Description
Photographer: Tom Sheehan
San Antonio Texas, 1982
It was February of 1982 and we went to America to do Ozzy for the Melody Maker. He’d just bitten the head off the bat, so I think Jonesey [former editor, Allan Jones] thought it would be a good story. Sadly, it was just one month before his guitarist Randy Rhoads died in that bizarre flying accident on the same tour. We met Ozzy in the bar of this hotel at about 11:00. He was supposed to be off the juice, but he was ordering these large brandies and leaving them next to Jonesey on the table, so if Sharon walked in she wouldn’t realise he was drinking.
I said, “Do you mind if we quickly go over to the Alamo for some pictures?” So he disappeared upstairs and came back down wearing these huge bell-bottomed culottes and this kind of wooly blouse top with bat wings. He went into the gift shop and bought himself a handbag and a straw stetson. We jumped in a cab to the Alamo and banged off a couple of shots, but then he said, “I’ve gotta have a piss.” Either side of the main door there are these concrete urns about three foot high, and he took a piss in one of them. I was like, “Oh, for fuck’s sake…”
He shook himself dry and clambered up into this alcove over the door while I was snapping away. From behind me, I heard someone going [thick Texan accent] “Yeah, that’s the guy I saw urinating on the Alamo.” And this Texas Ranger goes, “Really? Get down from there, buddy.” And the fella goes, “Yeah, and this one was taking pictures!” And the Texas Ranger was like, “Really? Well, we’ll take him in as well.” So he was taking our names and then said, “Hey, ain’t you the guy who bit the head off the bat?” And Ozzy said, “Yeah, I fucking did. It was like a Crunchie wrapped in chamois leather.”
While he was calling for backup, I rewound the film, replaced it and gave that to Jonesey, in case they confiscated my cameras. By this time there were loads of Rangers on the scene and one of them goes to Jonesey, “Hey buddy, are you with these guys?” And he was like [puts on ridiculous accent] “No, I am a Swedish tourist!” Eventually they let Ozzy out of lockup so he could do the show that night. When we saw him he was shaken up. “They locked me up with a murderer! He was covered in blood… he’d just killed his wife…” Fucking hell.
Open Edition, signed by the photographer
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