Terence ‘Geezer’ Butler has seen and done it all when it comes to the bass guitar. A founder member of the first ever heavy metal band, Black Sabbath, he formed a rock-solid foundation with guitarist Tony Iommi and a melodic interplay with drummer Bill Ward that has influenced countless acts ever since.
Sabbath were formed in Birmingham in the late ’60s, the constituent musicians having served time in various local blues-based outfits, including Earth, Tony lommi’s previous combo.
At this point, various contributory factors came together to help the nascent Sabs avoid becoming yet another blues band: singer Ozzy Osbourne’s most un-blueslike flat and monotone wail; lommi, having lost 2nd and 3rd fretting fingertips in an earlier accident (he played with prosthetic tips), tuned his guitar down, sometimes as far as D or even C in order to make bluesy-string bends easier, only to discover that, banged through a powerful Marshall stack, the resulting guitar tone was much heavier.
“It was always magical playing bass with Tony,” Butler told Bass Player. “We never had to discuss anything, it just seemed to happen. He never once doubted me, and if I felt unsure of something, he would always encourage me and trust that I’d make the right choice myself. To me, he’s the greatest guitarist ever.”
The undisputed King of the heavy metal bass riff, Butler maintained that Sabbath were a heavy blues band and has often quoted Jack Bruce as his main influence, alongside Hendrix, Cream, John Mayall and various other blues legends.
With a bass tone that’s inspired heavy-minded bassists since the ‘70s, we tune into Geezer Butler’s 10 best-known basslines with Black Sabbath.
1. Black Sabbath (Black Sabbath, 1970)
Thunder! Rain! Tolling bell! Then the heaviest three notes ever – root, octave, flattened fifth – the devil’s interval, so-called because of its ability to upset listeners, which led to it being banned in early church music.
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Butler’s historic bassline is the foundation of gazillions of other heavy metal basslines based on a tritone (like Metallica’s Enter Sandman). It’s the ultimate demonstration that you don’t need a lot of notes to come up with a classic riff.
2. N.I.B. (Black Sabbath, 1970)
Heavy metal’s long tradition of making the bass guitar a lead instrument started with this distorted riff from Black Sabbath’s eponymous debut. It’s based on E minor pentatonic and follows a solo bass introduction with a wah-wah pedal. Make sure you get a meaty bottom end with not too much top.
The unusual song title was long rumoured to be an acronym for Nativity in Black, a reference to the birth of the antichrist. The rumours turned out to be false, however, as Butler later explained.
3. The Wizard (Black Sabbath, 1970)
Like many Sabbath riffs, Butler’s bassline is based on the pentatonic blues scale, here in A. Butler leaves space on beat four for Bill Ward’s drum fills, and then he cuts loose towards the middle of the next bar. Be sure to bend the first and last C’s to hit that ‘neutral’ 3rd, the blue note between the A’s minor and major 3rds.
4. Paranoid (Paranoid, 1970)
Sabbath’s deep, dark energy is encapsulated in this riff, which Butler and guitarist Tony lommi deliver with unapologetic excessive force. The two play mostly in octave unison: “That is what gives Sabbath riffs their heaviness,” said Butler. The first album was a hit in the States, but the Paranoid single from 1970 was a worldwide smash.
5. Hand of Doom (Paranoid, 1970)
Probably the darkest song from Paranoid, this harrowing condemnation of heroin addiction boasts some of Butler’s most earnestly soul-chilling lyrics.
The song builds from Butler’s ominous bassline – the type that helped define Black Sabbath’s sound as much as any Tony Iommi guitar riff, Ozzy Osbourne wail or Bill Ward cymbal crash. A trademark ‘Geezerism’ is to strategically depart from the riff, adding fills that jump out, only to melt back into the riff.
6. Iron Man (Paranoid, 1970)
Iron Man is one of Sabbath’s most iconic tunes. Note how Butler implies a major tonality towards the end of the B minor riff. He continues to throw major-modality teases in the chorus.
Again, he uses the flat 5 and major 7 passing tones. Interestingly, the bass can be found predominantly on one side of the stereo spectrum with the guitar on the other side.
7. War Pigs (Paranoid, 1970)
War Pigs not only ranks among Geezer Butler’s signature basslines, it may also be his greatest achievement as a lyricist. The song’s brazen indictment of warmongers at the height of the Vietnam War served as a catalyst to the band’s meteoric rise.
Butler aggressively slaps right above the fingerboard not with his thumb, but with his fingers, as if it were an upright bass.
8. Planet Caravan (Paranoid, 1970)
Planet Caravan is a slow song, with a softer, more psychedelic feel. Beats three and four in the second bar give Butler space to bend notes to get the quarter-tones and ‘blue notes’ that are in so many of his riffs and lines. His detuned strings were slack and easier to bend, especially mid-way up the neck.
To make the bends easier to execute, try tuning down a full step and then moving your playing position up two frets.
9. Into the Void (Master of Reality, 1971)
Many of Sabbath’s heaviest songs are actually quite slow, like Into The Void. The heaviness comes from the frequent use of passing tones like the 5th tritone and the major 7th of the C# minor scale. The frequent use of the 5th, the so-called devil’s interval, contributes to this riffs’ sinister sound.
10. The Writ (Sabotage, 1975)
Butler’s psychedelic bassline bubbles beneath the dark waters of The Writ, the closing track on Sabbath’s 1975 album Sabotage. Although the album is a landmark in Seventies heavy music, the period in which it was released was chaotic to say the least.
“Sabotage was rightly named,” Butler told Bass Player. “We were being sabotaged by court writs, court appearances, tax demands on money that we had never seen, all while trying to write and record the album.
“We had left our manager, and all hell broke loose. We were visited by lawyers in the studio, the record company was panicking, our money – what there was of it that hadn’t been stolen – was frozen. It was the beginning of the end for us. The pressure took its toll, and the band splintered after that.”
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