ELO Drummer BEV BEVAN On BLACK SABBATH's Born Again Gig - "I Just Wanted To Work And I Had An Offer From My Best Friend In The Rock 'N Roll Business, TONY IOMMI, Because BILL WARD Wasn’t Fit Enough"
November 25, 2024, 18 hours ago
Birmingham, UK-based drummer Bev Bevan, who was an original member of both The Move and ELO (Electric Light Orchestra), and toured and recorded with Black Sabbath and numerous others, is featured in a new interview with Louder Sound.
In the following excerpt, Bevan reveals how he ended up playing with Black Sabbath on the Born Again tour in 1983-84?
"[ELO leader] Jeff [Lynne] wanted to make records and didn’t want to tour, but as a drummer I just wanted to work," says Bev. "I had an offer from Tony Iommi – my best friend in the rock’n’roll business – because Bill Ward wasn’t fit enough to do a Black Sabbath set. We did a European tour, headlined at Reading Festival, and did two American tours. This was with Ian Gillan, who was someone I admired as a singer. I had a great time. It was a bit like being back in The Move where I was allowed to do whatever I liked, really – play as loudly as I wanted to."
Asked why he left ELO in 1986, Bevan responds, "We were contracted to make one more album, which was Balance Of Power. The single, 'Calling America', was a minor hit, but the album didn’t sell well and Jeff wanted to work with other artists and produce other people. So that was the end of ELO. There were no plans, as far as I know, to record any more albums or to tour. So I didn’t exactly leave; it just ceased to be."
Read the complete interview at Louder Sound.
