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Black Sabbath, one of the forefathers of heavy metal, are currently on a farewell tour. Now, not every farewell tour is true to that designation, but considering how old the guys of Black Sabbath are getting, and considering the personal life stuff Ozzy Osbourne has going on at the moment, this could be a true final tour for the band. However, though Black Sabbath’s time as a touring band is coming to a close, you now have the chance to relive the early days of the band thanks to an upcoming auction in England.
The Sheffield Auction Gallery has several small pieces of Black Sabbath memorabilia that they will be auctioning off on September 30. Amongst the things on sale are the piece of paper that the lyrics to the 1971 song “Solitude” were originally written upon, a promotional poster from when the band was called Earth, and some postcards that a young Ozzy Osbourne wrote to his parents while the band was touring. “Arrived here safely, but it is not a very nice place,” wrote Osbourne of France.
All of the pieces for auction are dated between 1968 and 1973. They are true bits of historical music ephemera that will surely excite the Sabbath fans out there looking for a piece of history. Several of the items are old enough that the band was still going by their original name Earth. Black Sabbath themselves don’t have anything to do with this auction; all the pieces were found by a Sheffield resident in the ‘80s. Shockingly, Osbourne and company weren’t fastidious at holding onto their stuff.
(Via Rolling Stone)