TONY IOMMI Says That The Late ALVIN LEE Was "Horrified" When EARTH Changed Their Name To BLACK SABBATH According to Paul Cole from the Birmingham Mail,
BLACK SABBATH guitar legend
Tony Iommi has revealed how Midland guitar
hero
ALVIN LEE, who died last week, gave him an early break.
It was the
TEN YEARS AFTER guitar star who saw something in
Tony’s
band
EARTH – who went on to find fame after changing their name to Black
Sabbath – and helped them to get some of their early gigs.
Lee unexpectedly died on March 6th following complications during
routine surgery. The Nottingham, UK-born musician rose to fame after
appearing at the Woodstock festival in 1969. The band, who had eight Top
40 albums in the UK, had their biggest hit in 1971 with 'I'd Love To
Change The World'. "We have lost a wonderful and much loved father and
companion, the world has lost a truly great and gifted musician," said
the statement from his wife and daughters.
“I was extremely saddened to hear of Alvin’s death,” the Sabbath
star said. “It was a great shock. I had not known that he was ill.
“
Alvin was a really great guitar player but, more importantly, has been a good friend of Black Sabbath over the years.
“In the early days, when we were still going by the name of Earth,
it was Alvin who helped us get some gigs. He’d been out there a bit
before us, and knew the ropes. We’d sit and talk the night away at a
flat in London. I remember telling him that we were thinking of changing
our name to Black Sabbath. He was horrified! He told me we’d never do
any good with a name like that.”
Read more at Birmingham Mail.