I have been trying to track down a live recording of the Sabs when Ian Gillan was the singer.  Do you have any concerts from this period in the band's history tucked away in your vaults?

 

Kev

Wasn't that for like a week? What did he play 4 shows?

Good singer though....

 

From memory (I have not checked the details, so correct me anyone who knows better) Black Sabbath did a full US tour, together with Stonehenge-like set (which was abandoned part way through because it was such a pain) and one UK date, though I forget the venue (possibly the Bath festival?).

 

I know the UK date was recorded properly and Tony Iommi has a copy in his archive because the Deep Purple Appreciation Society has approached him with a view to making an official release of it, which Tony refused.

 

Kev

Sabbath did indeed do a full scale tour with Ian Gillan, two legs I beleive. There are several bootlegs of the tour circulating, some better than others. I have a copy of Black and Blue from Montreal which is pretty interesting. I don't think there was great chemistry between singer and band, and Gillan stated himself that he did it only for the money after his solo projects nearly bankrupted him. It was certainly interesting to here Sabbath do Smoke On The Water and Gillan sing Sabbath classics, but overall I think the fans bettered more from the DP reunion of the 80's and the BS reunion tour of a few years back than the Born Again experiment.

Ian Gillan's decision to join Black Sabbath had more to do with a large quantity of alcohol that he had consumed than anything else I believe...

 

Few people would claim that it was a high point in Either Sabbath's or Gillan's careers, but an interesting one none the less. 

 

Kev

Sabbath played the Reading festival as headliners on sat Aug 27th 1983.Saw them at the meadowlands arena NJ on 0ct 29th 83.Reading was also recorded i believe by the BBC,and is available on boot.

Ah I knew it was longer than that but not sure I'd jump at any of those boots unless I'd seen them live with Gillan. But I am a bootleg whore so I'd probably snap it up anyway.....My only Sabbath live concert experience was with Dio on the Mob Rules tour....

 

Which by the way is one of their best and no doubt most under rated album...

 

PG

I read somewhere on Joe Seigler's Black Sabbath site (I'm guessing you guys are familiar with it) that there was a "good" mix of the Born Again album, but then Geezer screwed it up and Gillan got really, really pissed and then split.  I've also read that Gillan needed teleprompters at the live gigs because he never even bothered to remember the lyrics, and at the very first gig all the smoke that went with their stage show obscured the screens so he just did a bunch of  his patented "YAAAAAAAAA" 's.  All this, plus their goofy Stonehenge set, PLUS lip synching on "Don Kirshner's Rock Conert", PLUS the "Trashed" and the "Zero the Hero" vidoes basically made this band one giant misstep. Too bad, too, because there were some solid Iommi riffs on that album.

BTW, I'm not trying to slag this particular incarnation of the band, it just clearly had its flaws.

Ian Gillan has only himself to blame regarding the final mix of the Born Again album: he did not get involved.  It is not the only time he has done this, either!  I do not know the exact chronology of the mix of the album - but the story goes that Geezer was the last one to get his hands on it.

 

I agree regarding the album; I do quite like to dig it out every once in a while and play it (on vinyl; I have not got round to "upgrading" to CD yet).  Disturbing the Priest is a song that I do actually find quite disturbing and Trashed is a great song that IG recently redid on his Gillan's Inn!

 

Sabbath with Gillan got off to a bad start and things just went downhill from there (IG has later said that doing Smoke on the Water was a big mistake).  I doubt that it is a line up that would have any longevity whatever would have happened, but I cannot feel that it really deserved better.  I have never heard any recordings from the tour and I have never been able to track down any bootlegs and I have always been kind of curious about these live performances.

 

Kev

It's the same deal with the bootlegs as with the studio LP...worth an occasional spin.  Don't lose sleep over not hearing it.  The Reading Festival boot mentioned above would probably be the best one to locate (I may have a copy somewhere).

Good point about Gillan.  I can see that.

it was a great show. I loved it! Great opening with them walking through the stone tunnels, opening with the song Black Sabbath.

I though Gillian was a perfect fit for those songs, he sings so loud.

I saw this Tour in Portland Maine and thought it was awesome. I do know the night before they played in Worcester Massachusetts and the local radio station WBCN played the entire concert live. I recorded it but have lost it. I remember after the first few minutes the bass just cut out and sounded pretty bad till the third song when they sort of fixed it.... I do know that Smoke on The Water from that show has made the rounds on the web. I've yet to find the full version anywhere.

There is one show which was broadcasted in the US with IG, but it was recorded by Captured Live.

Hey RAYJO I was at that sabbath show at the meadowlands with ian gillian singing i think it fuckin rocked, His voice blew me away. I think that album rocked too. digital *** fuckin awesome rippin tune. And Iommis guitar was so haunting. I wonder why people didnt like the experiment? anyway Jersey rocks from S.Orange area.

The Born Again tour was the first concert I ever went to... at the now demolished Colliseum in Houston, TX.  I was 14 years old... can't believe my parents let me go looking back.  Night Ranger opened for them!  A bit of a misfit... but liked seeing Brad Gillis and Jeff Watson play. 

Sabbath was unbelieveably loud... and there was a ton of smoke.  I remember the band being pretty much in sillohoutte the entire time with a huge blinding cross firing through the fog. 

At that age I was pretty much in shock.  I also remember that the show held about half my attention as the other half was gripped by the massive amounts of pot smoke in the audience.

Still have the concert shirt... jersey style of course.