"The End"

February 10, 2017

-by Jim Culp

{this is a partial excerpt from my autobiography, To Three Hells and Back, publishing this fall....}

This month marks the end of an era, or in my words, an age.

The most famous of all Heavy Metal bands, and the original lineup

being the godfathers of that genre, Rock and Roll's stepchild, Heavy Metal.

On February 4th, at Genting Arena in Birmingham, England, the legendary

Black Sabbath played their final concert.

This day was long dreaded by Black Sabbath fans, but the event was legendary and the fans gave them the finest send off in decades.

Black Sabbath started all the way back in 1968. I was the ripe old age of two.

I heard KISS when I was about seven, and they scared the hell out of me.

Three days a week, I was taught that Rock and Roll was the invention of the devil, and those that listened to it were doomed to a fiery hell that burned for eternity.

I never heard, or at least didn't know I heard, Black Sabbath until I was in the 6th grade, and a car next us at the Snappy Mart in Silver City was blasting out an old cut of "Iron Man" on an 8-track deck. I thought the song was magical. The haunting drag of the Gibson SG played by Tony Iommi was highly interesting to me, and I wanted to hear more. Time, continual church quickening, and other things in life delayed that quest. It would be many years later, in 1985, when I was a young soldier in Korea, I bought a copy of Black Sabbath's first record with Ronnie James Dio as the lead singer. It was called Heaven and Hell, and was released in 1980. While I was in high school, I had seen their second Dio-led record, The Mob Rules, on LP in K-Mart, and had ignored it.

"Heaven and Hell" was an incredible album, it had songs like "Children of the Sea" and the title track. Dio was my hero a month later, and I officially became a Black Sabbath fan. There was no internet in those days, and library on our base in Korea had as much Rock and Roll literature as my parent's church did.

Once I was back in the world, though, in June of 1986, I started listening to the old stuff. It was mesmerizing, and the haunting lyrics of their debut album were as surreal as going to a funeral. It would be many years later, and I would achieve one of my lifetime goals; seeing Black Sabbath in Phoenix in August of 2013. They had their original lineup back (except for Bill Ward), and the show was the best concert I ever saw (the only one even close being Rush: Moving Pictures). Tommy Clufetos was on drums, and gave an awesome show. Black Sabbath had just released their 19th record, 13; earlier that year. I had acquired it in Tacoma while doing a job for my old company. It wasn't like some band's later recordings though, it was easily on of their best records ever.

Ozzy was back in raw form, and Tony and Geezer traded bad ass riffs and thundering Metal sounds that make the cat run to the back bedroom.

Brad Wilk, the amazing drummer of Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave, filled in on drums, and did an amazing job. He was highly praised and recognized by the band.

But that time is over. Black Sabbath has decided to call it quits, and enjoy retirement.

Ozzy will keep touring; that crazy bastard will most likely die on a stage, and he'd love it if he did. Tony and Geezer will likely do more stuff, but they are ready to spend more time at the house, and at restaurants. You can hardly blame them for that. After 49 years of giving the world their music, and creating a genre that is loved by millions, they deserve it. Bill is starting a new band, and will no doubt play for a while longer.

No matter what the members do, I salute them. They gave me hours of enjoyment, and taught me musical skills that I still work to perfect to this day.

(I still know a guitar is in perfect tune if opening riffs of "Children of the Sea" and "Rainbow in the Dark" sound right).

Thanks Black Sabbath; we love you always.

And last but not least, RIP Ronnie James Dio. You will never be forgotten.