Tony Iommi reflects on Black Sabbath at Back To The Beginning

Tony Iommi has spoken about Black Sabbath's performance at their Back To The Beginning show. Iommi was asked about Ozzy Osbourne and Bill Ward's contributions to the band's four-song set during an interview with SiriusXM's Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk.

"Well, I'm really a bit of a perfectionist, but they can only do what they can do, and you can't expect anything else," responded Iommi [as transcribed by Blabbermouth]. We're in our seventies and late seventies, so you can only do so much. And to expect perfection from everybody is just impossible at the moment.

"But they did what they could do, and everybody was fine about it. And I think the audience would know that and accepted that. They weren't expecting us to go on and be absolutely just brilliant players. We played as we played and as we are now."

Iommi also admits to being concerned that the scheduling of Ozzy's solo set – immediately prior to Sabbath's performance –would mean that the Prince Of Darkness would be exhausted by the time he took to the stage for a second time.

"We worked out what we were gonna play, what songs we were gonna play," says Iommi. "And it was really a case of how long Ozzy could do it, because we didn't know – with him doing his own set, which I said to him I didn't think he should do – because I didn't want him to get burnt out by the time he'd come with us. But he didn't, and he did his own set."

Iommi goes on to say that Sabbath rehearsed "six or seven" songs for the show, including Black Sabbath and Fairies Wear Boots. Ultimately, they played just four: War Pigs, Iron Man, N.I.B. and Paranoid.

"It was a little difficult for Bill 'cause he hadn't played them for so long," says Iommi. "Geezer and I, of course, we played them on the last tour. And, of course, Bill hasn't toured, don't forget, for a long time. So we could have done six, but we ended up doing four."

Elsewhere in the interview, Iommi says, "We hadn't played with Bill live for 20 years, so it was hairy wondering what's gonna happen, because Bill, when he plays, he plays different things every time. So you just have to be on your toes. But no, it went well."

Meanwhile, Rage Against The Machine man Tom Morello has thanked Ozzy Osbourne for hiring him to direct Back To The Beginning's music.

"It was over a year of hard work, but heavy metal was the music that made me love music, and it was a labour of love," says Morello. "We raised a ton of money for a great cause, and so many great musicians and bands fans all over the world paid tribute to the all time greats."

Artists

Online Editor at Louder/Classic Rock magazine since 2014. 40 years in music industry, online for 27. Also bylines for: Metal Hammer, Prog Magazine, The Word Magazine, The Guardian, The New Statesman, Saga, Music365. Former Head of Music at Xfm Radio, A&R at Fiction Records, early blogger, ex-roadie, published author. Once appeared in a Cure video dressed as a cowboy, and thinks any situation can be improved by the introduction of cats. Favourite Serbian trumpeter: Dejan Petrović.

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