In contrast to the mythology that was to continue to grow around the band, the reality was that the four teenagers from Aston were starving.Playing every two-bit gig they could, they quickly realised that ´Black Sabbath´was the number that solicited the most gonzoid response in what was an otherwise blues-based set.
Heading to Hamburg´s legendary Star club for a legendary residence ( during which they broke the attendance recored previously held bu The Beatles), and then to Zurich´s Herschen club, the band used ´Black Sabbath´ as a blueprint for the sound they´d started to develop. Playing seven three-quarter of an hour sets per night in Zurich, Sabbath´s jam-led sets spawned most of the tracks on the band´s debut album including N.I.B.( written about Ward´s pointed, nib-like beard, as opposed to anything darker suggested by interpreted titles such as ´Nativity in Black´), along with the likes of ´War pigs´(included on the band´s second album, ´Paranoid´).
None of Black Sabbath remember singing a recording deal. “maybe we did but that would have been over a pint…or in my case several pints, “ nods Bill.
Managed by local Birmingham svengali, Jim Simpson, they´d signed an agreement with a company named Tonu Hall enterprises( a type of A&R agency) that brokered the band a deal with the progressive label of the moment, Vertigo, in December of 69.
On their way to europe to play a set of shows in Denmark, they were informed that they had to stop off at London´s regent sound studios to spend two days recording their debut album with rookie in- house engineer Roger Bain.
“We were so excited, “ states Tony. “We couldn´t believe we had two ays to d oit. We basically played the songs through once, the way we did our live set.”
“It was so straight forward because we didn´t know you could do things like overdubs or anything like that.” adds Geezer. “Most of the tracks were done in one take. Than we got on the ferry to Europe.”
With an advance of £1000, the album cost £600 to record leaving each band member with the princely sum of £100. “That just about covered the debts we owned everyone, then we were skit again!”
Spookily released on 13 February 19970 to world-wide critical disdain.´Black Sabbath´featuredsuitably eerie artwork with cloaked woman standing in front of medieval building. The sleeve matched the doom- filled tunes and heavier-than-thou attitude it contained. To Geezer Butler´s dismay, the label had also decided to place an inverted cross on the inside sleeve. “After what I´d been through, I couldn´t believe it when I saw it, but it was too late to change it, “ he shrungs.
Bizarrely enough the album entered the UK charts at- you guesses it!- Number 13, peaking at 8 and remainging in the Top 75 for over five months.
“We didn´t expect anything like that. We wern´t hip and we couldn´t even get a gig in London, “ continues Geezre. “we were playing Carlisle, Scotland and Wales all the time.