Black Sabbath - Live at the Beat Club

Invisible Oranges

December 23, 2010

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Since you guys loved the Black Sabbath in Paris bootleg so much, here’s another curio.

First, let’s set the scene, using the timeline (Black Sabbath tour, Paranoid tour) from Black Sabbath’s website.

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In August or September 1969, Earth changes its name to Black Sabbath.

The following February, its self-titled debut comes out. Black Sabbath embarks on a seven month-long (scheduled, anyway – evidently dates for a three-week US tour were postponed for whatever reason) tour to promote the album.

On May 25, 1970, the band records two tracks live at Radio Bremen studios in Bremen, DE. Soon afterwards, these tracks air on a German public television show called Beat-Club.

Over six days in June (16-21), Black Sabbath interrupt their tour to record their second album, Paranoid.

Three months later, on September 18, Paranoid comes out in the UK. Release schedules back then were rocket-powered! 11 days after the first album’s tour ends, the band begins a seven-and-a-half month-long tour for Paranoid.

On September 26, two more Sabbath tracks air on Beat-Club. These were recorded at some unspecified time on Beat-Club’s TV soundstage. (See details here.)

On December 20, the band supposedly records its above-mentioned awesome set in Paris. Sabbath’s site says that this set was recorded at Brussels on October 3! Should that bootleg be called Black Sabbath Brussels 1970???

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The four Beat Club tracks are “Black Sabbath” and “Blue Suede Shoes” from the first session, and “Paranoid” and “Iron Man” from the second session. Supposedly the first session is the first ever live footage of Sabbath. “Blue Suede Shoes” is the Carl Perkins classic, also covered by Elvis and many others. Did the band cover any other songs after the name change to Black Sabbath??? [ed. note: “Evil Woman” and “Warning” – duh!]

A DVD on 2004’s Black Box box set collects all four Beat Club tracks on video. Five years earlier, a label named Pilot bootlegged the audio portion of these tracks on a release called Black Mass. You can download it below.

DOWNLOAD: BLACK SABBATH – BLACK MASS [25.83MB .zip]

And you can watch all the Beat Club footage below. Unlike the revelatory “Paris” set, the appeal is historic, not aesthetic. The band isn’t kicking ass and taking names yet. It’s just playing the songs. “Blue Suede Shoes” is the most enjoyable because it’s “Blue Suede Shoes”. I have no idea what’s going on with the “Black Sabbath” video. The “Paranoid” and “Iron Man” footage is fun, if only for the over-the-top psychedelic effects. These are the videos most people associate with those songs, so now you know their provenance.

These were the moments after heavy metal’s big bang – not that exciting, but immeasurably important.

— Cosmo Lee

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BLACK SABBATH – LIVE AT THE BEAT CLUB

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“Blue Suede Shoes”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFLwgtkMFKc

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“Black Sabbath”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6aLIoeUAOY

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“Paranoid/Iron Man”