It was the last shift for the young welder at the Summer Lane factory, who was leaving to try and make his fortune as a professional musician. As he went to cut a piece of metal, the guillotine came crashing down on his right hand, slicing off the tips of his middle and right fingers. I sat in the hospital with my hand in this bag and I thought 'that's it - I'm finished'.
There must be a way I can play'. He went home and fashioned new fingertips out of an old Fairy Liquid bottle - "melted it down, got a hot soldering iron and shaped it like a finger" - and cut sections from a leather jacket to cover his new homemade prosthetic.
I often say to him, 'how do you know when you're touching the strings? The bleak, factory-laden streets of Aston, where Osbourne, Iommi, Butler and Ward grew up just a few roads apart, also had an impact on Sabbath's haunting sound and ominous lyrics. The working-class suburb hadn't benefitted from post-war regeneration in the way Birmingham city centre had, just a couple of miles away.
Iommi and Butler worked in factories after leaving school, Ward delivered coal and Osbourne, after stints in a slaughterhouse and car plant, turned his hand to burglary. Music was an escape for the teenagers. It was the chance sighting of a small, oddly-written note in a Birmingham music shop - 'Ozzy Zig needs a gig' - that brought the four together. It was spotted by Iommi and Ward, who were looking for a singer after leaving "a band people could fight to".
We talked for a bit and then we left. A few days later, Osbourne and Butler went round to the Iommi family's grocery shop in Aston, saying they were looking for a drummer. Calling themselves Earth, they started out playing blues, before turning their attention to writing their own material.
Butler recalls: "It was always the hippy, happy stuff on the radio and there were we, in Aston, having to go to work in factories. We didn't want to write happy pop songs. We gave that industrial feeling to it. And it was Butler and Iommi's love of horror films that gave the group its signature, stirring sound. There was nothing like what we were doing. We'd taken on something because we believed in it, and loved what we were doing. In the Metal Hammer interview, Ozzy also discusses his upcoming No More Tours 2 outing, his year career and much more.
The issue is at newsstands now. As we previously reported, the Prince of Darkness was forced to postpone the first four dates of his European tour after coming down with the flu. The announcement was made by Judas Priest, who are set to open for Ozzy on the outing, which was scheduled to kick off tomorrow Jan. The Dublin, Nottingham, Manchester and Newcastle shows will be rescheduled at a later date. I used to play on bombsites. Decision making is not a strong point for me. I have real problems with that.
The Beatles are my favourite band. He was lovely to me. I tell you what I am scared of… rats. I was so pleased I grew up after the war. I am a bit of a hypochondriac.
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