Unknown 1968 to January 1969

 Ozzy Osbourne - Vocals

 Tony Iommi - Guitar
 Geezer Butler - Bass
 Bill Ward - Drums

 Tony Iommi & Bill Ward were in a band called Mythology (which played it's last gig on Sat
Jul 13, 1968, and whose picture is above to the left), and Geezer Butler with Ozzy were in
a band called Rare Breed. 

 Long story short, these groups broke up and the lads hooked up in 1968 to form a new band
called The Polka Tulk Blues Band.  (Might have also been called The Polka Tulk Electric
Blues Band, but I'm not sure on that.)   There was also a short period where the band was a
six piece in August 1968, with two other guys in the group playing a slide guitar (Jimmy
Phillips), and another playing a saxophone (Alan "Aker" Clarke).  This variant didn't last
long, something like 2-3 gigs only.  Shortly after that, Tony Iommi went and had a stint in
Jethro Tull (pictured above).  He only lasted 2 weeks, and came back to Sabbath. During his
time in Tull, he did "play live" once, and a recording of this exists on the Archangel bootleg,
and on the Rolling Stones "Rock & Roll Circus" video (however, it really wasn't Tony
"playing", he was just miming).  Also for shits and giggles above is a picture of Tony Iommi
from a mid 60's band he was in called "The Rockin' Chevrolets".

 Anyway, during this time of the band's history, they had a few names before Black
Sabbath.  They were known as the Polka Tulk Blues Band, then just Polka Tulk, and the
name that most people tend to associate them with in the 60's, Earth (I've also read about
another variant, "The Earth Blues Band").  Sabbath played a lot of blues back then, and did
the club circuit thing while touring as Earth.  That led to one of the most well known
stories from this era..  Apparently, there was another band touring England with the name
of Earth as well, and that led to a club booking Earth (the Black Sabbath one) when they
meant to book the other band, which played music that was NOTHING like our lads play. 
Led to a very confused band and audience.  It was from that gig that led the band to
change their name to something that would definitely NOT be confused with something
else, hence the name Black Sabbath was born. 

 Legend has it that Geezer Butler picked the name of the band after seeing it on a movie
theatre marquee, thinking it sounded doomy & gloomy - that kind of thing.  (I'm
paraphrasing there).  Seems to have worked, given the following they've had over the
years.

I - January 1969 to September 1977

 Ozzy Osbourne - Vocals

 Tony Iommi - Guitar, Keyboards
 Geezer Butler - Bass
 Bill Ward - Drums
 Rick Wakeman - Keyboards (not a full member of band)
 Jezz Woodroffe - Keyboards (not a full member of band)
(Official) albums from this lineup:

 Black Sabbath
 Paranoid
 Master of Reality
 Volume 4
 Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
 Sabotage
 We Sold Our Soul for Rock & Roll
 Technical Ecstasy
 Past Lives
 Symptom of the Universe: The Original Black Sabbath 1970-1978
 Black Box: The Complete Original Black Sabbath 1970-1978

Keyboard duties were uncredited during this era. Before Sabbath, Bloody Sabbath it's generally
unknown who played keyboards, although I've heard some stories that Tony Iommi played keyboards
on Volume 4's Changes. Rick Wakeman played on Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, and Jezz Woodroffe
played after that (from May 1975) until the end of the Technical Ecstasy Tour. The trials and
tribulations of the original lineup are well documented (so well that a lot of people mistakenly
believe that Sabbath ended in 1979), so I won't repeat them here.   However, I'll list some of the
more notable things here.

The musical contributions of the original lineup of Black Sabbath to the music world are legendary.
The albums they produced during this time still hold up with today's music, and should be required
listening for everyone who has a CD player. :)

Additionally, There were a few demos recorded in 1969 that have yet to surface (completely) in the
collector's circles. They are "A Song for Jim", "The Rebel", and "When I Came Down".   Short samples
of the first two of these are on the Sabbath Story Volume 1 & 2 videos.  Do you have the full
versions? I want to hear from you.  Now.   I've also heard through the grapevine that the album that
we all know as Sabbath's "first album" (aka Black Sabbath) isn't really their first album, that they
recorded an album before that (which is where Rebel & Song for Jim come from), but it was
jettisoned.  However, until I can actually get some concrete proof, I'm not ready to revise the
discography.  :)  Also in 2005, an alternate version of the first Black Sabbath album turned up in
collector's circles.  It doesn't have any new songs, but does have some alternate takes of various
songs, and is an interesting footnote in Sabbath history.

Yes, I know there's not a lot

written about the original Black
Sabbath on this page, but hey -
that story has been told over and
over again - I don't really need to
recant my version of it here, I
think.  You're better off checking
out the book "How Black Was Our
Sabbath" by David Tangye & Gram
Wright.  It's by far one of the best
accountings of the 60's/70's era
Black Sabbath that I've ever read.
(US/UK order links).  I'd also check
out Martin Popoff's book, "Doom Let Loose" (US/UK order links).  Both awesome tomes on this part
of the band's history.

Recently, I was forwarded an email message from Jezz Woodroffe, keyboardist for the Technical
Ecstasy album and tour.  Here's what Jezz had to say about his time in the band...

"I joined Sabbath as keyboard player in May 1975, and my place was to recreate the overdubs from
all the previous albums. I did not record anything with the band until the Technical Ecstasy album,
which I actually wrote about half of the music for! You will notice that in the reissues my name has
been erased from all the credits I do not know why.  I think it is a legal issue, but I do not mind as
it was such a long time ago. I always got on well with all the band I especially was fond of Bill as he
was such a kind and caring person.

http://www.black-sabbath.com/books.html

There are only a handful of archetypes: Elvis as the "Rock Star," the Beatles as "The
Standard," Led Zeppelin as "The Gods," Dylan as "The Bard," the Rolling Stones as "The Bad
Boys," Joni Mitchell as "The Woman," the Velvet Underground as "Alternative," Big Star as
the "Should Have Been Huge," Nick Drake as the "The Fallen Angel," and a few others. And
then there's Black Sabbath, "The Lords of Doom."

It could be argued that Sabbath had an effect on every artist that followed them. They were
the first to define an aesthetic based around darkness and heaviness. This had only
happened in flashes from Iron Butterfly, Blue Cheer, Cream, Hendrix, Pink Floyd, and
Zeppelin. Those artists each took turns skimming the Void; Sabbath went into it. Sabbath
were one of the first artists to break as a huge success with minimal support from their label,
suggesting to future labels and artists that massive marketing expenditures were not as
essential for success as resonance with "the people." And then there was the sound:
downtuned, tritoned, and stacked. The downtuning was a semi-result of a freak factory
injury that severed the tips of guitarist, Tony Iommi's, fingers. Downtuning, or loosening, the
guitar strings helped him to reduce the pain of playing. The "tritone" was a chord or note
sequence that, in Medieval times, was thought to be evil and to conjure the devil. What was
nifty was that the tritone could be incorporated so smoothly into the blues scales that were
already prevalent throughout the rock scene and in the band's music when they performed as
Earth, prior to rechristening themselves Black Sabbath. And the stacking refers only partially
to the crushing volume and "warm" sound amplification provided by their distinctive Orange
amplifiers. The stacking I'm talking about is better discussed by Joe Carducci and refers to
having the bass and guitar play the same line on top of each other, essentially doubling-up
and filling out the riff to ever more massive effect. For solos and vocal parts, the bass and
guitar could separate again, leaving space for atmosphere, building tension, and setting the
stage for the cathartic rush of when the stacked riff would drop yet again, igniting some
primal, chemical surge, often best expressed physically in head banging.

Compared to Pink Floyd and some of the artists I will look at in the future, it is easy to find
bands who sound influenced by, similar to, or connected by essence to Sabbath. Basically,
Sabbath's core sound is really simple: downtuned, minor-key, blues-derived riffs, with tons
of tritone progressions, wailing vocals, and a hard-hitting, swinging rhythm section. The
songs are usually composed as rough suites of one or two riff sections, a jam/solo section,
and out.

As simple as the formula is, very few bands get it right, even when they're consciously trying
to imitate Sabbath. The most frequent fault is not realizing how loose, swinging, and groovy
the Sabbath rhythm section is. Without that, the sound can become stiff, leaden, stultifying
and, ultimately, boring. Truly, no one doing the Sabbath style is ever going to do it "better"
than Sabbath. So, rather than exclusively recommend bands that sound most like Sabbath, I
generally lean to recommending bands who are steeped in one or elements of Sabbath's
essence and then take it to unexplored regions.

[Just a quick side-note that I should have brought this up in the Pink Floyd piece because it
is so crucial to the guidance/discovery game: do you recommend based on who sounds most
similar to the core artist or do you try to lead a reader to take the "next step"? With several
slots to work with, I can do a little bit of both]:

So, before we dive into the recs, let's break Sabbath down to its essentials, its core, defining
traits.

Essence: As with all of what we call "Metal," it's about conjuring strength and power
through the heroic and/or the foreboding. In Sabbath's case, the emphasis is clearly on the
foreboding part. The thinking behind the love of the foreboding, or "doom," is that the
acknowledgement of impending doom feels better than being hit by it unexpectedly or than
trying to deny it. Negative x negative = positive. Then again, it might just be an awesome
chemical reaction that the riffs set off.

Means: Downtuned guitars, minor-key riffs, recurring "tritones," stacked guitar/bass

playing, high, wailing vocals, swinging rhythm section.

Special Sauce: They did the riffs first and freshest--and most melodic. Great chemistry.
Underrated grooviness.
Who I have in Pockit Rockit and why:

Budgie: Second tier, but beloved in the UK and covered by Metallica.

A Welsh band and one of the surprisingly few bands to play close to the actual Sabbath style
in the early 70s (most hard/heavy bands at the time sounded more like Led Zeppelin or
Grand Funk Railroad). They had minor-key guitar riffs and the high wailing vocals. But when
you actually listen to them next to Sabbath, it's clear that the bands are in different leagues:
Sabbath had thicker guitar sound, more swing, and better musicianship. However, Budgie
are widely beloved in the UK and one of their songs, an uptempo number called "Breadfan,"
was covered by Metallica, so I felt I would be remiss if I didn't give them their place on the
Sabbath list. Squawk is probably their most enduring, and most Sabbath-like, piece.

Candlemass: Took doomy Sabbath sound into neo-classical and operatic realms.

Here's one of those "next step" bands I was talking about. The Sabbath doominess is all over
the place, downtuned guitar, minor-keys, tritones, the whole nine. However, these Swedes
also add some neo-classical guitar mastery, giving a sound that moves Sabbath's earthiness
closer to the grandeur of Mussorgsky. But Candlemass' true trademarks are the bellowing,
magisterial, bombastic, operatic vocals of Messiah Marcolin. If there were any questions
about the separation from the blues, the vocals obliterate them. As Priest and Maiden did
with traditional Metal, Candlemass were probably the first to separate Doom Metal from the
blues. Nightfall is their best.

Cathedral: 90s Sabbath flag-bearers, label builders and scene stalwarts.

Often cited as the major flag-bearer of the Sabbath sound in the 90s, especially in the UK. I
don't want to diss Cathedral since they have been consummate professionals, really working
to build a scene and support many artists. Tons of respect. However, their music has always
fallen flat to me. The riffs sound generic, their vaunted groove feels more pedestrian than
swinging, and the gruff vocals are limited an unappealing. But that could just be me. They're
huge and respected in the scene so check 'em out.

Electric Wizard: Rawer, heavier, screamier, and much more wasted take on Sabbath.

Widely touted for a while in the doom underground for their gargantuan, drug wasted, post-
Sabbath sound, I started having my doubts after seeing them in a dreadfully pathetic live
show. Still, much of their recorded output is impressive, if you want the Sabbath rawness,
but even rawer, heavier, thicker, screamier, more drugged-out. Dopethrone is yours. If you
still want the Sabbath melodicism, look elsewhere.

Eyehategod: Nasty, heroin-fueled vibe but with heavy, melodic riffs and great swing.

Every bit as wasted as Electric Wizard, and probably on worse drugs. Despite the New
Orleans scum and needle vibe, what Eyehategod really get right (especially on their best
album, Take As Needed For Pain) is the melodicism and the deep grooviness of their riffs.
Yes, the vocals are wretched, anguished screaming (not a completely bad thing in this band's
context) and the production (not to mention the lyrics) is nasty as a crack addict squatter's
bunghole, they know what makes riffs kick and what makes them move. Hugely revered and
influential in the early 90s underground.

Melvins: An idiosyncratic amalgam of the history of hard/heavy rock.

They synthesized so many different strains of heavy rock history into their sound that they
could be placed almost everywhere and nowhere. In truth, they're much screwier than
Sabbath, with unpredictable song structures, some consisting of one riff (or digital silence),
others bouncing around several. Some are glacial and massive, some are tight and peppy. But
they love heavy rock profoundly, as do most fans of Sabbath. That love cuts through the
perceived differences and should result in many fans of both bands. Bullhead shows them at
their heavy, idiosyncratic, best, with no screwing around.

Penance: Straight-forward, classy doom with excellent musicianship, strong vocals and
melodic riffs.

A good example of idolatry done well. All that you could want in the Sabbath sound, with a
bit of 90s updating: lowered, yet still clean, vocals, stronger musicianship, and melodic
influences that draw from classic, traditional metal. Consistently solid, butParallel
Corners was their breakthrough.

Pentagram: The closest thing there was to a second Black Sabbath in the early 70s.

If I had to name one band that sounds most similar to prime-era Sabbath, it would be
Pentagram. Coming up with a similar sound at almost the exact same time, but in Baltimore
rather than Birmingham, this is your band if you are looking for the Sabbath sound. Go with
the excellent comp of early stuff, First Daze Here. With consistently high quality riffs, songs,
and doomy vocals from Bobby Liebling, the major place Pentagram comes up short next to
Sabbath is with their comparatively stiff rhythm section.

Saint Vitus: Unpolished, with a touch of punk amateurishness that many find endearing.

Ozzy had been officially out of Sabbath for six years (eight, unofficially) when Saint Vitus
released its first album in LA in 1984. The New Wave of British Heavy Metal had done its
thing, Def Leppard and Motley Crue had started doing their thing, Metallica and Slayer had
started doing theirs. Sabbath was as ancient history as the Druids. Except Saint Vitus wasn't
going to accept that, as their album title, Born Too Late, laid bare. They, as well as Chicago's
Trouble, still worshipped the old gods throughout the 80s, despite the radical
unfashionability of that stance. Personally, a lot of their stuff sounds like underproduced,
slightly amateurish Sabbath, but those qualities can be very endearing to the right ears.

Sleep: Made the Sabbath sound even more monolithic and psychedelic.

Building off of some of the momentum built by Eyehategod, Sleep probably did more to
bring Sabbath into the 90s than any other band, short of Sabbath's reunion, itself. Despite
not selling particularly well during their career (probably due to limited touring and drug-
related issues), their stature has only become more legendary as time has gone on. Sleep
somehow managed to make Sabbath even heavier and more monolithic than it ever was,
while also blowing out the psychedelic elements that were sometimes more suggested than
truly explored in Sabbath. All this, while still maintaining that ever-elusive, swinging groove.
Of course, as things got heavier and heavier and more and more psychedelic (by the time of
their swan song, Jerusalem), melody tended to disappear into the cannabis haze, but this
may deepen the trance. Start with Holy Mountain.

Solitude Aeturnus: Brought elements of progressive rock to post-Sabbath doom.

If Candlemass brought neo-classical elements to Sabbath, Solitude Aeturnus brought

progressive rock elements to the doom sound. Featuring some of the best musicianship and
strongest vocals in doom metal, SA were able to stay doomy while also attaining a level of
dynamics and complexity that few others in the style could match. Some might say that you
don't need chops in doom. Maybe not, but it makes for highly engaging listening. For those
coming from a more Maiden/Fates Warning direction, this would be a doom band to check
out. Beyond the Crimson Horizon shows them at their prog-doom best.

Trouble: Very melodic doom, with psychedelic pop and thrash touches.

Of the very few 80s bands carrying the Sabbath flag, Trouble is probably my favorite. They
were easily Saint Vitus' equal in the heaviness department, but because of their better skills,
they could gallop as well as crawl. Trouble's songs were consistently well put-together, highly
melodic and memorable, as their influences ranged from straight doom to psychedelic pop to
thrash. A great, important, and underappreciated band in the history of metal. Start with the
Rick Rubin-produced, self-titled,Trouble.

Some bands I deliberately did not choose:

Blue Oyster Cult: despite the black magic imagery and occasional heaviness, their music was
really not particularly heavy. Solid classic rock with some heavy moments, but not nearly
enough to be a relevent comparison to Sabbath.

Obsessed: Important band in 80s doom scene, but I see them as kind of a more straight-
forward, biker Saint Vitus. That, plus the common presence of Wino would have made their
inclusion redundant.

Sir Lord Baltimore: Early entry to the US heavy rock pantheon. Some genuinely heavy
moments, but also a lot of weak tracks. Lastly, their heaviness probably has more in common
with, say, Mountain, than with Sabbath.

Bang: Another frequently-cited, early heavy rock band. The vocals are not dissimilar to
Ozzy's but, as with Sir Lord Baltimore, I think consistent quality is lacking. Also, the drums
are mixed very weakly, diminishing much of the potential power of their first (and best)
album.

Orange Goblin/Alabama Thunderpussy: Both are high quality bands, especially live. Both
could have been chosen for the list. However, both bands' reliance on boogie rhythms
(which, admitedly, Sabbath used on occasion) gives them a feel that deviates just enough
from any kind of doom to put them in a slightly different category. Taking this application to
an extreme would be someone like Fu Manchu who, despite having many heavy riffs (some
even semi-Sabbath-derived), give off a totally different vibe due to their rhythms, vocals,
song structures, etc

http://pockitrockit.blogspot.com/2007/03/if-you-like-black-sabbath-youll-like.html