Beemer Memory 35 ~ Peace Pipe, bull's ball stash box & the B.T. Express

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Peace Pipe & bull's ball box 

photo by Styrous®

     

Almost 50 years ago in 1972, when I first got my Beemer (links below), as a present to celebrate the purchase of my new bike, a friend gave me this special pipe that had been made at the height of the hippie movement in the late sixties; it was well used when I got it. It is made of some kind of horn, maybe a goat's horn, 8 inches long and beautifully bound in strips of well-worn leather.       

The word hippie came from hipster and was used to describe beatniks who moved into Greenwich Village in New York City, the Haight-Ashbury district in San Francisco, and the Old Town community in Chicago. The origins of the terms hip and hep are uncertain. By the 1940s, both had become part of African American jive slang and meant "sophisticated; currently fashionable; fully up-to-date". The Beats adopted the term hip, and early hippies inherited the language and countercultural values of the Beat Generation in the 1950's (a wonderful time to have experienced). Hippies created their own communities, listened to psychedelic music, embraced the sexual revolution, and many used drugs such as marijuana and LSD to explore altered states of consciousness.      

 

In 1967, on the West Coast of the United States, the Human Be-In in Golden Gate Park and the Summer of Love in San Francisco . . .         

 

 

 

 

 

 

 . . . and the Monterey Pop Festival popularized hippie culture, leading to the 1969 Woodstock Festival on the East Coast (link below).  

 

 

 

 

I enjoyed many happy hours  of smoking my pipe while tripping to the music of Led Zeppelin, Captain Beyond, Pink Floyd, Deep Purple, Can, The Beatles, The Stones, Black Sabbath and on and on.  

 

Of course, I would not only just trip but dance and gyrate madly in my studio at times to the fantastic dance song by the B.T. Express from their Non-Stop album, Peace Pipe; somehow the song and the pipe went together perfectly.

 

Peace Pipe was a BIG hit in the dance clubs in the mid-seventies; not only here, but all over the world, even in Japan.       

        

 

B.T. Express ~ Peace Pipe

 45 rpm record

 Japanese issue

 

 

  

     

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At a later point, someone gave me a bull scrotum that had been tanned and formed into a hard, circular container which I used as my stash box.      

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Both the pipe and the tanned, bull testicle, stash box made a very handsome set and I was ready for anything.   

 pipe and hard, tanned bull testicle

photo by Styrous®

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

     

 

 

 

 

 

After almost fifty years or so of having the enjoyment of my pipe, it is time to pass it on to a younger generation with good wishes, great love and grand health.         

    

    

    

    

Viewfinder links:    

   

all things Beatles        

Beemer Memories Pt. 1 ~ the end & the beginning        

Beemer Memories Pt. 3 ~ Beginnings      

Black Sabbath    

B. T. Express        

Captain Beyond        

Deep Purple       

Led Zeppelin          

all things Pink (Floyd)       

The Rolling Stones      

Styrous®    

Woodstock ~ Looking back after 50 years        

    

Net links:    

    

Smile Politely ~ Bulls Balls: A Truck Decoration    

Wikipedia ~ Testicles as food    

    

YouTube links:             

    

B. T. Express ~ Peace Pipe     

B. T. Express ~ Peace Pipe (live)     

PBS ~ Summer of Love | American Experience     

Scott McKenzie ~ San Francisco         

1970s Gay Club, Disco, San Francisco, HD from 16mm          

    

    

    

    

Dedicated to Rick on his birthday! 

    

    

    

    

Styrous® ~ Saturday, May 29, 2021     

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Beemer Memories
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20,000 vinyl LPs 275: Black Sabbath ~ Master of Reality & the fingers of fate

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Black Sabbath ~ Master of Reality

vinyl LP front cover detail

Design: Bloomsbury Group 

detail photo of album cover by Styrous®

       

Today is the birthday of Tony Iommi, lead guitarist, co-founder & leader of heavy metal band Black Sabbath, and was the band's primary composer and sole continuous member for nearly five decades. Iommi was ranked number 25 in Rolling Stone magazine's list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time".  

 

 

Black Sabbath ~ Master of Reality

vinyl LP front cover

Design: Bloomsbury Group 

photo of album cover by Styrous®

 

 

This is remarkable as, at the age of 17, Iommi lost the tips of the middle and ring fingers of his right hand in an industrial accident on his last day of work in a sheet metal factory. Iommi described how he "was told 'you'll never play again'. It was just unbelievable. I sat in the hospital with my hand in this bag and I thought, that's it – I'm finished. But eventually I thought 'I'm not going to accept that. There must be a way I can play'." After the injury Iommi's factory foreman played him a recording of famous jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt, which encouraged him to continue as a musician. As Iommi later wrote:   

"My friend said, "Listen to this guy play", and I went, "No way! Listening to someone play the guitar is the very last thing I want to do right now!" But he kept insisting and he ended up playing the record for me. I told him I thought it was really good and then he said, 'You know, the guy's only playing with two fingers on his fretboard hand because of an injury he sustained in a terrible fire.' I was totally knocked back by this revelation and was so impressed by what I had just heard that I suddenly became inspired to start trying to play again."      

                       

Black Sabbath ~ Master of Reality

vinyl LP back cover

Design: Bloomsbury Group 

photo by Styrous®

 

Inspired by Reinhardt's two-fingered guitar playing, Iommi decided to try playing guitar again, though the injury made it quite painful to do so. Although it was an option, Iommi never seriously considered switching hands and learning to play right-handed. In an interview with Guitar World magazine, he was asked if he was "ever tempted to switch to right-handed playing." Iommi responded:

If I knew what I know now I probably would have switched. At the time I had already been playing two or three years, and it seemed like I had been playing a long time. I thought I’d never be able to change the way I played. The reality of the situation was that I hadn’t been playing very long at all, and I probably could have spent the same amount of time learning to play right handed. I did have a go at it, but I just didn’t have the patience. It seemed impossible to me. I decided to make do with what I had, and I made some plastic fingertips for myself. I just persevered with it.         

Iommi had always played the guitar left-handed, so, he ultimately decided to continue playing it that way but had to make adjustments. He also began tuning his guitar to lower pitches, sometimes as far as three semitones below standard guitar tuning (e.g., on Children of the Grave, Lord of this World, and Into the Void, all on Master of Reality). Although Iommi states that the main purpose of doing so was to create a "bigger, heavier sound", slackening the strings makes it easier to bend them. He reflected in 2016 saying that his greatest regret is losing his fingertips.       

Some people say it helped me invent the kind of music I play, but I don’t know whether it did. It’s just something I’ve had to learn to live with. It affects your playing style; you can’t feel the strings, and there are certain chords I can’t play. Right at the beginning I was told by doctors: “You won’t be playing guitar.” But I believed I could do it, and I did.        

 I find this very interesting as Into the Void is one of the three songs I like the best on this album; the other two are Orchid and Solitude. Orchid is a quiet but fastly played guitar with could be a double bass or even an organ synth instrumental. Solitude is also a quiet and gentle trio with guitar, flute and voice; it has a moderately slow waltz tempo.   

 

Also of interest, on Sabbath's first album there is a guitar, Jew's harp and vocal intro, A Bit of Finger that goes into the song, Sleeping Village; Finger is very quiet, almost wistful and very beautiful. (link below).   

 

 

Tony Iommi - 2009
photo by Adam Bielawki

 

 

The album cover is pretty interesting as well; it is embossed. It's a little difficult to see but if you look hard you can make out the texture in the photo below.     

   

Black Sabbath ~ Master of Reality

vinyl LP front cover embossed detail

Design: Bloomsbury Group 

detail photo of album cover by Styrous®

On February 19, 1948, Iommi was born and ultimately raised in Handsworth, Birmingham, and attended Birchfield Road School, where future bandmate Ozzy Osbourne was also a student one year behind him. At age 8 or 9, while being chased by another boy, Iommi fell and suffered a bad cut on his upper lip. As a result, he gained the nickname "Scarface", which made him more self-conscious of the scar, so he eventually grew his trademark moustache as a means of covering it. At about age 10, Iommi began working out and learned marshal arts and boxing as a means of protecting himself from the local gangs which congregated in his neighborhood.            

Tony Iommi
 date & photographer unknown 

 

 

He initially wanted to play the drums, but due to the noise he chose the guitar instead as a teenager, after being inspired by Hank Marvin and the Shadows.        

 

 

 

 Black Sabbath ~ Master of Reality

vinyl LP back cover detail

Design: Bloomsbury Group 

detail photo of album cover by Styrous®

Black Sabbath ~ Master of Reality

vinyl LP back cover detail

Design: Bloomsbury Group 

detail photo of album cover by Styrous®

Black Sabbath ~ Master of Reality

vinyl LP back cover detail

Design: Bloomsbury Group 

detail photo of album cover by Styrous®

Black Sabbath ~ Master of Reality

vinyl LP back cover detail

Design: Bloomsbury Group 

detail photo of album cover by Styrous®

 

 

 

 

 

Black Sabbath ~ Master of Reality

vinyl LP side 1

photos by Styrous®

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Black Sabbath ~ Master of Reality

vinyl LP side 2

photos by Styrous®

 

 

   

Tracklist:

Side 1:

A1 - Sweet Leaf, written by Ward*, Osbourne*, Butler*, Iommi* - 5:02
A2 - After Forever (Including The Elegy), written by Ward*, Osbourne*, Butler*, Iommi* - 5:25
A3 - Embryo, written by Iommi* - 0:30
A4 - Children Of The Grave, written by Ward*, Osbourne*, Butler*, Iommi* - 5:15

Side 2:

B1 - Orchid, written by Iommi* - 2:00
B2 - Lord Of This World, written by Ward*, Osbourne*, Butler*, Iommi* - 4:55
B3 - Solitude, written by Ward*, Osbourne*, Butler*, Iommi* - 8:08
B4 - Into The Void, written by Ward*, Osbourne*, Butler*, Iommi* - 3:08

Companies, etc.

    Distributed By – RCA Music Service – R113365
    Manufactured By – RCA Music Service – R113365
    Produced For – Tony Hall Enterprises
    Record Company – Warner Bros. Records Inc.

Credits:

    Art Direction – Mike Stanford
    Design – Bloomsbury Group
    Photography By [Poster] – Keef (4)
    Producer – Rodger Bain

Notes:

RCA Record Club edition.

Has the code R113365 printed in white on the back of sleeve.

Green WB shield center labels w/ correct album title, & "After Forever (Including The Elegy)" as A2, credited to "Iommi-Ward-Osbourne-Butler".

 
Barcode and Other Identifiers
  

    Matrix / Runout (Label A): R113365A
    Matrix / Runout (Label A): (S39928)
    Matrix / Runout (Label B): R113365B
    Matrix / Runout (Label B): (S39929)

 

Black Sabbath – Master Of Reality
Label: Warner Bros. Records – BS 2562, Warner Bros. Records – 2562
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Club Edition, Embossed Cover
Country: US
Released: 1971
Genre: Rock
Style: Heavy Metal

 

 

 

        

Viewfinder links:        

         

Black Sabbath         

Black Sabbath & A Bit of Finger         

Tony Iommi       

Ozzy Osbourne        

        

Net links:        

        

         

        

        

         

        

        

YouTube links:        

        

Orchid        

Into The Void        

Solitude         

         

        

        

 Have a good one, Tony!

         

        

        

        

Styrous® ~ Friday, February 19, 2021       
       

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20,000 Vinyl LPs Archive
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Tony Iommi articles/mentions

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Black Sabbath    

Black Sabbath & A Bit of Finger     

Master of Reality & the fingers of fate  

      

      

     

     

      

     

      

     

     

     

      

     

      

     

Tony Iommi - 1970

photo by Joe Sia

      

     

      

     

      

     

      

     

 

 

 

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Music People

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Black Sabbath articles/mentions

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Black Sabbath & A Bit of Finger     
     
     
     
     
mentions:     
Rock 'N' Roll High School        
     
     
     
     
     
     

Black Sabbath logo

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Music People
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20,000 vinyl LPs 226: Black Sabbath & A Bit of Finger

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 Black Sabbath ~ Black Sabbath
vinyl LP front cover
model: Louisa Livingstone 
album cover photo by Keith McMillan
photo of album cover by Styrous®
 

Today, June 1, is the 50th anniversary of the first album released by Black Sabbath in 1970. WOW! It seems so hard to believe it was THAT long ago.          

Black Sabbath was an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. They are often cited as pioneers of heavy metal music. The band helped define the genre with releases such as Black Sabbath (1970), Paranoid (1970), and Master of Reality (1971).             

 Black Sabbath ~ Black Sabbath
vinyl LP back cover
photo of album cover by Styrous®

Black Sabbath is considered the first heavy metal album. Additionally, the opening track of the album, Black Sabbath, has been referred to as the first doom metal song. Both music and lyrics intend to evoke a sense of despair, dread, and impending doom; the album cover does a very good job of that as well.         

 Black Sabbath ~ Black Sabbath
vinyl LP front cover detail
detail photo by Styrous®

The Music

 Black Sabbath ~ Black Sabbath
vinyl LP back cover detail
detail photo by Styrous®


(links to all music mentioned at end of article)

The first song, Black Sabbath, opens with a crash of thunder followed by the slow peel of a church bell, the lugubrious dirge intro that quiets down with a tortured vocal by Ozzy Osbourne. At four & a half minutes it breaks into a fast gallop which was a surprise on first hearing. Once the intro is finished Black Sabbath rams forward with no holds barred speed with blazing guitar work by Tony Iommi which breaks to a sudden end. It is considered to be the first heavy metal song.    

Wasp / Behind The Wall Of Sleep / Bassically / N.I.B are a sort of medley. A driving beat that moves the feet but not for dancin'! Behind the wall has an Iron Butterfly, In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida feeling to it but, they were all influencing each other at that time. It does have some GREAT guitar riffs.       

 Black Sabbath ~ Black Sabbath
vinyl LP back cover detail
detail photo by Styrous®

The Wizard opens with a really cool harmonica played by Osbourne that sounds like the whistle of a train. The story goes it is a paean to the band's drug dealer. But Iommi cleared things up in his book Iron Man: My Journey through Heaven and Hell with Black Sabbath, where he explained that Osbourne and Butler were wandering around stoned and saw some guy leaping around being silly outside of a club. He looked like some kind of elf to them. Thus, The Wizard was born.       

Wicked World starts off with hi-hats then goes into a fast number with lots of drum work by Ward for about 45 seconds then goes into a slower syncopated, deliberate beat. Gets slow & almost trippy before going back to the faster beat with a guitar note end that seems to go on forever.     

    

 Black Sabbath ~ Black Sabbath
vinyl LP back cover detail
detail photo by Styrous®

The last cut, which comes in at 14 and a half minutes, is, once again, a sort of medley, A Bit of Finger / Sleeping Village / Warning. The intro, is a beaut! Finger (appropriately named) features a quiet Jew's harp  in a trio with guitar and a beautiful vocal by Osborn. It is slow and trippy; even though it is just 54 seconds in duration, it totally sold me on Heavy Metal. Now THAT'S what I call a song!   

 "Sleeping Village/A Bit Of Finger"

Red sun rising in the sky
Sleeping village, cockerels cry
Soft breeze blowing in the trees
Peace of mind, feel at ease

 

Sleeping Village is moderately slow and deliberate up to just short of four minutes when it goes right into Warning. What a piece of work this cut is! Some incredible gutar work by Iommi who wails away during the instrumental breaks and good vocals by Osborne. At seven minutes it goes into a sensational intrumental brake! Great back and forth with guitar drums. At eight minutes, it rocks on again until another break that is a sonic dream! Picks up again at ten minutes to the a jivey, bouncy beat that is really nice. But that's not the end of it. ANOTHER break with MORE sonic wonders from Iommi; then on to the origianl beat, which even after FIFTY YEARS, I still can't remember how it started!   

 Black Sabbath ~ Black Sabbath
vinyl LP back cover detail
detail photo by Styrous®

         

The record sleeve that came with the album is pretty cool as well. As with most record sleeves it lists the artists that record for the label.  In this case, Warner Bros.  

Warner Bros. record sleeve back 



Warner Bros. record sleeve front 

        

On March 7, 2017, Black Sabbath announced their disbandment through posts made on their official social media accounts.                 

 Black Sabbath ~ Black Sabbath
vinyl LP, side 1
photo by Styrous®

 Black Sabbath ~ Black Sabbath
vinyl LP label, side 1
photo by Styrous®

 Black Sabbath ~ Black Sabbath
vinyl LP, side 2
photo by Styrous®

 Black Sabbath ~ Black Sabbath
vinyl LP label, side 2
photo by Styrous®

Tracklist:

Side 1:

A1 - Black Sabbath - 6:20
A2 - The Wizard - 4:22
A3 - Wasp / Behind The Wall Of Sleep / Bassically / N.I.B. - 9:44

Side 2:

B1 - Wicked World - 4:30
B2 - A Bit of Finger / Sleeping Village / Warning - 14:32

Companies, etc.

    Produced For – Tony Hall Enterprises

Credits:

    Featuring [Female Model] – Louisa Livingstone
    Producer – Rodger Bain
    Written-By – William Ward*, Terence Butler*, John Osbourne*, Tony Iommi

Notes:

Label variation, green Warner Bros.-Seven Arts Records labels with square orange/blue 'W7' logos. Track listing and durations taken from rear cover. Tracks are listed individually on labels, but without durations.

First catalog number on cover, second catalog number on labels.

From sleeve: Warner Bros. Records Inc., a Subsidiary & Licensee of Warner Bros. Inc., 4000 Warner Blvd., Burbank, Calif. - 488 Madison Ave., New York, N.Y. Made in U.S.A. (c) 1970 -- Warner Bros. Records Inc.

From label rim text: Made In U.S.A. · Warner Bros. - Seven Arts Records, Inc., A Subsidiary And Licensee of Warner Bros.-Seven Arts, Inc.
Barcode and Other Identifiers

    Matrix / Runout (Label side 1): S39728
    Matrix / Runout (Label side 2): S39729

Black Sabbath ‎– Black Sabbath
Label: Warner Bros. - Seven Arts Records ‎– 1871, Warner Bros. - Seven Arts Records ‎– WS 1871
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album
Country: US
Released: 1970
Genre: Rock
Style: Hard Rock, Blues Rock
      
     

Viewfinder links:    

   
Black Sabbath          

Ozzy Osbourne    
      

Net links:    

 
Black Sabbath lyrics          
Black Sabbath Discography       
Songfacts ~ The Wizard        

    

YouTube links:    

     

Black Sabbath ~ 
       Black Sabbath     

       Black Sabbath (original video performance)
       Wicked World         
     
        
         
Styrous® ~ Monday, June 1, 2020       
       

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