During a conversation with Gibson, Tony Iommi looked back on the early days and his first meeting with Ozzy.
He said:
“I was in a band with [classic Black Sabbath drummer] Bill Ward, Mythology [from January to July of 1968]. When we broke up we came back to Birmingham [from Carlisle, England], and we decided that we wanted to stick together and form a band together.
“We went into the music shop in Birmingham and there was an advert saying, ‘Ozzy Zig requires gig.’ And I said to Bill, ‘I know an Ozzy, but it can’t be him; he can’t sing.’
“I didn’t even think he could sing or anything. So anyway, sure enough, we go around to his house, we followed the advert, knocked on the door; his mom came to the door, and we said, ‘We’ve come about the advert.’
“And she said, ‘John, it’s for you!’ So he comes up, and I’m seeing him walk up the hall, I said to Bill, ‘Forget it, forget it! I’ll tell you later…’ [Laughs]
“So, anyway, we talked to him for a bit, and then we left and never made any decisions or anything. And then two days later, Ozzy came around to my house, because I lived not that far from where he lived.
“We all lived in the same sort of area, so he came around with Geezer [Butler, bass] to my house. And we had a shop – my mother and brother’s shop at that point – so they came around and said, ‘Do you know any drummers?’ I said, ‘Yeah, Bill’s a drummer.’
“And Bill said, ‘I’m not doing anything unless we go together.’ I said, ‘We’re sticking together.’ So we decided to get together and give it a go, and what a rally it was.”