Music Banter - View Single Post - MB goes Into the Void: It's HEAVY METAL week!

Gavin B. · 06-29-2010, 06:17 PM

I recently listened to feed of a radio show in which pop music provocatuer John Lydon (Sex Pistols, Public Image Ltd.) was a guest deejay. Surpisingly Mr. Lydon's first selection was Paranoid by Black Sabbath which he described as "brilliant" but Lydon went on to say that Paranoid was the only great song Ozzie ever wrote.

I always thought the whole heavy metal thing began with early psychedelic bands like Iron Butterfly, Vanilla Fudge & Deep Purple. The first song I ever heard with a heavy metal sound was In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida (1968). The song may not technically be a heavy metal song but it laid the groundwork for the future. The version below is 4 minute radio cut of the original epic 17 minute version. Blue Cheer were the Ramones of the early psychedelic era.

It should be noted that "Iron Butterfly" is one of the more inspired band names to come out of that era. I purchased Iron Butterfly's first album Heavy simply on the basis of the band's cool name and the psychedelic artwork on the cover. I still have my original vinyl edition of Heavy in my record collection.

The first group to describe their own music as "heavy metal" was the San Francisco based power trio Blue Cheer. I saw a 1968 interview with Blue Cheer vocalist and bassist D1ckie Peterson in which he described Blue Cheer's music as "heavy metal", which is the earliest usage of the "heavy metal" term that I've heard. Blue Cheer was the loudest band and most visceral sounding of those early psychedelic bands and they took their cues from Hendrix, Cream and Who and turned the volume up several notches. Blue Cheer transformed Eddie Cochrane's rockabilly classic Summertime Blues into a blitzkreig assault of musical power. Notice in the video that Blue Cheer even had the fashion look and stage presence of the many of heavy metal bands that followed in the Seventies.

06-29-2010, 06:17 PM	#9 (permalink)
Gavin B. Model Worker Join Date: Jan 2009 Posts: 1,248	I recently listened to feed of a radio show in which pop music provocatuer John Lydon (Sex Pistols, Public Image Ltd.) was a guest deejay. Surpisingly Mr. Lydon's first selection was Paranoid by Black Sabbath which he described as "brilliant" but Lydon went on to say that Paranoid was the only great song Ozzie ever wrote. I always thought the whole heavy metal thing began with early psychedelic bands like Iron Butterfly, Vanilla Fudge & Deep Purple. The first song I ever heard with a heavy metal sound was In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida (1968). The song may not technically be a heavy metal song but it laid the groundwork for the future. The version below is 4 minute radio cut of the original epic 17 minute version. Blue Cheer were the Ramones of the early psychedelic era. It should be noted that "Iron Butterfly" is one of the more inspired band names to come out of that era. I purchased Iron Butterfly's first album Heavy simply on the basis of the band's cool name and the psychedelic artwork on the cover. I still have my original vinyl edition of Heavy in my record collection. The first group to describe their own music as "heavy metal" was the San Francisco based power trio Blue Cheer. I saw a 1968 interview with Blue Cheer vocalist and bassist D1ckie Peterson in which he described Blue Cheer's music as "heavy metal", which is the earliest usage of the "heavy metal" term that I've heard. Blue Cheer was the loudest band and most visceral sounding of those early psychedelic bands and they took their cues from Hendrix, Cream and Who and turned the volume up several notches. Blue Cheer transformed Eddie Cochrane's rockabilly classic Summertime Blues into a blitzkreig assault of musical power. Notice in the video that Blue Cheer even had the fashion look and stage presence of the many of heavy metal bands that followed in the Seventies.