There are a lot of things you might not know about Black Sabbath. From starting out as a blues band named after Ozzy Osbourne‘s mom’s preferred brand of talcum powder (the Polka Tulk Blues Band) to Tony Iommi blowing up zillionaire Richard Branson‘s prized carp with explosives to tomes of Ozzy stories, the Birmingham, U.K.-born heavy metal forefathers are steeped in lore. One thing that often gets overlooked, though, is just how funky Black Sabbath is.
Since there was no blueprint for a heavy metal band when Ozzy, Tony, Geezer Butler, and Bill Ward first came together in 1968, they all came from unique musical backgrounds. When Sabbath started gigging under the name Earth in the late ’60s, Ozzy was known to belt out a cover of Eddie Floyd‘s “Knock on Wood” (the band even had a saxophonist in the beginning). Of course, they were all steeped in American blues legends Willie Dixon, John Lee Hooker, Lightnin’ Hopkins, and Howlin’ Wolf, but also favored more uptempo R&B legends Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett, and Sam & Dave. That admiration came full circle in 2019 when Sabbath was awarded a Grammy Lifetime Achievement award alongside Sam & Dave and psych-funk architects George Clinton & Parliament-Funkadelic.
Like many guitar greats, Tony Iommi found major inspiration in prolific Belgian jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt. Beyond Reinhardt’s groundbreaking gypsy-jazz style, the 1930s guitarist showed what was still possible even after an accident left him with use of only two fingers on his fretting hand, similarly to how Iommi lost the tips of his middle and ring fingers on his fretting hand on his last day of work in a sheet metal factory. For his part, Butler brought a literary influence to Sabbath—whether by way of his early education learning Shakespeare or his later fascination with Aleister Crowley that would influence the band’s lyrics for decades.
Drummer Bill Ward brought in some of the most diverse influences, having been raised on big-band jazz greats Buddy Rich and Gene Krupa. Ward’s jazz influence on Sabbath was there from the very beginning, just listen to the high-hat intro to “Wicked World” from the band’s landmark 1970 debut.
Black Sabbath — “Wicked World”
So, what does any of this have to do with Black Sabbath being funky? Just like how the motorized sound of Detroit’s Motown set the frame for early funk, so too did the heavy machinery factories in Birmingham for heavy metal. The biggest similarity between the two styles is a strong emphasis on bass guitar. While making his last solo album Patient Number 9, Ozzy shared with producer Andrew Watt the secret of what makes a song “heavy.”
“He said to me, ‘When you listen to Sabbath or Zeppelin, what’s the loudest thing in the mix?’” Watt told Rolling Stone in a 2022 interview. When Watt replied that it was the drums, Ozzy said no. “Bass is the loudest thing. That’s what makes it so heavy. And if you listen to [Led Zeppelin’s] ‘Whole Lotta Love’, ‘Heartbreaker’, or ‘Dazed and Confused’, the bass is allowed to sing, and that’s what makes it so heavy.”
Metallica bassist Robert Trujillo, who played with Ozzy in the ’90s and ’00s, backed up the singer’s love of bass. “He used to tell me, ‘Rob, I’m your best friend!’”
Geezer Butler is never a hard man to find in Sabbath’s mix, going all the way back to the bass solo that introduces “N.I.B.” on the quadruple-header “Wasp / Behind the Wall of Sleep / Bassically / N.I.B.” off Black Sabbath. Then on the followup Paranoid, “Jack the Stripper / Fairies Wear Boots” glides along on Butler’s bass groove, which threatens to outshine Iommi’s Jimmy Page-reminiscent lead guitar playing. Even as the band’s quality dipped in the mid-1970s post-Vol. 4 as drugs took over and set up Ozzy’s eventual ouster, the commitment to the bass remained steadfast, like in the ultra-funky “All Moving Parts (Stand Still)” and “Junior’s Eyes” from 1976’s Technical Ecstacy and 1978’s Never Say Die, respectively.
Black Sabbath — “N.I.B.”
Black Sabbath — “Jack The Stripper / Fairies Wear Boots”
Black Sabbath — “All Moving Parts (Stand Still)”
Black Sabbath — “Junior’s Eyes”
After Ozzy left Sabbath, he continued his love of funk, though with mixed results. We should all probably forget about his 1992 collaboration with Don Was’ Was (Not Was) and Kim Basinger on “Shake Your Head”. Maybe a better example is 2005’s “Therapy” by funk-metal supergroup Infectious Grooves featuring the Ozzman. Or perhaps this unauthorized crossover by DJ Cummerbund mixing Earth, Wind & Fire‘s “September” with “Crazy Train” (don’t judge until you listen).
Was (Not Was) ft. Kim Basinger, Ozzy Osbourne — “Shake Your Head” [Official Video]
Infectious Grooves ft. Ozzy Osbourne — “Therapy”
DJ Cummerbund — “Earth, Wind & Ozzys” (Earth Wind & Fire/Ozzy Osbourne)
If you want to see just how funky Black Sabbath can be, see Blackened Sabbath on Friday, April 25th (technically early a.m. April 26th) at the Toulouse Theatre in New Orleans. Led by members of Fishbone and their eclectic funk collective Trulio Disgracias, Blackened Sabbath will reimagine Sabbath classics and “Deep Cutz” with members of The Nth Power, Galactic, Dumpstaphunk, and more. This show is a part of Live For Live Music‘s Fest by Nite series of late-night concerts in New Orleans during Jazz Fest.
Tickets for Blackened Sabbath are on sale now. Click here to find out more about the show and find the full calendar of Fest by Nite concerts here.
