Heavy Metal: Origins
The conversation about Heavy Metal begins with Black Sabbath. While there were tentative starts to the form, with heavy songs and bands with the requisite attitude before Sabbath, with them everything crystallized into a cohesive whole. The look, the sound, the subject matter covered, and just the presence of Ozzy Osbourne, Geezer Butler, Tony, Iommi, and Bill Ward set them apart and created something- something great.
Black Sabbath didn't spring into being overnight. The sixties were a decade of many musical flavors. Folk music went electric. Pop rock, classic rock, psychedelic rock, acid rock, etc. etc. defined this decade. I think a lot of music arises as a response to the sound of the day; other stuff as an extension of what exists, to see how far the sound can be logically taken. Take, as an example of the former, the popularity of disco in the mid-to-late seventies. The pendulum quickly swung back to punk and metal and other elements even further removed. In the latter case, look at the evolution of HM to death and black metal and speed metal.
Where were we. Oh yeah, the sixties as a time for shaping HM's roots. Plug the words first HM song into a search engine and get any number of answers. Eddie Cochran's Summertime Blues was covered by both Blue Cheer (named for a type of LSD) and The Who to great effect. Around the same time, Steppenwolf (named after a novel) released Born to Be Wild, which incidentally first featured the term heavy metal, albeit in reference to the sound of a motorcycle. Go back more years and have a listen to The Kinks, circa 1964. the song was called You Really Got Me (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dk3Ei_yoI4c), and is my selection as the earliest popular HM song. I hesitate to say first of all because I'm sure some obscure single exists by a band that never made it to radio which would make me a liar. You know how these things go. Heck, my selection is arguable enough, but isn't that the point?
So here we are, with some songs that offer a certain sound. What about the look? Well, long hair was already there. Rock 'n Roll had gone that direction for some time. Still, something was lacking. Ahh yeah, the black leather jackets and chains. Well, that was perhaps still a little off. Sabbath, after all, was first called Polka Tulk and then Earth before settling on the name of an artistic horror flick showing at the time. The Polka Tulk Blues band doesn't engender dark imagery, but once you're called Black Sabbath, then there are certain expectations. At any rate, it was probably Judas Priest who became the archetype for the metal look.
Musically, the topics addressed weren't what we might guess. Sabbath was ultimately had an occult identification, but also spoke heavily on war, especially genocidal nuclear conflict, drug use, and some fantasy and science fiction thrown in for good measure. Image trumps content quite often. Mention Hand of Doom by Black Sabbath and see what comes to mind for the listener.
So, here we are with dark music, dark songs and a heavy, heavy sound (guitarist Iommi had an industrial accident, necessitating detuning his guitar to make it easier on his fingers). Black Sabbath sold well, and they were then helped by the music critics, who usually panned them. Nothing sells better than a bad review from some critic. None of this took place in a vacuum. Other acts were arriving at a similar place. This is a frequently seen phenomenon in all endeavors- there's a chord running through the species that recognizes a need and strives to fill it. The music public was ready for heavy metal.
I like to break it down into three main paths. Black Sabbath, taking the occult route, Uriah Heep, leading the fantasy charge, and Alice Cooper (at the time, a band name as well as the name of the singer), bringing HM to the USA and representing the horror element. There were many bands that deserve mention here, and I will in recognize them in the future, but when I introduce younger generations to HM, I start with these three. They all still exist, and are seminally important to the genre as we know it today.
Alice Cooper and a friend
Black Sabbath didn't spring into being overnight. The sixties were a decade of many musical flavors. Folk music went electric. Pop rock, classic rock, psychedelic rock, acid rock, etc. etc. defined this decade. I think a lot of music arises as a response to the sound of the day; other stuff as an extension of what exists, to see how far the sound can be logically taken. Take, as an example of the former, the popularity of disco in the mid-to-late seventies. The pendulum quickly swung back to punk and metal and other elements even further removed. In the latter case, look at the evolution of HM to death and black metal and speed metal.
Where were we. Oh yeah, the sixties as a time for shaping HM's roots. Plug the words first HM song into a search engine and get any number of answers. Eddie Cochran's Summertime Blues was covered by both Blue Cheer (named for a type of LSD) and The Who to great effect. Around the same time, Steppenwolf (named after a novel) released Born to Be Wild, which incidentally first featured the term heavy metal, albeit in reference to the sound of a motorcycle. Go back more years and have a listen to The Kinks, circa 1964. the song was called You Really Got Me (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dk3Ei_yoI4c), and is my selection as the earliest popular HM song. I hesitate to say first of all because I'm sure some obscure single exists by a band that never made it to radio which would make me a liar. You know how these things go. Heck, my selection is arguable enough, but isn't that the point?
So here we are, with some songs that offer a certain sound. What about the look? Well, long hair was already there. Rock 'n Roll had gone that direction for some time. Still, something was lacking. Ahh yeah, the black leather jackets and chains. Well, that was perhaps still a little off. Sabbath, after all, was first called Polka Tulk and then Earth before settling on the name of an artistic horror flick showing at the time. The Polka Tulk Blues band doesn't engender dark imagery, but once you're called Black Sabbath, then there are certain expectations. At any rate, it was probably Judas Priest who became the archetype for the metal look.
Musically, the topics addressed weren't what we might guess. Sabbath was ultimately had an occult identification, but also spoke heavily on war, especially genocidal nuclear conflict, drug use, and some fantasy and science fiction thrown in for good measure. Image trumps content quite often. Mention Hand of Doom by Black Sabbath and see what comes to mind for the listener.
So, here we are with dark music, dark songs and a heavy, heavy sound (guitarist Iommi had an industrial accident, necessitating detuning his guitar to make it easier on his fingers). Black Sabbath sold well, and they were then helped by the music critics, who usually panned them. Nothing sells better than a bad review from some critic. None of this took place in a vacuum. Other acts were arriving at a similar place. This is a frequently seen phenomenon in all endeavors- there's a chord running through the species that recognizes a need and strives to fill it. The music public was ready for heavy metal.
I like to break it down into three main paths. Black Sabbath, taking the occult route, Uriah Heep, leading the fantasy charge, and Alice Cooper (at the time, a band name as well as the name of the singer), bringing HM to the USA and representing the horror element. There were many bands that deserve mention here, and I will in recognize them in the future, but when I introduce younger generations to HM, I start with these three. They all still exist, and are seminally important to the genre as we know it today.
posted by jozzcooper at 10:51 AM
0 comments
