Earth - Pre Black Sabbath Demos 1969 Ozzy Iommi Butler Ward

192 covers included
there are 2 version of almost everysong, the source is different, I think

sound quality is OK



01. The Rebel (02:46)
02. When I Came Down (01:58)
03. Thomas James (08:29)
04. Early One Morning Blues (04:43)

John "Ozzy" Osbourne - Vocals (THE MUSIC MACHINE, THE APPROACH, RARE BREED, EARTH, POLKA TULK BLUES BAND, OZZY OSBOURNE)
Tony Iommi - Guitar (THE PURSUERS, THE ROCKIN' CHEVROLETS, THE REST, MYTHOLOGY, EARTH, VELVET FOGG, POLKA TULK BLUES BAND, JETHRO TULL, IOMMI, HEAVEN & HELL)
Terry "Geezer" Butler - Bass (EARTH, POLKA TULK BLUES BAND, OZZY OSBOURNE, G//Z/R, HEAVEN & HELL)
Bill Ward - Drums (THE REST, MYTHOLOGY, EARTH, POLKA TULK BLUES BAND, BILL WARD BAND)

Norman Haines - Keyboards on "The Rebel" (THE BRUMBEATS, LOCOMOTIVE, AVALANGE, THE SACRIFICE, NORMAN HAINES BAND, CARIB BLUE)
Jim Simpson - Trumpet on "Thomas James" (BLUESHOUNDS, KANSAS CITY SEVEN & LOCOMOTIVE)

In August 1969 BLACK SABBATH's manager Jim Simpson suggested that the band record 'The Rebel',
a song written by Norman Haines (of the NORMAN HAINES BAND & LOCOMOTIVE).
The session for "The Rebel", took place at Trident Studios in London.
Haines also took part in this session, playing organ and piano.
Two months later, the band recorded yet another Haines composition called 'When I Came Down'.
"When I Came Down" was recorded at Zella Studios in Birmingham in October.
The song is short but boasts strong vocals.
It begins with a bluesy, pentatonic riff and although the guitar gets rather lost in the mix,
the overall feel approximates to a slower take on "Evil Woman".
According to Iommi, "We didn't write those songs.
They were written by a chap named Norman Haines.
At the time we were managed by Jim Simpson, who was a local Birmingham guy.
He insisted that we record these songs. We just wanted to play, so we recorded them.
We wanted to write our own songs and make our own record, but this was just an initial effort.
We had never been in a recording studio in our lives before that."
The third song here is a lengthy jazz influenced instrumental called "Thomas James",
which features Simpson on trumpet, trading licks with Iommi,
which eventually slows into a trademark SABBATH doom-laden rifftastic finale.
It is unknown exactly when and where this was recorded,
but it's likely that it's an outtake from one of the two known 1969 sessions.
Final song, "Early One Morning Blues", sounds like it comes from a rehearsal tape
rather than an official demo session, and as the title suggests it's a blues romp with
lashings of fine fret mangling courtesy of Iommi.
These songs represent the birth of BLACK SABBATH, the secret first steps,
enjoy this peek into the murky past.

"'The Rebel' is without a doubt one of the most sought-after BLACK SABBATH songs ever recorded. Although a small fragment of this very un-SABBATH like song can be heard on 'The Black Sabbath Story Volume 1' video, most fans have never heard this still-unreleased 1969 demo. Although there really isn't any substitute for actually hearing the song yourselves, I've written this article in hopes of illuminating this mystery track until that times come.

"Is it an EARTH or BLACK SABBATH demo? One of the most frequently asked questions about 'The Rebel' is whether the song could be considered as an EARTH demo. Although the actual acetate credits the recording to BLACK SABBATH, the song was recorded during a transitional period. It has been alleged in several recent BLACK SABBATH biographies that the band decided upon changing their name from EARTH to BLACK SABBATH while they were on route to The Star Club in Hamburg in early August 1969. To avoid the inevitable confusion arising from this sudden change, the band performed many prior bookings as EARTH. In fact, their final gig as EARTH was performed in Kilcaldy, Scotland just one day after recording 'The Rebel'.

"The recording session for 'The Rebel' took place at Trident Studios in St. AnneΓΓé¼Γäós Court in Soho, which was an 8-track facility at the time. Overseeing the session was Gus Dudgeon, who had also worked with LOCOMOTIVE and would later produce albums for ELTON JOHN and DAVID BOWIE. The band was less than impressed with Gus, who kept using LOCOMOTIVE as the benchmark for anything they did. It was than that engineer Rodger Bain was offered his first chance to produce a recordΓΓ鼪and the rest is history.

"The band had just returned from a German tour to begin rehearsing. Manager Jim Simpson suggested that they record 'The Rebel', a song that was written by Norman Haines. Norman played keyboards in Jim's band LOCOMOTIVE. Haines also took part in this session, playing organ and piano. Two months later, the band recorded yet another Haines composition called 'When I Come Down', which was retitled 'When I Came Down' for the SABBATH version. The band weren't pleased with either of these songs, but went along with the sessions so their manager would have something to shop to the record labels. Neither song represented the heavy rock direction they were already formulating OR their EARTH-y blues based roots."