| "Mr. Crowley" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
.jpg) 1980 live single artwork | ||||
| Single by Ozzy Osbourne | ||||
| from the album Blizzard of Ozz | ||||
| B-side | "No Bone Movies" | |||
| Released | September 20, 1980[1] | |||
| Recorded | 22 March – 19 April 1980 | |||
| Genre | Heavy metal[2] | |||
| Length | 4:55 | |||
| Label | Jet | |||
| Composer(s) | Ozzy Osbourne, Randy Rhoads, Bob Daisley[2] | |||
| Lyricist(s) | Bob Daisley | |||
| Producer(s) | Ozzy Osbourne, Randy Rhoads, Bob Daisley, Lee Kerslake | |||
| Ozzy Osbourne singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"Mr. Crowley" is a song by English heavy metal singer Ozzy Osbourne, about English occultist Aleister Crowley. Written by Osbourne, guitarist Randy Rhoads and bass guitarist/lyricist Bob Daisley, it was released on Osbourne's debut solo album Blizzard of Ozz in September 1980 in the United Kingdom.[2] A live version was released as a UK single in November 1980. In North America, the studio version was released as a single in 1981.
The song begins with a keyboard solo by Don Airey. "I just cleared [the band] out of the studio and said, 'Come back in half an hour,'" he recalled. "Ozzy came back, heard it, and said, 'You just plugged into my head, man.'"[3]
The first guitar solo by Randy Rhoads became one of the best known in heavy metal. It was ranked on 28th place in the list of the best guitar solos by the readers of Guitar World.[4]
The song was ranked the 23rd greatest heavy metal song of all time, according to a readers' preferences poll held by Gibson.[5]
- ^ "RIAA Gold & Platinum". Retrieved 11 August 2024.
- ^ a b c "Ozzy Osbourne - Mr Crowley". Allmusic. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
- ^ Everley, Dave (June 2018). "Purple reign – All the right notes (and in the right order)". Classic Rock. No. 249. p. 50.
- ^ 100 Greatest Guitar Solos Archived 22 October 2011 at the Wayback Machine. guitar.about.com
- ^ "Full Top 50 Metal Songs List". Archived from the original on 28 October 2016. Retrieved 20 December 2017.