Ozzy Osbourne vs. Ronnie James Dio

[Speed King]

I don't really know what the truth is regarding Daisley and Kerslake, but one thing I do know for a fact, they didn't write Randy Rhodes' guitar tracks. One thing that always bothered me about Daisley's claim, that he wrote all the music on Ozzys first two albums,...if he was such a gifted writer, why didn't he go on to write more epic rock songs after he was fired from Ozzy's band? I don't even know what he did after Diary of a Madman, maybe someone can shed some light on this?

 

[Big Ears]

Bob Daisley was a member of Mungo Jerry, Widowmaker and Rainbow before working with Osbourne. He went on to Uriah Heep, Black Sabbath, Gary Moore and lots of other people, including Bill Ward's solo work, Tyla Gang, and Yngwie Malmsteen. He was with Moore fairly consistently from the early eighties to a few years before his death.

I would say Daisley was more functional than gifted as a lyricist, and my guess is that he did not get the opportunities to continue writing, but was valued as a sideman. Moore's lyrics were not great, but the band carried his name!

 

[Lynch]

I don't really know what the truth is regarding Daisley and Kerslake, but one thing I do know for a fact, they didn't write Randy Rhodes' guitar tracks. One thing that always bothered me about Daisley's claim, that he wrote all the music on Ozzys first two albums,...if he was such a gifted writer, why didn't he go on to write more epic rock songs after he was fired from Ozzy's band?

This is something that has bothered me for many years regarding many songs and albums, not just this example but there are countless other same/similar examples. I see "all writing credits to.... " and the guitarist isn't mentioned, yet you know damn well that the guitarist wrote and played the vast majority if not all of the solos.

Then there are other artists where they list every member of the band in the writing credits, which I think says a lot about the comradery of the band.

Then there is another iteration of songwriting where some members of a band get "lyrics by..." and "music by ... ", which is probably more accurate, at least some cases.

*shrug*

 

[Sharp Dressed Man]

Tough poll. Love both of 'em, but ultimately I went with Ozzy. There's few things I love more than classic Sabbath and I have to admit that I also I prefer a large chunk of Ozzy's solo albums to Dio's solo albums, most of which were quite patchy with terribly banal lyrics.

 

[E-Z]

The thing with Ronnie was he was he was actually a rock music fan as well as a singer which mite sound strange?.

In a radio interview that I heard him give many years ago he said that he was the guy who would hang out with the fan's after the show and would be the last guy to leave the venue after a gig after chatting with the fan's while the rest of the band would have gone back to the hotel or got on the bus.

E-Z

 

[Porch Monkey]

Tough poll. Love both of 'em, but ultimately I went with Ozzy. There's few things I love more than classic Sabbath and I have to admit that I also I prefer a large chunk of Ozzy's solo albums to Dio's solo albums, most of which were quite patchy with terribly banal lyrics.

Ronnie's lyrics have put me off a fair bit of his stuff too. Normally, I'm not that bothered about the lyrics, if the music is good, but he is a bit too 'dungeons and dragons' for me, and has such a strong voice that there's no avoiding them really. But purely as a singer, I still rate him very highly.

 

[E-Z]

Ronnie's lyrics have put me off a fair bit of his stuff too. Normally, I'm not that bothered about the lyrics, if the music is good, but he is a bit too 'dungeons and dragons' for me, and has such a strong voice that there's no avoiding them really. But purely as a singer, I still rate him very highly.

About 30+ years ago I once read a several pages long feature with pictures on Ronnie James Dio in Kerrang magazine where it featured Ronnie dressed as a knight in days of old who lived in his own medieval castle somewhere in California and I totally swallowed it because for many years I thought that was how he lived in a medieval castle in California dressed as a knight!!.

E-Z

 

[BikerDude]

It gets complicate.
One of the longest running controversies about song credits is the one between the late Levon Helm and Robbie Robertson.
Levon's longtime guitarist (and Dylan) Larry Campbell weighed in after Levon passed.
It shows that it is a complicated issue. The line between writing and arranging becomes very hazy.
If someone brings a song with all of the chords and words is that 100% "written by"?
I say yes. But it's not without a valid argument for the contributions made by other musicians that bring the song to life.
A lot of songs end up being substantially different than what the songwriter envisioned with the contributions of other talented musicians.
Did those musicians write parts of he song. Yes and No.
So it's complicated.

http://americansongwriter.com/2012/...larry-campbell-and-robbie-robertson-weigh-in/

As an example..

The breakup of The Band and the longstanding animosity with Robbie and Levon, did he ever discuss any of that with you?

Oh yeah. He had a lot of bitterness about that. My observation was, Levon was 50 percent right and 50 percent wrong.

 

[Porch Monkey]

I totally swallowed it because for many years I thought that was how he lived in a medieval castle in California dressed as a knight!!.

E-Z

Oops, what a giveaway! lol

 

[E-Z]

Oops, what a giveaway! lol

I still think that story mite have had some truth in it?.

"Apparently Ronnie DID have a castle in Encino in California."