A 1980 cassette containing some Ozzy Osbourne recordings has been found. It was David Jolly who found it in the attic of his house, a friend of the singer at the time, in the years in which he had been separated from Black Sabbath and was trying to start again with a solo project.
The cassette had been recorded in January 1980 in Ilketshall, a small town in Suffolk, when Ozzy and his musicians spent a few weeks rehearsing in the area. Jolly worked in the same area and had befriended the singer. Before leaving, Ozzy had given him the cassette, which Jolly had then placed in a briefcase and forgotten in the attic. He found it again after Ozzy's death last July.
The cassette is titled Ozzie Last Day and contains 12 minutes of music, recorded by Osbourne along with Randy Rhoads on guitar and Bob Daisley on bass. In the recordings you can hear the musicians during rehearsals, while they play the material from which it would later take shape Blizzard of OzzOzzy's first solo album.
As reported by Sky NewsBob Daisley confirmed that the recording is real. “I recognized Ozzy's voice right away,” he said. “I don't remember if we were auditioning a drummer or if we were just jamming.” The cassette dates back to before drummer Lee Kerslake arrived. It was a complicated time for Ozzy, he had to start from scratch after the breakup with Black Sabbath.
Jolly said he spent several days with Ozzy during that time. “Even though he had a reputation for being a wild person, I found him to be a very quiet guy,” she said. He remembers Ozzy as someone who loved going to local pubs, a “naturally funny” person, very different from the public image of the Prince of Darkness.
However, this is not the first time that previously lost recordings of Osbourne have been discovered. Last year, Jim Simpson, Black Sabbath's first manager, revealed that he wanted to release demos recorded by the band in 1969 at Zella Studios in Birmingham, when they were still called Earth rather than Black Sabbath. The collection should have been titled Earth: The Legendary Lost Tapesbut publication was blocked by Sharon Osbourne, who threatened legal action against Simpson contesting ownership of the recordings.
