Black Sabbath’s debut on the iconic Vertigo Swirl label has been issued three times before eventually being reissued on the Spaceship label. However, a sharp-eyed viewer (thanks to Martin in Copenhagen!) has noticed a variation in the label design. Here are the swirl labels in the order I believe them to have been issued:
And here are the differences (in same cases very subtle!)
1st Issue
- Large swirl logo above spindle
- ‘VERTIGO’ below spindle
- ‘A PHILIPS RECORD PRODUCT’ below ‘VERTIGO’
- ‘BLACK SABBATH’ is slightly offset to the right above ‘VERTIGO’
- ‘VO6 847 903 VTY’ and then below that ‘847 903 2Y’ is all off centre and ranged towards the right with the last line extending beyond the middle line
- ’33⅓’ is below and left of the ‘℗ 1970’
2nd Issue (Martin’s newly discovered copy) – changes from 1st Issue in italics
- Large swirl logo above spindle
- ‘VERTIGO’ below spindle
- No ‘A PHILIPS RECORD PRODUCT’ wording below ‘VERTIGO’
- ‘BLACK SABBATH’ is smaller but still slightly offset to the right above ‘VERTIGO’
- ‘VO6 847 903 VTY’ and then below that ‘847 903 2Y’ is all off centre and ranged towards the right with the last line extending beyond the middle line
- ’33⅓’ is centred below the ‘℗ 1970’
3rd Issue (previously known as 2nd issue) – changes from 2nd Issue in italics
- ‘BLACK SABBATH’ looks slightly larger and is centred above ‘VERTIGO’, it is also nearer to ‘VERTIGO’
- ‘VO6 847 903 VTY’ and then below that ‘847 903 2Y’ is now closer to being centred and the last line centred below the middle line
- ’33⅓’ is slightly off centre (to the left) below the ‘℗ 1970’
4th Issue (previously known as 3rd issue) – changes from 3rd Issue in italics
- Small swirl logo above spindle
- ‘VERTIGO’ above spindle
- ‘BLACK SABBATH’ is larger
- ‘VO6 847 903 VTY’ and then below that ‘847 903 2Y’ is centred with the last line ranged left
- ‘℗ 1970’ has been moved below ’33⅓’ and is slightly off to the right
Thanks again to Martin from Copenhagen…so, are there any more variations in existence! Send me your scans if you find any!
