Though his career was brief, Rodger Bain's influence on rock roll will probably be felt for decades to come. That's because Bain, as staff producer at British label Vertigo, produced the first three Black Sabbath records and both encouraged and shaped the band's heavy, evil blues sound at a time when no other producer was even remotely interested in the band. Working with what little time and resources he had (the group's debut was recorded on four-track in only 16 hours), Bain used the obvious deficiencies to his advantage, isolating Tony Iommi's guitar and creating a bare-bones masterpiece that continues to influence and inspire fans of heavy metal music. In 1974 Bain produced the debut of another influential metal group, Judas Priest. Strangely, in the mid-'70s the talented producer disappeared from the industry altogether. ~ Steve Kurutz, Rovi