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 - Black Sabbath - EX - Dutch - vinyl LP - £15.00, $19.95, €17.55 (Back In Stock) (arrived 25-Apr-2025 16:00)on April 26, 2025 at 4:16 pm
BLACK SABBATH Black Sabbath (1976 Dutch issue of the 1970 7-track LP, housed in a matte gatefold picture sleeve with 'Printed & made by Almere Printing bv, Holland' text on the back. The sleeve has some light corner creasing, a couple of indentation marks on the reverse and some foxing to the inner gatefold. The vinyl shows only minor signs of play NEL6002) #Top 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time
- Black Sabbath - Born Again - VG - UK - vinyl LP - £40.00, $53.20, €46.80 (New Item) (arrived 22-Apr-2025 16:00)on April 26, 2025 at 4:16 pm
BLACK SABBATH Born Again (1983 UK 9-track vinyl LP, the eleventh studio album by the English heavy metal band featuring Ian Gillan on vocals. Glossy picture sleeve with lyric inner. The sleeve has a degee of edgewear and ringwear, whilethe vinyl has just a couple of cosmetic storage marks but few indications of play. Overall a Very Good copy VERL8)
- Black Sabbath - Paranoid - Dutch - vinyl LP - £25.00, $33.25, €29.25 (New Item) (arrived 22-Apr-2025 12:02)on April 26, 2025 at 4:16 pm
BLACK SABBATH Paranoid (1976 Dutch NEMS issue of the 1970 8-track LP, housed in a matte gatefold picture sleeve with 'Printed & made by Almere Printing bv, Holland' print on the inside right panel. The sleeve shows some minor edgewear whilst the vinyl is clean & grades EX/EX- with just faint paper scuffs not affecting play NEL6003) #Top 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time
- Black Sabbath - Mob Rules - 1st - Misprinted Label - VG - French - vinyl LP - £30.00, $39.90, €35.10 (New Item) (arrived 22-Apr-2025 12:07)on April 26, 2025 at 4:16 pm
BLACK SABBATH Mob Rules (1981 first French pressed edition 9-track vinyl LP with TWO mis-spellings on the Side One black & silver 'spaceship' labels ['Bulter' instead of Butler and Track 5 is listed as 'Mob Brules' rather than Mob Rules'], later corrected & repressed - Their tenth studio album, the second to feature Ronnie James Dio on vocals and the first with Vinny Appice on drums. The picture sleeve does have notable shelfwear evident to the spine edge and the vinyl remains in Excellent condition)
- Black Sabbath - Master Of Reality - Laminated - EX - UK - vinyl LP - £35.00, $46.55, €40.95 (New Item) (arrived 22-Apr-2025 12:10)on April 26, 2025 at 4:16 pm
BLACK SABBATH Master Of Reality (1976 UK issue of the 1971 8-track LP, fully laminated picture sleeve with lyrics on the reverse. This edition has a slightly different design to other issues as the title is printed as an outline rather than grey-filled. The sleeve displays some laminate lift along the spine whilst the vinyl has a few light surface scuffs and spindlewear to show evidence of play - overall an Excellent example NEL6004) #Top 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time
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