Black Sabbath’s dark proto-metal and doomy hard rock is perfect for these times. Led by Ozzy Osbourne (aka the Prince of Darkness), Black Sabbath were a powerful, vastly influential unit, and albums like their self-titled debut, Paranoid and Master of Reality all endure. Their biggest hits came via Paranoid—almost every rock fan will recognize “Paranoid,” “Iron Man” and “War Pigs.”
On this day in 1974, Black Sabbath performed at Ontario Motor Speedway for California Jam Festival, the only made-for-TV rock festival. This recording, which was taped for ABC’s late-night program In CONCERT features the band’s original lineup of Ozzy Osbourne (vocals), Tony Iommi (guitar), Geezer Butler (bass) and Bill Ward (drums). The festival was attended by almost 300,000 people and featured headliners Emerson, Lake and Palmer and Deep Purple.
Hear Black Sabbath perform “War Pigs” at California Jam Festival below via the Paste vault.
