![]() Not for another 43 years until their final album Thirteen was released in 2013, would Black Sabbath have another No 1 album again. "The week I lost the band Paranoid was No 1 on the album chart, the single No 2 and the first album was back up at No 16 so the idea I didn't know what I was doing was, well." "But those two first albums are still the best things they ever did and all the gigs they'd done working for tuppence paid off. "That was a real thrill, because we'd worked so hard to get a deal and that first song on that album was monumental. Newtown Community Centre, the building had only just opened when this became the room where Black Sabbath rehearsed for the first time and wrote songs like Black Sabbath on the still remaining original parquet flooring. "It all stems from when Geezer told us the name when he peered round the door in my dining room which back then was also my office. "They have had more influence on world music than The Beatles who were more of a girls' band at the time, while the boys tended to prefer the Rolling Stones who remain a great band. "But it's Black Sabbath who became the greatest rock and roll band this country has produced. ![]() "If you wanted someone to play all around the kit you'd have John Bonham. "If you wanted electric drive, Sabbath's Bill Ward would be your man," says Jim. "I'm not a chef, but we really cooked up something good that day," says Jim who, incredibly, had previously been a trumpet-playing Locomotive bandmate of Redditch's own future Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham. Jim continues to live in the same house and still eats his dinner in the same room that gave the world heavy metal. Jim Simpson outside Birmingham Jazz Festival sponsor Caffe Nero in Brindleyplace (Image: Graham Young) Proud legacy Years later, Don's daughter Sharon ended up marrying Ozzy - and Jim readily credits her for now only "saving Ozzy" but also eventually putting the band back together again. The die was cast and Jim had to move on to other things but maybe it was all written in the stars. Jim was determined to work from there even if Sabbath were going to be touring United States, because he lived and worked on trust.īut "harder people" were tapping up the budding stars in favour of a switch to Don Arden whose clients included The Move.Ī court case followed about the nature of the split and compensation due, with Jim recalling how uncomfortable he felt sitting in court while the equally uncomfortable band members "appeared in suits but with Black Sabbath hair." ![]() When he'd bought his home / office in 1966 he was too busy to go shopping and used copies of the Birmingham Mail as curtains. Little realising what he was about to say, his Earth-y colleagues pulled his leg about where he'd been and why he was late.īut Geezer stood his ground and, still poking his head round he door, uttered the now legendary words: "Black Sabbath."Įven now, Jim's eyes twinkle at the memory because that moment "gave the band its musical direction and something that we all believed in."Īnd so this weekend marks the 50th anniversary of one of the single most seminal moments in the career of a band named after a 1963 Boris Karloff movie.īut the release of Paranoid was also the beginning of the end for Jim. Villa Park on February 3, 2018: Black Sabbath's first manager Jim Simpson (centre) reunited with the latest Walk of Stars recipient Geezer Butler (bass) and Tony Iommi (guitar) (Image: Graham Young / BirminghamLive) ![]()
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