditioned with Tony, Geezer and Bill and that was that. I was in. Sciciliano told me, exact words ‘they love you’. I then went for sushi with Tony and Geoff Nicholls so I figured that was a good sign, from that point on we just rehearsed at the time and Bill and I would travel into rehearsals together, dricing past the Coliseum, because we lived very close to each other, Bill on Seal Beach and me on Huntington Beach. This went on for a good many months. Just solid reheasing…I don’t think the band was ready with new songs.    Anyway we cut some tracks, one called ‘No way out’ which lyrically was about Sabath really. Like, there’s no way I can quit this legend, I felt honoreud to be there, with those guys and I wanted to express that in a song. The opening lyrics went ‘Let the story be told, history unfolds, and visions of the mind, fade to black’. I was very conscious that this was Tony, Geezer and Bill I was working with The Original Sabbath. That was really exciting for me. Later I heard that same riff on a later Sabbath album, in a different song. Some of the vocal melody line was still there too ! its no big deal, everybody does it. Copies, borrows, remembers, whatever….’ ‘No Way Out’ underwent a number of transitions over period of years. The band obiviously knew they were on to a good thing with this song, it mutating from ‘No way out’ to ‘Black fire’, then ‘Power of the night’, and ‘Rise up’ until it finally enede up as ‘The Shining’ ‘Another song we did was called ‘Doin’t beg the master’ that was something Tony and Geezer wrote and I came up with the title. Very Sabbathy. Another title being kicked around ‘Dancing with the devil’….’         Juste dans le groupe pour quelques belles photos !  David dont le rôle est assez obscur précise qu’il travailla sur un titre nommé : ‘No Way Out’ qui deviendra > ‘Black Fire’ > ‘Power of the Night’ > ‘Rise Up’ et enfin plus tard ‘The Shining’. Mais aussi sur les démos suivantes : ‘Don’t Beg the Master’ , ‘Dancing With the Devil’ , ‘Sail On’. (Source de Donato). Donato se verra ultérieurement proposer le poste de chanteur dans le ‘Geezer Butler Band’ et composera avec ce grp : ‘Mr D-He’, ‘Looking back’, ‘Street Wars’, ‘Inner World’.   MTV dans le cadre de son émission ‘Night Flight’ annonce que Phil Mogg serait sur le point de devenir le chanteur de Black Sabbath ! Propos qui amuseront David Donato.       David Donato : ‘There was also a strange thing on ‘Nightflight’ (TV report), a report saying that Phil Mogg of UFO was in line to sing for Black Sabbath. As I was working with the guys in the studio every day I kinda just said ‘Oh yeah ?’     Black Sabbath 48 Jan 1985    TONY IOMMI – BILL WARD – GEEZER BUTLER – GEOFF NICHOLLS Guitar – Drum – Bass – Keyboards   Last times with Bill and Geezer. Derniers moments de recherches pour le groupe avant le départ de Geezer et Bill, le grp annonce  vouloir maintenant un chanteur originaire du Royaume Unis.     Black Sabbath 49 Jan 1985   TONY IOMMI – GEOFF NICHOLLS Guitar-Keyboards   Geezer left the band for his solo project ‘Geezer Butler Band’ and in the same time Bill Ward left the band too ! Tony Iommi bought all the rights of Black Sabbath !     GEEZER GOES: After the band with Donato fell apart, feeling disgusted and quoted as being "sick of it all", Geezer Butler quits to work on a solo project. Geezer did play some gigs around the UK for awhile under the moniker of "The Geezer Butler Band". This incarnation of Geezer's solo project never recorded, but some live tapes do exist. This is not to be confused with the G//Z/R project of Geezer's from 1995. Thing is there were several attempts by Geezer to do a solo band in the mid 80's. Some of them recorded, some didn't - I'm very unclear as to how many there were, but there was definitely more than one of them. One involved Carl Sentance. An interesting side note to Geezer's mid 80's solo work - he also got involved with David Donato there, too. David apparently did some writing with Geezer outside of Sabbath. You can tell this is from the mid 80's - look at this picture, which is from the Carl Sentance variant of the 80's GBB. Oh, the hair! :)     BILL WARD GOES: Also at this time Bill Ward left again. However, in an interview, Bill claims that when he left after recording Born Again, he was drunk. Leaving after this brief time, he left sober, which was important to him. He also had left after coming back, and then telling Geezer & Tony, "This isn't Black Sabbath, I've got to go". Not much is known about what he did during this time, and there were rumours that Bill was homeless and on the streets of Los Angeles, too.       BAND INACTIVE FROM MID 1984 to JAN 1985 Sabbath is more or less put on ice at this time until Iommi is forced by record company pressure to make his 1986 solo album a Sabbath album (see Lineup #8 for more info on this.) After the mid 84 attempt to bring another singer into the band (Dave Donato, Ron Keel, etc..) the band more or less "breaks up". I say that because there was never an official announcement of a disbanding or a breakup, but this is the opinion that some fans have - at least the ones that still knew Sabbath existed, anyway. It was at some point in this time that Tony Iommi bought up the legal rights to the name Black Sabbath. Now I'm no legal expert, and I'm not privy to the contracts of the various members up until this point, but I would imagine that the original Sabs owned the name, and with the band seemingly dead and gone at this point around 1985, there probably wasn't any consideration to Tony owning it, figuring it was dead. An article in a 1986 Kerrang said something like (I'm paraphrasing from memory) "Iommi didn't want the Black Sabbath name to die, and bought up the rights to it from the other original Sabbath members" (which is ironic, considering the record label forced the Iommi solo album Seventh Star to be a Sabbath album). The upshot of this is that now that Tony owns all legal rights to the name Black Sabbath, no one can put together a version of Black Sabbath without his permission. There's been a lot of fan speculation that the 1997 and forward time when Oz returned came with a caveat that Oz partly owned the name Black Sabbath again. I decided to check into this myself, and in the Summer of 2006, I emailed Tony Iommi's representatives and asked them about this situation. I was told my knowledge of the situation is correct. Tony Iommi is still the sole "owner" of Black Sabbath in 2006, and there were no "deals" made regarding ownership with anyone else for any other reason.     Black Sabbath 50 ?or TONY IOMMI Solo ? ?   Jan 1985 to Spring 1985   TONY IOMMI – ERIC SINGER – GORDON COPLEY– GEOFF NICHOLLS Guitar – Drum – Bass – Keyboards   Eric Singer : ‘Obviously we were working in the studio together on Lita’s songs, so he had becomefamiliar with my style and got to know me as a person. One day he told me he was thinking of putting together a solo record. This was very early stages as he had no band at all at this point. Because Tony and Lita had a thing going it was agreed that Gordon Copley, our bass player, and myself could be loaned out to cut some demos. It was no big deal then although obviously it became a big deal later….’ (NSD book)       STEVE MARIOTT The band was still striving to maintain their Britishness and had made approches to Steve Mariott of the Small Faces to take up the position of singer. These talks never came to fruition though. Geoff Nicholls gives some consideration to Tony Iommi’s thinking at the time, ‘Tony really wanted an English singer and there was talk of Steve Mariott. I know the guy had a great voice and I think that might have really worked well’. (NSD p. 128)   Exclusive message from Eric Singer: 'Gordon Copley played on the original demos & we ended up using his version of 'No stranger to love' for the 'Seventh Star' record (which I think is credited) He ended leaving town with Lita Ford to write songs with her & Dave Spitz was brought in to play bass. He was recomemded by Jeff Glixman, I was first asked to play on some demos with Tony for what was supposed to be his 'solo' record, the label (Warner Bros) Decided to call it a 'Black Sabbath' record (so I was told at the time)'. Iommi s’embarque dans un nouveau projet, qui semble cette fois un album solo     Black Sabbath ? ? 51  Spring 1985 to ? ? ? ? 1985   JEFF FENHOLT-TONY IOMMI–ERIC SINGER– GORDON COPLEY–GEOFF NICHOLLS Vocals -Guitar – Drum – Bass – Keyboards   Tony Iommi interview Langen Germany March 10th 1995 & April 28th 1995 Koln Germany  Tony : ‘I had wanted the original ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ vocalist Jeff Fenholt to sing on the ‘Seventh star’. In fact Glenn Hughes turned out to be the better choice. To this very day Fenholt boasts of having survived the hell of Black Sabbath without having become a disciple of the devil. That’s complete nonsense. He nver was intended as a singer for Black Sabbath. He was supposed to sing on my solo album which  was released under the banner of Black Sabbath virtually in the last minute because the record company wasn’t sure of its success under my own name. His declaration makes some sense when you take into account that he uttered them in the presence of archbishop of New York who appeared as a guest on his weekly religiuos show on American TV. With this image he’s made a lot of money. No wonder that a number of remarkable characters used to turn up at our concerts, praying beside the stage and waving bibles at the crowd. Maybe they were trying to prevent the Black Sabbath devil from taking the audience to hell’.   ‘Black Sabbath made approaches to Steve Marriott of the Small Faces to take up the position of singer’ Geoff Nicholls ‘Tony really wanted an English singer and there was talk of Steve Marriott. I know the guy had a great voice and I think that might have really worked well’ (NSD book page 128) Black Sabbath aurait tenté d’approcher Steve Marriott le chanteur des Small Faces, sans lendemain.   Jeff Fenholt : ‘During this time, I got a telephone call from Bruce Payne, informing me that Rainbow had fired Dio. They asked me to join Rainbow and I turned them down. I was told later that Ritchie Blackmore and I turned them down. I was told later that Ritchie Blackmore was listening on the other line, waiting to hear my excitment. As I recall, I was somewhat inebriated at the time, and said something to effect of  ‘I’ll have a thing on this and get back to you’. This apparently really set Ritchie off. Roger Glover spent a week at my house wrting music with me. We discussed the possibility of my joining Rainbow, but by that time, Ritchie had retracted his offer and the door was closed.’  (NSD Book page 125)         Boby Rondinelli ‘I was still in Rainbow at the time but myself, my brother Teddy, Felix and Jeff Fenholt were getting together this new band. It sounded great and Jeff is a great singer. I like the guy a lot. We had always skirted around each other on the live circuit, always talking about getting a band together and with the Rainbow situation closing, we were finally able to do it. We did a lot of rehearsals, a lot of jamming. Good times’ (NSD Book page 126)   Ex RONDINELLI singers : Jeff Fenholt, Ray Gillen, Tony Martin ! ! !   Eric Singer exclusive message: 'Jeff Fenholt was never in sabbath! I know he claims that he was & then found religion away from the evils of Rock N Roll (whatever) Jeff did work on some song ideas fro about a month in 1985, I was the drummer. Tony was looking for a singer to sing on his solo record and started writing & working with Fenholt, we did record some song ideas. Jeff was very good in the beginning when we just jammed on ideas unfortunately he was unable todevelope the songs in a way that satisfied Tony Iommi & what his vision was basicaly he did not work out.  Then the idea was to maybe have different singers on the tracks (similar to what Tony did on his recent solo album) When they started with Glenn sing on the entire record. The reason there are good sounding demos around is because we were working in a great studio (Cherokee) & the producer got great sounds as well obviously Jeff had copies of his demos & maybe his copies got around. Jeff did work on few song ideas (which are nothing like the album versions) this time frame was about maybe 1 month, maybe if he would have worked out as the singer/Tony may have considered him for Sabbath but, that never happened'.   Thierry Bauwens: 'When Jeff was in sessions, is it for find a new Sabbath frontman or for the Tony Iommi solo project?' Eric Singer: 'This point I am not sure about, you would have to ask Tony Iommi what his thoughts were at this time, I think he probably was considering Fenholt for sabbath (if he would have worked out) But, I am pretty sure Tony's intentions were originaly for a solo album singer, About the 'Thrill is gone' song, Lita Ford was also working on demos for her album at the same time & at the same studio (Cherokee) that demo was a version of the BB King song 'The Thrill is gone', Tony did only the guitar solo, I played drums & Gordon Copley bass, This was before Fenholt (I am pretty sure).' Jeff Fenholt : ‘Star of india’, ‘Dark side of love’, ‘In the eye of the storm’ are songs I recorded with Tony, Eric and Gordon Copley. ‘Rock the world’ was a cuts I did with Rudy Sarzo,Tommy Aldridge and Craig Goldy’ ‘I was with the band from December 84 through May of 1985. Nothing more. Nothing less.’ Jeff Fenholt or not ? !     Jeff Fenholt ! Après lecture des propos de Geoff Nicholls, il  faut retenir que le rôle de Jeff serait bien plus important que Iommi ne voudrait l’admettre. Geoff stipule que Jeff  était un excellent chanteur et qu’il a composé avec lui quelques titres, dont les prémices de ‘Seventh Star’. Par ailleurs Geoff ne semble pas comprendre pourquoi on voudrait minimiser son rôle avec Tony Iommi.  Fenholt clame être victime d’une incompréhension, en effet Don Arden manager de l’époque lui aurait stipulé que Jeff occuperait le poste de chanteur de Black Sabbath, c’est d’ailleurs Don qui est à l’origine de la venue de Jeff auprès de Iommi. Don Arden l’invita à venir dans son bureau au sujet de Black Sabbath (info de Fenholt). Autre info de ce dernier, en janvier 1985, Jeff avec Eric Singer, Gordon Copley, Tony Iommi, entrent aux studios ‘Cherokee’ à Los Angeles pour y composer 6 à 8 titres.  Eric Singer, pour sa part, annonce que Jeff travailla sur 'Star of India’ (futur ‘Seventh Star’) et d’autres titres plus bluesy. Sur les démos de ‘Seventh Star’ disponibles en CD, le titre ‘Rock the World’ est en fait un morceau composé avec Rudy Sarzo, Tommy Aldridge, Craig Goldy pour le projet  ‘Driver’ incluant Fenholt.  Les titres ‘Lock Myself Away’ , ‘Don’t Turn Away’, ‘Love Has No Mercy’ sont eux des titres de la démo du ‘Geezer Butler Band’.  Geoff Nicholls nous informe qu’il ne voit pas pourquoi Jeff  mentirait, il  pense qu’il est sincère, et dit que souvent des projets de Tony Iommi se sont transformés en albums de Black Sabbath, comme le projet de super-groupe ‘Gillan/Iommi/Butler’ qui ne devait être à l’origine qu’une association de stars et non un projet de Black Sabbath.  Glenn Hughes, annonce que le projet de Black Sabbath pour ‘Seventh Star’ ne viendra que tardivement à son insu, vers décembre 1985. Tony Iommi refuse de commenter cette période, le mystère est bien opaque, nul doute que Jeff Fenholt restera un épais dossier de vives controverses.       Jeff Fenholt : ‘(during the december of 1984) ‘Don Arden, Black Sabbath’s manager, called me. He stated that Tony had gotten hold of a Joshua tape and had flipped over my voice. How Tony got that tape ; to this day, I do not know. Don asked me to come to his office and meet with him concerning Black Sabbath, so I did. We spoke for several hours. Shortly thereafter, he called me and told me that Tony wanted to meet me for cocktails and or dinner. I went to the Château Marmont and met Tony for the first time (…) Tony asked me to sing lead on his solo project, to which I agreed. It was my understanding that I would write all melodies and all lyrics. As a christian, I insisted upon this. No audition was required. We broke camp for the holidays. Tony returned to England (…) Upon his return to L.A in january, he informed me that we were going to use Lita Ford’s rhythm section ; Eric Singer and Gordon Copley (…) We all went into the Cherokee recording studios in january and began laying tracks. By the end of a couple of weeks, we had about six or eight rhythm tracks laid down’ (NSD book page 129)     Eric Singer : ‘We were at Cherokee studios. Somehow we just found this guy. I don’t know how, possibly on a recommendation to Tony because I don'’ recall any audition as such. So, there he was and the initial instincts were very good. Jeff looked great, actually he looked a lot like Robert Plant. He had a great set of pipes too, he could definitely sing to the quality Tony was looking for, so his input at first was very encouraging. We all got along fine and when he first went into the vocal booth he did great. He sang his ass off and put forward a lot of lyrics, ‘Star of india’, some blues stuff too’ (NSD book page 130)   Geoff Nicholls : ‘Star of india’ was a good example. That was Jeff’s title. We were just talking about the indian feel of the song, which sparked that one. ‘Through the eye of the storm’ was another one of Jeff’s and we had a very commercial Van Halen type of song, which was very good but a bit too poppy for Sabbath. Jeff came up with a lot of sound lyrical stuff. I remember working with him on the very original version of ‘No stranger to love’. We were in my hotel room at the Merlin and I was just chunking out sme riffs, I was actually trying to get a Foreigner ‘I want to know what love is’ type of vibe going. Jeff heard me messing about and said ‘I’ve got an idea for that !’ and we started working. He had a lot of good stuff.’ (NSD book pages 130 & 131)   Guillaume Roos : Période des démos ‘Star of india’ d’après Fenholt, il a été contacté par le management de Tony (enfin, lui dit ‘Black Sabbath’ mais bon…) pour se joindre à lui. Après deux refus, il finit finalement par accepter de diner avec Iommi. La sauce prend, il décident de faire un essai. Mais musicalement, leurs méthodes respectives ne fonctionnent pas ensemble. Tony fonctionne à partir de riffs, Jeff à partir d’harmonies vocales (confirmé par Fenholt & Eric Singer). Pour jouer les médiateurs, Fenholt contacte son ami le producteur Jeff Glixman, mais lorsque les désaccords artistiques deviennent de plus en plus importants, Glixman prends le parti de Iommi et Fenholt ne fait plus partie du projet. Quand à savoir combien de temps il est resté dans le groupe, mystère. Lui prétend 6 mois, les autres (dont Eric Singer) semblent dire beaucoup moins. Les différentes démos de l’époques semblent en tout cas indiquer qu’il est resté plus longtemps que pour une simple audition (plusieurs prises très différentes, évolutions importantes dans les textes…) Pour ce qui est du line-up Fenholt- Iommi- Nicholls, hors les dires de Fenholt, rien ne prouve que ça se soit passé comme ça, vu que Singer lui dit que Fenholt a été viré très vite, et que lui était toujours dans le groupe.           Black Sabbath ? ?52 1985 For one day –According to Jeff Fenholt-     JEFF FENHOLT -TONY IOMMI – ERIC SINGER –  GORDON COPLEY ? - GEEZER BUTLER – GEOFF NICHOLLS Vocals -Guitar – Drum – Bass ? - Bass or just in the studio – Keyboards   Jeff Fenholt : ‘Geezer Butler was living with his wife in the Midwest at the time. He came into the studio with us for one day and never returned. It was my understanding that Tony and Ozzy were at odds and that Geezer had aligned with Ozzy. Tony and I proceeded on’ (NSD book page 131)   Geoff Nicholls : ‘When Geezer came down, he was there to listen to the stuff. He said he liked it, so then there were talks about getting him back into the band, which didn’t work out. Because Geezer left to join up with Ozzy soon later, I think this is the period when Tony Iommi actually bought the name ‘Black Sabbath’ (NSD book page 131) Geezer was into the studios with the band for one day (Fenholt source) Probably just for listen the band. Is Gordon Copley in the studio too ? Geezer Butler réside à cette époque aux USA dans le Midwest avec sa femme et passe une journée avec le groupe en studio, Jeff nous annonce que Geezer ne reviendra pas par la suite !  Geoff annonce pour sa part que Geezer passa bien dans les studios, pour visiblement écouter le groupe jouer.  Est-ce que  Gordon Copley était présent dans les studios ?       Black Sabbath ? ?53 ? ? ? to ? ? ? (according to Jeff Fenholt source)   JEFF FENHOLT-TONY IOMMI–ERIC SINGER - GORDON COPLEY–GEOFF NICHOLLS Vocals -Guitar – Drum – Bass – Keyboards   Just after the coming of Geezer Butler in studio. Jeff’s source = Gordon Copley on bass.         Black Sabbath ? ?54  ? ? ? ? to May 1985 –according to Jeff Fenholt-   JEFF FENHOLT - TONY IOMMI – GEOFF NICHOLLS Vocals – Guitar – Keyboards   Jeff Fenholt : ‘ Gordon and Eric were not asked to return to the studio. Tony and I continued in the studio often at times accompanied by Geoff Nicholls on keyboards I am not certain of this point, but I think Bobby Clearmountain was running the boards. Whoever it was, quit because of all  night sessions and the many, many times Tony and I didn’t show up as scheduled. During this time, Don Arden informed Tony that this needed to be a Black Sabbath project not a solo pproject’ (NSD book page 132)   Eric Singer : ‘I was always involved from the beginning. Gordon Copley went with Lita to Hawaii to write and removed himself from the project. Dave Spitz was then brought in and did all the Cherokee bass tracks except on ‘Stranger to love’. (NSD book page 132)   ‘Jeff Fenholt sang on some demos for Tony Iommi in 85 in LA. He was never in Black Sabbath. Tony was looking for a singer for what was supposed to be his "Solo" album. Jeff came down and sang some ideas in the studio for what were simply demos. That project became the "Seventh Star" album with Glenn Hughes on vocals. (and my first album) That's pretty much all there is to the story. Jeff had a great voice but it just didn't work out" - Eric Singer (from his website)   This line-up is not sure ! That’s just from Jeff words. Selon Jeff Fenholt, ce dernier resta uniquement avec Iommi & Nicholls pour composer en studio avec Bobby Clearmountain aux manettes de la table de mixage.  A ce moment Don Arden informerait Tony qu’il avait besoin d’un projet pour Black Sabbath et non pour un album solo.  A noter que Jeff travailla avec le grp ‘Armagedon’ avec Gary Driscoll & Craig Gruber. Jeff sera remplacé dans ce groupe par David Donato ! Fenholt joua également dans le grp solo : ‘Rondinelli’ !   First of all, with regard to my “never overstating my involvement with Sabbath”, --- Is the inference that I have overstated my position simply by not going into an in-depth expose every time their name comes up? Several things have occurred, leading to this chain of events. I received Jesus as my Lord in 1979, but because I had been so screwed up, it took me six years to get grounded in my faith. Black Sabbath called me in December of 1984 and asked me to consider getting together. I waited two weeks before I would even meet or have dinner with Tony. I finally got together with him, and after he assured me that I could write all lyrics, I accepted. At the time, I thought that perhaps the Lord wanted me in that arena. As it turns out, I was wrong. We broke camp for Christmas. We reconvened in early January. I spent quite a bit of time and energy working in The Cherokee Recording Studio with Tony, which spanned approximately a six month period.   Artistic styles vary. My style is to start with a melody and build a composition from that point with the vocal being dominant. Tony’s style, as I saw it at the time, was to throw down guitarriffs and chords and build it from there. This method, viable as it is, did not work for me. Because of Tony’s position as original guitarist and founding member of the band, I tried to assimilate to his style. But again, this method did not work for me. Therein lies the artistic differences. I admired Tony’s talent and liked him personally. As much as I wanted this union to work, I realized we were foundering and wanted to call in my friend , Jeff Glixman, to help. By now, it was May of 1985.   Tony indicated to me that he had never heard of Glixman, but he agreed to meet with him. I called my manager friend, Larry Mazar, and asked him to call Jeff Glixman and get him to fly into LA to get together with Tony and me in the hope of helping us sort out our differences and go on to complete the album. I admired Glix’s talent tremendously and liked him personally. Glixman came in at my request and began working on the album. When he saw that Tony and I were having major differences, Glixman sided with Tony. I was decidedly discouraged. To further add to our problems, I had refused to sing some of the lyrics that Tony had wanted me to sing, because they went against the grain of my personal faith. When I saw that I now had two major players with opposing views to mine, I walked. I was asked to come back to the studio several times and I refused. Don Arden’s son called me and asked me to come to his office. He was upset and wanted to know if there was any way for Tony and me to mend our differences, at which time I told him, “No”. I mentioned to him that I had been asked to tour stadiums in South and Central America and that I was leaving straight away. He then informed me that they were going on with the project without me. Apparently, Jeff Glixman immediately called Glenn Hughes, who happens to be a friend of mine, and asked him to join them in the studio. The rest is history. With regard to Dave Spitz, I don’t know him. I assume he came in later and threw down his bass, blowing the bass player we had used off of the album. Eric Singer is a great guy, and I love him. I don’t have anything but fond memories of him. Beyond that, he is an incredible drummer.   As I was preparing to stand up in Ascension, Paraguay at the soccer stadium, to sing for the first time for the Lord, I was a nervous wreck. I had never done anything like this before. The man who introduced me to the crowd took it upon himself, unbeknownst to me, to introduce me as the former original lead of “Jesus Christ Superstar”, and then went on to say, “Jeff Fenholt has just left Black Sabbath and has decided to sing for the Lord”. It had never crossed my mind to mention Black Sabbath in my resume. I walked out, shaking, and sang for the crowd. The audience response that night was overwhelming. Quite frankly, I was shocked, both at the turnout and at the reaction. This continued throughout South America, and later on in Central America. Excerpts of these taped concerts were played, again, unbeknownst to me prior to airing them, on a Christian network throughout the United States. Inquiring minds wanted to know!   Because of the fact that I have been well known in “Jesus Christ Superstar” and on the cover of “Time” magazine, etc., I continue to receive quite a bit of attention from the public at large. After South America, it was my intention to share in my testimony, from time to time, how, in fact, I had decided to pursue Christian concerts. The time that I spent with Black Sabbath was highly significant in my coming to a decision to serve the Lord. When Tony came out in the press saying that he had never heard of me, I was being called a liar, a fraud and just about everything but a Ruben sandwich. I had two choices, given this scenario; either to tuck my tail between my legs and sort of “fade” away or stand up and tell the truth. I chose the latter.   In the “swirl” that ensued, Black Sabbath received a tremendous amount of publicity throughout the world, which they appeared to embrace with glee. Tony went on MTV and called me names. Their head of promotion from IRS Records, told me on the phone that he couldn’t believe the amount of PR that was going out. On a personal note, I was shocked at Tony’s apparent insensitivity toward me. The “Larry King Live” Show called me and asked if I would appear with Tony and Cardinal John O’Connor. They called me back and said that Tony had refused to appear once he found out that I had accepted. The show was subsequently canceled. We could have set the record straight, right then and there, had Tony agreed to appear. You say that you would like for me to set the record straight, concerning Black Sabbath. I have done this over and over again, but this story seems to have a life of its own. I ask that you understand that I am and will continue to be contacted for interviews, appearances, etc., over and over again. It would be impossible for me to go into depth about Black Sabbath each and every time that I am in the public eye, and quite frankly, the topic almost never comes up. What would you recommend?   To answer your next question, yes, I do, in fact, consider myself a musician, composer and singer, and one of my favorite mediums has been and will remain rock and roll. I am working on a new album as we speak, that is a futuristic return to my roots. I am NOT against all rock and roll. I have, however, stated that “if a musician’s heart belongs to the devil, so will his music”. Conversely, if his heart belongs to the Lord, etc. I am not a fan of groups who espouse Satanism and spiritual darkness. Satan is my enemy. Jesus is my Lord. If I have been interpreted to “bad-mouth” rock music at large, I must say that that has never been my intention. For that, I am sorry. As an artist, I admire all talent. Tony Iommi has been gifted of God with an awesome talent. In my opinion, he is probably the most amazing heavy rock guitarist in the world. Even with our differences, I always liked Tony. At this point in my life, I would welcome the opportunity to have a private sit-down with Tony to mend fences. In response to your last comment, you say that I need to make changes concerning all this. What would you suggest? Please stay in touch. God bless, Jeff     End of Part 01   Click here for second part:      http://black-sabbath.oldiblog.com/?page=lastarticle&id=2077972

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