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On the 55th anniversary of “Paranoid”, original Black Sabbath singer / lyricist the late Ozzy Osbourne has fond memories of those days when he and his mates from the working-class neighborhood Aston decided to ditch their trendy blues music, cut the band down from a 6-piece to four, and started doing what Ozzy characterizes in this classic rock interview as “spooky music”.
Selecting the fifty songs over the twenty-one studio offerings for the “50 for 50” massive undertaking proved a challenge for Ian Anderson to curate, not simply for fan expectations. If there ever was a lyrical wordsmith who learned his songwriting trade in the widescreen cinematic tradition of the album format, and who is ill-suited for the one-song You Tube world he found himself in fifty years hence, it would be Ian Anderson.
Widely viewed along with Bob Dylan, The Byrds, and Gram Parsons as fathers of the Americana musical movement, The Band also may have been one of rock’s first alternative groups. In part one of this classic rock interview, main songwriter Robbie Robertson (“The Weight”,”The Night They Drove Ol’Dixie Down”,”Up on Cripple Creek”,”The Shape I’m In”) helps me make that case on the 55th anniversary of “Stage Fright”.
Queensryche co-founder/ composer/guitarist Chris DeGarmo and former singer/ songwriter Geoff Tate may be gone now ( the former pilots corporate jets, the latter heads the band Operation Mindcrime ), but they tell the story of the blockbuster four million-seller “Empire” and the amazing songs “Best I Can”, “Jet City Woman”,”Della Brown”,” Resistance”,”Hand on Heart”, even a live performance from London’s Hammersmith Odeon just weeks after “Empire” ’s 1990 release.
Imagine Styx playing your high school prom absolutely nailing The Who’s “I Can See for Miles”, Blind Faith’s “Can’t Find My Way Home”, Humble Pie’s “I Don’t Need No Doctor”, the improbable “A Salty Dog” from Procol Harum, and simply the most spectacular live version of “I Am the Walrus” ever recorded with my guests Tommy Shaw, JY, and Lawrence Gowan exploring “The Big Bang Theory” 20th anniversary by Styx.
By August 1970 when The Moody Blues released “A Question of Balance”, the only thing that rivaled their prolific musical output was their supernova of fame. Moody Blues mainstays Justin Hayward, John Lodge, and the late drummer Graeme Edge all walk the tightrope of rock history here In the Studio with my classic rock interview about the #1 UK-seller, #3 US “A Question of Balance”.
The World Premiere radio interview special in July 1980 for the Lynyrd Skynyrd survivors’ highly-anticipated ( and highly emotional ) return as the Rossington Collins Band on “Anytime, Any Place, Anywhere”.
By September 1972 and “Vol. 4”, the world into which the Birmingham England band Black Sabbath quickly rose to popularity felt increasingly like a dangerous place…Original lead singer/ lyricist Ozzy Osborne is my guest In the Studio for “Vol. 4”.
Rock Hall Snubs: Ozzy Osbourne
Ten years prior to the release of “No More Tears” in September 1991, Ozzy Osbourne couldn’t get arrested outside England. Particularly in America, the former singer for heavy metal godfathers Black Sabbath was perceived by US record label execs as damaged goods…Then for the whole of the Eighties, Ozzy was constantly in the press, but rarely was it for his music. Ozzy admits here In the Studio that “No More Tears” was the first album he ever recorded sober, and the results were spectacular.