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Rating: Well, yes, here I am again... after a few weeks (or perhaps a few months...) I find myself writing something for DeBaser... and obviously, to change things up, not having found any inspiration regarding official records (the inspirations were there... but they were already reviewed 3 or 4 times...) I have decided to talk to you about an excellent bootleg, the recording of the Black Sabbath's performance at the immense California Jam....
Anno Domini 1974.
On the international scene, bands like Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, ELP, etc., had already exploded; at the same time, four guys who came straight from hell reached success, the Black Sabbath: riding the wave thanks to the multi-award-winning "Paranoid" (1970), Ozzy, Tony, Geezer, and Bill were on their fifth release, the excellent "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath," which at that moment represented their most varied work in terms of composition... and so what better way to launch the album in the U.S.A than the California Jam??
Ontario Motor Speedway, Ontario CA, April 6, 1974...
After artists such as Eagles, Black Oak Arkansas, and Rare Earth, it was finally the Sabbath's turn. The four take the stage, glance at the horizon, and realize they are in front of more than 200,000 people, and then they really go all out... like a torpedo, the riff of "Tomorrow's Dream" starts, with the task of immediately warming up the spirits, and it succeeds brilliantly. The majority of the audience, as can be seen from video testimony, is under the effect of LSD... so what track could our guys attack next if not the sinister "Sweet Leaf," where among other things, the genius Iommi performs a memorable solo with his Gibson SG; now there's room for a new piece from "S.B.S", I'm talking about the great "Killing Yourself To Live" which in this bootleg has poor audio quality unlike the following masterpiece named "War Pigs": about this execution there's nothing else to say except that Bill hits the skins like a furious madman, really an amazing thing...! Then again there's room for a new piece, "Sabbra Cadabra" (in my opinion, the true masterpiece of Bloody Sabbath) which after the first 4 minutes stops to make way first for a great guitar solo by master Iommi and then for the percussive earthquake of Mr. Ward; to reconnect it all there’s a brief performance of "Supernaut" which serves as an introduction to "Iron Man" where Butler’s true presence is finally felt as he plays around in the truest sense with his bass, while at the side of the stage poor Ozzy narrates the misadventures of the iron man.
After the various "Thank You" (he must have said it at least thirty times throughout the show) Ozzy launches the super-fast "Paranoid," perfectly closing the group's performance. The band leaves the Speedway stage, but the crowd calls out loudly for an encore with repeated general applause: after a roar from the audience, we can hear Osburne scream like a madman "We Love You Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaall"; and then as an encore, the band performs a wild version of "Children Of The Grave" which adds nothing to the usual live versions of this piece. The Sabbath definitively leave the stage and I am personally quite satisfied with this performance (considering it's a BOOTLEG!)
If, like me, you enjoyed the Deep Purple's performance at this festival, then I recommend you get the Sabbath one too... but of course, the choice is yours! I look forward to your comments.......
SEE YOU SOON, BYEEEEEEEEEEE!
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