Zakk Wylde was on his way to Pittsburgh, getting tanked with his buddies en route to a Rolling Stones show. The guitarist, best known for his work with Ozzy Osbourne, sounding like he already had a few cocktails, was in a mood to talk. He wanted to share the real stories of his life, all of the historical landmarks he witnessed and took part in, his various sources of inspiration and how he really landed the Ozzy gig.
“I was Ozzy’s drug dealer at the time,” he claims. “I met him at a whorehouse.” This differs from historical accounts of someone passing a tape of his playing along to Sharon Osbourne, resulting in his audition for Ozzy, but Wylde was there. He can explain how it really went down, complete with historical references to back up his story.
“This was shortly after I discovered America,” he chuckles. “Right after that, when I came up with the cure for polio and witnessed the birth of Christ, Ozzy was like ‘dude, you wanna play guitar in the band?'” And the rest is history.
These days, Wylde is a busy guy. He splits his recording and touring between Ozzy Osbourne and his very own Black Label Society, who play tonight at Sonar in Baltimore. Black Label Society’s March release, Mafia, has Wylde shredding away on heavy headbanging anthems and showing his mellow side on soft ballads. On “In This River,” a somber Wylde pays tribute a good friend of his, former Pantera and Damage Plan guitarist “Dimebag” Darrell Abbott, who was tragically killed onstage last December.
“It’s always gonna be about Dime because that’s our beloved brother,” Wylde says. “The beautiful thing about Dime is that he’s the goofiest, funniest guy you’ll ever meet. All he was about was hugs and kisses. He was just the biggest love on the planet.”
When asked how he feels about Mafia in terms of his other Black Label Society records, Wylde offered up another crazy story:
“When me and Christopher Columbus were hanging out,” he remembers, “he said, ‘Zakk, young son, go west. Create a record.’ That was the Mafia album.”
Wylde formed Black Label Society as outlet for his heavy side after writing guitar riffs that he deemed unfit for Ozzy. The band, at hyper speed, has released six studio albums, one live album and one live DVD since debuting in 1999 with Sonic Brew. When asked to explain how Black Label Society was formed, Wylde said it was around the time he invented trees and wood.
“When Black Label came about, I said Ôhow much more can I do?,'” Wylde says. “And then you know what? I created owls.”
Wylde just spent another summer touring with Ozzfest, where Black Label Society opened up festivities on the main stage. This year, Black Sabbath headlined Ozzfest, so Wylde was not playing double duty as he has in the past when Ozzy has headlined. But “without Sabbath, there would be no Black Label,” so he is content whether he gets to end the night playing with Ozzy or watching the Godfathers of heavy metal rip it up.
“I love both. I love Sabbath,” he says in reverance. “I love going out with [Ozzy]; I love doing it all. It’s like, if you’re with a chick, I could have three schlongs at one time, what chick is gonna pass that up?” That’s the kind of thing Wylde thinks to say when deciding whether he likes playing with Ozzy or seeing Black Sabbath at Ozzfest more.
Wylde, three schlongs or not, is hailed as one of today’s most talented guitarists. He remembers practicing 10-12 hours a day as a 14-year-old, crafting his style after Jimi Hendrix, Randy Rhoads and Eddie Van Halen. He says listening to his heroes and other great guitarists is what pushes him to get even better.
“It’s just like food,” he laughs. “Whatever you eat, it’s just gonna be coming out of your ass.”
So should you see Black Label Society tonight at Sonar? Who knows what Wylde would say to that, but check the band out at 8 p.m. Tickets are $25; for more information call (410) 327-8333.
