Black Sabbath


 * "He was a pioneer in his own right. If it wasn't for John Peel, Black Sabbath would never have been played on the radio. He was a good guy."
 * Ozzy Osbourne, Oct. 2004

Although John Peel wasn’t particularly known as a major supporter of the Black Sabbath, the DJ gave early radio exposure to the metal pioneers and indeed later claimed he tried to sign the band to the Dandelion label after seeing them and Medicine Head at a gig in Lafayette Club in Wolverhampton that appears to have taken place in September 4, 1969. In 2001, he recalled the incident to Mary Anne Hobbs:


 * “They didn’t sign for Dandelion, alas. Otherwise I’d be fantastically wealthy and probably living in Hollywood. And I’d probably be dead actually.”

Links to Peel
Peel first came across Ozzy Osbourne (lead vocals), Tony Iommi (guitar), Geezer Butler (bass guitar) and Bill Ward (drums) when the Birmingham four-piece were still using the name Earth and he was working as guest DJ when they supported Van De Graff Generator at the Bay Hotel in Whitburn, near Sunderland, in March 1969. According to venue manager Geoff Doherty, the band “gave no real indication of how big they were eventually to become.”

By September, however, it was a different story. By now writing their own darker material and employing a heavier sound, Sabbath were managed by Peel acquaintance Jim Simpson, who arranged a special gig at the Lafayette Club in Wolverhampton to showcase the band for the DJ, although they eventually signed for Vertigo Records the following month. In November, though, a BBC session for Peel was recorded and broadcast on Top Gear.

The following year, on Friday 13 February, Sabbath’s breakthrough first LP was released. Geezer Butler was later to recall that the band heard of the record’s arrival in the UK album charts when listening to Top Gear on the way to a gig. Peel had appeared with the band at Mothers club in Birmingham a week before the album hit the shops and subsequently introduced the band (with Medicine Head) on his Sunday concert show on 26 April 1970. The following month, Peel was the compere when Sabbath appeared on the first day of the Hollywood Festival.

Sabbath quickly emerged as one of the major bands of the 1970s, both in the UK and US, although further links with Peel appear to have been limited. Singer Ozzy Osbourne later found both solo success and wider fame as a reality TV star, but was quick to pay tribute to Peel’s role in the band’s success after the DJ died in 2004.

Festive Fifty Entries
None

Sessions

 * One session only. No known commercial release.

1. Recorded: 1969-11-11. First broadcast: 29 November 1969. Repeated: 21 March 1979
 * Behind The Wall Of Sleep / NIB / Black Sabbath / Devil's Island (repeat broadcast only)

(Please correct mistakes and add any missing info)

Other Shows Played
(This list was researched only from the database of this site and almost certainly incomplete, as relatively little data is available for the band's most successful era. Please add any missing info if known.)


 * 04 August 1978: Paranoid (NEMS)
 * 25 September 1978: Hard Road (LP - Never Say Die!) Warner Bros.
 * 13 November 2001: Planet Caravan (LP – Paranoid) Vertigo