Geezer Butler: biography and creativity

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Today we will tell you who Terry Geezer Butler is. It's about the British rock musician who plays in the bands GZR and Sabbath. He has collaborated with Heaven & Hell in the past.

Career

So, our today's hero is Geezer Butler. Interviews with the musician confirm that he gathered the first group called Rare Breed in 1967 with Ozzy Osbourne, who was his school friend. Then the paths of friends parted for a while. They later reunited in the blues-rock band Polka Tulk. The band's drummer was Bill Ward and the guitarist was Tony Iommi. They renamed the band, giving it the name Earth. However, soon, having found a team with the same name in one of the English provinces, they reincarnated as Black Sabbath.

Game technique

Geezer Butler mostly played rhythm guitar. However, Iommi let him know that he wanted to keep this role for himself. Then our hero switched to the bass guitar.

Now consider what Geezer Butler is so famous for. His playing technique is unique. He is among the first bass players to use the wah-wah pedal. Later, this method was adopted by his followers. To theirMetallica spokesman Cliff Burton also included himself. Our hero rebuilt the bass in a special way to better match the sound of Iommi's guitar. Detuning later became common among the bassists of various metal bands.

Creativity

Geezer Butler wrote almost all the songs for the band. He relied on a passion for science fiction, religion, as well as reflections on the dark side of human nature, which carried the threat of destruction on a global scale. The band was led by Ozzy Osbourne. In the 1970s, Black Sabbath's popularity began to wane. Although the musicians played in the eighties with James Dio and then Ian Gillan.

Geezer Butler left the band and formed his own project Geezer Butler Band. In 1988, our hero joined Osbourne for the No Rest For The Wicked tour.

In 1991, the musician joined the Black Sabbath band. Worked on the Dehumanizer album. Left the band after the tour organized in support of the album Cross Purposes in 1994.

In 1995, Butler joined Osbourne on the Ozzmosis album. The guitarist formed a band called G/Z/R. As part of this project, Butler released an album called Plastic Planet in 1995.

The next work, Black Science, followed in 1997. Butler rejoined Black Sabbath to release the Ozzfest album in 1997. After that, the musician remained in the band.

In 2005, he released the 3rdOhmwork solo album. In 2006, it was announced that our hero would reform the band with Tony Iommi.

Butler was known in the past for playing Vigier and Fender Precision instruments. Now he plays instruments from Lakland. Our hero uses an Ampeg SVT-2PRO amplifier on tour and an SVT-810E 8x10 in the studio. The musician also uses effects such as flanger, chorus, wah-wah.

Our hero, among other things, participated in the recording of the debut album of the same name by Black Sabbath. It was released in 1970 in the UK. The work was recorded in just three days. Today, this album is recognized as a heavy metal classic. The title track arose after our hero borrowed from Ozzy Osbourne a certain book of the 16th century dedicated to black magic. According to another version, Tony and Geezer produced the same riff independently. It happened at a rehearsal when they presented musical ideas to Bill and Ozzy. The album was supplemented with the single Evil Woman. The original vinyl recording is now a rarity. The album had a flip cover. It features an inverted cross on the front and a short poem written inside. The original version of the album in the European edition contains a track called Evil Woman. It was released as a single before the release of the album. In the US edition, this song is replaced by Wicked World.

Private life

The wife of our hero is Gloria Butler. She directed the Heaven & Hell project. A few facts about the musician:

• UThe musician lives with several cats.
• Geezer Butler settled in Los Angeles.
• Musician never uses foul language.
• Butler was featured in a PETA commercial (as a vegetarian) in 2009. He does not use or eat animal products of any kind. He also stated that he is a pacifist.
• Geezer is an avid fan of Aston Villa (football club). Sometimes he can be seen with Tony Iommi at the game of this football team. In 2006, when Black Sabbath was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the musician allegedly said "Go Villa!" microphone.
• In 2015, Butler was arrested. The reason was a drunken fight in a bar.