The Heavy Bands Before the 'Big Four' (w/Martin Popoff) 

It`s a kind of subjective thing, but for me, Iron Butterfly with "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" is the essence of what heavy metal would become. That iconic, heavy signature riff, the menacing vocals, the screaming guitar and drum solo are all pure metal in an early form. It`s 17 minutes of music I never get tired of. Have to pick up Martin`s book.

5. The Kinks 4. Cream 3. Grand Funk Railroad 2. Jimi Hendrix Experience 1. The Who

I love that The Kinks are getting their due. Always thought they were far underrated for what they contributed.

Population II by Randy Holden is a hidden gem. Getting good psych, spacy, even a cream vibe too. A must listen.

2 Big influencers to what would become heavy metal guitar are Link Wray & Dick Dale. Link for distortion and Dick for tremolo picking. Rumble and Miserlou. Honorable mention to The Astronauts' track Baja. The surf bands should not be forgotten when talking about this topic.

Ritchie blackmore's guitar solo in I am so glad from the first Deep Purple MK 1 album was heavier than anything at that time.

John Kay is way underrated as a singer. His voice was made for rock

Another great topic! Some other early heavy songs are: Revolution and Helter Skelter by the Beatles and 21st Century Schizoid Man by King Crimson!

This was the era in which I had just graduated middle school and was "discovering" music. Someone about 5 years older then myself (who later did a tour in Vietnam, and lived to tell the stories) turned me on to the Easy Rider soundtrack, along with Iron Butterfly and Steppenwolf, among others. My innocence started turning into rebellious fervor. In my eyes, this was one of the best videos you have done. As good as heavy metal had developed, I go back to this time continuously.

I think you can even go back as far as Gustav Holst Mars The Bringer of War of 1918. You can hear so much of the classic later chugging heavy metal rhythm in that song.

Love the channel and all you do but your chats with Martin always my favourite! Could listen to you two talking about music all day and this was a really fun and great topic!

I wish this was a podcast so I had more time to listen to all Pete and Martin's conversations.

Atomic Rooster was one for me. A combination of heavy metal / prog rock IMHO.

Amazing discussion from Pardo and Poppof. Another one. Each week It got better. Just great and mandatory for every heavy music lover.

Court of the Crimson King by King Crimson. Troggs (Wild Thing), Rolling Stones (Satanism), Beatles (Helter Skelter) and Kingsmen (Louie Louie). The Doors (organ, singing, attitude), especially on Break On Through. And joking: Hawkwind? A great protometal bass player and a (sometimes) naked lady dancing on stage ... 🤔

Going earlier in time, Howlin Wolf is heavy and evil for the 50s. For me Johnny Burnette and Link Wray round out the key heavy metal "seeds".

Interesting discussion. I think Hendrix started ‘heavy’ guitar based music and was a huge influence on the bands that followed. Also I think Free’s Tons of Sobs and Jeff Beck Group’s Truth are relevant to this topic.Both did the heavy blues thing before Led Zeppelin and don’t always get the credit they deserve…Andy Fraser was a phenomenal young bass player.

Nice episode. Thx. Martin / PETE 👍💯

Great topic guys!! Being 14 in 1970, you guys named the bands that we thought where the heavy duty bands of the day. Great pics!!

I thought for sure Vanilla Fudge would of got more of a mention. Im sure if they were more guitar prominent rather than organ they would be talked about much much more. They influenced Zeppelin and Deep Purple and Hendrix. Carmine was the first real heavy drummer as well imo and least in a more modern sense. Way ahead of his time. Similar to The Ramones going to the UK and influencing many soon to be punk artists I think its not unfair to say that Vanillla Fudge playing in England directly influenced all those bands to start playing alot heavier.

Blue Cheer pioneered the overdriven feedback guitars. unlike the Kinks, Blue Cheer used that sound consistently

I'm surprised Mr. Pardo didn't include this one: Yardbirds-"Think about it", 1967 Little Games album. A furious, blistering Zep level guitar solo br Jimmy Page.

I definitely think the Jeff Beck Group and Vanilla Fudge should be mentioned.

Just bought Martin’s book for my Kindle! Can’t wait to dig in! ❤

In no specific order: Jimi Hendrix Experience, Cream, The Who, Blue Cheer and Stooges (although they only started when some of the "big four" were already around). btw "Who Invented Heavy Metal" - a great book, a must read, I've learned a lot from it.

A great conversation, I love this theme because you can find influences all over the place. Even in The Beatles in songs like Helter Skelter. A real interresting topic and your knowledge is just amazing. Love your shows.

When I got into this music in the late seventies, here in the UK we called this music 'heavy rock', we never used the term heavy metal..

Good to see The Stooges and Cream mentioned here. Such great bands!

I can't believe that the Yardbirds were not mentioned, but more for a lot of their songs : "Train Kept a Rolling", "Shapes of Things", "Maserati GT", "I'm a Man", etc. The seeds of Cream, the Jeff Beck Group, & Led Zeppelin start w/the Yardbirds.

This was brilliant I loved all the picks from Pete and Martin

Did you mention "Sir Lord Baltimore". Ok, the first album, Kingdom come, didn't arrive until 1970 but the group formed back in 1967. Shoud Absolutly be mentioned as one of the fathers of heavymetal.

Using the word ’heavy’ back in the 60’s hippie era was mainly used to convey the thought that something was philosophically important. Today we may use the word ’deep’ for the same purpose. Of course they may have been going for dual meanings

This is the discussion I wanted to hear…..there WERE other bands back then playing heavy or hard rock music

Great conversation as always.

Another great show guys.MC5 and Grand Funk Railroad great album choices but for a one off choice how about Frijid Pink and House of the Rising Sun ?

Hendrix...Hendrix...Hendrix...And some guy named Jimi. A true pioneer of just about anything electric guitar-related & took the blues to places it had never gone before. Someone in a prior SoT proto-metal series defined metal (and/or proto metal) as something like "when the blues roots are no longer noticeable/dominant" plus a thick/distorted sound (and of course LOUD)... And (all 60's): Steppenwolf, Iron Butterfly, Blue Cheer, The Pretty Things (they really don't get enough attention), Coven (Witchcraft Destroys Minds & Reaps Souls), Cream, Vanilla Fudge, Leslie West's Mountain...Led Zep was pretty heavy for the time, also Live Yardbirds: Featuring Jimmy Page/Yardbirds '68. To me The Kinks aren't in this category other than a very few/select tracks, not enough to qualify (for me) - as Martin said. The Who is a "I'm on the fence" pick, yes some heavy stuff esp live but also lotsa non-proto metal or particularly heavy. Also much of their blues roots are still showing. I guess you could say the same about Cream but just such heavy blues that I think they do qualify (also the extensive improv elements as Pete mentioned). To me Grand Funk wasn't all that heavy (the only albums by them from the 60's that 'qualify' here are the first two - good albums but too much soul/funk mixed in for a 'proto-metal' album)...I like Martin's "crouching around the chords like an oil drum with a fire in it" visual!

This was fun

What is metal? Heavy metal? Rock? Heavy rock? Not a fan of strict definitions. Strict definitions create the labels that we put on our boxes that separate our music (and music fans). However, a couple more items for consideration: Leslie West / Mountain - 1969 - Mountain Yardbirds....maybe Regarding Blue Cheer - Vincebus Eruptum, Pete said, "...is it that remarkable of an album, I don't think so" (and an angel cried) Interesting show chaps. Keep up the good work.

No Pink Floyd: Piper At The Gates Of Dawn (1967) ?

A band that almost never gets mentioned is ‘High Tide’. Their 1969 album ‘Sea Shanties’ is possibly the heaviest albums of the 60s.

Part of the riff in N.I B. is from Cream´s Sunshine of your love.

One album I don't see mentioned in this discussion (though it's post 60s) is Flower Travellin’ Band's Satori from 71. It's true it came after the "big 4" debuts, but it's got a heaviness that is unique... and the opening track is pure proto-doom. Maybe its the band name or the fact that they're from Japan?

Great discussion. Thanks

One thing that kinda goes along with this.. I don't think you mentioned. Is the blossoming of the garage bands.. Beatles put the desired fame in it, but the Stones, Grandfunk, Steppinwolf, Humble Pie.. it was about simplicity in the chords - tri and two tone's made it so the beginner could produce.. well enough that it groomed tons of musicians for the future. Fed the guitar hero ideal.. rolling into the Satriani, Van Halen performers. Really loved this episode guys- well done. And I agree nearly 100%... I was there too- thanks.

I think that much music of the late 60s and early 70s had smatterings of the blues and psychedelia and this bled into a number of emerging genres like jazz-rock fusion, progressive rock and heavy metal. The blues and psych leanings don’t detract from the heavy metal~ness of particular songs. And even Sabbath’s debut, I can hear all kinds of different influences in there, including psych, jazz, pop and blues. But that was one of the great things about music in this period ~ there were lots of different elements coming out in the songs of most artists ~ Sabbath included. I think it’s worth remembering that the dates songs and albums were recorded is as important as the dates of release, because that demonstrates that outside influences weren’t necessarily as important as one might think. Particularly when one considers what was going on on opposite sides of the Atlantic. It’s also worth considering that all of these bands weren’t looking to create some new genre. They were following their natural inclinations. Turn up the amps louder ! It doesn’t matter that many of the heavy metal pioneers weren’t heavy metal bands. The sound was there. It was also quite new to peg oneself to a specific genre or sub-genre in rock, at the time.

This was good, though I feel there were a couple key omissions. A definition of what constitutes 'heavy' would have provided a baseline for reference. Without that the choices and suggestions in the comments veer a bit wider than one might feel they should go. The Kinks 'You Really Got Me', 'All of the Day & All of the Night', as well as 'Till the End of the Day' and 'I Need You', all of which followed the same barre chord 'power' formula were definitely heavy for the day and still stand up, particularly in Mono format. They were raucous and loud, but also rock solid thanks in part to session drummer Bobby Graham, who also did the drumming on those stomping early Dave Clark Five hits and was on Page's wish list for Led Zeppelin. Yes, the guitar riff was critical, but it was the low end that 'heavy-ed' it up. The Beatles on 'Paperback Writer' were getting heavy. They were also introducing melodic riffing in a more meaningful way, and soon pop was increasingly about riffs, not rhythms. The Who, thanks mainly to John Entwistle's bass were heavy on some early tracks. But Moon was all over the place, so there was no consistent concentration on the heavy aspect. And Townshend was all about rhythm, not riffing. They were loud more than heavy. And regarding the Marshalls - Jim Marshall developed louder amps at the request of Townshend and Entwistle. They also requested more speakers, so a single cabinet with 8 x 12s was constructed. That proved too cumbersome for the Who's road crew (probably one guy at the time), so the lads had Marshall cut that cab into two and thus created the stack. (The slant top was apparently added to bounce the sound off the venue ceiling and reach further out into the audience, though the Tremeloes, who did a lot of harmony work in an era of no monitors, said they came up with the idea because on small stages and with single cabs they couldn't hear their guitars, so some upward projection to shift the sound waves from the back of their knees to their ears was needed) But IMO the first real 'heavy' record was 'Beck's Bolero', recorded May '66. You will know who that involved, but for those who don't it was a one-off session arranged by the Yardbirds manager at time, Simon Napier-Bell, to appease Jeff Beck, who was feeling limited within the Yardbirds. Keith Moon on drums, Nicky Hopkins on piano, John Paul Jones on bass (a last-minute fill-in for John Entwistle) and Page on 12-string and producing. When Beck comes in with the riff bit in the middle of that tune, that and the pounding bolero groove played out 'til the end made this surely the heaviest thing ever recorded in the pop world. It wasn't just loud; it was powerful. And and because everything was so focused on the same point, it was heavy. Unfortunately it wasn't released until a year later, and then only as the B-side of Beck's solo single debut, 'Hi Ho Silver Lining', which though a hit wasn't something Beck fans purchased. It would show up again another year later on 'Truth', where album producer Mickie Most omitted the various player credits and assumed the production credit for himself. (Moon and Jones also appear on and are credited for other tracks on the album.) Also, the opening track on 'Truth', the half-time remake of the Yardbirds, with Micky Waller drumming and Ronnie Wood on bass, is definitely a heavy contender. Cream were heavy, though it was the thundering interplay between Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker that made them that, with Clapton providing the complementary upper end. The diversity of their material meant they were never deemed 'heavy', a term that was only starting to emerge around the time of their existence. (In 1972, a compilation LP named 'Heavy Cream' was released.) As you indicate, the Hendrix Experience had their heavy moments, though unlike Ginger Baker, who hammered his toms and played open rolls, Mitch Mitchell was more about snappy snare fills and crash-y cymbals (the latter being a point of complaint for his previous boss Georgie Fame and also for Hendrix, who sought a more solid r&b backing). Your mention of Hendrix possibly being inspired to go the trio route because of Cream is accurate. Originally the Hendrix band was going to a soul revue configuration with horns. Then Chas Chandler whittled that down to a quartet with organ. After seeing Cream, it was decided to do the trio. Though Mitch Mitchell won the gig via a coin flip by Chandler (he flipped twice as the first coin fell on the floor of the cab), one could argue that for the trio seeing he was more suitable than Aynsley Dunbar who was a more straight-up player. This was confirmed when Hendrix and Chandler, wanting to ditch Mitch, gave Dunbar a second audition...but they decided to stick with Mitch. There was another drummer that Hendrix preferred - an unknown chap - but he didn't want to travel. So Mitch kept the gig...until Buddy Miles entered the picture. At that point Hendrix was heavier because of the fatback rhythm section of Miles and Bill Cox. Then he went back to Mitchell. A key name in the 'heavy' discussion is surely Vanilla Fudge. When they played gigs in London in '67, they were the talk of the town...like when Hendrix first arrived. Ritchie Blackmore was determined that his new band, Deep Purple, would be the 'European Vanilla Fudge'. The Fudge's heaviness came from the drum big sound and r&b grooves of Carmine Appice coupled with the phenomenal bass playing of Tim Bogert. Add to that the sound of Mark Stein's Hammond and great vocals plus Vinnie Martell's fuzz-driven guitar - all topped of by four-part harmony vocals and that was one helluva heavy band. But like Cream, heaviness wasn't their calling card. Blue Cheer, as you indicate, had their moments. But surely they were more loud than heavy. And therein lies the difference, and the Who are a great example. Were they really heavy on 'Live at Leeds'? Or did they really get heavy on 'Who's Next', when producer Glyn Johns forced Keith Moon to cut the flailing about and focus on grooving? If anyone knew how to heavy things up, it was Johns. He engineered those early Who sessions for producer Shel Talmy. And he gave heft to the records from the Small Faces. He put the meat into the sound of the late 60s Stones. And he defined the recorded sound of Led Zeppelin w/their debut album. (Listen also to Gary Wright's debut solo album, 'Extraction'. He and brother Andy - who also understood heavy - did a fantastic job with that. Try the track 'I Know a Place', with pre-Yes Alan White on drums.) There was no mention of the Move. Listen to 'Brontosaurus (covered by Cheap Trick and also Todd Rundgren's Utopia) and 'Don't Make My Baby Blue'. As for 'Heavy Metal', I have alway felt there is a psychological component that stems from the surroundings of the bands making the music. American bands tended to vent anger, but the likes of Sabbath, who hail from the industrial English midlands, where Victorian red brick, dark skies and rain, smokey pubs, and the desolation of post-war destruction lingered well into the 1970s, powered their music with despair. Anger versus despair. Ditto the British punk scene. When it comes to reasons to rebel against the establishment, the Brits always have the upper hand. On the matter of feedback, and your attribution of that to Hendrix. No. Jeff Beck was ahead of all the rest even prior to joining the Yardbirds, using it along with a delay to create loops of feedback onstage. Clapton was using it with the Bluesbreakers, as did Peter Green, albeit comparatively subdued. Mick Taylor also used it in the Bluesbreakers, though more extensively than his predecessors. I leave a link below of Taylor feeding back with Jon Hiseman drumming, Tony Reeves on bass, and Mayall on rhythm and vocals. Hiseman and Reeves would later form Colosseum, which as you will know, was one of the earliest jazz-rock bands. (Hiseman had taken over Ginger's seat in the Graham Bond Organisation when he left to form Cream, and then Mitch's place in Georgie Fame's Blue Flames when he went to Hendrix). Humble Pie's Clem Clempson came from Colosseum, which he, bassist Mark Clarke and vocalist Chris Farlowe have resurrected after the death of Hiseman and the departure of organist Dave Greenslade due to health issues. If anyone has made it this far, hopefully there was something of interest. I now need to go out and paint the house while the sun is warm. Cheers! ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-H344QYJM18c.html

The Who on "Live at Leeds" were a proto-metal band. They generated a lot of aggression, rage and power on that live recording.

In 1971 Ash Ra Tempel released their debut album /I think it was their debut album/ ,the first track which is nearly 20 minutes long has a huge proto-heavy metal vibe-a very interesting track. And the iconic "'In -A-Gadda-Da-Vida'",obviously-a legendary early heavy metal song.

Thanks for this great video both. Have a lot of the albums you talked about but have to say above and beyond the well known tracks, and having known about them for decades, I haven’t listened to much Steppenwolf, Iron Butterfly or Grand Funk Railroad. Soon about to rectify that by checking out the albums you mentioned!

First Heavy Metal / Hard Rock Song To Me Is Music Machine's - Talk Talk. Heavy Fuzz Guitar - Gritty Gravely Hard Rock vocals combined for the first time in 1966 reached #15 on Billboard Top 100

Iron Butterfly,Cream Jimmy Hendrix,Vanilla Fudge,West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band(A child's guide fir goid and evil),Pink Floyd(?)(Piper at the gates of dawn-Interstellar Overdrive),Andromeda,Stooges(Down on the street,Penetrate)Greetings from Greece

Great show as always - Every music lover should be subscribed to this channel….I learn something everyday from Pete and his team :)

Enjoyed this today it's October and this year been watching a lot of b horror movies but saw this and had to watch. I love your discussions on this kind of stuff.

Steppenwolf, Cream, Vanilla Fudge, The Who, The Rolling Stones. Even some of The Beatles between 67 to 70 has some songs are heavy. I am gonna to order Martin's book found it on Amazon

1. Cream 2. Hendrix 3. Iron Butterfly 4. Blue Cheer

I totally agree. Cream used to play a cover of the bluesman Memphis Slim's song " Steppin'Out" in 1966. The version included in "Live Cream II" and recorded in early 1968 is one of the first heavy metal tracks I have notion of.

SLADE ''Alive!" probably one of the heaviest live albums recorded in the early seventies

The Johnny Burnette Trio - "The Train Kept a-Rollin'" - 1st metal song.

Listen to Free’s “moonshine” off of tons of sobs and you can really here some influence on sabbath. It came out 2 years before sabbaths debut.

I definitely can hear the roots of what would become heavy metal in In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida, but just like with Purple, I think the Hammond organ has the effect of de-metallicizing the sound. It seems to put it in another place sonically.

I remember the Woodstock album,Then Years After-the sound of the lead guitar played by Alvin Lee /do I remember his name right?/ .Damn,it sounded so,so,so heavy!

Martin and Pete thanks for the subject I asked the question to Pete many months ago who was the first heavy metal band as a subject for a topic .All these bands you hit I totally agree with I grew up I was 12,13 and 14 during this period and I listen to them as they were released. I know Pete you’re a KISS fan and Grand Funk Railroad and "Blue Chair" were my kiss back then so I understand the childish rock vibe. I think the crazy world of Arthur Brown the song "God Of Hell Fire" was the first heavy-metal screamer. thanks so much for this wonderful show.

Running to the Amazon store to get Martin's book. Yep, it's on Kindle!

“Don’t Worry” by Marty Robbins in 1961 was a landmark distortion recording.

Great discussion topic Pete and Martin. For heavy bands before the big 4 I would include Budgie, Sir Lord Baltimore, the Who, Steppenwolf, Sweet and the Yard Birds.

Excellent insight great topic 👍🏼👍🏼

Pete's SGs had P-90s.

As scandinavan I feel that I should mention the swedish band "Hansson & Karlsson",. Consisting only of hammond organ and drums.! Maybbe not that heavy, more phychadelic and a little jazzy, but irt was the middle of rhe 60's. They use to jam with Jimi Hendrix when he was in Sweden (he has a son living in Sweden). Hendrix actually recorded one of their songs, called "Taxfree".

HI!!...Rodrigo here from Brazil...I've discorvered the channel these days...Congrats!!...It's a great one for rock fans!!...I 'd like to know What's the name of the book that leads Popoff on this video??...Thanks a million!

One band I didn't see mentioned wss Jefferson Airplane. Basically, if you have Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Casady in a band it's going to powerhose band at leaning heavy a bit. Pete mentioned live albums: Bless Its Pointed Little Head by Jefferson Airplane is a rockin' live album.

Good work Pete - just thought I’d say - as always!

I love that book! Read it twice! Much fodder for scholarly debate. Love these discussions of the early road to Heavy.

The Stars That Play With Laughing Sam’s Dice, the B side of Burning 🔥 of The Midnight Lamp 🪔 is a great song 🎵 and is heavy as hell

One band I was sure was going to be brought up was the Yardbirds, who had several (at least a mixtape worth) pretty noisy moments.

There was a big 3, good as they are Uriah Heep are nowhere near that. Jimmy Page played on the Kinks b-side, bald-headed woman.

You may not have to put on your "winter tires" in New York, but you do have to get that annual inspection! That is one of them things I don't miss about New York.....

Nice topic 😺

the big 4 before? Blue Cheer, Iron Butterfly, Steppenwolf, Jimi Hendrix Experience

Who Invented Heavy Metal? is one of my favorites of Martin's books, as it's one of my favorite topics. BTW Martin, Pete was trying to say that he wants that book, better send him a copy! A sequel to that book would be who are the earliest bands to truly self-identify as heavy metal? It's well documented that all the big four vehemently deny having anything to do with heavy metal (even Dio didn't like to use the term even though he was a key early innovator with Rainbow and Sabbath). An important aspect that hasn't been covered is when exactly did the "denim brigade" start regularly sewing patches on their battle vests and self-identified as headbangers and metalheads. It seems to be sometime between 1975, when DJ Neal Kay starting hosting The Soundhouse, and 1978 when Geoff Barton started covering the scene in Sounds. Judas Priest embraced the term by at least 1978, but it's unclear if they did even when the definitive Sad Wings of Destiny came out in 1976. Iron Maiden formed in 1975 but took until 1979 to really flesh out their sound. Same with Son of a Bitch, formed in 1976, who became Saxon in 1978 and recorded a three song demo tape that same year, and their eponymous debut album on May 21, 1979. There's also Newcastle upon Tyne’s Raven (1974), Nottingham’s Witchfynde (1974), London’s Praying Mantis (1974), Birmingham’s Quartz (originally Bandylegs, 1974), Girlschool (1975), Samson (1977) and Angel Witch (1977), who also had a 1978 demo, Hartlepool’s White Spirit (1975), Stourbridge’s Diamond Head (1976), Whitley Bay’s Tygers Of Pan Tang (1978), who self-produced their first single and released it on punk label Neat Records on August 24, 1979.

This is one of my favourite topics and it always seems to stir up a hornets nest, which I find curious, because the history and the facts are there for all to see, if one is interested in digging. Firstly, let me just say that Martin’s book “Who invented Heavy metal ?” is far and away the best book on the subject that I’ve come across and I’ve been reading books on the subject or related since 1979. It’s a brilliant and thoroughly researched book and what makes it stand head and shoulders above anything of its ilk is that Martin spoke with pretty much everyone in the book that gives an opinion of some sort. And it is packed to the gills with quotes and opinions. While I think however, that its very exhaustive thoroughness is its greatest strength, it is also its greatest weakness for the case that Martin puts forward, which is that Black Sabbath invented the genre with their 1970 debut. They didn’t. The discussion in this video kind of shows that. I’ve been saying for a very long time that heavy metal isn’t an invented genre, rather, it was an evolution that took place bit by bit over a long period of time and involved a number of bands/artists. Artists were building on something that was already in the air and all of these pieces were in place before that Sabbath debut. The reality is, that this is not, nor was ever, a competition. It was something that developed naturally and organically and gained ground with each release. If the argument was “Who recorded the first Heavy Metal album ?” then Martin’s choice would have way more going for it. It would be fair to argue that Black Sabbath’s debut was possibly the first to deliberately take the view of “every song is going to be in this heavy rock vein and this is the path that we will be ploughing from now on”….. I wouldn’t argue that, but there really aren’t many prior examples. But whether or not one chooses to see 1970 as HM ground 0, the simple fact remains that heavy metal rock existed for some years before that. Readings of magazines and books from the 70s show that ‘hard rock’, ‘heavy rock’, heavy metal rock’ and ‘heavy metal’ were all interchangeable terms, referring to pretty much the same thing. These had less to do with image and doominess than with the sonic properties of this music. Heavy metal rock was first and foremost to do with volume and sonics. If one was to do the “blind person test” and play certain songs {either studio versions or live versions} of Jimi Hendrix, the Yardbirds, Cream, Iron Butterfly, High Tide, Lovesculpture, the Stooges, the Jeff Beck group, Blue Cheer, King Crimson, High Tide, the James Gang, Grand Funk Railroad, Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin and others, then one would find either wholly or in part, heavy metal rock. You’d even find it in the Beatles’ “Helter Skelter.” Many blind people listening to a selection of songs from this lot would agree that they fall broadly within the same genre or are all going in the same direction. And Black Sabbath’s debut wouldn’t be a million miles removed or somehow so new as to cast all those other examples into an alien, foreign wilderness. The point being, you can’t invent something that already exists. However, if one sees heavy rock as an evolution, then Black Sabbath’s debut makes abundant sense, particularly given Geezer Butler’s statement that Sabbath’s aim was to “out-heavy Led Zeppelin.” It’s also worth pointing out that although Deep Purple had had some heavy moments on their first 3 albums, they really changed heavy gear with the advent of Led Zeppelin. And Zeppelin were the heavy band that really shook the cobwebs off and inspired lots of others to go heavy, initially. Sabbath’s influence was far more long ranging and took a much longer time. It wasn’t really until the 80s that those inspired by Sabbath started rising. It seems to me that Martin is conflating 2 separate subjects, namely the invention of the genre and who recorded the genre’s first album. Heavy metal rock was evolving through sections of songs {for example, King Crimson’s “21st Century Schizoid man”} or whole songs {for example, Hendrix’s “Purple haze” or Lovesculptures “Nobody’s talking”} and bands were contributing to that evolution {for example, check out Cream’s “Live vol 1 and 2”, recorded in 1968} with some blistering heavy live performances. Evolutions are hard to trace. But by no means impossible.

In terms of 'evilness' as Martin says, as well as heaviness, fury, aural chaos, etc., the Velvet Underground's White Light/White Heat (1968) springs to mind for me.

It’s interesting to hear your comments on Vincebus Etuptum because a few weeks back I was saying that that album is loud, heavy start to finish, has some great heavy riffs, but is pretty sloppy. The clashing guitar solos that sound off key sometimes are almost too chaotic to be metal. Someone replied saying that the chaotic and sloppiness is what gives it a metal sound, commenting that early Zeppelin and Sabbath albums also had some loose bolts. So we disagreed, but I agree with you guys that the second album is much more a “written” album rather than a noisy live performance in studio.

Excellent episode. I ordered Martin’s Who Invented… book too!

Grand Funk Railroad, Cream, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, and The Who

Link Wray "Rumble" Heavy for the 50's

As a freshman in college in 1967, I had a friend who played a Cream album and I instantly realized that this was my music. I still prefer the early proto-metal bands to most metal bands after. Grand Funk, Uriah Heep, Black Sabbath, Cream, Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, Steppenwolf, and Jimi Hendrix are still the bands I listen to most. What about Mountain?

In Sweden we also do the change of tyres to before the winter...

Amboy Dukes - Prodigal Man was arguably the Hardest Rock Heavy Metal song up until Black Sabbath - Children of the Grave. It really sounds the closest to what Heavy Metal would sound like in the 1980s. For 1969 it was way ahead of it's time, but the rest of the Migration album was all over the place with everything from goofy 1950s style Rockabilly type of songs to acoustic ballads. Jefferson Airplane - House At Poohneil Corners, and the Doors - Not to Touch the Earth definitely captured the pre Black Sabbath Doom Metal style back in 1968. In 1969 Coven did a song called Black Sabbath, while certainly not as Heavy as the Black Sabbath debut song that shares the same title, it was arguably even scarier and creepier sounding. Black Sabbath by Coven, along with Bloodrock - DOA , Alice Cooper - Black Ju Ju , and I Love the Dead remain some of the best Halloween songs

I am a music lover and well past fifty and I find there is still alot of hard rock that I somehow missed. Digging around on RU-vid and the vinyl community made me realize that fm radio was limiting. Fm radio played mostly top 40 and were into the payola thing and wouldn't play Captain Beefheart, Frank Zappa and such because it was deemed to be a financial risk if people complained.

The Sonics, Little Richard.

Thanks again for wearing the Ilium shirt Pete :)

I lived through all of these bands. Next show on heavy metal should definitely include the first Montrose lp. (Great album!) I also want to mention if your listeners haven't heard the Leigh Stevens Red Weather album (terrific cover) it's definitely worth their time.

Cream's live version of NSU. Whoaha!!! - March 1968 - definitely paving the way. I mean-What is heavier (live music or not) before this???

Dave Clark 5 have a few jams back in the day

Great subject 🎸 I would add The Yardbirds & the Small Faces 🎸

I mentioned this on another post, but rock stations played the entire 17 minutes or whatever of In a Gadda Da Vida and there was even an edited version without the drum solo they played and I never realized the reverse side was like 4 minutes long. In any case, along with Blue Cheer, Summertime Blues, and Steppenwolf's Born to Be Wild, this was "heavy metal".

In My humble opinión the song into the Fire by Deep purple is pure Bliss the Birth of heavy metal.

There was a Big Four before The Big Four existed. They are The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who and The Kinks.

1) Cream 2) Jimi Hendrix Experience 3) The Who 4) Budgie 5) Grand Funk Railroad

Jeff Beck Group's Beck-ola and Free's Tons of Sobs (this one from 1968!)