Sandwell Museums are hosting an exhibition of long buried photographs of music promotor and former Black Sabbath manager, Jim Simpson. From the late 1950s Jim worked as a musician and a photographer before moving into managmenent and music promotion.

This amazing collection of photographs are from Jim’s personal collection of negatives many of which have been unseen for 40 years.

The photos include blues artists, rock and roll stars such as Little Richard, Bill Haley and Jerry Lee Lewis through to 60s rock icons such as the Move, The Rolling Stones and Rod Steward back stage and in concert at venues around Birmingham and the Black Country.

Also included in the collection is a photograph of Black Sabbath, one of their earliest press shots taken on a grass verge outside Jim’s house in Birmingham.

The exhibition will be held in two venues with different pictures in each. The exhibition at Wednesbury Museum began on Saturday 16th July to run alongside the Heavy Metal and Hard times exhibition while the exhibition at Haden Hill House Museum in Cradley Heath opens at the end of July and runs until the beginning of September. Haden Hill House is a Victorian gentleman’s residence furnished with period furniture. The Victorian paintings and photographs are being taken down and replaced with photos of rock and pop stars from Jim’s collection. 

For more information on all the above please visit:

For Wednesbury Museum click here
For Haden Hill House Museum click here
For the Heavy Metal and Hard Times exhibition click here
For the Forging Links: The Sound of Metal exhibition click here
For Jim Simpson’s Big Bear Music click here