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Black Sabbath celebration at Henry's Blueshouse tonight

Friday, February 13, 1970 - the album Black Sabbath was released and popular music was never the same again, according to one Birmingham club.

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Black Sabbath during their early years outside Jim Simpson's home in Edgbaston Photo: Jim Simpson

Henry's Blueshouse in Birmingham will forever be linked to the band, who first appeared there under the name Earth before switching to the Black Sabbath moniker.

And a spokesperson said: "The band who created that eponymously-titled album were destined to become arguably the most influential of all rock bands. Not only did they single-handedly invent the heavy metal style, but in turn they influenced dozens of other sub-metal styles, all of which acknowledge Black Sabbath as the fountain-head.

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"Listen to death metal, thrash metal, doom metal or black metal, and you will clearly hear the sound of Sabbath."

Sabbath emerged from Henry’s Blueshouse and met the man who would manage them to three worldwide hit records, Jim Simpson.

And tonight, exactly 50 years and one day later, the release of that milestone album will be celebrated at the new home of Henry’s Blueshouse, organised by Simpson.

The new Henry’s Blueshouse is located at The Bull’s Head on Bishopsgate Street, just off Broad Street.

The celebration will feature Sabbra Cadabra from Manchester, the UK’s leading Black Sabbath tribute, who will perform the entire first album including the legendary thunderstorm introduction, "surely the best ever introduction to any rock recording", the spokesperson added.

Sabbra Cadabra will then play a second set consisting of Sabbath’s second album – Paranoid. There will also be talks and Q&As including an organiser of The Global Black Sabbath Convention, Stephen Knowles, the “Ozzy” from Sabbra Cadabra and Black Sabbath’s original manager Simpson.

There will also be memorabilia and the launch of a six-postcard photograph set of early, largely unseen, Sabbath photographs.

The evening starts at 7pm and admission is free. For further information, phone 0121 454 7020.

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