Tony Iommi Remembers John Bonham

Celebrating Iommi as the best heavy metal guitarist of all time, I thought of putting this nice video of him talking about his old mate, John Bonham.

The video was shot during the signature tour Iommi did for his autobiography, Iron Man.

The book is written beautifully and I recommended to any Sabbath / Iommi fan. I even thought of reading it again.

I loved most the story of Iommi's wedding when Bonham created a scene over drinks. That was hilarious. 

Tony Iommi Named Best Ever Metal Guitarist

Gibson have named Black Sabbath legendary guitarist Tony Iommi as the greatest heavy metal guitarist of all time.

Guitar firm Gibson say: “Tony’s dark, distinct guitar textures in Black Sabbath helped spearhead the heavy metal movement. Iron Man and Paranoid boast some of the most memorable riffs of all time, with crushingly heavy choruses. His playing is immortalised through the generations of bands that have followed.”

Gibson’s Greatest heavy metal guitarists of all time list is:

01. Tony Iommi
02. Kirk Hammett and James Hetfield
03. Randy Rhoads
04. John Petrucci
05. Dimebag Darrell
06. Eddie Van Halen
07. Zakk Wylde
08. Adam Jones
09. Dave Murray and Adrian Smith
10. George Lynch

I might argue with the order in which these names were ordered, but as long as Iommi is nr.1 I am a very happy man.

The Story Behind WhoCares Double CD

In a recent interview with Ian Gillan, he talked about how the double CD compilation album of him and Iommi released recently under the name WhoCares came about.

Gillan talks about the work with Iommi after all these years - remember he was fronting Sabbath after recorded with the band one of the best albums ever made, Born Again. He explains how Iommi is so easy to work with.

He also tell the story of how the song "Out of My Mind" was written by the super group

We wrote ‘Out Of My Mind’ at Tony’s place.”  He co-wrote the other WhoCares song, “Holy Water” with Steve Morris, with whom he’s worked with on various solo projects. He said that it wasn’t difficult to get everyone onboard. “I called Nicko, who recorded live with Jon Lord, Tony and myself in London. Tony called Jason who played his part in America.”

In addition, Gillan felt so great about his short reunion with his former bandmate, the late Jon Lord, with some insight into his friendship with late composer.

Full article is can be found here

I bought the CD when it came out, and was not dissapointed, because it contains some gems, songs put together by the two legends that spans their 40 plus career, in addition to the two songs written and recorded on earlier date and came out as a single.

I was surprised but rejoyced seeing "Anno Maudi" among the songs. The album inlay also carries a lot of notes by Iommi and Gillan for each single song.

In short, We have one album with Black Sabbath and Iommi solo stuff, as well as Deep Purple and Ian Gillan stuff in one package.


Track Listing on WhoCares:
Disc: 1
1. WhoCares "Out Of My Mind" Featuring Jon Lord, Jason Newsted and Nicko McBrain
2. Black Sababth "Zero The Hero"
3. Ian Gillan feat. Iommi, Ian Paice and Roger Glover "Trashed"
4. M. Rakintzis feat. Ian Gillan "Get Away"
5. Tony Iommi feat G.Hughes "Slip Away"
6. Gillan "Don´t Hold Me Back"
7. Ian Gillan "She Thinks It´s A Crime"
8. Repo Depo feat. Ian Gillan "Easy Come, Easy Go"
9. Deep Purple feat.Ronnie James Dio "Smoke On The Water"
Disc: 2
1. WhoCares "Holy Water"
2. Black Sabbath "Anno Mundi"
3. Tony Iommi feat. G. Hughes "Let it Down Easy"
4. Ian Gillan "Hole in My Vest"
5. Gillan & Glover feat. Dr.John "Can´t Believe You Wanna Leave me"
6. Ian Gillan & The Javelins "Can I Get A Witness"
7. Garth Rockett & The Moonshiners aka IG "No Laughing in Heaven"
8. Ian Gillan "When A Blind Man Cries"
9. Deep Purple "Dick Pimple"

Rock Star Daughters

I saw this on Ultimate Classic Rock website. It is a selection list of 17 attractive young women who happens to be daughters of rock legends, such as the Rolling Stones, Rod Stewart and Van Halen.

Interesting after reading about each one of them and their path into fame, not by following their fathers route in music industry, but mostly through modeling and fashion design. Some choose acting and scoring in Hollywood blockbusters, and there are also who has been into porn!

UCR could stretch the list to include other rock star daughters, in my opinion. How come 17?

There are others who also involved in modelling and fashion business, such as 18 years old Frances Bean Cobain, daughter of Nirvana's Kurt Cobain and Hole's Courtney Love, or India Waters, daughter of Pink Floyd's Roger Waters, or even Amber Le Bon - if we consider Duran Duran rock, and not Pop.

But I am sure I can come up with more to the list, such as...

Lauren Harris

Born on 6 July 1984. Ms Harris is the daughter of Iron Maiden's founder and bassist, Steve Harris. She started music by forming her own band and released an album back in 2008 called Calm Before The Storm. , and she appeared with her band on a number of rock festivals in 2008, such as Download.

The band played on that album included Richie Faulkner, the new guitarist of Judas Priest who replaced legendary K. K. Downing who left Priest in 2011.

Last year and after the departure of Faulkner, Lauren Harris formed another band and called it Six Hour Sundown and in December 2011 the band released a single called Jekyll and Hyde.  

The music is promising, so hope to see more from this band in the near future.




Toni-Marie Iommi

She is the one and only daughter of the one and only titan in metal, Tony Iommi - a name that would bring shivers when heard in rock and metal circle, of course. Toni-Marie was born in 1983, from a former American model. 

Toni-Marie used to sing as main vocals in the short-lived British band called Lunarmile back in 2007-2008. They released an EP called 4 AM before breaking up. Lunarmile also included on bass guitar Alex Hill, the son of Judas Priest basist Ian Hill). 
 
What's the deal with Judas Priest influence on rock star daughters??

Since 2010, Toni-Marie Iommi  is engaged to Mikko "Linde" Lindström, the guitarist of Finnish rock band HIM - Lindestrom notably played guitars with his father in law (and the super group WhoCares) on the song "Out of My Mind". 




Gillian Glover

If you are a Deep Purple fan, then you would recognize Gillian Glover quickly. She is the daughter of the legendary Roger Glover. She also sang a couple of songs on her father’s solo albums, Snapshot and If Life Was Easy.

Apart from her music writing and singing skills, she a professional scuba diving master and jewellery designer of recycled guitar strings. 

Started singing when she was 22 years old, but joined her first band Beat:Root in 2001.  She also recorded her first solo album called Red Hand in 2005. After that she joined her current band Human Beans, and in early 2011 released Still Life With Music.  The band is based and perform mainly in London.

Gillian Glover and her band bass player, Travis are partners and in 2009 had a son.