"Fairies Wear Boots" by Black Sabbath--Drum Tab (Guitar Pro)

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About This Song

"Fairies Wear Boots" is a song by Black Sabbath and was included on their well known "Paranoid" album, which was released in 1970.

Allegedly, the name of the song came from an incident where Ozzy Osbourne and Geezer Butler had an encounter with some "Skinheads" and subsequently referred to them as "Fairies".

About the Drummer

Drummer Bill Ward's style is one of closely matching the bass and guitar riffs. This may be due in part to his awareness of melody, as he sang lead vocals on two of Black Sabbath's songs.

Ward's drum kit is a Tama Imperialstar with the addition of a Gong Bass and Octobans. His cymbals are AA and Sabian. He has been inspirational to many of today's best drummers. He continues to play and enjoy the music of today. In his own words:

"Today, I love what’s happening in music. I’ve been given the rare opportunity to play bands I like – Classic and newer Metal – on our Rock 50 radio show. These bands energize me. "

About This Tab

One of the most interesting things about this song is the fills. Typical of Ward's playing, he keeps it pretty simple most of the time and then injects lighting fast and very creative fills.

Because of the slow tempo of this song (84 BPM), he is able to use a lot of 32nnd note fills. Many times he combines 32nd notes with 16ths and 8ths in triplet patterns. My favorites, though, are the groupings of 6 sixteenth notes, which sound like a wall of sound because he uses them after the tempo change (132 BPM) in measure 25.

Add to this the occasional 5/4 time signature and you get a classic rock song that is imaginative and challenging. If you like Black Sabbath, you will have a great time with this one.

Lynne