Don’t worry, I know the shoes!
 
Back in 2004 when Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi was working the press circuit for the release of Black Box: The Complete Original Black Sabbath (1970-1978), he noted that the collection would include the band’s obscure cover of Carl Perkins 1955 rockabilly classic, “Blue Suede Shoes.” The track was also released by New Millennium Communications in 1999 on a compilation called, Black Mass.

According to Iommi, Sabbath decided to play the uptempo number during one of their recording sessions for the German TV show Beat-Club in May of 1970. Their performance (which aired on Beat-Club episode #55) of “Blue Suede Shoes” and “Black Sabbath” were both recorded on Beat-Club‘s soundstage. The band then recorded two other tracks, “Iron Man” and “Paranoid” at Radio Bremen studios in Bremen, Germany that would later air as part of their appearance on Beat-Club on episode #59.

During the interview, Iommi makes it pretty clear that the decision to play “Blue Suede Shoes” was a “joke” and really just “a run-through for the cameras.” Something that the band never intended or expected to be seen by anyone outside of the studio, much less heard. The greatest part of all this is the fact that Sabbath vocalist Ozzy Osbourne really didn’t know the lyrics to the song at all. I give you this fantastic example straight from Ozzy’s mouth:

I know a girl who lives next door/she’d be in the kitchen/with an eye on the wall

And it only gets worse. Damn. How the band keep a straight face during this performance is beyond me. Perhaps the LSD hadn’t kicked in yet? Maybe Ozzy was sober? Whatever the case may be, it seems that this was the one and only time the band was captured on video performing “Blue Suede Shoes”. 
 

Black Sabbath and rubber chicken
 
The video below includes onscreen subtitles for Ozzy’s mixed-up lyrics. It is two-minutes of hilarity. I’ve also included video of the band’s entire appearance on Beat-Club from 1970 for your viewing pleasure. Double O, double Z… why? FTW!
 

Black Sabbath performing “Blue Suede Shoes” on Beat-Club (episode #55) with Ozzy’s new “lyrics.”
 

Black Sabbath full Beat-Club performance

Previously on Dangerous Minds:
Black Sabbath live in Paris, 1970