Gary Rees, the stepson and executor of the estate of SABBATH's longtime keyboardist Geoff Nicholls, uploaded the track to YouTubein early March, writing in an accompanying message that he had found it on a cassette tape that contained other material recorded duringSABBATH's 1979 songwriting sessions for the following year's album "Heaven And Hell". (Note: The song has since been removed from YouTube.)
Iommi's assertion that Dio played bass on "Slapback" seemingly contradicts
Geezer Butler's claim that he is featured on the track. In early March, the BLACK SABBATH bassist told "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk "that" Slapback" was one of the songs he and his bandmates worked on before he exited SABBATHf or a short time in order to deal with some personal issues. "It's probably the reason I did leave," he joked. "It was just one of those songs that didn't make the grade."