So right now I'm listening to some Sabbath. Because it's great! "Children of the Grave"? Yes, please! And I came up with an interesting game of mental jerkoff for those of you music nerds who are into such things.
Many people have been in Black Sabbath. Many different drummers, bassists and singers but only one guitarist (Mr. Iommi). So bearing that in mind, pick your all-star Sabbath lineup, kinda like picking your all-time SNL lineup or all-time Cubs lineup.
Here's the tricky part: you CANNOT name Ozzy, Geezer or Bill Ward. Tony Iommi is a given because he's the only guitarist in the history of the band. You must pick your all-time lineup from the other guys who didn't measure up to the classic Sabbath lineup.
Yes, you may pick Ronnie James Dio.
Singers (in order of entrance into the band): Dave Walker, Ronnie James Dio, Ian Gillan, Glenn Hughes, Tony Martin.
Bassists: Dave Spitz, Bob Daisley, Laurence Cottle, Neil Murray
Drummers: Vinny Appice, Eric Singer, Cozy Powell, Bobby Rondinelli
I only listed band members who actually made it to a recorded album. Some were replaced for the tour for the albums they recorded. Others (like Bev Bevan) only rehearsed with the group and Rob Halford sang three shows with them once.
MY ALL-STAR SABBATH LINEUP (which doesn't have 3 of the original members)
GUITAR: Tony Iommi. VOCALS: Ronnie James Dio. BASS: Bob Daisley. DRUMS: Vinny Appice.
Wow, I really screwed that up. I started with Black Sabbath and ended up with Dio/Rainbow. This is a lot harder than I thought. I might have to include non-album band members. Let's try again.
TAKE TWO: Iommi. Rob Halford (3 shows between 1992-2004) on Vocals. Bev Bevan (who was in the band for one tour) on Drums. Bob Daisley (who played on one Sabbath album and gave Ozzy solo all the ideas Randy Rhodes didn't give him) on Bass. I can live with that although it looks more like an All-Star Supergroup rather than Black Sabbath.