Credit: Far Out / Steve Knight
Like anyone else of his vintage who eventually went on to become a legendary musician in their own right, Geezer Butler’s story started with The Beatles.
Before embracing the darkness and becoming the purveyors of mayhem with Black Sabbath, Butler and his bandmate Ozzy Osbourne bonded over their complete obsession with the Fab Four. For Butler, The Beatles were the first band that felt like they belonged to him, especially being surrounded by older siblings who already had their own thing going on with the previous era’s defining stars, like Elvis Presley and Buddy Holly.
At the time, Butler latched onto one member in particular, John Lennon, learning all his tricks and licks in an effort to feel closer to his Liverpudlian hero. This period no doubt sparked a turning point in Butler’s musical journey, as he learned the fundamentals of rhythms that he’d carry across much of his work once Black Sabbath were in full swing.
However, his real eye-opening moment came later in his teenage years, after having seen another band a couple of times and becoming endeared to the guitarist. The group in question was Cream, who, at first, didn’t seem all that groundbreaking to Butler, save for Eric Clapton, whose playing was at first the “only thing I’d taken notice of”.
The third time he saw them, however, was when something clicked inside of him. He just knew that this was where he wanted to go with his own approach and technique. This epiphany came thanks to Jack Bruce, who made it feel as though a dedicated rhythm guitarist wasn’t always a crucial component to a band, a fact Butler was “mesmerised” by.
In his own words, “[Bruce] was doing the bass parts and filling in what you’d play on rhythm, and it was just amazing to watch.”
Elsewhere, Butler also expanded on what it was, specifically, about Bruce that excited him from a musical perspective, telling Guitar World that the pioneering musician seemed “strong” and took bass in a “totally different direction”, recalling that seeing him was also the moment when he realised, “Yeah, that’s what I want to do!”
Further reading: From The Vault
Before Bruce, Butler hadn’t really considered that the bass could be used in such a way, much less carry different elements of the song beyond the gritty foundation of its heavy rhythm. Prior to this realisation, he’d seen the instrument as a one-dimensional addition to the broader musical operation, not realising there was a whole world of exploration out there that meant it could be used to enrich the entire texture of a song.
Bruce also led the way and pushed boundaries in other ways, positioning himself as the lead singer while also revolutionising how people viewed his instrument. Bruce himself took inspiration from many legends who achieved the same, albeit in different spaces, like jazz, and aspiring to carry many of the same tricks as legends like Charles Mingus to push rock into a newer, less restricted direction.
Years later, as part of Sabbath, Butler extended this even further, proving that bass in heavy metal could be just as melodic and dynamic, rather than simply a basic tool with an even more basic approach. At the same time, he maintained its core, providing a hard, steady rhythm that gave the band’s songs their extra bite.
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