How Black Was Sabbath? Ask DAVE TANGYE...
by Martin Popoff

How Black Was Our Sabbath: An Unauthorized View From The Crew has been getting rave reviews for the hard cover edition and is likely going to be pressed in paperback soon, with an undetermined edition to appear in North America, where it is currently selling as import (see www.blacksabbath.co.uk for more).

"We're hoping to get the paperback out soon in America," affirms David Tangye, who co-authored the book (a rollicking, good-natured, sometimes riotous read) with Graham Wright. "But it seems to be doing OK in hard back. It seems to be doing OK in Canada as well. We thought it would do OK in Canada anyway because of the interest in the band, basically. So we're quite happy with that. Of course, we've got all the artwork done now for the paperback, which is due for release here in the UK next March. At the end of the day, there's a lot of satisfaction in seeing that book up on the shelf, because it's a big part of your life, isn't it? That's the thing; and I'm pleased with it. The other thing, my mom died in March, and it was great - she saw the book before she went so I was really pleased about that. Because she was hanging on, hanging on; she was 87. So that was another big plus. But apart from that, yeah, everything seems to be going OK."

Now, I understand you and Graham worked with another writer to put it together?

"Yes, Carol Clerk, she helped us a lot with it. But basically, we did the book, we wrote the book. All the words are ours, and they're just there to get a polish, which we're pleased about, really. If you're writing your memoirs, editors can speed things up or slow them down, if you know what I mean. And anyhow, she did a great job, Carol did. That was a plus because it got everything down as really readable. But there was a lot taken out. Oh, about a chapter and a half went (laughs). But we had things to think about. We had to make sure it was right."

How Black Was Sabbath? Ask DAVE TANGYE... Page 2