GEEZER BUTLER Doubts BLACK SABBATH Will Ever Play Live Again
BLACK SABBATH bassist Geezer Butler was interviewed on the January 5-7 edition of Full Metal Jackie‘s nationally syndicated radio show. You can now listen to the chat using the Podbean widget below. A few excerpts follow (transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET).
On when the finality of BLACK SABBATH‘s last-ever concert resonated with him:
Geezer: “It wasn’t until a couple of weeks after. ‘Cause we went into the studio as well to lay down five tracks that were missing from the live CD. And it wasn’t until I got home that the whole thing sunk in, that that was it.”
On whether “humility” makes it hard for him and his BLACK SABBATH bandmates to acknowledge the immeasaurable impact that the group has had on the heavy metal genre:
Geezer: “I’m not sure it’s humility. I think it’s because we were put down and disregarded by the critics for so long in the ’70s that we started to believe them in the end. And it wasn’t until the ’80s and the ’90s, when bands like METALLICA and ANTHRAX started citing us as an influence, that we sort of started believing in ourselves again.”
On what has remained constant throughout the years about his live performances with Tony Iommi and Ozzy Osbourne:
Geezer: “I think it’s just sort of playing with them, ’cause we grew up together and we were all friends together. It’s almost like a psychic experience with each other; we sort of know what’s gonna happen next. I don’t know. It’s totally different when I play with Tony and Ozzy and Bill[Ward, original BLACK SABBATH drummer] to anybody else. It’s sort of a we-all-know-what-we’re-gonna-do-next kind of thing, without talking about it.”
On what he has been doing to decompress since BLACK SABBATH‘s final show:
Geezer: “I haven’t been doing much, to be honest. I’ve been travelling a lot around Europe and around North America, just as a tourist. We recently moved into a new house, so I’ve been getting that set up. And that’s it, really.”
On the most important lesson he’s learned from all the years he spent as a member of BLACK SABBATH:
Geezer: “Just to stay true to the music that you’re making. We’ve seen lots of trends come and go, but we’ve always stuck to what we believe is the true SABBATH sound. And I think that’s really important to do. I think once you lose your identity, then you lose your following.”
On the likelihood of BLACK SABBATH playing one-off shows or doing studio work in the future:
Geezer: “Not very likely at all. I think Ozzy is going out on his farewell tour, so that will be him touring for the next two or three years. So I don’t think there will be any chance of doing any one-offs or anything like that — which I’m fine with. We went out on a high, and it’s best not to drag it out.”
On what he has in the works on his own:
Geezer: “Well, I’ve been going through… I’ve got, like, 10, 15 years’ worth of ideas and riffs and stuff like that that I’ve written over the years. But they’re all on different computers and stuff, so I’ve been archiving all the ideas that I’ve had. And maybe next year I’ll put them together and hopefully put out another album.”
In November, a documentary focusing on SABBATH‘s last-ever concert, “The End”, was made available in home video and audio packages, featuring footage of the entire historic February 2017 show.
To see a full list of stations carrying Full Metal Jackie‘s program and when it airs, go to FullMetalJackieRadio.com.
Full Metal Jackie also hosts “Whiplash”, which airs every Sunday night from 9:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. on the Los Angeles radio station 95.5 KLOS. The show can be heard on the KLOSweb site at 955klos.com or you can listen in on the KLOS channel on iHeartRadio.
