Several subjects touched upon in this interview, among them the fact that Black Sabbath was paid a lot for their concert at the California Jam. In 2024 it is the equivalent of $2,500,000. There is no doubt about the fact that they were a HUGE band at this point. They were trying to evolve musically, but the album mentioned in this article was not as well received as they hoped for. And it would soon be a time of transition for the band as Ozzy would leave the band after this tour, only to return for the next album and then leave “for good”.
Read on!
`Technical` knock-out
The new Black Sabbath album has given `em a new lease of life, says battling Tony Iommi.
Steve Rosen rolls with the punches.
TONY IOMMI walked into the Hollywood Holiday Inn dining room like some living zombie. One wondered, actually, why the Warner Bros. publicist had set up an interview at 10 am. With the hectic schedules most rock artists followed, it’s likely that few of them ever rose before noon. And the Black Sabbath guitarist was living (or almost) proof that such an hour did not meet this approval.
Hair disheveled, eyes squinting, and speech reduced to grunts and moans, Iommi looked quite surprised to see this SOUNDS writer approaching his breakfast table. He had not been informed of the interview and in fact had only been to bed a few hours earlier because of a flight delay into Los Angeles. But above all else Tony is quite a human being and gladly consented to chew the fat while chewing his eggs.
No one in the restaurant knew who this fellow was. Though his English accent caused some raised eyebrows, for the most part everybody looked on him as just another British gentleman over for vacation. Little did they realize that this tall and dark looking Englishman had sold millions of records worldwide, had flown 6,000 miles from England to Ontario California, to play an 1 1/2 hour show at the California Jam and had been paid nearly $500,000.
Iommi’s presence in Los Angeles this time was to work out the new show for the recently released ‘Technical Ecstasy’ (Sabbath’s eighth album). As well as a new album and stage show, the band is under new management — themselves. This was a move which had taken considerable thought but the band finally agreed that their knowledge of the business was such that it would be beneficial.
So the past months have been spent in contract negotiations with the record company and then recording the album in Miami. Six weeks of recording and mixing in Florida (at Criteria studios where Clapton, Stills, and others have worked), back to England, and then out to Los Angeles to finalise commitments. The main reason for bringing in this self-sufficient system was to give the band more control over the music (which included areas of package design, single selection, and re-packaging). Tony, after removing a heavy cardigan sweater and revealing a Property of Playboy ‘Photography t-shirt explained the situation.
“We can now make sure everything is mixed right, cut right, and we won’t have any more ‘We Sold Our Souls For Rock and Roll’ to contend with. We didn’t even know they were going to put that out and if we had we would have used different tracks as well as new mixes. The first thing we knew of it we were playing in England and suddenly we heard it was out.”
Technical Ecstasy, on the other hand, was a prescribed album. It was only the second band album to be recorded outside of England (Volume 4 was done in Los Angeles) and in fact was recorded in the wrong studio. “There are three studios at Criteria and we booked the wrong bloomin’ one” says Tony, passing the ketchup to new Sabbath keyboardist Gerald Woodruffe. Woodruffe is the only change in the band since its inception in 1967. His work on Ecstasy is supplemental in nature and the new synthesized wheezings are nice and so long as he remains in a back-up role there should be little problem with his being accepted by the Sabbath fans.
“Yeah, Gerald makes all the noise on the albums now. It’s better with Gerald now because it gives me more chance to play guitar”, Tony admitted, looking out of the restaurant window which presented what was to be yet another smoggy day in Hollywood. “It gives me more chance to play solo parts instead of chords all the time.”
Woodruffe does play on every track but the old Sabbath feel and attack is intact. In fact, Iommi regards Technical Ecstasy as possibly the best album the band has ever recorded. Finished with breakfast, the guitarist returned upstairs, moving anonymously among the guests. Once in his room, which was relatively orderly as star rooms go (opened suitcases, bed unmade, clothes strewn about), he interrupted the talk to play a tape of a new band he was producing. Called Bandylegs (the name may change) they bear resemblance to Sabbath and under the tutorage of Iommi should develop quickly. Still, the cassette could not be played to maximum effect as the batteries were on the tired side and at times the tape sounded as if it were being played under water. Iommi, disgusted and amused at the whole situation, tossed the machine on to the far bed.
PERSONALLY I like Ecstasy. We got very involved with it, saw it all the way through. Most people that have heard it thought it was a big step from Sabotage and a lot of people say its totally different from anything we’ve done before. I think it’s probably the type of album you have to listen to a few times before you really get into it. I don’t think it’s sort of an instant thing.”
Certainly one track on the album requires more than one listening. ‘It’s Alright’ is the first recorded song drummer Bill Ward has ever sung — though when the band first formed he was in fact the, group’s singer.
“Bill hasn’t sang for years… as you can tell Bill and myself did this number a long time ago, we went in the studio and done it. This must have been four years ago; we put it down but then we just scrapped it. We decided to re-record it again in Miami and it came out differently. Bill and I… ” continued Tony, the thought cut short by a telephone call.
“Hello, fire department”, he answered. As it turned out the call was from a hardcore fan who had just called 163 Holiday Inns across the country looking for the band. This particular caller had spoken with Tony before and had driven from town to town (many of them separated by hundreds of miles) following the group on its most recent tour. This was the type of devotion Sabbath had bred and still does. Tony is certain they still attract the old fans but is sure they forge new ones at every show they play. “You know, the younger people will come — the same age as me. Seventeen and eighteen!”
While Tony (as well as the rest of the band) may be perpetual jokesters, in the studio he is dead serious. On previous albums he really never went in and worked on the guitar sound; he would just go in, turn it on, and if the sound was satisfactory, let it pass. But on Ecstasy he became far more involved in the playing, due in part to Woodruffe’s presence. It allows him more freedom to play and experiment with sounds. Tony knew what kind of guitar sound he wanted and achieved it.
“I think my technique is changing, my style of playing is changing. I’m getting more freedom in it and I know how I want to play it; where before I was playing a lot of double notes and chords and maintaining the depth and not concentrating as much on my solos.”
ALL THIS talk about guitars and playing had stirred up Iommi`s musical blood and he wanted to go visiting guitar shops. Being a frequenter of the stores, this writer took Tony to a small place called Sol Betnun’s, a shop just a short Hollywood Boulevard ride away. The shop was not very crowded though the few patrons there did recognise Tony instantly.
Upon his return to the hotel he was scheduled for a rehearsal with the band. The band were rehearsing regularly this time out as they really wanted to get out and show America they were capable of such things as evocative lighting and dramatic sound.
“I’d say things with Sabbath are better than they’ve ever been really, because the band are really coming out to fight this time. You know in the past we’ve had all these various hangups, management things and all the rest of the junk, but it’s like a new lease of life with this album. It’s really been a thing where we’ve all got involved in it and got behind it.” At which point the phone rang again and never one to mis-cue Tony answered: “Bible school.”
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