Black Sabbath Mk I was originally called Polka Tulk, then Earth, and finally Black Sabbath. Keyboard duties were uncredited during this era. Before Sabbath, Bloody Sabbath it's generally unknown who played keyboards, although I've heard some stories that Tony Iommi played keyboards on Volume 4's Changes. Rick Wakeman played on Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, and Jeff Woodruffe played after that until the end of the Technical Ecstasy Tour. The trials and tribulations of the original lineup are well documented (so well that a lot of people mistakenly believe that Sabbath ended in 1979), so I won't repeat them here. However, I'll list some of the more notable things here.

Before the band recorded their first album, and after they had taken the moniker of Black Sabbath, Tony Iommi quit the band briefly to play with Jethro Tull. He only lasted 2 weeks, and came back to Sabbath. During his time in Tull, he did play live once, and a recording of this exists on the Archangel bootleg, and on the Rolling Stones "Rock & Roll Circus" video (it appears that it really wasn't Tony "playing", he was just miming). The musical contributions of the original lineup of Black Sabbath to the music world are legendary. The albums they produced during this time still hold up with today's music, and should be required listening for everyone who has a CD player. :)

Ozzy left in 1977 after personal problems. During this time, ex Fleetwood Mac member Dave Walker replaced Ozzy. This version of the band never recorded, but work did begin on Never Say Die during this time. This lineup did play live once, that being in January 1978 on the BBC Midlands 'Look Here!' programme; a version of Junior's Eyes exists with this band (with very different lyrics from the final version).

Ozzy returned to finish the recording of Never Say Die, and sang on the subsequent tour. However, Ozzy's performance was sporadic. Geezer & Tony say (on the Sabbath Story Vol 2 Vid) that Ozzy would refuse to sing some of the material already in place for this album, and as such, there was an instrumental where there originally was not planned to be. In addition the final track on the album was sung by Bill Ward (because Ozzy refused).

The last date on the Never Say Die tour was December 11, 1978, and Ronnie Dio didn't come on board until around March 1979, so sometime in early 1979 is when Ozzy was "fired".

Depending on who you talk to, Ozzy was either fired, asked to leave, or just quit. There's too many conflicting stories about his departure. Also, for a brief time before Dio joined the band, Geezer left. During that time, Geoff Nicholls (ex-Quartz) was brought in to play bass, but when Geezer returned, Geoff moved over to keyboards, and has been there ever since. Also, at some point during Geezer's departure, Craig Gruber (ex-Rainbow) was "used" (source was an interview with Tony Iommi that is on this web site). How much input or what Craig did is unknown. There was also an unfounded rumour that Craig Gruber actually plays bass on the Heaven & Hell album, and it's not Geezer Butler.

The band actually got on well, and the inclusion of Ronnie James Dio seemed to respark what had become a lazy, tired band. However, it wasn't to last all that long, unfortunately - although we did get a totally spectacular album out of this version of the band.

One other thing. Geoff Nicholls is credited with keyboards on everything Black Sabbath releases from this point onwards. However, he's rarely ever actually listed as an "official" member of the band. 

Bill Ward left the tour in August, right before a Hawaii gig, for a couple of reasons. His drinking and depression are his publicly stated claims (source was the Sabbath Story Vol 2 video). Bill had also lost both his parents in a short period of time not long before this. The tour was postponed until a replacement could be brought in. Bill's replacement was ex-Axis drummer Vinny Appice. Vinny finishes the Heaven & Hell tour, and records the following album Mob Rules, as well as plays the entire tour for that, which was recorded for the Dec 82 release, Live Evil. Ronnie & Vinny leave to form Dio at the end of 1982. Again, depending on who you talk to, it's a different story as to why they left. Seems it boils down to personalities. There is also the publicly stated claim of Ronnie "sneaking into the studio to mix up the vocals, and the bass and drums down". Around the time of the Dehumanizer album, the guys say that this claim was "never exactly true".

On a personal note, it was around this time that I discovered Black Sabbath. It was during 1982 when I saw the cover art for Mob Rules in a magazine, thought it was kick ass, and went to the record store to buy it. Heard theng riff for Turn up the Night, and I was hooked forever!

After a short search, Ian Gillan of Deep Purple is brought in for vocals, and Bill Ward is also brought back to play drums. Some years later, Ian Gillan states the only reason he did Sabbath was money. There were interviews given over the years that seem to indicate that this lineup of the band was put together over some drinks in a pub, and then when they sobered up, it was like "Oh shit - we have to do this". 

Also, there was a story about the hideous album cover for Born Again - Sabbath were being managed by Don Arden (Sharon's dad) at the time, and word has it that he had the cover drawn up, knowing it was bad, and sent it to the band (because he didn't give a shit about Sabbath). However, Tony liked it, and picked it. Don't know how true that story is, though.

Unfortunately, Sabbath seems to have forgotten this era, which is a shame, as Born Again was an excellent album. The only post Born Again tour to have any material from Born Again was the Seventh Star tour, when they played a few bars from Zero the Hero.

Bev Bevan is brought in to replace Bill Ward for the Born Again Tour. Bill's general health and well being was still not up to par, and he was not able to tour with the band. Bev is also from Birmingham, and grew up around Sabbath. This is the tour that featured the Spinal-Tap spoofed Stonehenge stage. This lineup lasted the entire tour, but not long after it. Ian does some great renditions of Sabbath classics on stage - he has a wonderful scream for the song Black Sabbath, as well as Iron Man.

On tour, Black Sabbath was playing the Purple staple Smoke on the Water as the first encore song. There was a rumour that Sabbath was going to play ELO's Evil Woman on tour, but to my knowledge, it never happened.

At the end of the Born Again tour, Ian Gillan leaves to go reform Deep Purple. Ian's stated reason at the end of the Born Again tour was "vocal problems", but the fact that he immediately did the Purple gig tends to discount that. Bev also splits, to go work on the ELO II project. During this time, Bill Ward comes back yet again, and the search is on again for a new singer. For a brief time, Dave Donato is brought in on vocals. Dave apparently gives a very horrible interview in Kerrang, and is fired because of it. There is also an unconfirmed rumour that LA Metal front man Ron Keel was a vocalist. After this time, feeling disgusted, Geezer Butler leaves 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 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. At this time Bill Ward left as well, but not much is known about what he did during this time. Sabbath is more or less put on ice at this time until Iommi is forced by record company pressure to make his 86 solo album a Sabbath album.

After the mid 84 attempt to bring another singer into the band (Donato, Keel, etc..) the band more or less "breaks up". There was never an official announcement of a disbanding or a breakup, but this is the opinion that some fans have. Geezer Butler has said in interviews that he was "sick of it all" and left. Bill Ward was still having some problems getting himself straightened out (on a personal level), and spent most of this time of his life musically inactive. 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". This led us to what happened in 1985/1986...

The original Black Sabbath reunites for one day in July 1985 for the Live Aid Festival to fight hunger in Africa. Black Sabbath played in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at the JFK Memorial Stadium. They came on around 10AM or so, and played three tracks. There was some talk of an original Black Sabbath Reunion immediately after this, but it fell apart very quickly.

At some point during the summer of 1985, Tony Iommi began work on a solo album, and bought in Glenn Hughes to handle vocals, and Dave Spitz replaced Gordon Copley (assuming he was ever really a member in the first place), who went out on the road with Lita Ford. Eric Singer also came over from the Lita Ford band, but Eric stayed with Tony & Sabbath. This album was originally intended to be an Iommi solo album, but record company pressure forced it to come out under the Black Sabbath banner, but the band was officially called Black Sabbath Featuring Tony Iommi. This is another album that was excellent, but very much underrated. The only time other than the Seventh Star tour (and a one shot charity benefit appearance in 1988) that any material from this album was played was on the Tyr tour in 1990, when they played one verse of Heart Like a Wheel.

After about 5 or 6 dates into the Seventh Star tour, Ray Gillen replaced Glenn Hughes. Again, depending on whom you talk to, there are conflicting reports as to why Glenn was fired. Stories range from drug and alcohol abuse, to a rumour about his vocal cords being damaged in a fist fight right before the first gig of the tour, or to the publicly stated claim of "inability to properly sing Sabbath classics live" This is partially backed up by the bootleg I have of Glenn in Detroit where he completely butchers War Pigs. Ray was a friend of Dave Spitz's, and literally went from a New Jersey bar band to Black Sabbath. Ray finishes the tour, and is around for the recording of the next album, The Eternal Idol, but leaves the band before it's finished.

Somewhere in 1987, the "revolving door" personnel changes begin. I thought I had a handle on all the permeations of the group, but in late November 1997, I found this picture on the web. This is the band as it appeared in the Sun City show they did during 1987. My goal is to sit down with either Tony Iommi or Geoff Nichols, and straighten this mess out once and for all. 1987 is the most confusing year in the band history, and I want to portray an accurate lineup listing. This picture really threw me for a loop. I'm still going to go with what I've been able to piece together over the years. I was originally under the impression that Terry Chimes didn't come into the picture until after the recording of the Eternal Idol album finished, but that may not be true. I'm confused!.

From this point on is what I believed to be the 1987 story until I saw the Sun City picture. It's mostly right, I think the Sun City gigs were a one shot version of the band, and the rest of this is correct.

During production for the Eternal Idol album, Ray Gillen leaves the band, because he felt Sabbath wasn't going anywhere, as well as his feeling that the band didn't really have any future. (Foolish opinion, if you ask me) Of course, with an album not completed, and the lead vocalist gone, the vocals had to be redone, hence the appearance of Tony Martin. Actually, Tony Martin was considered for the position in 1986, but he was already in a band at the time (The Misha Calvin Band). Tony Martin has said that one small bit of Ray's vocals was left on the released version of Eternal Idol, that being some laughter on the track "Nightmare".

This version of Black Sabbath was only together for the (short) Eternal Idol tour. The final date of the tour was to be December 28, 1987 at the Hammersmith, but it was cancelled; Sabbath never played the UK or the US for this album. Burt stepped in only for the Eternal Idol tour that ended in late December. Terry Chimes stuck around for a bit longer, (see next entry) but this version of the band was never intended to continue beyond the Eternal Idol tour.

Now, my guess is that the Sun City thing could have been in between the finishing of the recording of Eternal Idol, and the short European tour, and that Bob Daisley didn't want to go there, hence the one off reappearance of Dave Spitz, but this is pure speculation on my part. I'd really love to get all of this Spring/Summer/Fall 1987 Black Sabbath history ironed out. I do know that a few people who were there at the time have seen my site, and this page.

Not a whole lot is known about what was happening during Early 1988. This is generally considered downtime for the band. Again, Sabbath never disbanded, it was just "on ice". At some point during this time, Tony Iommi signs a new record deal with IRS Records, and Sabbath is not on Warner Bros for the first time since 1970.

During the summer of 1988, the two Tonys hook up with Cozy Powell and start writing for what will become Headless Cross. The album was actually recorded from August to November of 1988. During this time, Sabbath is told by Gloria Butler that Geezer was going to join the band again. Laurence Cottle was really only around for the recording of the album, he wasn't here the whole time. Sabbath waits until April 89 for Geezer, but since Geezer went and joined Ozzy's band, Neil Murray is brought in on the eve of the album's release. The release of Headless Cross also marked the first time since 1970 that Black Sabbath changed record labels.

This version of Black Sabbath toured for the entire Headless Cross album, and then recorded Tyr. The band toured for Tyr, but the tour was never completed. The tour had a few surprises, that being that Ian Gillan, Geezer Butler, & Brian May made appearances during a few gigs. There was a planned US Tour, but it was cancelled. I was annoyed about that, I wanted to see them. Towards the end of the tour, there are rumors that Geezer Butler and Ronnie James Dio might be rejoining the band.

Both the Headless Cross & Tyr tours did awesome in Europe - but failed miserably in the United States, with the Tyr shows never making it across the pond. Damn shame, as this version of the band was probably the tightest the band had been since their early 70's heyday. 

The Great Reunion of 1992 responsible for Dehumanizer. Probably the most important Black Sabbath record in years. This album proves they can still kick ass with the best of today's rock. Most underrated song on here is Computer God. The lyrics just rule beyond belief. Anyway, the band says (before they tour, during recording), that they were childish in the way they behaved in the early 80's, and that they promise to keep the egos out of the band.

These two dates were at the end of the Dehumanizer tour. Ozzy was saying that his 92 tour was to be his last, and he wanted to play with Black Sabbath to "end his career". Ronnie James Dio stated that he didn't think Black Sabbath should have tofor anyone, not the least of which was their own former lead singer, Ozzy. Dio refuses to do these shows, so Rob Halford (Judas Priest, Fight), a friend of the band steps in for these two dates. Tony Martin was to perform at these two shows, but he was in Europe at the time, and could not get a work visa to come to the states and sing for Sabbath. The band (with Halford) does a Rockline interview on November 16, 1992, so Halford hung around for a bit more than just the two dates, but it was never intended to continue on with Halford as lead vocalist beyond these dates.

On the second night of Ozzy's two night stand in Costa Mesa, CA, the original Black Sabbath reunited and played four tracks. One of these tracks (Black Sabbath) is commercially available on Ozzy's "Live & Loud" videotape. The other three are not (ahem) commercially available.

After this, there was to be an official Black Sabbath Mk I Reunion. According to all involved, it was really going to happen. Some time went by, and the Sabbath camp (Tony/Geezer) decided that they'd start working on a new album at this time because (in their words in an interview at the time) they knew what Ozzy was like, and they figured they might as well start working on a new album without him, since the reunion would fall through. Iommi has said in interviews that it was all a done deal, and the contracts were sent to Ozzy, and Ozzy just didn't sign them and send 'em back. Simple as that, as far as Sabbath's concerned. Ozzy paints a more distorted picture, but it seems to be the same story.

Immediately after the Costa Mesa gigs, Ronnie & Vinny leave Sabbath again to go re-form Dio. After Iommi & Butler realize that the Ozzy Reunion talks were breaking down, Tony Martin rejoins the band, and Bobby Rondinelli joins to record Cross Purposes. The album was actually released in January of 1994, and would have been out sooner, but the album release was held up because of the delays in resolving the (almost) Ozzy reunion of 1993. This version of Black Sabbath lasts the entire tour, until the absolute end when Bobby Rondinelli leaves the band. Finally, after 14 years in the band, Geoff Nicholls is recognized as an official member of the band, but he's still pushed offstage on tours.

Bill Ward suffered a mild heart attack (while in Europe for tour rehearsals) and was taken to the hospital. His doctors told him he was not allowed to fly for 6 weeks, and this forced him off the Black Sabbath European tour 1998. Vinny Appice was flown in from the States to take his place. The tour was fairly uneventful (except for Bill's health problems).

During the short tour in England with Vinny Appice, Bill Ward recovers from his heart attack. His doctors pronounced him fit again, so he started working out at home in California for the tour starting in December with his own drummer from the Bill Ward Band.

On October 20th, Reunion was released. To commemorate this, a short in-store record signing took place in 8 cities in the USA. Black Sabbath (Tony/Ozzy/Geezer/Bill) turned up for a few hours in each store to sign copies of Reunion (and a few other things). These things were total fiasco mob scenes, with many thousands of people turning up in each city to try and get an autograph. Of course, not everyone could, and those who couldn't were disappointed. Most record stores had set a policy where you had to buy the album from them to get a pass which (officially, anyway) "guaranteed" that you'd get in to get an autograph. I heard stories where people with passes still didn't. Oh well. There were several rumours at the time that Sabbath were going to play secret club gigs; these turned out to be false. The only live appearance made by Sabbath during this time was an appearance on the David Letterman show (where they played Paranoid). 

Following this, a few radio station appearances followed, which were really promo things for Reunion. After that, everyone went back home, and in early December of 1998, rehearsals started for the 1999 Reunion Tour to kick off New Year's Eve in Phoenix, Arizona USA. During the tour, there were two dates postponed (Salt Lake City & Denver) due to some illness problems (mainly flu) in the band at the time. Vinny Appice was brought along on the tour as a backup, just in case Bill "can't handle it". Vinny's drum kit is set up every night on stage behind Bill's. However the tour (which is still ongoing as I write this) is going well, Vinny doesn't appear to be needed, as Bill is playing quite fine. The only "disappointments" heard about the tour were the fact that the set list wasn't varied, it concentrated too much on one album (Master of Reality), and that they didn't play their new song, Psycho Man. Still, the tour received great reviews and accolades wherever it went.

There were some health problems for Oz, though. IN the middle of the tour, he developed a throat nodule, and several shows had to be postponed. The tour started up again, but had to stop again, due to continuing throat problems by Oz. Towards the end, some cities ended up being postponed more than once, and a about half a dozen were cancelled with no replacements. Still, for those that did see the tour, it was something to behold.

In April of 1999, it was announced that Black Sabbath would be headlining this year's Ozzfest, and it's being billed by Sharon's people as "The Last Supper" - the final appearance of Black Sabbath. Hopefully Oz will hold up this time around, and Vinny is not being brought along on tow. :)

This tour had it's own problems - most of which were related to Oz' throat again. The Ozzfest came off OK, but some other "Black Sabbath only" gigs happened in the fall, and then the band had a few months off until December, when it came time to play "The final gigs". Two shows were played again at the NEC in Birmingham, England, and these are supposed to be the final ever ever ever gigs for Black Sabbath. Of course, no one believes that for a second. Did anyone believe Oz when he said he'd retire in 1992? Did anyone believe David Bowie the four times he said he was retiring? I wouldn't bet on this, either. For a complete itinerary of 1999 shows, check out the 1999 tour date page.

BLACK SABBATH IN 2000

Not much happened in 2000 at all. In December 1999, Sabbath played two live gigs in Birmingham, which were billed as their "final ever gigs" (I don't believe that). In 2000, the band was more or less inactive. Everyone worked on solo projects, with Tony Iommi actually releasing his after many attempts.

There was one appearance of the band in 2000. In late June, there was a "weenie roast" held at KROQ radio in Los Angeles. Several bands were there - Ozzy was scheduled to play, but he brought along Tony, Geezer, & Bill. Sabbath was supposed to play just three songs, but Tony's amp blew out in one of them, and Sabbath only actually played two. There was supposed to be a second "secret gig" also in late June, but it didn't happen.

BLACK SABBATH IN 2001

That takes us to 2001. What's planned? Well, if you had asked me this in January, I'd say nothing. However, in early February it was announced that Black Sabbath will be headlining the Ozzfest 2001 festival, starting in June. 

Just remember - never EVER EVER believe it when a rock and roll person says they are retiring. It's always a lie.