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 - Headless Cross - UK - picture disc LP - £75.00, $95.25, €87.75 (New Item) (arrived 18-Mar-2024 13:19)on March 19, 2024 at 6:40 am
BLACK SABBATH Headless Cross (1989 UK limited edition 9-track Picture Disc LP, featuring a full colour image of the band on one side with the album artwork on the reverse, including the bonus recording Cloak And Dagger. The disc has just a few light paper scuffs otherwise looks barely played EIRSAPD1002)
- Black Sabbath - Paranoid - Dutch - vinyl LP - £25.00, $31.75, €29.25 (New Item) (arrived 23-Feb-2024 10:30)on March 19, 2024 at 6:40 am
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 notable cornerwear andminor edge creasing along with some light foxing to the inner gatefold 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 - Born Again - UK - vinyl LP - £75.00, $95.25, €87.75 (New Item) (arrived 19-Feb-2024 09:40)on March 19, 2024 at 6:40 am
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, housed in a glossy picture sleeve with lyric inner. The sleeve shows minimal wear and the vinyl is Near Mint. A really nice copy! VERL8)
- Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath - Dutch - vinyl LP - £25.00, $31.75, €29.25 (New Item) (arrived 19-Feb-2024 12:55)on March 19, 2024 at 6:40 am
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 shows a little scuffing around the edges and somefoxing to the inner gatefold, whilst the vinyl is clean & in Excellent conditon with just some minor signs of play NEL6002)1 #Top 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time
- Black Sabbath - Live Evil - EX - UK - 2-LP vinyl set - £25.00, $31.75, €29.25 (New Item) (arrived 19-Feb-2024 15:55)on March 19, 2024 at 6:40 am
BLACK SABBATH Live Evil (1983 UK 14-track double LP featuring the band fronted by Ronnie James Dio thundering through a set that includes Neon Knights, War Pigs, Iron Man, Fluff & many more. The glossy gatefold picture sleeve displays some light general wear with the start of a small split to the reverse and some light scuffing to the middle of the gatefold, whilst the vinyl looks barely played with a few faint signs of play SAB10)
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