Black Sabbath‘s founding bassist and lyricist Geezer Butler recently discussed his musical evolution and his early transition from rhythm guitar to the bass during an appearance on Fender‘s video series, “Lowdown On The Low End“. Sitting down with Foo Fighters bassist Nate Mendel for the show’s second episode, Butler credited Cream icon Jack Bruce as the sole reason he fell in love with the instrument.
Remembering his early days watching live music in the UK, Butler explained how a club performance completely shattered his preconceptions of what a bass player could achieve on stage.
“The one player that totally showed me what you could do with a bass was Jack Bruce. When I went to see Cream, everybody was going, ‘You’ve gotta see this incredible guitarist. His name’s Eric Clapton.’ And back then, it was like they used to play little clubs around Birmingham. I stood right at the front of the stage. Jack came out with his Fender, and it, was like, ‘What the hell?’ I couldn’t believe that people could do that with a bass. And that was it. I went, ‘That’s what I wanna do. I wanna play bass,'” Butler recalled (as transcribed by Blabbermouth).
Before defining the heavy metal sound with Black Sabbath, Butler actually started out playing rhythm guitar in an Aston-based group named The Rare Breed alongside a young singer named Ozzy Osbourne. When that project quickly dissolved, the pair set out to form a brand-new group, ultimately recruiting guitarist Tony Iommi and drummer Bill Ward.
However, Iommi‘s refusal to share guitar duties forced Butler to make a career-defining instrument swap, leading him to trade his Fender Telecaster for a Fender Precision Bass.
“I was a rhythm guitarist at first. When I was 15, I had a group called The Rare Breed, and I used to think I was John Lennon and play rhythm guitar. Then the singer left, so we looked around and got this guy called Ozzy Osbourne in the band. And we did a few gigs with Ozzy, and he says, ‘This is terrible. I’m leaving the band.’ We wanted to form a different band, and we both lived around the corner from each other in Aston. And Ozzy says, ‘Well, I know this guitarist called Tony Iommi. I used to go to school with him. Let’s go and see what he’s doing.’ Well, actually, we were looking for a drummer. We didn’t really think about bassists back then. And we asked Tony if he knew any drummers, and he says, ‘Well, it just happens Bill Ward‘s here in the house.’ So Bill Ward came out, and me and Ozzy told him what we were doing, and he says, ‘Well, I’ll join you if Tony comes along.’ So Tony says, ‘Yeah, I’ll give it a go.’ He says, ‘But I’m not playing with a rhythm guitarist.’ So I said, ‘Well, I’ll switch to bass then.’ And, of course, I didn’t have a bass. I only had a Fender Telecaster. I swapped me Fender Telecaster for a Precision bass. I thought, ‘Well, I’ve got a Fender, so the next thing I wanna get is another Fender.’ Nothing had the balance of a P-Bass. It had perfect balance. A lot of other basses, the neck was too heavy. So this was perfect ’cause I got fat fingers as well, so the wider neck is great for me… Plus there’s only two knobs, which is great for me,” he explained.
Beyond his highly influential bass lines, Butler was the primary mastermind behind the lyrics of Black Sabbath‘s most celebrated anthems, including “War Pigs“, “Iron Man“, and “Paranoid“. The pioneering metal band briefly reunited their classic lineup in 2025 for the historic “Back To The Beginning” concert at Villa Park in their hometown of Birmingham, performing a heavily publicized four-song set for tens of thousands of fans in attendance and millions watching via global livestream.
