Watch: I met Black Sabbath’s first manager Jim Simpson & he remembers the first day he met Ozzy & the band

Black Sabbath’s pioneering drummer, Bill Ward, has penned a moving tribute to the band’s origins, which was read aloud during a free gig at the Velvet Music Rooms on Broad Steet at a special gig.

The event, which included officially-recognized tribute band Sabbra Cadabra, commemorated the 53rd anniversary of the release of Black Sabbath’s debut album, called Black Sabbath.

Ward’s poem, titled ‘Testing One Two Three, Test Test!’, celebrated the legendary Henry’s Blueshouse in Birmingham, where the band first made their mark and quickly became a sought-after attraction.

The poem was delivered by former Birmingham Poet Laureate, Giovanni Esposito, also known as Spoz, who is currently the Poet-In-Residence at Birmingham City Football Club.

The show, which saw Sabbra Cadabra’s lead singer, Kevin McGillian, aka ‘Ozzy,’ take to the stage, was held on the same street where the real Ozzy Osbourne and the band received the Westside Broad Street Walk of Stars award in 2007.

Black Sabbath’s connection to Broad Street was further reinforced in 2019, when Tony and Geezer sailed on a narrowboat through Brindleyplace before naming the ‘Black Sabbath Bridge’ next to the Brasshouse.

They also unveiled a ‘Black Sabbath Bench’ that featured the faces of all four band members etched in steel, allowing fans to take pictures with the heavy metal legends.

The gig was a part of a ‘Henry’s Blueshouse’ show, which remembered the nights when such events were held at The Crown pub on Station Street.

The Crown, which has been closed since June 2014, was where Ozzy first graced the stage in 1968 as a member of the blues band Earth, which later transformed into Black Sabbath, one of the most significant names in global heavy metal.

The band’s first album, ‘Black Sabbath,’ was released in the UK on February 13, 1970, on Vertigo Records, an underground label of Phonogram.

Despite negative reviews, the album charted on the week of its release, peaked at No. 8, and went Gold in several countries, including the UK, Canada, Holland, Finland, and Germany.

When Warner Brothers Music released the album in the USA four months later, it spent a year on the chart, peaked at #23, and was certified Platinum.

Black Sabbath’s close association with Henry’s Blueshouse and The Crown earned them a reputation as the house band, and their manager, Jim Simpson, was instrumental in propelling them to fame with two hit albums, ‘Black Sabbath’ and ‘Paranoid.’ ‘Paranoid’ became their first UK No. 1 album, a feat that they would not repeat for 43 years.

Simpson, who organized Henry’s Blueshouse, praised Sabbra Cadabra for their uncanny authenticity, which he says takes him back to the Henry’s Blueshouse of 1969. The band delivered three rocking sets, including a performance of the entire ‘Black Sabbath’ album.

The event was led by Jim Simpson, the founder and ongoing director of the Birmingham Jazz Festival, who participated in a 20-minute Q&A. In addition, a replica of Black Sabbath’s first T-Shirt, when they were known as Earth was revealed.

What Black Sabbath’s first manager Jim Simpson said about the band in his own words

“We ran a blues club called Henry’s Blueshouse every Tuesday with British bands like Status Quo and Jethro Tull - ten years after the emerging event - and lots of good Americans.

“One day - at the opening night - the two guys filled in the membership book. One was a ‘John Michael Osborne’, and the other was ‘Anthony James Iommi’ - and that’s when I first met them, but I didn’t know they played.

“After coming for a few weeks, they said they’ve got a band and could they play the opening spot - a said yeah, because they were very nice kids. I say kids, I mean - I was only about 30, then they were ten years younger, probably younger than that.

“And they were good! So good that we put them on two or three times, then they became a headliner. And once they became a headliner they soon became the biggest draw.

“At the very beginning it was very hard for any interest outside of the North and the Midlands. And they were a top draw at Henry’s - they were a bigger draw than Status Quo or Ten Years After.

“We are celebrating what we call the Birth of Metal. We’ve got a band from Manchester, who are the closest Sabbath soundalike called Sabra Cadabra.

“We’ve got lots of memorabilia from the Seventies filled throughout the venue. We’ve got you reading a poem that was written especially for today by Bill Ward, the Sabbath drummer.”