THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Although never released until recently, Jazz Sabbath’s music has been finding its way to millions for over 50 years. Through a vicious cycle of personal tragedy and plagiarism the songs intended to change the jazz world ended up giving birth to a much darker sound. Now a third recording from the ’60s — perhaps their most important one — has resurfaced.
In 1968, Jazz Sabbath were an instant hit on the U.K. jazz scene. It wasn’t long until they were offered a record deal. They spent weeks in the studio recording the tracks that got the heaviest reactions at their shows, until they captured their live energy on tape. Unfortunately, the label manager told them the album was far too experimental and there was no hit potential. Ordered to play some of their ‘easier’ tracks instead, they reluctantly gave in.
The two albums that followed still are classics in their own right, but the bandmembers were not mistaken in thinking they had recorded their best work in 1968. Like the tracks from their two albums, these numbers were also blatantly presented as ‘original songs’ by a band from Birmingham a few years later. Whether they copied them from live bootlegs or got their hands on the original studio mixes doesn’t really matter. Their lasting popularity, even in the crude way they were covered, only proves just how monumental these songs were — and how record labels are often wrong.
With the truth now finally out there and that Birmingham band exposed as the musical charlatans they are, Jazz Sabbath have finally mastered the 1968 tapes to present their best work to the public.”
