Black Sabbath’s Geezer Butler recently recalled the band’s late manager Don Arden trying to rip them off.
The ripping-off incident occurred in the 1970s, around the time of the band’s fifth studio album, ‘Sabbath Bloody Sabbath.’ During the recording sessions, the band found out that their management and our record company were ripping them off, hence why they didn’t tour at the time as much.
The rocker appeared on The Rock Podcast with Denny Somach, and during the chat, the rocker shared the story of the band’s 70s incident. Butler, referring to the manager as a ‘notorious gangster,’ recalled:
“When we first went to see him, he wanted to sign us, and he showed us this contract, and there was a space where the management percentage was supposed to be – and it was blank. I said, ‘Well, how much are we supposed to be paying you?’ He went, ‘Oh, don’t worry about that. I’ll fill that part in later.’ I said, ‘Well, can you fill out how much you’ll be getting, your percentage now?’ And he wouldn’t do it.”
More than 20 years earlier, the bassist shared the story again, this time clarifying that their next studio album, ‘Sabotage,’ was named after the incident since the band felt as if they were being sabotaged on the whole process of the recording of the album.
Below, you can hear the album ‘Sabotage.’
