Black Widow

Originating in Leicester, England, Black Widow assembled in 1969 following the breakup of blue-eyed soul band Pesky Gee!. The group included Jim Gannon on vocals, guitar, and vibraphone, Kip Trevor on vocals, guitar, and harmonica, Zoot Taylor on keyboards, Clive Jones on woodwinds, Bob Bond on bass, and Clive Box on drums. Their music delivered dark rock with alleged satanic overtones in the style of Black Sabbath, attracting substantial notice and debate through the dramatic presentation of their stage shows.

Sacrifice, the band’s 1970 debut album, entered the U.K. Top 40. Whether reacting against or capitalizing on their occult associations, Black Widow abandoned those shadowy beginnings on the self-titled 1971 album and sustained the change with Black Widow III the following year. By then, inadequate critical and label backing together with repeated lineup shifts had undermined the group’s momentum. After CBS Records dropped them late in 1972, Black Widow self-produced Return to the Sabbat, which stayed unreleased until Blueprint Records issued it in 1999. The tribute album Come to the Sabbat also surfaced that same year.