In a new interview with Birmingham World, Black Sabbath’s first manager Jim Simpson reveals that it was a bit of a struggle getting the future metal legends signed to a record label. An excerpt from the feature follows...

It’s 55 years since Jim Simpson released his first record on his independent record label, Big Bear Records. The ska Christmas single, "Rudi The Red-Nosed Reindeer", from The Steam Shovel was a follow up to "Rudi’s In Love' from the Birmingham-based first ever UK ska band Locomotive in the 1960s.

Although it didn’t break into the charts when it was first released in 1968 it did enjoy healthy sales over several re-releases. And Jim says it also caught the attention of the huge Walt Disney Corporation - but not in a positive way.

Jim explains: “They threatened Big Bear Records with litigation if we did not immediately ‘cease and desist’ from using our new Bear logo, which was deemed, in hindsight, quite correctly to look too much like their Balou The Bear.”

Big Bear went on to record more than 200 jazz, blues and rock albums, being named by the world's leading blues publication, Living Blues, as having "the most interesting collection of 1970s American blues recordings". It is the UK’s longest established Indie record label.

It wasn’t long after that, when Big Bear picked up one of the biggest bands in the world - who started out as an unknown band from Aston called Earth. “We signed them for management and recording, and name-changed them to Black Sabbath and set about finding them a record deal with a major label to re-assign the recording rights to.

“I touted what was to become the actual first Black Sabbath album - ‘Black Sabbath’ - around London’s majors, and got 14 ‘no thank you – we’re not interested’, responses.

“I had not at that point just decided to bite the bullet and release ‘Black Sabbath’ on Big Bear when I received a phone call from Olav Wyber, A&R Head at the Phonogram Vertigo label who said, ‘that Birmingham band you played for me, I can’t remember their name, but I would like to sign them’. “It transpired that whoever was scheduled to deliver his next Vertigo release had failed to do so, and he vaguely remembered ‘that band from Birmingham’ who would do as a replacement."

Find out what happened next, at BirminghamWorld.uk.