Into the Void - Geezer Butler

 Of course, I've been a Black Sabbath fan since first hearing their doom-laden heaviness in the 70's (I think it was Master of Reality that I first heard) and continue to listen to them regularly to this day. Besides laying down the bass foundation for the tunes, Geezer also wrote or co-wrote many of their songs. Here he tells his own tale, although I sure wish he had picked a more flattering photo that represented the band's earlier days, rather than this horrible 80's metal pic! But, that's just me!

The obligatory childhood memories are not vastly different than other working class Brits around his age and, of course, the coming of the Beatles (and then the Kinks) changed his life, as they did with so many other kids around the world. Starting on guitar, he eventually moved to bass when his various projects eventually morphed into the lineup that we know as Black Sabbath.

Of course, the early days are always fascinating, with tales of Ozzy as a complete loon, Tony as domineering, and gigs with uninterested or even violent audiences. Interestingly, Geezer credited Holst's The Planets for the idea for their first original, also called "Black Sabbath" (which is what they named the band after once they realized that there was a pop band called Earth playing the same circuit). Funny how many 60's/70's musicians were impressed/influenced by that suite. Guess I have to give it a listen! Geezer says that his lyrics came from a combination of his chronic depression, his dreams (he would dream lyrics and basslines, apparently!) and supernatural occurrences that he would experience - not to mention the volatile politics of the time.

After the first album was surprisingly successful (although they had a shit contract, if they had one at all), they toured and worked on Paranoid on a farm in the middle of nowhere. Geez talks about his lyrical inspiration and claims that "Iron Man" is about Jesus Christ! Wow! I don't see it at all, but that's his story! (And he credits Ozzy for "Fairies Wear Boots" which is about skinheads and their Doc Martens!) Tony through together the title track at the last minute because they needed a little extra time on the album and, naturally, that became their biggest hit! Things were movin' fast'n'furious by now and the next couple of albums'n'tours just flew by. Of course, these are their best and most iconic, so there is something to be said for creating while you are young, hungry, eager and high!

But, the drugs - cocaine, especially - did start taking it's toll and while they were at the top of their game financially (even though Vol. 4 - how have I not written about that record?! -was not as successful as their previous records, but it's a personal fave), their creativity took a quick nose (pardon the expression) dive. From there, the drugs, personal issues, in fighting and more caused the chaos and instability of the rest of their career.

When Ozzy left the band, the rest of the guys kinda floundered but had some success with Ronnie Dio as singer, but no one stayed long, so there were multiple singers (even Ian Gillian for a short time), various drummers (they booted Bill due to alcoholism and instability) and even Geezer left (though he would occasionally return), leaving just Tony to carry on the name. Geezer would do some solo work and also played with Ozzy's band off'n'on, while there would also be the one-off reunion shows.

Eventually, they all decided that they were old enough and it was time to call it quits and so they have retired the band and Geezer is just a homebody now. Like the pre-music, early days, the post-retirement days, talking about watching soccer and his kids and grandkids, is not all that compelling and went on a bit long, but glad that hey, it's nice that he ended up in a decent space.

Good read, overall, lots of fun, weird, bizarre, depressing stories of rock'n'roll, fame, physical and mental health issues, addictions and more. Fans will certainly want to check it out!