| Created 2007..09.22 Updated 2007.10.06 |
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A Taste of Black Sabbath's Rat Salad Paul Wilkerson's book Rat Salad is a great musical journey for anyone, whether a fan or new to Black Sabbath's music. |
It's early 1969 in Birmingham, England. A blues band tired of being confused with another local band called "Earth" changes its name to the title of one of their songs. Black Sabbath. "Rat Salad" is the name of one of the songs on the Paranoid Album, first released in January 1970. The title Rat Salad came up repeatedly when author and band member Paul Wilkinson played an early version of Pictionary with his sister. Of course, Black Sabbath's band members were a bit crazy and freely admit to drug use during their career.
The sound of Black Sabbath evolved from a freak accident. Guitarist Tony Iommi lost the tips of two fingers on his fretting hand in an accident working at a sheet metal factory. Even though he made prosthetics, it still hurt to play the guitar. Iommi listened to Django Reinhardt, a Belgian jazz guitarist with only two fingers on his fretting hand. There was a way to make playing more comfortable. Iommi loosened the strings. The other Black Sabbath band members had to accommodate this tone change with him. The sound of the band became darker, more in keeping with the name Black Sabbath. Their songs got darker, too.
Paul Wilkinson gives an insider's interpretation of the songs on the first six albums and throws in some music theory to help you along. That's about half the book. The other half is historical facts, both personal and world events. You know what was happening when the music was created.
Wilkinson's writing is engaging and humorous. You can tell how much Wilkinson loves the music. There's great thought behind his analysis of each song. You can tell how much this band and its music means to him. This book is a great musical journey for anyone, whether a fan or new to Black Sabbath's music.
Rat Salad: Black Sabbath, The Classic Years, 1969-1975
(Hardcover) 256 pages
by Paul Wilkinson
Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books (July 24, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0312367236
$24.95