Brett Callwood
Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath (Vertigo)
Death Valley Girls and the Glory of Sabbath: Bonnie Bloomgarden, frontwoman with L.A. rockers the Death Valley Girls, told us about her love for Black Sabbath’s debut.
Bonnie Bloomgarden: Without pause, even for a fraction of an instant, my all time favorite album is Black Sabbath’s first record.
(Vertigo)
Up until the point that I miraculously chose Black Sabbath from a stack of nearly 50 rock & roll records my cousin gave to me, I had only heard soft music. I am forever grateful to all the music I’ve heard, but I had primarily listened to what I know now to be goofy in the scope of my current taste. Like, for my first 10 years, I exclusively heard show tunes, Billy Joel, vocal jazz, and the Indigo Girls.
Among the stack were many greats: AC/DC, Bob Dylan, the Stones, the Doors, Guns N’ Roses, Aerosmith, Iron Maiden, Metallica and Thin Lizzy. But, something cosmic compelled me to listen to the Black Sabbath record, and holy wow, it changed everything.
Before that, it was all piano, orchestral, and acoustic guitar-driven music. To hear electric guitar, in all its evil glory, by the God that is Tony Iommi, for the first time!! Can you imagine at 10 how deviant that felt? Also, for the first time to truly understand instrumentation. Getting to know each and every single note by those master musicians! I can not imagine where I would be, or what I would think a great bass line, or guitar riff, or vocal melody, or drum part is, if not for that divine record.
Black Sabbath!! Black Sabbath!! Black Sabbath!!
Death Valley Girls and the Glory of Sabbath: Death Valley Girls’ “It’s All Really Kind of Amazing” single is out now.
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