Fans of Black Sabbath, rejoice! An unreleased collection of rare early recordings from Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, and Bill Ward is finally seeing the light of day. Dubbed Earth: The Legendary Lost Tapes, this archival album drops July 25 via Big Bear Records, offering a raw glimpse into the band’s formative blue rock roots just before they reshaped rock music forever with the birth of heavy metal.
Recorded in 1969 at Zella Studio in Birmingham, these long-lost tracks were captured by legendary music promoter Jim Simpson, who would go on to become Black Sabbath’s first manager. Now in his 80s, Simpson has unearthed the tapes, presenting them remastered for the first time.
"Before Black Sabbath, the band were known as Earth – a blues-driven powerhouse already making a name for themselves," said Simpson. "This new release presents rare early recordings from that era, remastered from long-lost tapes.
"These recordings clearly demonstrate what fine music they produced right from the very beginning. We recorded these tracks at Zella Studio in Birmingham in 1969, but held back from releasing them as their style was evolving so quickly.
"Now, some 57 years later, the recordings assume a greater importance, illustrating how these four young men from Birmingham, barely out of their teens, were excellent musicians and a fine band, fully deserving of all the success that was to come their way."
So what's on the album? Earth: The Legendary Lost Tapes features:
- Rare blues covers including "Blue Suede Shoes," "Evenin’," and "Wee Wee Baby"
- Two versions of "Song for Jim," one with Iommi on guitar and the other featuring a rare flute performance
- Early heavy proto-metal tracks: "Untitled," "Free Man," "Wicked World," and "Warning"
It's not clear if this is sanctioned at all by the members of Black Sabbath, though I'm guessing it's not considering they haven't mentioned it and the Sabbath camp generally keeps things pretty tight. I also can't help but feel like this is perfectly timed to gain some traction around the final Black Sabbath shows.
As for pre-orders, the release only notes "Pre-orders are available at various retailers, easily found by Googling Earth: The Legendary Lost Tapes." Which is super unhelpful. So here's a link to Google for that, if you're feeling particularly lazy.
For those unaware, the band then named Earth started gaining local traction in the late '60s but discovered another British band also called Earth. Around the same time, Geezer Butler wrote a song titled "Black Sabbath", inspired by a horror movie poster and his interest in the occult. The song’s dark tone and imagery sparked a revelation: audiences were responding more intensely to heavier, ominous material than to their blues songs.
The band officially changed their name to Black Sabbath in 1969, aligning their image and music with darker, doom-laden themes that broke from traditional rock conventions.
