Black Sabbath guitar master Tony Iommi remembered the band’s not-so-glorious early live shows, telling Classic Rock Magazine:
“How we got from those days to what the band eventually became, I’m really not sure.
“We would play places where nobody was interested. Or we’d turn up and people would think that we were playing pop, when of course we weren’t.
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“I recall a gig at a place called the Toe Bar in Egremont and this bloke shouted out: ‘Your singer’s crap!’ That was really embarrassing.
“Of course, we improved as the years went by, but we certainly had to teach people – and ourselves – about what we were doing, because it was so different. It was a very steep learning curve.”
Remembering his now-legendary finger-chopping incident, Tony said:
“I lost the tips of two fingers in an accident on the day that I was due to leave my job in a sheet metal factory to turn professional.
“I was only 17 years old, and the doctors told me there was no point in trying to continue playing the guitar. But I wouldn’t give up and eventually I found a way.
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“All through my life I’ve had that same attitude. If band members left, then I never gave up. You find somebody else and you carry on. And eventually of course we all came back together.”
Focusing on his almighty riffs, Iommi noted:
“I’ve no idea where those riffs come from. I’m just grateful that they do.
“They come out of the air; I don’t sit down and work them out. They just arrive. It’s all very strange. I can sit down and two or three different riffs will come along in 10 minutes.
“Some of them will be crap but most are usable. I’m useless at most other things, but if there’s one thing I can do in life then it’s write riffs.”