Black Sabbath's Tony Iommi Reveals His Earliest Influences

(Gibson) Black Sabbath great Tony Iommi has been discussing just how his tastes in his young years shaped the Black Sabbath sound. As a band without any obvious forebears, Sabbath are often seen as unique. But of the time when he started playing guitar, Iommi has singled out UK instrumental quartet The Shadows as the only band he really liked. Iommi told Total Guitar:

"The Shadows were the only band that really appealed to me [in the early 60s]. There was rock'n'roll but I liked the idea of an instrumental band and they had a real sort of demonic sound in some ways - 'Frightened City' and stuff like that had an eerie feeling to it. I really liked what they were doing and they had a nice guitar sound for what they did."

"So I really tried to get that and I did to a point. Bill [Ward] and myself, when we got together we were playing Shadows songs in the early band we were in, with Cliff Richard stuff and rock'n'roll. We wanted this more raw, basic sound, so I got into playing blues and jazz. And from that it went into what we are playing now." Read more here.

Black Sabbath Music, DVDs, Books and more Black Sabbath T-shirts and Posters More Black Sabbath News Share this article Related Stories Original Black Sabbath Farewell Concert? Geezer Weighed In (2024 In Review) Black Sabbath's Bill Ward Reacts To Nicko McBrain's Retiring From Touring Ozzy Osbourne Hopes For Black Sabbath Reunion At His Final Concert Black Sabbath Icon Tony Iommi Mixing Things Up On Next Solo Album Ozzy Osbourne's Original Solo Bandmate Not Surprised By Rock Hall Snub