The source of this picture is unknown. Found it on the net.
UPDATE: I’ve been told that this isn’t actually Gordon by some people who say they know him.
Don’t take this picture as gospel. Tkx.
Information
- Real Name: Gordon Copley
- Birthdate: Unknown
- Birthplace: Pasadena, CA USA
- Band Position: Bass Guitar
- Started in Band: Spring 1986
- Left Band: Spring 1986
- Album Appearances: Seventh Star (No Stanger to Love Only)
- Other Bands: Lita Ford Band, Bill Ward Band
Links
I used to work with Gordon Copley a few years ago, he said this is not a pic of him!
This is actually a picture of Paul Pope from Ohio. He was in several bands and this is definitely not Gordon.
This isn’t Gordon. This guy isn’t playing a bass, he’s playing a guitar. Look up Danny Johnson and the Bandits to see the real Gordon.
Okay, first off: Joe, I love the site, I love the work you do for the Sabbath cause. I love how this is a fan site, run by someone who is just a big obsessive fan like the rest of us, yet you still get official acknowledgment from the band and operate on a pro level that has garnered legit ties to the band and it’s many members. I pay you all the deserved respect. And sorry if I come on too strong, but this is an area of great passion for me.
BUT, I have one beef with you that I have been wanting to broach for years. And yes, you’ll roll your eyes when you see the name, but I have very reasonable points that I hope you’ll take into consideration.
Yes, it’s about Fenholt and you not acknowledging him as a member of the band.
I know your reasons, I know the whole ‘it wasn’t ‘intended’ to be Sabbath’ thing and all that. But it’s obvious you have a very personal thing against this guy. Why is it obvious? Because I am commenting in the GORDON COPLEY section!! To list this guy, Cottle, and RON KEEL (amongst others), but not a guy (Fenholt) who co wrote and demo’d a WHOLE ALBUM worth of material and was in the band about as long as Donato, is really showing personal bias on your part. (Ron Keel by the way, never even jammed with Sabbath. He HUNG OUT with the band one weekend after them hearing a demo tape. He never even AUDITIONED for the band. They went and checked him out at the debut Keel show (4/7/84 to be specific) and it was immediately apparent that he wasn’t the guy.)
Now, to use the ‘But at that time it wasn’t Sabbath’ argument doesn’t fly. Copley recorded his tracks in the ‘solo album’ time and he’s on here….We know FOR SURE that after Live Aid, the second half of 85 was for the solo album time, but to say that in November of 84 with Donato it was Sabbath but in February 85, with Fenholt it wasn’t, is really splitting hairs. To leave that gap in the timeline just because you hate the guy, is pretty silly. Yes, it is your site, but still…
And I don’t say all of this as any kind of Fenholt fan at all. I have the demos with him and thank god he didn’t work out! I’m not big on his voice and his melodies where VERY mundane and repetitive, BUT credit has to be given where due. You don’t just ‘audition’ with total improv on an entire album of original tracks that you’ve never heard. He wrote and worked those parts up with the band over weeks/months and it got to the point of very properly demoing them. Just like they did with Donato. Funny how we’ve only heard ONE track of DD stuff and he’s got his place, but Fenholt has an ALBUMS worth of proof of his tenure and he gets shit. Yes he’s a bit of a nutter, yes he over stated his role later on for religious purposes, so yes, he kind of sucks all around, but he WAS INDEED on board for almost the first half of 85 (and for more than some of the others listed).
And at that point, and for another decade after, everything Tony did was SABBATH and I believe at that point it still was. Only after Live Aid and the failure for the full blown reunion did it cause Iommi to rethink the direction of what he was working on. The fact is what ever was the momentary ‘intention’, every thing Tony Iommi did from late 69 to 1995 was, for all intents and purposes BLACK SABBATH.
I put forth that Keel be absolutely dropped from this list to avoid further confusion and that a separate list be made for mere ‘studio players’ like Airey, Wakemen, Copley, etc. And THEN put Fenholt in place where he should be with the other members. Bias shouldn’t play a part in presenting this kind of thing (Like Kiss in the Hall of Fame). After all, I do believe some of Fenholts lyric ideas/themes where expanded upon and used for Seventh Star ultimately (which indeed is in history as a Black Sabbath album).
PS: Whoever the hell that is in the picture above, BIG points for finding and posting that either way. It’s absolutely incredible!!!
If you read the pages you claim to have a beef with, you’d see my email exchange with Fenholt himself. We discussed the matter, and he called me a “cool guy” when we were talking. He didn’t object to what I’m saying, we discussed it out, and he seemed OK with it. If Fenholt was OK with it, surely that’s enough for you?
As far as I am concerned ( a fan and holding a copy of the Fenholt demo ), Fenholt is a member of Black Sabbath. Technically he may not be and I see that but with a little work, it may have become “Star of India” or whatever. I have some other Fenholt stuff as well. He sings better than myself-lol. I do enjoy this site, either way.
I just found and read your email exchange with him and it TOTALLY supports everything I said in my post! He even made similar points to mine, like Donato being listed and considered but him not,and it not being a mere audition but months of work on the album. He even gives the same critique of himself on the demos as I did! He was ‘okay’ with you interviewing him but he obviously wasn’t ‘okay’ with the lack of credit he was being given. He didn’t agree with you, but rather heard you out and gave you all the specifics to support his claims. I stand by points even more after reading that.
Fine. I’ll be more blunt. I stand by my statements. If you think it’s a “personal beef”, you’re wrong. I give reasons for why I say what I say. If you don’t like it – that’s your decision of course. But consider this. If I had some vendetta, or a “thing” against him, I wouldn’t include him at all, would I?
Besides, this is a stupid place to be discussing this. I won’t approve any more posts in this location.
i played with gordon in the early 80s in my band ……the hurt…………this pic aint him!