From Ultimate Classic Rock.
Louisa Livingstone, the black-robed woman on the cover of Black Sabbath‘s debut, has spoken about the experience in recognition of the album’s 50th anniversary.
At the time, Livingstone was a model in her late teens, and photographer Keith “Keef” Macmillan chose her, in part because she was only five feet tall, thereby making the scenery around her look big. Macmillan chose Oxfordshire’s Mapledurham Watermill, a historic building that dates back to the 15th century, because he thought it fit the dark, gothic sound of the band, and the two went there one morning.
“I remember it was freezing cold,” she told Rolling Stone. “I had to get up at about 4 o’clock in the morning. Keith was rushing around with dry ice, throwing it into the water. It didn’t seem to be working very well, so he ended up using a smoke machine. It was just, ‘Stand there and do that.’ I’m sure he said it was for Black Sabbath, but I don’t know if that meant anything much to me at the time.”
“She wasn’t wearing any clothes under that cloak because we were doing things that were slightly more risqué, but we decided none of that worked,” he added. “Any kind of sexuality took away from the more foreboding mood. But she was a terrific model. She had amazing courage and understanding of what I was trying to do.”
Despite her work on the cover, Livingstone, now an electronic musician who works under the name Indreba, never gravitated towards the music. But for Macmillan, the cover shoot was an entry into a whole new world. “To be honest, it was the first time I really enjoyed that kind of heavy rock,” he said. “But that album made me a fan for life.”
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- Black Sabbath - Paranoid - UK - 12" vinyl - £20.00, $25.80, €23.80 (New Item) (arrived 01-Nov-2024 18:00)on November 2, 2024 at 1:10 pm
BLACK SABBATH Paranoid (Limited Edition 1986 UK 4-track 12" EP in Castle's Archive4 series, also including Iron Man, Black Sabbath plus a live version of War Pigs. The delicate picture sleeve shows a faint spot of ring wear & the vinyl appears barely played. Limited to 5000 copies only TOF101)
- Black Sabbath - Never Say Die - US - vinyl LP - £50.00, $64.50, €59.50 (New Item) (arrived 01-Nov-2024 18:00)on November 2, 2024 at 1:10 pm
BLACK SABBATH Never Say Die (1978 US 9-track LP including original picture inner, housed in a glossy glossy picture sleeve which has a deletion cut in the top left corner otherwise has very little storage marks, complete with inner picture sleeve; the vinyl is in superb near mint condition with only a few very light surface marks BSK3186)
- Black Sabbath - Sabotage - Russian - vinyl LP - £60.00, $77.40, €71.40 (New Item) (arrived 01-Nov-2024 18:00)on November 2, 2024 at 1:10 pm
BLACK SABBATH Sabotage (Limited 1991 Russian SNC issue 8-track vinyl LP, unique bordered sleeve design with album notes in Russian and English. The sleeve shows a little creasing and shelfwear whilst the vinyl is near mint)
- Black Sabbath - Greatest Hits - Smooth Sleeve - UK - vinyl LP - £30.00, $38.70, €35.70 (New Item) (arrived 01-Nov-2024 18:00)on November 2, 2024 at 1:10 pm
BLACK SABBATH Greatest Hits (1977 UK 10-track vinyl LP featuring a compilation of their classic hits including Paranoid, Changes and Sweet Leaf, smooth picture sleeve. The sleeve shows minimal shelfwear whilst the vinyl shows just light signsof play NEL6009)
- Black Sabbath - Seventh Star - EX - UK - vinyl LP - £50.00, $64.50, €59.50 (New Item) (arrived 01-Nov-2024 18:00)on November 2, 2024 at 1:10 pm
BLACK SABBATH Seventh Star (1986 UK 9-track vinyl LP - Chronologically, this was the twelfth studio album from Black Sabbath and is labelled 'featuring Tony Iommi', however, strictly speaking, Iommi is the only original band member to performon this album, alongside long-time friend & former Deep Purple bassist Glen Hughes on vocals. Housed in a glossy glossy picture sleeve with lyric printed inner. The sleeve displays some light general wear mostly to to the edges & corners, the inner nas a split to the bottom edge whilst remain in excellent and the vinyl looks barely played)
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