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Gillan writing with Iommi

Ian Gillan, One Eye To Morocco promo photo; image courtesy of Jess! PR.

According to this Swedish interview, Big Ian was writting with Tony Iommi and a plan to start a “charity band” project is in the works:

Shouldn’t you do something with the guys in Black Sabbath?

– Weird that you should mention that because I was in Armenia with Tony Iommi last week and stopped by his house on my way to Manchester to finish a song we have started working on. The song is for a charity band we are thinking of putting together. Me, Tony and some other musicians we don’t know about yet. But these things take time and sometimes nothing happens in the end.



30 Comments to “Gillan writing with Iommi”:

  1. 1
    marcinn says:

    That would be great. Could anyone please translate the whole interview?

  2. 2
    George says:

    WooooooooooW!!!

    That would be COOL!

  3. 3
    Joe Siegler says:

    Marcinn.. Run it through Google Translate. It’s not 100% perfect, but you can pretty much get the meaning of it.

  4. 4
    SEVEN-47 says:

    Wouldn’t it be cool if the “other musicians” were Geezer Butler and Bev Bevan. BORN AGAIN!

  5. 5
    purplepriest1965 says:

    First when I saw the headline I thought that Tony was going to help out with writing songs for the new Deep Purple cd….

    Excellent guestwriter coming to the rescue?

  6. 6
    shaun says:

    just when you think big ian is winding down with morrocco he goes writing with the man with whom he made one of the heaviest albums ever im excited

  7. 7
    AndreA says:

    Oh..I am dreaming about..WOW!

  8. 8
    bruce says:

    WHAT???
    Everybody says OOOHHHH, AAAHHHH, expecting a great hard rock milestone?
    I don’t think so. Remember: It’s for a charity project, that means AOR music playable for radio broadcast.
    And by the way: I remember very well the BOOOOHS and WOOOHS in 1983 when Born Again came out, it was not well recieved that time. Nowadays it’s been heralded as a milestone. That’s very funny!!
    So keep cool.

  9. 9
    Tracy Heyder (aka Zero the Hero) says:

    The perfect next Sabbath related project to do. As with DIO doing the ‘Heaven and Hell’ thing whereby they used the title of the first record and title track as the name for the band, this venture could be called ‘Born Again’, but only after they recorded a follow-up album to go along with the first. Then they could tour it and just do songs from ‘Their’ line-up.

    Come on Bev and Geezer, join in and push for this. How awesome a gig that would be…

    Cheers

  10. 10
    SEVEN-47 says:

    Bruce; I saw the “BORN AGAIN” show in Bloomington, Minnesota. Very good concert. I do not recall any BOOOOHS and WOOOHS. Everyoneone in attendance had a very good time. I do recall people at the time not liking Ian Gillian fronting BLACK SABBATH, but those who accepted it found the show quite enjoyable.

  11. 11
    Ray says:

    Was it a meeting, or did the bottle take a beating? It will kill no matter what!!!

  12. 12
    Joanna says:

    Oh, I can’t look at this self-confident smile and this pose skilled at the mirror.. I wonder where his spontaneous, natural way of behaving has gone. No spontaneous singer now, he disappeared for ever…

  13. 13
    purplepriest1965 says:

    I attended Black sabbath in Zwolle, or Swollow as David Coverdale liked to say….., and…..

    I dont recall negative audience response as well.

    Here people KNEW what they were getting, maybe compared to people elsewhere?

    I was never a big fan of the album but certain tracks I like a lot.
    Ian could deliver a few BS songs in great style as well.

    I m not awaiting ANYTHING from DP, Ian Gillan and so on right now…..
    IMHO their surpass date has long gone.

    But, ofcourse, Im open to surprises….

    It does not seem a full blown project to me, this Iommi and Gillan thing, but it cetainly cant be that bad as what I m used to now.

    Tracy has come back from hunting?

  14. 14
    james jay says:

    they could do a sabbath reunion with IG and G. Hughes on vocals. i thought those two did a nice job filling in for OO. i know the albums did not pop for the hard core ozzy folks–but i liked ’em. of course Dio was a nice fit and in my book was the best sabbath offered.

  15. 15
    marcinn says:

    @12 Last time I witnessed sponatneity from him was in Grafenheinichen. 04.09.2009

    So I think nothing happened to him.

  16. 16
    AndreA says:

    Gillan and Hughes together? impossible!!like to say a work recordered by Iommi with Blackmore! well,I’d like to get a new from Iommi&Gillan,a kind of a dark blues like Iommi knows to play..my favourite Iommi’s solo is THE SEVENTH STAR,great hard rock and dark blues with is black mistic guitar sound..And Gillan on this rythm give us his best on voice! Oh,I’d like really all this,I dream by reading this rumors..inspite of this,RB continues to sleep in one of his castle…

  17. 17
    HINH says:

    yes yes yes
    heavenly news

  18. 18
    Joanna says:

    I’m glad nothing’s happened to him. But on this photo above, he looks very conceited. Who does he want to look like? Ronald Reagan?
    As for the project with Tony Iommi: although uncertain for now, it would be a cool idea. But will we be able to see it live, or will it be broadcasted by BBC only?

  19. 19
    Tracy Heyder (aka Zero the Hero) says:

    He looks like Ian Gillan…2009.

    Hope to see a picture if him still in Purple 10 years from now on the same sofa….

    Cheers

  20. 20
    Kasper / Denmark says:

    Come on, get real! Ian Gillan has no voice left for any hard core Heavy Metal like the “Born Again” album! It’s over! He sings the softer tunes okay but if he has to sing, or worse scream again he would end up at the hospital!

    Cheers

  21. 21
    Tracy Heyder (aka Zero the Hero) says:

    #20….

    I take it you never heard the ‘Gillan’s Inn’ CD where he does a new recording of ‘Digital Bitch’…..

    Sounded Just Fine.

    Cheers

  22. 22
    BlackSparrow says:

    AMAZING if they worked again. They owe it to themselves to record a few songs and just go from there.

  23. 23
    purplepriest1965 says:

    @ 21

    I m with ya there.

    Wish Gillan had put some more time in studios over the last 15 years singing ROCK based on GOOD compositions and with the RIGHT musicians.

    Digital bitch and a few retakes on Gillans Inn were really fine.

    But why on earth redoing Smoke On The Water again?!
    Does that attract more buyers?

    Nag nag……

    Im freezing here…..

    Getting too old for this climate….
    Earth warming up?

    What are they doing in Copenhagen? Discussing how to scare people so that they can ask more taxes?

    Stone Coooooooooooooooooooooold

    I ve been put in a deep freeeeeeeeeeeeeezzeeeeeeee

  24. 24
    Crimson Ghost says:

    @20

    Thanks for the comedy relief!!!!!!!!!!!!
    You have a point but I don’t understand why you can’t express it better, you simply either exaggerate or you don’t follow enough, period.

    Tracy, it was ‘Trashed’, to further this guys point in a more factual manner, no way could he have re-done ‘Digital Bitch’ with any success, unless of course he left out the massively piercing screams at the end, which of course there wouldn’t be any reason the re-do it. The ‘new Trashed’ worked alright though, kind of an upgrade I guess. But come to think of it, there are some weird vocal sounds going on in parts, kind of maniacal to say the least, almost humorous.

  25. 25
    Tracy Heyder (aka Zero the Hero) says:

    #23 Priest…

    I agree on SOTW issue, but again, the other stuff made the difference, and also the fact that you could play different versions with different Guitarists playing made it something a little different also. I agree on the Copenhagen issue also. It’s all BS that all of our HNIC are using to squeeze more money out of us all for their own agendas….(that’s all I am going to say here regarding that, don’t want to go all Political and lose more friends).

    #24 Ghost….

    Thanks for the correction. I get names of people and song titles mixed up when I am trying to respond on this computer. Not sure I agree with your point though regarding whether or not DB would have come out OK or not. I have a different perspective on Re-dos than most. I would actually prefer a different approach to the redo of a tune rather than a carbon copy. Gillan is an amazing talent whom with age and experience has learned how to manipulate his pipes in order to carry out most songs from the past by using different techniques and ranges outside the original effort. I would have no problem with him going ‘low’ in places that are not attainable in their original ‘high’ levels, as long as the main body of the tunes are somewhat close. Otherwise as I’ve always stated…just listen to the original recording if that is what is expected by the listener.

    Cheers

  26. 26
    COCOBEACHSILVERSURFERYAY says:

    YEEEE~HAAAAW!!!!!!!!! SOUNDS EXTREMELY GROOVY!!!!!!!!! I WANNA BE UP FRONT!!!!!!!!!!! SUPER TONY IOMMI HEAVEN WAS PERFECT IN ORLANDO WITH SUPER FUNNY AS EVER ALICE COOPER OPENING OCT2009!!!!!!!!! PRAY FOR RONNIE JAMES DIO & ALL NEINGS SUPER!!!!!!!!! THANXSUPERINFINITLYYALL!!!!!!!!! HAVE FUN!!!!!!!!!

  27. 27
    COCOBEACHSILVERSURFERYAY says:

    IOMMI HEAVEN ORLANDO WAS OCT 2008 ACTUALLY!!!!!!!!! SORRY4MISTAKE!!!!!!!!! HAVEFUN YALL!!!!!!!!! PRAY SUPER 4 RONNIE & EVERYONE IN UNIVERSE SUPER!!!!!!!!! HAPPY NEW YEARS SUPER!!!!!!!!!

  28. 28
    purplepriest1965 says:

    Maybe Ian can get the idea of let Tony inspire him to do a bit oldfashioned hard rock solo album or call it Gillan and Iommi.

    G.I. Wasnt that an album by his hero Elvis Presley?

    Ask Ricardo to join and call it BIG?

    Dont ask Bill Ward, it might lead to WIG?

    The jury here on the importance of having long hairs has settled for the moment now……

    Ian should let grow it again, colour it again……
    Might look good when DP 2 reforms for some shows.

    I dont ask about a worldtour but Lordy and Blackers have said that they are open to do a few, so……

    THIS IS THE TIME.

    After a celebration with the originals on a mini tour resulting in a well pro shot, THIS TIME!!!!!!, DVD…, they can get back to the MK 8 thingy and die with a smile on their face.

  29. 29
    Svante Axbacke says:

    Where and when exactly did Blackmore say he wanted to do a few shows with DP again?

  30. 30
    Tracy Heyder (aka Zero the Hero) says:

    Airey and Lord were classy enough to appear together on stage with no animosity. I don’t think Ritchie is capable of doing the same. What a blast it would be to have Ritchie come up and play along with Steve as have a few others….(Malmsteen, Warren Haynes, Marsden, etc). If I were Purple, the only way I’d have Ritchie step foot on the same stage would be as long as Steve is there also. What a great thing that would be to watch them both trade off in a guitar duo. If Ritchie could bring himself to a more humble state and share the spotlite, I’d be in total support. Otherwise, sorry but, it wouldn’t be fair nor right for him to slip in and be given the spotlite.

    Cheers

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