Bob Daisley
Robert John Daisley (born 13 February 1950) is an Australian musician and songwriter. A bass guitarist, he is perhaps best known for his intermittent relationship with vocalist Ozzy Osbourne, for whom he contributed bass, co-production and songwriting throughout the 1980s. Daisley has also worked with prominent rock acts including Black Sabbath, Rainbow, Gary Moore, Chicken Shack and Uriah Heep, among others. In 2013, he published his autobiography entitled For Facts Sake which has received outstanding reviews.
Bob Daisley
Biography[edit]
Early career[edit]
Daisley began playing guitar at age 13 and went on to bass at 14. His rapid progress won him local acclaim, especially through his work with guitarist Dennis Wilson with The Powerpact and Mecca; Mecca's only single release "Black Sally" became an underground hit and was covered by Human Instinct on their Stoned Guitar album. Daisley and Wilson then formed Kahvas Jute with Tamam Shud members Tim Gaze and Dannie Davidson. They released one album, Wide Open, on Infinity Records in 1971.
Daisley came to international notice as a bass player and member of the English blues band Chicken Shack in 1972, before going on to play with Mungo Jerry in 1973 and on their 1974 album Long-Legged Woman Dressed in Black. After this he co-formed Widowmaker, contributing to two albums – 1975's self-titled debut and Too Late to Cry in 1977. The same year he joined Ritchie Blackmore's band Rainbow and later played on tracks of the Long Live Rock 'n' Roll album. He remained with Rainbow until 1979 when he was replaced by Blackmore's ex-Deep Purple bandmate Roger Glover.
Ozzy Osbourne[edit]
In October 1979, Daisley met Ozzy Osbourne at a venue called the Music Machine in Camden Town, after Osbourne had been fired from the band Black Sabbath. The pair hit it off and Osbourne suggested they form a band. They were soon joined by former Quiet Riot guitarist Randy Rhoads, whom Osbourne had recently met in Los Angeles. The trio hired ex-Uriah Heep drummer Lee Kerslake and settled on the band name The Blizzard of Ozz, though the new band's management soon decided to bill the act simply as "Ozzy Osbourne".[1]
Daisley contributed bass, songwriting and co-production on the group's first album, Blizzard of Ozz, and co-wrote all of the material on the follow-up album Diary of a Madman but both he and drummer Lee Kerslake were fired before the second album was released. Bassist Rudy Sarzo received credit on Diary of a Madman, though he did not perform on it.
Daisley and Kerslake later successfully sued Don Arden and Jet Records for performance royalties and to have their performance credits added to Diary of a Madman. Litigation continued for many years until Daisley and Kerslake sued the Osbournes (who unknown to Daisley and Kerslake had purchased the early albums' publishing rights) for unpaid performance royalties and accreditation. Sharon, without Ozzy's knowledge, responded by re-issuing new CD versions of both albums with the bass and drum tracks re-recorded by Robert Trujillo and Mike Bordin in 2002. In 2003, Daisley and Kerslake's lawsuit was dismissed by the United States District Court in Los Angeles. This dismissal was upheld by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.[2] In 2011, Sony Legacy re-released both albums with Daisley and Kerslake's original bass and drum parts restored.
Daisley continued to return to the Osbourne camp to write and record for several albums throughout the 1980s, playing on and/or writing for Bark at the Moon (1983), The Ultimate Sin (1986), and No Rest for the Wicked (1988). He maintained his working relationship with the Osbournes up until 1991's No More Tears album, which featured his bass playing on all tracks. Mike Inez (who later joined Alice in Chains) appeared in the album's promotional videos.
Gear[edit]
Daisley uses Mark Bass heads, and Picato Strings since 1972.[6] He recorded Ozzy Osbourne's solo debut Blizzard of Ozz with a white Gibson EB-3 from 1961, through one of Randy Rhoads' Marshall stacks, and continues to use an early-1960s EB-3 to this day. However, the follow-up to Blizzard, Diary of a Madman, (and most of the other albums he recorded on) was recorded with a Fender Precision Bass.[7] No More Tears was recorded with a P-bass as well, but an early '50s model with a single coil pickup (in sunburst).[8]