In a new interview with Eddie Trunk, producer Max Norman discussed working on the first two Ozzy Osbourne solo records (Blizzard Of Ozz and Diary Of A Madman) and the controversy surrounding them, guitarist Randy Rhoads, Loudness, Bad Company, and more.

Max Norman: "It's well-known that in Black Sabbath, Geezer Butler wrote the lyrics; and for Ozzy solo records, Bob told me from album one all the way through No More Tears (1991) he was actually not only playing bass, but writing lyrics. That's a very weird situation and they (Bob Daisley and Lee Kerslake) both got shafted pretty badly. They would be like, 'What's going on with the publishing?' So there was a little bit of it going on and I tried not to get involved in that stuff. But once Sharon got involved, that started to escalate. There was some tension towards the end of the second record they were still not getting what they wanted.

Once that record was finished I got a call from Sharon (Osbourne): 'We want to replace the bass and drums.' I refused to do it. I said, 'No, I'm not doing it. First of all, you are fucking the record up, and secondly these two guys deserve it.'"

Check out the complete interview here.

According to the Courthouse News Service, a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit back in May 2017 claiming that Ozzy Osbourne swindled a former band member out of at least $2 million in royalties for songwriting on two of Osbourne’s hard-rock albums in the early 1980s, ruling that the dispute must be decided through arbitration.

U.S. District Judge Christina Snyder concluded that plaintiff Bob Daisley’s claims that Osbourne used a sham company, Blizzard Music Limited (US), to withhold royalty income from him stem from songwriter agreements that require arbitration.

Daisley argued that arbitration does not apply to Blizzard US and Osbourne, the suit’s defendants, because they are not parties to the agreements.

In her ruling, however, Snyder found that Daisley’s claims “touch and arise from the songwriter agreements,” keeping in mind that any doubts about whether issues are subject to attribution should be resolved in favor of arbitration.

Daisley alleges that Blizzard US and an affiliated company in England, Blizzard UK, which was not named in the suit but is covered by the songwriter agreements, are alter egos of Osbourne.  Furthermore, he wants an accounting from both companies and Osbourne.

The “alter-ego allegations are sufficient to allow defendants to invoke the arbitration provision,” the judge ruled, adding that the request for an accounting from nonparty Blizzard UK underscores that Daisley’s claims arise out of the songwriter agreements.

Daisley played bass and co-wrote some of the songs on Ozzy’s classic Blizzard Of Ozz and Diary Of A Madman albums.

Read more at the Courthouse News Service.