Gaudere’s Law strikes again?
ISWYDT 
Agree about Bill Ward. He was vastly underappreciated by fans, I think. I love the drum bridge on “Supernaut”…nothing outrageous or showy, but definitely something different for such a heavy song.
Even worse, the other guys in the band treated him with contempt.
I had no idea about that. I’ve seen several interviews with drummers who rated him as one of the best heavy rock drummers. I would agree.
Oh yeah, I had at least one drummer who viewed Ward as his drum hero, and he’s certainly a favorite of my current drummer.
Huge formative influence on my youth, for better or worse. Hooked me immediately. Never saw him live though.
What surprises me is how Christian so many of their songs were. After Forever is straight up “repent sinner or else.” War Pigs says that the generals are evil satanists who wil suffer at the hands of the lord. Even the songs about Satan present him as a terrifying malevolent figure to be avoided at all costs. I’m not saying they were a Christian band because, obviously, they weren’t. Just that it comes up in their early songs a surprising amount.
RIP Ozzy.
Ozzy flipped an ATV filming for his tv show. Landed on top of him. He suffered from neck problems for years.
I remember watching the accident. He wasn’t driving reckless. The ATV wheel hit a hole in the ground.
RIP
Extra sad because my late brother and I went to see him in concert in 2010.
What a charming positive lyric, who sings that?
The Prince of Darkness.
RIP you crazy bugger.
Pat Boone on Facebook:
I am stunned. I can’t believe that my former next-door neighbor and good friend has passed suddenly. When he and Sharon and the kids lived next-door to me for a couple of years, we weren’t rock stars comparing careers – we were just friends and neighbors getting along just fine. I was amazed when Sharon picked my version of Ozzy‘s “Crazy Train” as the opening theme of their hugely successful reality TV show. Others may celebrate his incredible rocking style and hard rock music – but I’ll always remember his warm friendliness as my next-door neighbor. God bless you, Ozzy.
That’s all Geezer.
Geezer’s biography is a good read. He wasn’t super religious, and questioned everything. But he was raised Roman Catholic. (So was Tony.) And it influenced his lyrics.
I was also raised RC. And, for better or worse, the things that were instilled in me will stay with me until I die. I assume the same is true for Geezer and anyone else raised in a Catholic family.
As I mentioned in a previous post, the “brains” behind Sabbath were mainly Geezer and Tony. I don’t mean this with any disrespect, but Ozzy just sang the lyrics written by Geezer; he didn’t write anything as far as I know. But he did an incredible job at it.
You know, when I watch an interview with “great” singers like Dio and Halford, it all makes sense, since the singer comes across as intelligent and well-versed in music. When I watch videos of Ozzy - and I mean this with all due respect, again - I don’t get the… same impression, if you know what I mean. None-the-less, he was still so good at singing.
Ozzy was good at performing - which made him an awesome front man. And by all accounts, scary stage presence aside, outside of performing he was a kind, decent human being. He took those songs and really brought them to life.
I have a 2 degrees of separation story abut Ozzy.
About 20 years ago, I was in a jazz combo, playiing string bass. Mike put the band together. He was primarily a rock guitarist who wanted to explore the old jazz standards. Mike walked on crutches, having suffered from bone cancer in his pelvis region. Despite this, he was a guitar god and could probably have become a rock star if not for his disability.
While Mike was in the hospital, Ozzy came to town. Mike had really wanted to go to the autograph session and have Ozzy sign his album Diary of a Madman. His sister volunteered to go. She stood in line, got to meet Ozzy, and told him about Mike. Ozzy asked which hospital he was in, and called him up! “Hello Mike, I hear you’re a bit under the weather, mate.”
What a class act! RIP Ozzy.
Ozzy Osbourne, Hulk Hogan, Chuck Mangione, George Kooymans… Quite a cluster.
Has anybody checked on Zamfir? I’m not sure why, but that seems like it would complete a set.
He’s still with us.
I’m tempted to say “that blows”. But I always kind of liked Zamfir. 