Geezer Butler: Black Sabbath Bassist Posted By: Tristan Andrews

His real name is Terrance Butler and he was born in Birmingham, England on July 17, 1949. Terrance got his nickname because he saluted other guys with the term "geezer" since he was a kid; it is English slang meaning "man". He and Ozzy Osbourne started the band Rare Breed in the fall of 1967. They got together again, joining Tony Iommi and Bill Ward in the group Polka Tulk that changed to Earth and then broke new musical ground as Black Sabbath. Butler proposed the band's name that would become heavy metal originators. He got the idea from a movie title.Butler was the bass player and also played mellotron, and synthesizers; he wrote the lyrics to many of the songs. He had played rhythm guitar before playing with Black Sabbath, but switched to bass at Iommi's request. To be in synch with Iommi's tuned down guitar, Butler tuned his bass down, this made him one of the initial bassist to tune down. Butler employed a wah-wah pedal with his bass, as one of the initial bassists to do so. He highlighted this technique on the song N.I.B. from the 1970 self-titled album Black Sabbath.black sabbathgeezer butlerheavy metalrock