Before there was Black Sabbath there was Earth. The precursor band to the legendary heavy metal band fronted by Ozzy Osbourne will get its time to shine on July 25 when a collection of demos recorded in 1969 will be issued as Earth: The Legendary Lost Tapes. The first-time release of the early songs from Osbourne, guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward and bassist Geezer Butler as Earth is due out July 25 on Big Bear Records, the Birmingham blues/jazz label founded by the band’s first manager, Jim Simpson.
The four men who first joined forces in 1968 as the Polka Tulk Blues Band before briefly trying on Earth to record a number of demos in 1969 that were never released. They soon adopted their more familiar name, the one they will be billed as at what is being called the group’s final-ever concert on Saturday (July 5) in their hometown of Manchester.
According to the NME, original manager Simpson has overseen the project. “Before Black Sabbath, the band were known as Earth – a blues-driven powerhouse already making a name for themselves,” Simpson said in a release. “This new release presents rare early recordings from that era, remastered from long-lost tapes. These recordings clearly demonstrate what fine music they produced right from the very beginning. We recorded these tracks at Zella Studio in Birmingham in 1969, but held back from releasing them as their style was evolving so quickly.”
The magazine reported that it does not appear as if the band is involved with the release and at press time a spokesperson for Osbourne had not returned a request for comment. “Now, some 57 years later, the recordings assume a greater importance, illustrating how these four young men from Birmingham, barely out of their teens, were excellent musicians and a fine band, fully deserving of all the success that was to come their way,” Simpson continued.
Sabbath released their self-titled debut album in 1970, along with the classic LP Paranoid.
Ahead of their big all-star “Back to the Beginning” farewell concert next weekend in Birmingham’s Villa Park, the band was given freedom of the city honors from their hometown, with all four men presented with scrolls and medals by the town’s Lord Mayor at a private ceremony on Saturday (June 28) recognizing their significance, according to NME.
Butler called Birmingham a “great working-class city” during the ceremony, joking that people used to make fun of their accents in the early days. “We weren’t given a chance when we started out, but Birmingham has always been behind us,” he said.
Osbourne’s manager, wife Sharon Osbourne, revealed earlier this month that she had removed an unnamed band from the lineup of the final show after a dispute with the band’s manager that she said made her feel “the worst way I’ve felt in years.” Sabbath’s final gig will find them sharing the stage with Metallica, Mastodon, Anthrax, Pantera, Halestorm, Lamb of God, Mastodon, Alice in Chains, Gojira, Slayer and a supergroup featuring members of Guns N’ Roses, the Smashing Pumpkins, Limp Bizkit, Judas Priest, Rage Against the Machine and others.
Sabbath shared a candid snap from rehearsals last week in which Ward, Butler and Osbourne were caught smiling and waving at the camera from a couch. Osbourne has not performed a full show since 2018 as a result of a number of surgeries and a diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease that has kept the 76-year-old metal legend off the stage for nearly seven years. Ozzy has said that he’s been in intensive training for the show, which he recently announced will be livestreamed for fans who can’t make it.
