As the recent Back To The Beginning show and the subsequent outpouring of love in the wake of Ozzy Osbroune’s death proved, every musician who has ever turned their amp up to maximum volume owes a debt of gratitude to Black Sabbath. From such superstar bands as Iron Maiden, Metallica and Slipknot down to every stoner or doom band ever to have ground out on ominous chord, Sabbath’s music is as essential as oxygen.
But they also acquired some more unusual devotees over the years. And one of the most notable late musical maverick and former Mothers Of Invention leader Frank Zappa.
Zappa, who died in 1993 at the age of 53, was an unlikely Sabbath fan. His own music was a complex, challenging mix of the highbrow and the satirical. But he was also a fan of no-frills hard rock, naming AC/DC and especially Sabbath as bands he unironically loved.
In the mid-70s, Zappa cited 1972’s Supernaut as his favourite Sabbath song. “I like it because think it’s prototypical of a certain musical style, and I think it’s well done. Also, I happen to like the guitar lick that’s being played in the background.”
He later changed his mind, identifying Iron Man as his favourite Sabbath song. “Are you kidding me? Iron Man! That’s a work of art. I used to like Supernaut, but I think Iron Man is the one now.”
The feeling was largely mutual. Geezer Butler in particular was a big fan of Zappa’s late 60s group The Mothers Of Invention, calling “a huge inspiration musically and lyrically.”
Ozzy Osbourne was more sceptical. Sabbath had found out about Zappa’s fandom when they toured the US in 1974. Both parties were staying in the same hotel in Chicago, and Zappa invited the British band to meet him in his suite. Such was Ozzy’s suspicion of Zappa’s motives that he was ready for a physical confrontation.
“I was going to beat him up when we got there,” Ozzy told Classic Rock in 2001, “I thought he was taking the piss.”
The reality couldn’t have been more different. Zappa was both the perfect host and, it turned out, a genuine Sabbath fan.
“We went up to his hotel room and he was so welcoming,” Ozzy said. “He really meant it.”
Geezer Butler recalled the evening in vivid detail in his 2023 biography, Into The Void. “We got on so well that he invited us to his birthday party, which was the weirdest do I’ve ever been to,” the bassist wrote. “When we walked into the restaurant, Zappa and his band were sitting around this big table. And on the table were all these birthday cakes in the shape of vaginas. One of the cakes was an entire woman, with a pump squirting champagne from between her legs.
“If that wasn’t odd enough, suddenly a load of naked girls marched in and did handstands against the wall, before Zappa wandered over and gave them champagne enemas. I say it was weird, but it was probably par for the course for a Frank Zappa party.”
This unlikely love-in continued throughout the 70s. Geezer Butler claimed that Zappa covered Iron Man and Supernaut live, though no recorded evidence exists of either. But Zappa definitely came very close to jamming with Sabbath onstage at a gig at New York’s Madison Square Garden on December 4, 1976 – though that plan ultimately fell through.
“They were supposed to call me up and tell me what time their soundcheck was, but I guess they didn’t have one,” Zappa later revealed. “So, I went down there to the show and they said, ‘What are you going to play?’ and they’d set up a mini wall of Marshalls for me. And I said ‘Shit, I’m not going to go out there without knowing what it’s going to sound like.’ I said I’d just watch the show.”
It wasn’t a complete waste of time for Zappa. Technical issues meant Sabbath’s headlining set was delayed, so they asked the American to speak to the crowd.
“What happened was that Tony Iommi had some trouble with his guitar and decided to change his strings at the last minute,” Zappa said. “The audience had already been sitting there waiting for an hour or so since Ted Nugent, and they wanted me to go out there and make an announcement and calm them down. So I did.”
Audio of Zappa pacifying the crowd is on YouTube. “I have an important public service announcement,” he can be heard saying above the noise of the audience. “The members of the rocking teenage combo known to the universe as Black Sabbath are currently in the dressing room. They’re having a little bit of a problem… They’re gonna be a couple of minutes late getting out here, so just be patient for a couple more minutes and they’ll be with you.”
When the band did eventually emerge on stage, it was Zappa who introduced them. “And then sat by the side of the stage over by Ozzy’s orange juice,” he continued. “I just sat there and marvelled at it. I think it’s great. Especially in a place like Madison Square Garden with 20,000 people grunting and wheezing and shoving each other.”
Their paths occasionally crossed after that, most memorably when Zappa played Sabbath’s hometown of Birmingham a few years later.
“When the show was over, he asked me, ‘Is there anywhere we can get something to eat in this town? I’m staying at the Holiday Inn, and the food’s terrible,’” Ozzy wrote in his autobiography, I Am Ozzy. “I told him, ‘At this time of night, there’s only the curry house on Bristol Street, but I don’t recommend it.’ Frank just shrugged and said, ‘Oh, that’ll do, I’ll have a go.’
“So we all went to this dodgy Indian joint – me, Frank, [Ozzy’s then-wife] Thelma and some Japanese chick that Frank was hanging out with at the time. I told Frank that the only thing on the menu he shouldn’t order, under any circumstances, was the steak. He nodded, looked at the menu for a while, then ordered the steak. When it arrived, I just sat there and watched him try to eat it.”
The brand new issue of Classic Rock is a tribute to Ozzy Osbourne, look backing and celebrating the life and times of the Godfather Of Heavy Metal through the eyes of Classic Rock contributors and others who met him, many of whom knew him well. Order it online and have it delivered straight to your door.
