BOB DAISLEY Is Fine With Not Being Invited To OZZY OSBOURNE's Final Concert: 'I Don't Think I'd Wanna Be A Part Of That Day'

In a new interview with Indie Power TV, veteran rock/metal bassist and songwriter Bob Daisley, who performed on — and wrote/co-wrote the lyrics/music for — a good portion of Ozzy's early solo catalog, addressed the fact that he wasn't invited to take part in Ozzy's final concert, which will take place in Birmingham, United Kingdom on July 5.

Ozzy and the rest of the original BLACK SABBATH lineup — Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward — will headline a one-day festival at Villa Park, featuring a number of bands they inspired, including METALLICA, PANTERA, SLAYER, GOJIRA and ANTHRAX.

Osbourne, who has largely been forced to stop touring due to a combination of Parkinson's and spinal injuries, will play a short solo set before joining his bandmates. Appearing with Ozzy will be some of the musicians who played on his early solo records, including Rudy Sarzo, who was Ozzy's bassist between 1981 and 1982, as well as guitarist Jake E. Lee, who played with Ozzy between 1982 and 1987 and performed on the albums "Bark At The Moon" and "The Ultimate Sin".

Regarding the revelation that he will not be part of the Villa Park event, Bob told Indie Power TV: "To be honest with you, I don't think I'd wanna be a part of that that day. It'll be awkward, but it could turn out as an embarrassment as well, but we'll see. We'll see."

Bob also talked about the fact that he didn't get a mention during Osbourne's induction into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction last October. He said: "I didn't expect [to get a mention]. I knew that was coming, because there's been some dirty water gone under the bridge between us — there's been lawsuits and legal issues and that — so I was not surprised when I didn't get a mention. Many people thought that it was wrong and that I should have got a mention. But I really didn't expect it, so I wasn't surprised."

Speaking about the chemistry between the original members of Ozzy's band, including guitarist Randy Rhoads and drummer Lee Kerslake, Bob said: "It was a chemistry and a formula that worked, and it worked very well. I don't think any one of us could have been replaced with anyone else and have it work like it did. Ozzy's voice tone and melodies were integral to the sound and deliverance of everything that we did. And Randy and me working together musically first, and then me writing the lyrics to Ozzy's vocal melodies, it all just jelled. And Lee was definitely the last piece of the puzzle that helped the chemistry and the big picture."

Bob previously discussed not getting a mention during Ozzy's Rock Hall induction speech last November in an interview with Tone-Talk. He said at the time: "Well, to be honest with you, I didn't expect to be mentioned, only because of the dirty water that's gone under the bridge between us. And how Lee and I have been taken out of photographs, been taken out of films, had credits removed, had photographs removed, all that stuff. So, it was no surprise to me that I didn't get mentioned. But somebody used a good analogy about my situation with that, and that was in comparison with Elton John and Bernie Taupin, that all those songs were written, lyrically, by Bernie Taupin and Elton John wrote the music. And it was a similar situation with [me and Ozzy] — I wrote all the lyrics for those albums and songs."

Asked what he thought of Ozzy's speech at the Rock Hall, Bob said: "He looked unwell. He looked unhappy. And I don't get off on seeing people, regardless of who they are or what they've done, looking unwell or looking unhappy or whatever. He probably just went through the motions. But it's kind of what I expected. I didn't expect to be mentioned or anything. Regardless of how important my role was or what I created or helped to create or whatever, I really didn't expect to even get a mention… I mean, it would have been nice."

The 74-year-old Daisley, who has sued the Osbournes several times over unpaid royalties, added: "Amanda Peters is a female guitarist in Los Angeles that I will be working with next year. And she's a lovely person, very supportive and all of that. But she started up a petition saying that I should be inducted with Ozzy — if he's going in, then I should be, because Randy's already in there. Then Ozzy was being inducted, and all the stuff that we did together. If anybody should be in there, Lee and I should be in there as well. And a lot of people did sign the petition, but it didn't get anywhere or do anything. It was a nice gesture on her part and all the people that that signed it. I felt nice. It was nice to see supportive people thinking that way."

More than three years ago, Bob spoke to Rolling Stone magazine about the controversial 2002 re-recordings of the drum and bass parts on OZZY OSBOURNE's classic first two solo albums, 1980's "Blizzard Of Ozz" and 1981's "Diary Of A Madman".

The tracks originally played by bassist Daisley and Kerslake on both albums were replaced on the reissue by Robert Trujillo (now in METALLICA) and Mike Bordin, respectively, after Daisley and Kerslake sued Ozzy and his wife/manager Sharon Osbourne over royalties. They were restored for the 30th-anniversary editions.

Asked how he felt when he learned that his parts on the first two Ozzy records had been re-recorded, Bob said: "To be honest with you, I thought it was pathetic. Someone sent me a copy of one of them, and I laughed. I thought, 'Is this a joke?' I just didn’t think it was done right. The thing is, you can't reheat a soufflé. You can't take the ingredients out of a cake and then try and bake it again. It happened once. We did various takes of each song and we used the parts where each of us shined the best. There might be five takes of 'Crazy Train' or four takes of something else, or eight takes of something else, and we picked the one that had the best vibe. And it was four people being recorded in a room together. You can't change that.

"And the fans hated them for it. It was, like, 'God, you've got no respect for the fans and everyone that spends money on this music.' They were hated for it. I'm just quoting what fans said, not me."

Ozzy told The Pulse Of Radio he was against the idea of replacing the original tracks when he found out about it. "Believe me, it wasn't my doing," he said. "I mean, I didn't know that was being done, 'cause Sharon was fighting all the legal things that were going down at the time. I said, 'What did you do that for?' And she said, 'The only way I could stop everything was if it went to that level.' And I said, 'You know what, whatever the circumstances were, I want the original thing back.' I mean, I wouldn't have done that."

Daisley told Rock Cellar in a 2012 interview that the 30th-anniversary reissues of both albums could have featured the material as bonus content. He explained, "I offered to supply tapes of our rehearsals and writing sessions, to go as proper bonus material. And I just said that I wanted a royalty out of it, because it's my stuff. But they wouldn't do it because they didn't want to give me a royalty — they just wanted to buy it."

Daisley said that he and Kerslake were fired because of disagreements with Sharon over a number of things, including refusing to do two shows in one day out of worry that Ozzy would blow out his voice.

According to the Recording Industry Association Of America (RIAA),1980's "Blizzard Of Ozz" has been certified quintuple platinum for shipments in excess of five million copies, while 1981's "Diary Of A Madman" has been certified triple platinum for more three million units sold.