Veteran drummer Tommy Clufetos has opened up about his absence from Black Sabbath‘s final studio album, 13. Despite anchoring the drum throne for the heavy metal pioneers throughout their massive global farewell touring cycles, the recording duties for the 2013 reunion album ultimately went to Rage Against the Machine drummer Brad Wilk.
In a new interview with Remzi “Jam Man” Yates of “Rocking With Jam Man“, Clufetos looked back on the situation with perspective, emphasizing the need for resilience when working at the highest echelons of the music industry.
“Well, bottom line, I didn’t get chose to play on the record, and I think even Ozzy [Osbourne] cleared it up that [he] and] the [other] guys [in Sabbath] wanted me to play on the record. Whether that’s true or not, this is what he said. [13 album producer] Rick Rubin chose his drummer, which was Brad Wilk, and they made a really great record that went to Number One, so it’s hard to argue with the outcome. It’s all water under the bridge. You gotta be thick-skinned when things work out or don’t work out,” he said (as transcribed by Blabbermouth).
The drummer went on to explain how he managed the disappointment and noted that public perception regarding his live contributions to the band’s legacy has steadily evolved over the years.
“I try to handle those moments with the most class that I can. You can’t win them all, and sometimes it doesn’t matter what you do or how good you think you’re doing, things might not work out for you in that situation. And I really felt that I went and did what I could do. I got the tour, and I think when people watch some clips, I don’t think they can argue with the end result. Some will, and that’s fine, but I know the people there had a blast. And I even think — it’s been years, years, years now that now I see a little shift that, ‘Wow, Tommy did a great job.’ Sometimes it takes time for people to come around to what you’re doing, and I’m cool with that, too. But you win some, you lose some. They made a great record. They chose who they chose, and that was their product. That’s part of being a sideman. It’s not my choice. It’s their choice, and there was a lot of moving parts to that scenario, what was going on, when you get to that level, and I wasn’t the choice at that time. Oh, well. You gotta move on and keep pushing,” Clufetos explained.
When asked if the band members or management ever explicitly detailed the reasons behind the studio lineup choice, Clufetos attributed the decision entirely to legendary producer Rick Rubin, who steered the sonic direction of the chart-topping album.
“I believe it was strictly a Rick Rubin decision, to be honest with you,” he continued. “And to his defense, I know that he had worked with Rage Against the Machine, so he thought that he could get what he wanted out of him, and he was probably comfortable because he had worked with him before. I don’t know. That’s more of a Rick Rubin question. But Rick Rubin, what a great producer, and he has a great track record. And some of the things that I hear him say about music, I guess I can’t argue with it. Maybe it’s unorthodox, and some people — he’s gotten to deal with a lot of flack, yet he’s had a lot of success. So I don’t wanna be somebody judging because it didn’t go my way. Everybody has their own vision for something, and if I don’t fit into that vision, there’s really… You can’t take it totally personal.”
Drawing from his extensive career backing rock and metal royalty, including long stints in Ozzy Osbourne‘s solo band, Clufetos elaborated on the psychological and musical differences between operating as an independent sideman versus being a permanent, vested member of a singular rock group.
“Being a sideman musician versus being a member of a band makes you tougher,” he said. “Because you learn that the show must go on, and the show will always go on. I set aside my personal feelings when it’s time to go up there. I notice a lot of band guys that have come through the band, they don’t have that inner thing that I’ve had to struggle to get where I’ve got. Because sometimes when you’re in a band, you’re considered great because you’re in that band. But playing with other people is not as easy as it seems, as you may be great in your band, because you’ve come up with those guys for 20 years. That’s one thing. But going to a different situation and fitting in that situation, and then going to a different situation and playing that style, that’s a whole another thing that sometimes being a sideman, there’s a benefit musically to that too, because you learn to adapt, you learn to read people, versus just reading the three people that you’ve come up playing with, or that one style, where you’re only playing what you wanna play. A lot of the times I have to play another guy’s style, but then make that my own, and somehow, how do I shimmy that to work, versus just playing… Like in my own band here, I can play whatever I want. I dictate where the flow goes. So it is what it is. I’m not complaining. I like being a sideman because also when you go home, when the job’s done, it’s just done. I get to go home. I don’t have all the stresses of, ‘Man, we gotta pay for the tour buses. We gotta pay for the trucks. The crew needs the checks, and this guy quit, and that guy quit.’ I’m dealing with a little of that with my own band on the lowest level. But there’s pluses and minuses to everything.”
