Sabbath bloody sabbath

10am - I'm writing the Black sabbath chapter today for my book on Rockfield. The band recorded a handful of albums there in the late eighties and nineties but in the 70's they pretty much rehearsed there before every album. During their first rehearsal there they blew all the slates off the roof of the rehearsal room with the sheer volume of their performance.
A few weeks ago I interviewed Graham Wright (See picture above): a former roadie for Sabbath and a tech for drummer Bill Ward. He was working on the Rollings Stones tour which had arrived at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium. It's a huge tour. The band are using three stages. So two of them are being set up in advance while the third is in use by the band. Each stage requires forty trucks to take the stage set and equipment around Europe. Graham took me backstage and it was like a small town. People everywhere. Washing machines and fridges set up all along the inside of the stadium and massive dining areas to cater for the hungry masses. To see more on behind the scenes at the Stones tour check out Graham's blog

http://gennyworldonu2.blogspot.com/

and its worth getting a copy of Graham (and David Tangye's) book 'How Black Was My Sabbath' - a roadies' eye view of the world of sabbath. These two guys when everywhere with the band and have some amazing stories to tell. It's an hysterical read.

I'm starting my Sabbath chapter with a great story about Ozzy fishing at Rockfield and being attacked by a Swan! A matchup between the Prince of Darkness and a white fluffy bird. Guess who wins!!! Seconds out round one!!!!

Here's a brief extract from my interview with Graham.

"Ozzy loved guns and always had a shotgun in the boot of his car - he always drove but i don't think he ever passed his driving test!
At Rockfield he was forever shooting. Especially in the early hours of the morning to wake everyone up before an early start to rehearsals. It used to annoy everyone. Especially Bill Ward. He'd always stand outside Bill’s room and fire off a few cartridges to get him up.
We really enjoyed it. We’d go into Rockfield to do our shopping and we’d cook for ourselves. We used to take turns. Ozzy loved cooking a curry.
We put a dart board up in one of the rooms and we’d play darts all nights. Tony Iommi used to love it. When they got boredl as rehearsals ground to a halt they’d play darts all night. We didn’t really drink all that much when we were rehearsing. It’s like this rock and roll myth that you drink and take drugs 24 hours and day but it wasn’t like that. They were very serious about writing and working out songs. We’d go out and have a few pints in the town but I’d say the drink and drugs weren’t prevalant at Rockfield. We'd do stuff occasionally and smoke the odd joint.
They were more into weja boards were Sabbath. They used to scare each other to death.
You'd heard one of the band members saying ‘I’m not sleeping in that room anymore.
There’s somebody in there!'
They were great at winding each other up --- at playing pranks on each other.
Bill was always the victim. We’d sneak into his room and pretend to be ghosts. We put a mirror over his face one night and woke him up. He came down the next morning and said 'I woke up and there was something horrible staring at me! I couldn't get back to sleep. It was terrifying!!!' - and it was his own face!"

....So this chapter should be an easy one to write. There are so many great stories to tell.

I took a break from the book last night to go and see a terrific concert. It was Jon Anderson (see picture above) and Rick Wakeman from Yes doing an evening of acoustic Yes music at St David's Hall in Cardiff. On stage they simply had an acoustic guitar and grand piano. They were both very funny as well. When Jon's guitar broke down, the Yes singer started telling a lame joke about 'a penguin going into a bar to look for his brother. He asked the bar tender if he'd seen his brother and the barman replies "I don't know. What does he look like?"
At this point Rick groans and begs the guitar tech - beaving away on Jon's guitar - please tell me it's fixed!!!!

When Jon tells the audience that when he was young, he and some freinds believed you could smoke banana skins to get high, Rick butts in with 'So that explains a lot of those lyrics then!' It was an entertaining night. The songs were great (the ran through Yes classic such as Awaken, Yours is no Disgrace, And You And I etc) - and the on stage chat was amusing. A good night all around.


Rock Legends at Rockfield is to be published by The University of Wales Press in summer 2007.

Robert Plant Reunion at Rockfield (Part 1)

10am - I Start tackling chapter eight of my book on Rockfield. This one focuses on Robert Plant's time at the studios. Plant arrived at Rockfield in Monmouth in Wales only a year after the break-up of Led Zeppelin following the death of his close friend John Bonham. 25 years on I decide it would be a good idea to reunite Plant and his first solo band at Rockfield. The first task: getting them altogether. It feels a bit like the film the Dirty Dozen - except without Nazi's, without a major global theatre of conflict, without convicted murderers and, of course no Telly Savalas. Actually it's not much like the Dirty Dozen at all now I reflect on it. First I put in calls to Plants' guitarist Robbie Blunt and Bass player Paul Martinez. Both are happy to meet up at Rockfield. Next up is Jezz Woodroffe - former Black Sabbath keyboard player. He featured on their excellent Technical Ecstasy album (its really much underated) Jez is likewise happy to come down from his home in mid-Wales to Monmouth but warns me I've little chance of persuading the man himself to make it as he's extremely busy.
Next I get hold of Robert Plant via his agent. I decide to tackle things one stage at a time. Secure the interview first and then put forward the idea of going to Rockfield. First Robert agrees to see me in person. Great! The venue. His Midlands home? No. He's going to be in London for a while. London then? No how about Rockfield he suggests. Bingo!!! 'Well actually', I say, 'I've already arranged for your band to be there'. Robert is delighted by the thought of meeting up with his old colleagues and friends and the so date is set. Mission accomplished. Rockfield is to be the venue to the 25th anniversary reunion of the team that made Pictures At Eleven and The Principle of Moments.

11am This chapter is pretty much writing itself. It was a magnificent day at Rockfield. I travelled up in my friends Andrew's car. He was up from London to take a raft of photos from the day for the book. We belted it up the short distance from Cardiff to Monmouth playing some loud Zep tracks on the way. The rain that had made it a miserable start to the day in Cardiff gives way to beautiful sunshine in the Vale of Gwent. The sun is now out and our fears about shooting everything indoors, because of the weather, fade. Jezz and Robbie are the first to arrive and tell me that Paul Martinez is unable to make it because of a family bereavement. We're sat in the accomodation block for the Coach house studio. (See picture above) Rockfield has two studios. The Coach House, which was built first, and the bigger Quadrangle studio in the main courtyard. The accomodation block is amazing. It is a seven-bedroom house with all modern conveniences, including satellite TV and whirlpool bathtubs.
Then the Quadrangle accomodation includes three self-contained apartments, as well as half a dozen more rooms with bath.

We chat as we wait for their former singer to arrive (See picture of me and Jezz above). Jez tells us how his two favourite bands as a teenager were Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin and how he amazingly ended up playing with both his former heroes and playing at the legendary Madison Square Gardens with both.


Here's an extract from the raw interview i did with Jezz as we waited for the band to assemble:

Q: How did you get involved with Robert?
A:Well, when the Sabbath thing folded and Ozzy Osbourne left, I went and did a solo album at Dave Anderson’s studio (the old bass player from Hawkwind). I did this solo album and then David Vern (Graduate records) heard it and he signed me up for that first solo album. And Roy, who was working at Graduate records, was a friend of Robert Plants. And Robert was looking for a keyboard player for his first solo album. And Roy said to him ‘You should listen to this’. So that was part of the connection. I also understand that David Vern was on the train from Wolverhampton with a copy of my solo album when Robert got on the train in the same compartment. Those two things made it happen I think. Robert though ‘This is the bloke I should be going to see.’
The Woodruffe’s music shop, which is a big music shop in Birmingham, was where I was centred then and Robert came in the shop one day. And that was it really. He asked me to come down to Rockfield.
Q:Did the band first meet up at Rockfield?
A:The first thing we did was Robert invited me round his house. And Robbie Blunt (guitarist) was there, Because Robert and Robbie go back a long way. I think Robert used to pick Robbie up from school to come and play guitar with his band at the time
Back in the mid-sixties. So Robbie was messing about in Robert little private studio and immediately Robbie and I had something that was very deep and special. It came straight away as we really liked each other. And it kind of developed from that. So we spent quite a bit of time at Robert’s house and then we came down here to Rockfield and we stayed at the old Mill – Rockfield rehearsal studio.
It’s brilliant – it’s a massive old place. And we set up a lot of stuff there and then we were trying to get drummers and bass players to make up a complete band.
And we had quite a few interesting things happen. We had Simon Kirke from Free and Bad Company who came down. That didn’t work out to well. We had some young bass players who played kind of ‘Level 42 style’. That also didn’t work. And then Cozy Powell came down. And he was around for quite a while. What a smashing bloke he was. Me and Cozy were great friends. It was very sad what happened to him. It developed from there really. And we got a few songs together and we recorded them in the coach house studio. That became the first part of ‘Pictures at Eleven’.
Q:Had Phil Collins arrived by then?
A:Phil came in at the last minute really because Cozy was a very heavy drummer. A really really amazing time keeper but he couldn’t do the lighter more intricate stuff. And Jason Bonham was doing it for us. He lived just around the corner from Frobert.He used to come to rehearsals. And a lot of the time when we were writing the songs Jason was the drummer a lot of the time and he was only about 15. He was still better than anybody else though! But he hadn’t got the experience to do an album. So Phil came in to do the album and had such a laugh he did the second album as well and then came on the tour.
So the Band didn’t tour after the first album ‘ Pictures at Eleven’ but waited for the release of the second album ‘The Principle of Moments’?
That was because Robert didn’t want anybody asking him to do Led Zeppelin songs. And we hadn’t got enough material to do a two hour show. And the place to go was America and it was obviously we needed a fair substantial amount of new material before we could put a show together, so we waited until the two albums we done by which time we had a number one album.
Q:Do you have a favourite memory from that time?
A:The very first gig we did in America was really scary because we didn’t know if we could pull it off. We’d never done a big gig before and it worked. Playing Madison Square Gardens I think had got to be a highlight. But then as a kid that’s what I always wanted to do. I wanted to play at MSG which I did with Black Sabbath. As a kid the two bands I used to listen to were Black Sabbath and led Zeppelin. So it was quite strange that this teenager ended up playing with his musical heroes, because I also played with Jimmy Page and john Paul Jones at different gigs.



Half an hour later Robert Plant strides in. (See third picture above) His first words to me and Andrew are 'Something's wrong here! Can you leave us alone!' Me and Andrew are gobsmacked. Is the legendary singer chucking us out of our own interview? Have we done something to upset 'The Golden God'? Then a big smile breaks out across his face - and Plant explains that he wants to catch up with his friends and is sure we don't want to hear all about which schools there kids are attending and what holidays they've been on recently.

So Andrew and I retire to a nearby pub for an hour for lunch and Andrew reviews the photos he has taken so far of the studios and Robbie Blunt and Jezz. Out comes his laptop as he looks back at the morning's shots. How very flash! I ask him if any of his photos are in focus!!! He gives me that 'If looks could kill' stare.

12pm --- Hopefully I can finish the Plant chapter tomorrow. I let you know all about the interview in my next blog - (or possibly the one after that!!). Tonight I'm off to St David's Hall in Cardiff to see Jon Anderson and Rick Wakeman live doing an evening of Yes music. I'm really looking forward to it. It'll be a nice break and as a bonus Classic Rock Magazine want me to review for them as well. It should be a good night.

The Answer - live in Cardiff

Saturday October 7th. I take a day off writing the Rockfield book. Tomorrow is my birthday and I've decided today should figure as part of those celebrations. This evening together with my girlfriend Yvonne and my friend Andrew I'm heading out to see the superb new band, The Answer, live at Cardiff University. They are co-headlining with another excellent new band Roadstar.

3pm --- Things kick-off in the afternoon. Andrew comes around to my house early to watch a 2008 European Championship qualifier between Wales and Slovakia. Things start well. We down a few cold beers and everything feels fine. But the afternoon takes on a Wes Craven-type twist and things turn 'Nightmare on Elm street' bad. Wales play like they've never seen a football before and are trounced 5-1 by the mighty Slovaks here in Cardiff. At least Freddie Kruger would have put in a few hard tackles (though the razor-fingered gloves may have got him sent off quite early into the game). A big, bad, mean-looking grey cloud hangs over the magnificent Millennium Stadium. Oh Dear! It's our biggest home defeat for nearly 100 years. Me and Andrew reckon we could have played better than some of our dismal international footballers. Still Wales had a nicer looking kit than the dreary Eastern European shade of blue that Slovakia were wearing. But I'm clutching at straws here. It seems our dreams of making a major championship finals are over for another four years. Roll on the qualifying campaign for the World Cup in 2010.

Who needs football anyway? Let's stick with the rock and roll. Tonight it's the Answer and Roadstar (formerly Hurricane party) live at the University.

8.30pm The University is buzzing - it's a mixed crowd. Not everyone is a student. There are a few world weary rock fans with more than a few gray hairs, wearing faded tour t-shirts. I see a guy in a nearly bleached out old UFO shirt crash headlong into another middle aged gent coming in the opposite direction, wearing a Motley Crue tour shirt. Both are carrying beers. Or should that be 'Both WERE carrying beers!!'. And you had to admire the dedication of one guy, who wore a sleeveless denim jacket with dozens and dozens of patches sown on the back. They were all there. Zep patches, AC/DC, Rush, Van Halen, Motorhead, Saxon, Judas priest etc etc. It must have been a long night of sewing for either him or his mum.

9pm - The Answer take to the stage first (see Picture of the band in action at top) and fire the place up with a cracking version of their new single Under the Sky. If you've never heard of the Answer, they are like a cross between Led Zeppelin and the Black Crowes with a hint of Free and The Who thrown in for good measure. I reviewed them live at the Barfly in Cardiff last october (along with the amazingly wonderful and kick-ass Tokyo Dragons) for Classic Rock Magazine. They were terrific. I said that 'they oozed the spirit of the 70's' --- a quote which the band used on some of the publicity posters and adverts for their album Rise. I was well chuffed with that!!!!
Sadly we can't actually see much of the band. The stage is raised only a beer mat's width above the floor. So - with a few dozen seven foot tall, shaggy haired fans standing right in front of us - we can see very little. The three of us, though, excitedly tap each other and shout loudly whenever we do catch a brief glimpse of the singer or the guitarist. Wow! It's like being on a beach in Victorian era England and catching a momentary glimpse of a woman's bare ankle. Swoon!

The band run through their new album with great songs like the Zeppelinesque Never Too Late, the incredibly bluesy Memphis Water and Preachin' , and the superb machine-gun fire slide guitar of Into the Gutter. This band are destined for great things. If you haven't bought the album Rise yet, do so now. The lead singer Cormac Neeson is like a cross between Robert Plant, Chris Robinson and Joe Cocker. He is captivating to watch live as he struts and shakes his way across the stage. Guitarist Paul Mahon is a huge talent and probably the best slide guitar player of his generation, while drummer James Heately is a non-stop whirl of noise and rhythm ---- and bassist Mickey Waters plunders the depths of his instrument to enhance The Answer's killer rhythm section.

Andrew took a few snaps of me after the gig chatting with Cormac and with Roadstar singer Ritchie Heavanz (which I've put at the top of this Blog) without me knowing. What a pro!!!

10pm - Roadstar arrive in a swagger of massive hair and a glam rock wardrobe that the Velvet Revolver would kill for. Roadstar are also terrific. A good old Rock band (in a kind of AC/DC, Cult, Guns 'n' Roses style with a smattering of Glam rock thrown in.). I bought their debut CD Grand Hotel at the gig for a tenner and it's brilliant. A superb lively set and once again cardiff university was treated to some of the best rock music around at the moment.

A highlight of the night was my partner Yvonne - becoming a 'Mosh-pit mum'. Whilst we were stuck at the back of the stage for the Answer - in the break we dashed down to the front of the stage. Yvonne instantly made half a dozen new friends among the Roadstar faithful. When the band were on, she leapt, head banged and devil-horned with the best of them. Top rock chic. Our 20 month old son Bryn would have been proud of her - particularly as she lunged forward desparately trying to touch singer Ritchie Heavanz outstretched hand during the blazing song Roadstar. (That last photo is me and yvonne- post gig)

Then it was home for more beers and the real birthday celebrations on Sunday.

On Monday its back to the writing. I'll let you all know about the day I reunited Robert Plant and his first solo band at Rockfield to be interviewed for the book. It was a fascinating day.


(Rock Legends at Rockfield will be published by the University of Wales Press and University of Chicago Press in the US sometime in the summer of 2007.)