Released in 1983, Born Again is the most controversial album of Black Sabbath’s illustrious career, largely thanks to the controversial presence of Deep Purple singer Ian Gillan. In 2006, Gillan looked back on the chaotic creation of a flawed classic – and the infamous tour that followed.
After eight studio albums between 1970 and 1978 with the original line-up – Ozzy Osbourne on vocals, Tony Iommi on guitar, bassist Geezer Butler and drummer Bill Ward – the band then recorded two classic studio albums with former Rainbow singer Ronnie James Dio, 1980’s Heaven And Hell and 1981’s Mob Rules. When Dio left acrimoniously following the release of 1982’s Live Evil live album, they were left looking for another singer.
The man who stepped in was unexpected: former Deep Purple singer Ian Gillan. Eyebrows were instantly raised. Wss this the birth of a new supergroup? Or was it the mismatch of the decade? “This isn’t Deep Sabbath, or Black Purple!” insisted bassist Geezer Butler at the time. “Ian Gillan’s joining Black Sabbath. So we won’t be playing Smoke On The Water!”
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- “We were doing things that would have been beyond us with Ozzy. With Ronnie James Dio, there were so many more options”: How a reinvented Black Sabbath saved themselves from oblivion with Heaven And Hell
How those words would come back to haunt Butler. But on paper, there was a logic to the alliance: Sabbath were looking for a singer, Gillan was looking for a band.
“I actually agreed to join the band when I was completely drunk,” laughs Gillan, recalling those hazy, crazy days. “What happened was that I’d split up my band [Gillan], because I’d literally run out of money. I lost my house, my studio – even my car. Anyway, Sabbath had just fired Ronnie Dio, when I met up with Tony and Geezer one day in Bearsville, which is Upstate New York. We got very drunk, and I was literally under the table.
“I’ve not much recollection of what went on. But the next day my manager, Phil Banfield, rang me and said, ‘The next time you decide to make a career decision, consult me first!’. Apparently, I’d agreed in my drunken state to join Sabbath! So, there was no formal offer, just a very drunken discussion – and, as far as I can remember, I remained pissed for virtually the whole time I was with the band.
The addition of Gillan wasn’t the only change in the Sabbath line-up. Original drummer Bill Ward was back, a couple of years after quitting during the Heaven And Hell tour. His place had been taken by Vinny Appice, who opted to leave with Dio to form the singer’s eponymous band.
“Bill wasn’t a very well man, but he was such a nice guy,” says Gillan. “You could never wish to meet a more pleasant person. When he returned you had the whole of the classic Black Sabbath instrumental line-up back together. And let me tell you, they were amazing.”
It was agreed that the newly configured Sabbath would record the album at Manor Studios in Shipton, Oxfordshire, a complex that was then owned by Richard Branson]. But, as the singer recalls, the process was anything but normal. In fact, the whole situation was slightly surreal.
“I hardly ever saw the rest of the guys,” he says. “I’d work in the studio during the day, and party at night. Tony and Geezer would party during the day and sleep at night – or something like that. Here’s how it would work. I’d go into the studio until about 5pm. And as I was leaving, the rest of the guys would arrive. We’d probably talk very briefly, and I’d tell them what I thought of one or two ideas they’d recorded the previous night. They would work until about midnight, then go to a club in Birmingham, and get back to the studio about 8am, at which time I was up and boiling the kettle for my first cup of tea – just as they’d be ready to crash out and sleep! It was crazy, but it seemed to suit all of us.”
The Manor was a residential studio, yet Gillan decided not to stay in the house itself, but pitched a tent in the grounds. It sounds weird, given how big Sabbath – and Gillan himself – were.
“Not really,” he counters. “There was a horrible smell in the house – nothing to do with the rest of the band, I must say! – so I felt more comfortable sleeping in a tent. Beside, the whole time was out of control. There were a lot of strange things going on – explosions in rooms and the like. It was one long party. For my own safety, it made sense to stay out of the way!”
Given their reputation, it should come as no surprise that Sabbath reportedly fell foul of a local vicar, who apparently objected to the presence of rock’s Dark Lords in the vicinity. The truth, though, is a little more ‘cucumbers sandwiches’ than it is ‘midnight exorcism’, though it did inspire one of the album’s tracks.
“One day, it was quite hot, so I flung open the doors to the control room, and the sound was cranked very loud,” says Gillan. “Next thing I know, there’s a vicar standing in the room. He was extremely polite and friendly, but asked if we’d mind turning down what he described as ‘this wonderful music’ – I could tell he was trying very hard not to call it a ‘noise’ – because it was interfering with his choir practice.
“The man was so respectful, and we had no problems in working out a situation so that we didn’t blast out the music during those times when choir practice was going on. In fact, we got on so well that I went for a pint with him at the pub. The whole story’s in the song Disturbing The Priest.”
Another track based on a real life experience during these sessions was Trashed, which was actually inspired by a near-death encounter.
“I was close to being killed one day,” says Gillan, in the sort of voice that makes it all sound as if he were doing nothing more than feeding the ducks. “I was racing a car on a track, when it flipped over and slid on the bonnet for what seemed like ages. If I hadn’t been wearing a helmet, then I wouldn’t have survived. What’s odd is that I’m not sure what made me put on the helmet – but something did!”
The album, appropriately titled Born Again, was completed in just a few weeks. It was released in August 1983 to reviews that were generally positive - many singling out the mighty Zero The Hero in particular as a song that could stand toe-to-toe with the best of Sabbath, though the album’s garish cover - a demonic newborn baby, complete with fangs – was received less well.
The album reached No.4 in the UK – the highest charting Sabbath album since 1973’s Sabbath Bloody Sabbath. In America, it reached the Top 40 – lower than the two Dio albums, but higher than the final couple of Ozzy-era albums. But while Gillan thinks that the songs were strong, the sound of the album was rather insipid.
“I’ve got monitor mixes of the album that sound fantastic,” says the singer, who reportedly threw a cassette of the final mix out of the window of his speeding car the first time he heard them. “But something went wrong during the final process, perhaps at the mastering stage. It sounds like a blanket was thrown over the whole thing. I don’t blame our producer/engineer Robin Black – he was excellent – but someone has to take responsibility. My theory is that it may be something to do with a certain bassist.”
If the album itself was a qualified triumph, the Born Again tour bordered on the farcical. With Bill Ward once again ailing, ex-ELO drummer Bev Bevan took over behind the kit. In August 1983, Sabbath headlined the Reading Festival. Despite their earlier protests, they unexpectedly unleashed a version of Smoke On The Water, living up to those ‘Deep Sabbath’ jibes.
“It wasn’t planned,” protests Gillan. “Tony just went into the riff. I think the rest of the guys did it to help me out. Let’s face it, Ozzy is Black Sabbath’s singer, and I was struggling with songs like War Pigs and Iron Man. It was their way of balancing things. And we did it very well. Not only that, but it got a great response. I don’t think the fans saw it as sacrilege at all.”
However, this was a mere blip compared to what happened on the North American leg of the Born Again tour.
“We had a meeting at a company called Light & Sound Design in Birmingham, to discuss the stage set,” says Gillan. “We were asked if any of us had ideas, at which point Geezer said, ‘Let’s have Stonehenge’. Everyone thought it was great. But, when he was asked how big he envisioned the set being, Geezer just replied, ‘Life size, of course!’. So, it was built, and looked spectacular – I honestly think it’s one of the best Sabbath stage sets ever. But it was too large for a lot of the venues we played in!”
The size of the Stonehenge stage set prohibited Sabbath from actually setting it up on many of the stop-offs. But even when they could fit it onstage, there were still issues.
“The first night we used this set was at the Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto,” says Gillan. “And it was hilarious – unintentionally so! Our manager Don Arden had hired a stunt dwarf, who was supposed to walk along the top of Stonehenge at the start of the gig. He was dressed as the Satanic baby on the album cover, and was supposed to throw himself off as we began playing, landing on soft mattresses. But I suddenly heard a scream, because the dwarf had hit the hard floor below him.
“On top of that, we had some of our roadcrew dressed up as druids, which would have been very effective, if you couldn’t see their Reeboks peeking out from underneath the robes. The audience just laughed at the whole thing, and I can’t blame them. The effect for which we were aiming just fell way short!”
The ill-fated tour would provide the inspiration for a memorable scene in following year’s This Is Spinal Tap – except that rather than being too large, Stonehenge replica was comically small. “I had no problems in telling everything I knew to the consultants on the Spinal Tap movie,” admits Gillan. “And the results you can see on screen.”
The Born Again tour ended on March 3, 1984. Both parties knew that the alliance that had begun with a drunken night a little over a year earlier wasn’t built to last, and the parting was amicable. The album itself holds a unique place in the Sabbath cannon - seen by some as a misfire, but championed by others.
“I was only contracted for a year, and that was it,” says Gillan, who was already in talks to reunite Deep Purple before the tour ended. “But it was a great time. I believe that the album was very credible, and a lot better than some the band went on to record later. The production is poor, I agree with that criticism. But the songs and performances were real, honest, raw. They represent exactly where we were at the time. I am proud to have been part of Born Again, and to have been able to work with such great professionals was an experience. Perhaps we should have called the band a different name – maybe even ‘Black Sabbath featuring Ian Gillan’ – but you know what musicians are like. We tend to go with the flow. However, it was a great time in my life, and that’s the honest truth. Although looking back, I wonder how I survived!”
Originally published in Metal Hammer issue 155, July 2006
