You know how I love Ozzy. I have spilled so much ink about my love for Ozzy. Like Jerry Garcia is to the Deadheads, Ozzy is a father figure for us. *Yes, I am a huge Deadhead and had a great father. But I stand behind these. For decades I have worshipped at Ozzy's feet. Did you know I met him once? It was at a 'record' singing event for 'the Ultimate Sin tour. He was playing PHX that night, and doing record store press in the days. I say 'record' with a smirk as this was sthte caseette era. My mom wouldn't let me go to the concert that night (got double dinged on this one, as the opener was Metallica touring early on 'Master of Puppets'. So my mom wouldn't let me go to the concert, which I totally get, but let me go to the record store appearance.
The deal was simple enough , and a win for everyone. You buy the caseette and he'll sign it. I got to say hello and thank him and how much I loved and knew his music. He said thank you, but then ask me a funny thing - "why are you shaking so much?" Because I am in front of probably the most important person in my 13 years old world right on front of me. And its funny because he was mostly famous for also having the shakes.
But we write to day not to praise Caesar, but to bury him.
What if Ozzy is just a big dumb lucky oaf who has failed up? I read somewhere (and maybe it was something I wrote myself) that he is the father of heavy metal. But... He can't read music or write music. He also doesn't write lyrics. He just sings what is handed to him. Ttruly, the Monkees had more artistic range and control over their catalogue.
Yeah, he is a good singer. He is not a great singer. I can tell you every single Ozzy song you have ever heard are triplple tracked in the studio. This means they have to take his voice and re-record it over and over. How do they do it live? Well, beside technology, apparently when he sings live there is another singer off stage doubling him.
He screwed up Black Sabbath. He got into Sabbath because he was the only one with an amplifier. Fine, I don't judge that. But once he is in, he is a singer in one of the greatest rock bands of all time. He had the guitarist write all the songs, and the drummer fed him every single lyric. He didn't have to do anything, and he didn't. But he got kicked out. Maybe hee was so drunk at every waking second because he was bored? This is mid 70s. Think if he instead said 'I may as well learn and instrument'. The Monkees did it. So did the Beastie Boys..
Yes, I still love Ozzy and root for him. But, is he wildly overrated? He may be. We aren't going to touch Sharon here. I am genuinely afraid of her. But oh boy, that is where the stories lay. And without Sharon, there is no Ozzy. That is the only nice thing I can think of about her.
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