"The Wizard"
Cover artwork for the Paranoid single, as used in the Netherlands
Single by Black Sabbath
from the album Black Sabbath
Released24 March 1970 (France)[1]
GenreHeavy metal[2][3]
Length4:24
LabelVertigo
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Rodger Bain
Black Sabbath singles chronology
"Evil Woman"
(1970)		 "The Wizard"
(1970)		 "Paranoid"
(1970)
Audio sample
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"The Wizard" is a song by the English heavy metal[2][3] rock band Black Sabbath from their 1970 album Black Sabbath. "The Wizard" was selected as their debut single in France, backed by "Evil Woman" which was released as A-side in many other countries. It was also the B-side to the 1970 single "Paranoid", which reached number 4 on the UK Singles Chart and number 61 on the Billboard Hot 100.[4]

Information

"The Wizard" is about a wizard who uses his magic to encourage people he encounters. In a 2005 interview with Metal Sludge, Black Sabbath bassist and lyricist Geezer Butler said the song's lyrics were influenced by the wizard Gandalf from The Lord of the Rings.[5]

Personnel

Covers and influence

The song was covered by Bullring Brummies, a short-lived project featuring Black Sabbath founding members Geezer Butler and Bill Ward, for the 1994 tribute album Nativity in Black.[7]

References

  1. ↑ "Black Sabbath singles".
  2. 1 2 Monger, James Christopher. "Black Sabbath | Biography & History". AllMusic. Retrieved 13 November 2019. Flush with eventual [heavy metal] genre classics like 'The Wizard,' 'N.I.B.,' and the aforementioned title cut, Black Sabbath was initially dismissed by critics
  3. 1 2 Wilson, Scott A. (2015). Music at the Extremes: Essays on Sounds Outside the Mainstream. McFarland. p. 131. ISBN 978-1-47662-006-0.
  4. ↑ Strong, M. C. (1995). The Great Rock Discography. Edinburgh: Canongate Books Ltd. p. 65. ISBN 0-86241-385-0.
  5. ↑ "Black Sabbath (album) review". Metal Sludge.
  6. ↑ "Black Sabbath (album) review". Rolling Stone. 31 May 2009.
  7. ↑ Parisien, Roch, Nativity in BlackReview, Allmusic, retrieved 15 July 2011
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