|
Black Sabbath's Tony Iommi is one of only
two guitarists (the other being Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page) that
can take full credit for pioneering the mammoth riffs of heavy
metal. Born on February 19, 1948, in Birmingham, England, Iommi
picked up the guitar after being inspired by the likes of Hank
Marvin & the Shadows as a teenager. By 1967, Iommi had played
with several blues-based rock bands, and formed a group (Earth)
with three old acquaintances from his school days — bassist Terry
"Geezer" Butler, drummer Bill Ward, and signer John "Ozzy" Osbourne.
But Iommi's musical career was nearly derailed prematurely when
he suffered a horrible accident at a sheet metal factory, when
a machine sliced off the tips of the fingers on his right hand.
Depressed and figuring that his guitar playing days were behind
him, a friend turned him onto gypsy guitarist Django Reinhardt
(who lost use of two fingers in a Gypsy caravan campfire accident),
inspiring Iommi to give the six-string another go, with soft plastic
tips attached to the ends of his fingers. Shortly thereafter,
Iommi received a tempting offer to join Jethro Tull's band in
1968, which he reluctantly accepted. After only a single performance
with Tull (playing the track "Song for Jeffrey" on the Rolling
Stones' never-aired TV special "Rock & Roll Circus"), Iommi split
from Tull to return back to his pals in Earth.
With another band already playing around England by the name of
Earth, Iommi & co. were forced to change their name, taking "Black
Sabbath" from the classic horror movie. With the name switch came
a change in musical direction — the band would explore dark lyrical
subjects, while the music would be repetitive, plodding, and H-E-A-V-Y.
In the process, Sabbath created the blueprint for heavy metal
with such incredibly influential, all-time classic releases as
their 1969 self-titled debut, 1971's Paranoid and Master of Reality,
1972's Vol. 4, and 1973's Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, becoming one
of the world's top hard rock bands in the process. Iommi's guitar
playing propelled such metal standards as "Black Sabbath," "N.I.B.,"
"Paranoid," "Iron Man," "War Pigs," "Into the Void," and "Children
of the Grave," which boast some of the most recognizable guitar
riffs in rock history. But by the mid- to late '70s, constant
touring and drug abuse began to fracture the band, resulting in
several uninspired albums and Osbourne's exit by 1979, which led
to a revolving door of singers coming and going over the years
(with sometimes Iommi being the only original member remaining).
After keeping the Sabbath name alive with several inspired non-Osbourne
releases (1980's Heaven & Hell, 1981's The Mob Rules), and more
than a few missteps, the original Sabbath lineup reunited for
several highly successful tours in the late '90s, making new Sabbath
fans out of a whole legion of people too young to have caught
the band in their '70s heyday. And although a few Sabbath albums
from the '80s and '90s could have arguably been considered Tony
Iommi solo albums (1986's Seventh Star was labeled a Sabbath album
at the last moment by Warner Bros.), he issued his first true
solo release in the form of 2000's Iommi. The ten-track disc featured
many of rock's top names lending their vocal talents (Henry Rollins,
Dave Grohl, Billy Corgan, Phil Anselmo, and even Osbourne, among
others), receiving favorable reviews upon release. While Sabbath's
1999 world tour was supposed to be their swan song, the group
announced to the delight of their fans that they would be headlining
the 2001 edition of Ozzfest.
This bio courtesy www.allmusic.com
|
Learn To play guitar like a rock star!
Recommended guitar courses from GuitarMadeSimple.com |
Level 1 & 2: "Guitar
Made Simple" By Chris Standring
From
absolute beginner to solid intermediate, this course walks
you through absolutely everything necessary to give you a
strong grounding in a wide variety of guitar styles. You will
learn open chords, strumming patterns, single line melodies,
25 well known songs, notes on the fretboard, sight-reading,
Blues, rock, classical, single string improv and venture into
a little jazz, and much much more. All with audio, video,
TAB and traditional music notation. More info and order Guitar
Made Simple here
"Move over Mel Bay! 'Guitar Made Simple'
is an extremely well thought out beginners program, with a
very thorough and personal approach to help you easily learn
how to play the guitar... correctly! So much more than trying
to learn alone with just a book, this brilliant system connects
with you as if an instructor is right with you in your own
home. Well done Chris!" - Corky James LA studio
guitarist with Avril Lavigne, Hilary Duff, Kelly Clarkson,
Leann Rimes, Backstreet Boys, Liz Phair, Nick Lachey and Mandy
Moore
|
|
Level 2 & 3: "Play
What You Hear" By Chris Standring
From
intermediate to advanced level, this highly acclaimed course
teaches you how to "play what you hear". You will
learn the jazz vocabulary and understand how to improvise
using this vocab over many different harmonies. You will learn
to hear major, melodic minor and blues scales and learn harmony
and how to see it all very simply on the fretboard. Over 300
audio examples and tons of play along tracks. More info and
order Play What You Hear here
"By far the most innovative and effective
ear training program for guitarists I have seen! Simply the
best learning method to come along since Jamie Abersold. Chris
has hit on something really good and much needed today Players
of my generation learned to play on the bandstand as we were
forced to "play what we heard" and if we didn't,
we had to get it together pretty darn quick. This course will
help speed up that learning process rapidly. I will recommend
this course to my students highly!" - Ron Eschete
Concord Recording artist and educator
|
|
|
|
|
How good is your guitar playing?
Take this simple test and find
out now!
|
|
 |
Take The Test! |
How good are you in your opinion?
|
|
| |
Read all about the great rock Guitarists here:
|
|
|
|
