Posted on by Phil Strawn

The Endearing Connection: Ozzy and Ozzie. Pass Me That Burning Guitar…


When old Rockers check out, they do it in style. Ozzy Osborne did one last concert the week before his ride up to meet Saint Peter. TV preacher, Joel ( Money Bags) Olsteen, said that Ozzy, upon being stopped at the gate by an Archangel, told God that the whole black satanic Satan thing was just an act, and he never liked the taste of Bats. I haven’t heard anything yet about whether that worked. Alice Cooper had more fun with the makeup and outfits, and Alice is a Christian, so he will likely make the cut when his time is up.

I was not a Black Sabbath fan, and couldn’t name you one tune they did, but I did watch the Ozzy and family show a few times and found it sort of entertaining and depressing at the same time. I was accustomed to the original Ozzie show, the one with his wife, Harriet, and the two nice-looking sons, and a street full of nicely dressed neighbors. Everyone cooked hamburgers on their charcoal grills every night because the weather on the back lot at California’s Desilu Studios was always so perfect. That’s the Ozzy I connect with. Much like Ozzy Osborne, Ozzie Nelson was also a musician and a television producer. Big Band music, large-scale orchestrated numbers featuring blaring horns, doghouse bass players, and hep cat drummers. Then his son, little Ricky, grew up and had twinkling blue eyes and perfectly styled wolfman hair, a nice Martin guitar, and sang teenage songs that made the young girls all jelly-legged and instantly fertile. So, the dull Ozzie could have related to the outrageous Ozzy, as he had raised a rebellious teenage musical son.

I made a list of deceased musicians and read it to Momo. She is adept at correcting me when I make a social or personal mistake. She asked for a rundown, so I gave it my all, but all was wrong. I had no idea Bruce Springsteen, Spinal Tap, Stills and Nash, Neil Diamond, Diamond Lil, Joni Mitchell, The last Monkee, Paul Simon, Simon and Garfunkel, Dave Clark and his Five, Peter the Hermit, Freddy the Dreamer, and Sir Paul were still alive. What a shock. Ringo is now a member of The Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, so I guess that “They’re Gonna Put Me In The Movies” tune paved the way. I told her to put the list in her desk drawer and check it in a few years to see if I foretold the future. The sad reality of old musicians and singers passing on is, who will pick up the torch and replace them? Please don’t even consider Taylor The Swifter and that group of cartoon music morons she spawned. I’m waiting on Dylan and Baez to go on tour.

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10 Replies to “The Endearing Connection: Ozzy and Ozzie. Pass Me That Burning Guitar…”

  1. It’s always sobering when the entertainment icons of our lifetimes leave this earth. I wasn’t a Black Sabbath fan either, but, like you, I did tune in to the reality show a few times. I saw Dylan in concert several years ago and was very disappointed because he was nothing like I had remembered him from the late 60’s/early 70’s. Time unrelentingly marches on.

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    1. I’m not sure, but from what I’ve read, he was baptized a few years ago, and his life was changed. I never cared for his stuff; it was awful. How much of it he believed in the early years is the question. Alice Cooper always said his schtick was theater and fake. He found Christianity decades ago.

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      1. Back in the day, I attended an Alice Cooper concert in Cleveland. I couldn’t look when he faked cutting off heads with his guillotine. I did like a few of his songs.

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  4. “The sad reality of old musicians and singers passing on is, who will pick up the torch and replace them?” This is so true! I’ve been having this discussion with a friend. Will there ever be any guitar greats again?

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    1. Maybe not, Maddie. Billy Strings seems the likely anointed one for a guitar-slinging gunner, but who knows. The current crop of youngsters is woefully lacking in talent at any level. I can’t name one that can even measure up to the greats of the ’70s and ’80s, let alone the ’60s.

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      1. I’m a Billy Strings fan. He’s amazing! And we are in agreement with the greats of the 60s, 70s, 80s. I have a friend who has been making cds for me of mostly great guitar work. I had no idea so much fantastic music was out there. I grew up on top 40, and this isn’t that. 🙂

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