Black Sabbath - 1970 CD

The band's first show as Black Sabbath took place on 30 August 1969 in Workington, England. They were signed to Philips Records in November ’69, and recorded their first single, "Evil Woman”, at Trident Studios, released  through Philips subsidiary Fontana Records. Later releases were handled by Philips' newly formed progressive rock label, Vertigo. "Evil Woman" failed to chart.Their eponymous debut album was released on Friday the 13th, February 1970, and reached number eight in the UK Albums Chart. The record was given negative reviews by many critics. Lester Bangs dismissed it in a Rolling Stone review as "discordant jams with bass and guitar reeling like velocitised speedfreaks all over each other's musical perimeters, yet never quite finding synch". It sold in substantial numbers despite being panned, giving the band their first mainstream exposure.The band returned to the studio in June 1970, just four months after Black Sabbath was released. The new album was initially set to be named War Pigs after the song of that name, which was critical of the Vietnam War; however, Warner changed the title of the album to Paranoid. The album's lead single was written in the studio at the last minute. The album followed in the UK in October 1970, where, pushed by the success of the "Paranoid" single, it reached number one on the UK Albums Chart. Prior to the sophomore album’s release, the group played a couple of sets for German TV on the famed Beat Club series, taking place, firstly, on 25th May ’70, and again on 26th September. In November 1970 Sabbath were in the United States, and on 27th November they played at the Fillmore West in San Francisco.