From Nirvana to Metallica to Red Hot Chili Peppers to Royal Blood, there isn’t a big rock band that came in their wake that don’t have Black Sabbath to thank for their existence. They didn’t just invent a new genre of music that made heavy, intense riffery a mainstream concern, they set the standard for generations to come. Be thankful, then, that guitar icon and Sabbath creative dynamo Tony Iommi had second thoughts about joining Jethro Tull in the late 60s.
Ian Anderson’s crew had just released their debut album This Was and were in need of a new six-stringer after original guitarist Mick Abrahams had left to form Blodwyn Pig. Things hadn’t yet taken off for Black Sabbath, who weren’t even called Black Sabbath yet. They were still working their way through a variety of very un-Black Sabbath monikers: first they were called The Pulka Tulk Blues Company, then The Earth Blues Company, and then Earth. It was during their first few appearances as Earth that Iommi was offered the job of replacing Abrahams.
