| 5/2/70 |
Hellfire Cavern |
High Wycombe |
|
England |
??? |
On April 29th, 1970, Jim Simpson sent Tony an addendum to his letter of April 27th. In this letter, he mentioned a "German TV company making a TV Film of Black Sabbath in Hellfire Caves, High Wycombe on Saturday 2nd May." This would appear to conflict with their show at St. Paul's College in Portsmouth, which was mentioned in Jim's previous letter, but it is possible they did both appearances.
If this film does exist, it would be earliest known video of Black Sabbath! Either someone is sitting on a remarkable gem of a film, it was cancelled for some reason or the film was simply lost to time. What also found interesting about this session was the chosen venue. Hellfire Caverns would present quite an amazing backdrop for the band, not to mention the ritualistic connotations of this performance.
The caverns have quite a controversial history, due to their association with Satanism and Witchcraft. Do a search on the caverns in Wycombe, England for even more fantastical tales about its history. For more background on Hellfire Caverns, check out ww.afallon.com.
Regardless of whether this particular session happened, it is fairly certain that the band DID perform for German TV during this time. There has been a few mentions of a TV documentary, as well as the following quote from Disc And Music Echo from May 16th, 1970:
“There is an interesting story about their first gig on German TV. The organizers on the other end thought they would need six plane tickets, four for the group, one for the manager and one for the ‘ritual murder victim’”. |
| 5/4/70 |
Recording Session for TV and Radio |
Paris |
|
France |
??? |
An early itinerary from Jim Simpson to Tony Iommi states that Sabbath were scheduled to a session for TV and Radio in Paris on this date. Whether or not this actually took place or was later rescheduled has yet to be confirmed. Early newspaper articles also mention that the band did numerous TV spots for the BBC before May ’70, but still no exact details on which shows they appeared on.
One possible theory is that the Paris TV/Radio session was postponed and rescheduled for sometime after the PARANOID sessions. This could be the same session that resulted in the famous Paris ’70 film, but it obviously couldn’t have taken place until PARANOID was recorded (due to the inclusion of the song “Paranoid”). |
| 5/22/70 |
DOEBIDOE Dutch TV Performance |
Hilversum |
|
The Netherlands |
Black Sabbath, Evil Woman, The Wizard, Behind The Wall Of Sleep, N.I.B., Sleeping Village, The Warning |
On May 22nd, 1970, AVRO Productions filmed a “40-minute spectacular” of Sabbath playing most of their debut album live in the studio for a program called DOEBIDOE. It was mentioned in the 5/16/70 edition of Disc and Music Echo and has been confirmed by AVRO in 2003.
This “lost” Dutch TV performance would be a rather important show to be found, for it contains the only known live recording "Evil Woman", as well as some very rare live recordings of songs like “Sleeping Village”, "The Warning" and "The Wizard".
Sadly, AVRO Productions told Armijn Hemel (one of my researchers in The Netherlands) that these tapes were wiped long ago. Oh man!! Can you imagine how amazing it would be to see this film today? There’s always a slim chance that someone managed to make a copy before the magnetic particles on this master were blown into oblivion. What a great and tragic discovery this was! |
| 5/25/70 |
'Beat Club' - German TV |
Bremen |
|
Germany |
Black Sabbath [with rain and church bells intro-live], Blue Suede Shoes [live] |
Recorded live in the studio in Germany’s now legendary Radio Bremen studios on May 25th, 1970, this session aired on Episode #55 of The Beat Club on May 30th. It is the earliest video that we currently have of the band performing live.
Whenever I watch the beginning of this video, I have to stifle a laugh when I see Tony and Geezer’s eyes, each barely emerging from underneath their long bushy manes! It takes a moment for me to regain my composure to give this song the solemnity it deserves. Ahem!
This live-in-the–studio rendition of “Black Sabbath” begins with the same rain and church bells intro that opens their debut album. A psychedelic montage of the album cover and the faces of the band are superimposed over the band playing live on a soundstage. This is a slow, plodding and primal reading of the song, but it’s raw and dangerous sounding. The real treat here is getting to see the boys so early on in their careers! Geezer is wearing a shirt with stars all over it and the band is still using Orange amps at this point.
The next segment is filmed with the lights off, convincingly creating the illusion of Sabbath playing live in a small club. They launch into a high-octane version of the Carl Perkins’ rock and roll staple “Blue Suede Shoes” with an intensity that is in complete contrast to the song they played before. Ozzy is shaking his head manically and clapping his hands, while Iommi spews out a spiraling guitar solo over the frantic shuffle beat. This is the only recorded version of Sabbath playing this song. It is said that they played many covers like this during their early club days, so this is a rare example of the band playing a cover song. [“The Warning” was also a cover song, done originally by a band named Crow.]
This footage was been re-broadcast countless times since it originally aired on “The Beat Club”. I remember seeing it first in a Sabbath documentary on USA Network’s “Night Flight” back in 1986. Since then, this session has been commercially released as part of a 4-song Beat Club compilation by Rockpalast Classics. An excerpt from “Blue Suede Shoes” is also used in Ozzy’s DON’T BLAME ME video. |
| 6/70 |
German TV Documentary |
|
|
|
|
In an itinerary dated April 29th, 1970, it is mentioned that the band would be filming a TV documentary in Stuttgart from June 22nd through 24th. This would have been just days after the band finished recording their PARANOID album. The band was later booked for festival shows in Frankfurt (June 21st) and Essen (June 22nd), so it’s not clear whether filming was done at these shows OR they traveled to Stuttgart on the 23rd.
Also, Alexander Rack has mentioned to me that is quite certain that Sabbath were filmed during the performance in Berlin on June 26th. See 6/26/70 entry for more information. |
| 6/26/70 |
Audimax der Freien Universität - Henry-Ford-Bau |
West Berlin |
|
West Germany |
Paranoid [alt. lyrics], Iron Man [alt. lyrics], Guitar Intro [guitar intro] -> Black Sabbath [alt. lyrics & extra verse], War Pigs [alt.. lyrics], Hand Of Doom-> Rat Salad, N.I.B., Wicked World -> Tony Iommi's Guitar Solo [many lists claim this has been cut], Fairies Wear Boots |
Alexander Rack posed a very compelling theory in October 2003 that the famous Berlin ’70 bootleg was very likely lifted from the soundtrack of an uncirculated German TV film! This would make a good deal of sense, since the quality of the recording is so clear AND it is well documented that German TV were filming the band just after the PARANOID sessions wrapped (from June 21st through 25th). The only point that I differ with Alexander on is the actual city and date, which he feels is Berlin 6/26/70. With the evidence available, I’d say that the Frankfurt (6/21/70) and Essen (6/22/70) festival shows are much more likely choices, given that I’ve found much written about the TV crews being present for these gigs.
Regardless of who is right, let’s just hope that this video surfaces!! This would have to be one amazing film to see!! The existence of this film hasn’t been 100% confirmed, but I’d say there’s quite a good possibility that it does. |
| 8/22/70 |
Betuwse Popfestival |
Tiel |
|
The Netherlands |
N.I.B. [fragment] |
12 seconds of Black Sabbath performing "N.I.B." appears on 35mm new reel from Polygoon Hollands Nieuws. There are just over two minutes of footage all, including bits of Golden Earring, The Kinks and The Dream. Could there be more??? |
