Dubbed the “Black and Blue tour”, the series of shows in the United States co-headlined by Black Sabbath and Blue Öyster Cult became one of the most famous from the early 80s and important for both bands. Sabbath had just started a new era with Ronnie James Dio on vocals and was promoting the new album “Heaven & Hell”.
One of the promo phases used in the tour was that Blue Öyster Cult was “America’s answer to Sabbath”. In an interview with Guitar World, Cult’s guitarist and singer Buck Dharma gave his opinion on that and explained why they never really were similar to Sabbath.
Buck Dharma talks about the Blue Öyster Cult and Black Sabbath comparison
“That was a promo angle, but it wasn’t a guiding principle of Blue Öyster Cult at all. Still, it was pretty cool to say. There was no American Black Sabbath, so it kind of framed what Sandy (Pearlman -manager) intended for the audience. In reality, we were a lot more eclectic and all over the place stylistically. But Sabbath was great. We were huge fans.”
“Sandy could have been an artist, but he really couldn’t sing, and he couldn’t play an instrument. But he was brilliant in terms of understanding what a song was. As a critic of music, he was really good. We all sort of learned as we went along.”
“He recognized my talent as a player and really got me motivated to try music professionally. I probably wouldn’t have done it on my own if I hadn’t met him. I owe him my career in a big way,” Buck Dharma said.
A concert film called “Black and Blue” was released in 1981, being released in theaters and then on VHS.
At the time Blue Öyster Cult was formed by Eric Bloom (Guitar, keyboards, vocals), Buck Dharma (Guitar and vocals), Allen Lanier (Keyboards, guitar), Joe Buchard (Bass) and Albert Bouchard (Drums).
Sabbath’s line-up was formed by Tony Iommi (Guitar), Geezer Butler (Bass), Ronnie James Dio (Vocals) and Vinny Appice (Drums).
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