Before Black Sabbath: How Psychedelic Rock Became Metal
1,506,958
Published 2020-02-13
Rock’n’Roll used to be the gnarliest heaviest genre in town. A genre that embodied rebellion, fast cars and the loudest guitars that late 1950s music had to offer. But as the 60s wore on, coffee and minor rebellion seemed positively childish, popular music needed something harder, and more in-sync with the sex and drugs part of sex, drugs and rock’n’roll. Enter Psychedelic rock, similar to good ol’ Rock’N’Roll but with mind-expanding themes and an intense interest in a girl called Lucy, who was in the Sky with Diamonds. If you know what I mean. But the Summer of Love came and went, the Vietnam war didn’t end despite Hippie opposition and the tragic events of Altamount and the Manson murders made it so that the positivity of the movement seemed blind. A darker sound was needed, and appeared in the form of Metal. The bastard child of rock’n’roll and Psychedelic Rock, Metal was harder, heavier and louder than anything before and became one of the most important genres of all time. But how did we get there? Going via Eddie Cochran, "Misirlou" by Dick Dale "You're Gonna Miss Me" by The 13th Floor Elevators, through "Purple Haze" by Jimi Hendrix, "Sunshine of Your Love" by Cream, "Summertime Blues" by Blue Cheer, "Born to be Wild" by Steppenwolf, "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" by Iron Butterfly, "Helter Skelter" by the Beatles and "21st Century Schizoid Man" by King Crimson? Not to mention "Wicked Woman" by Coven, "Dazed and Confused" by Led Zeppelin And how did we get from Chuck Berry's “Johnny B. Goode” to “Black Sabbath” by Black Sabbath in twelve years? This is How Psychedelic Rock Became Metal.
#HeavyMetal #MusicDocumentary #Metal2020
Soundtrack:
Luar - Oblivion (soundcloud.com/luarbeats)
Luar - Into (soundcloud.com/luarbeats)
Luar - Citrine (soundcloud.com/luarbeats)
Luar - Sidelined (soundcloud.com/luarbeats)
Luar - Anchor (soundcloud.com/luarbeats)
Chapters
00:00 Introduction
01:16 Sponsorship
02:55 How Rock'n'Roll Became Psychedelic Rock
06:58 The 13th Floor Elevators
08:42 The British Invasion Bands
11:21 The Jimi Hendrix Experience
13:49 Cream
15:55 American Psychedelic Rock
20:43 British Psychedelic Rock
23:43 The Yardbirds/Led Zeppelin
26:41 1969
29:10 Black Sabbath
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All Comments (21)
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So who do think is keeping metal alive in 2020? Comment down below: Supporters on Patreon can listen to the Birth of Metal Spotify playlist here: www.patreon.com/posts/34028349
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I've always thought that Black Sabbath's having their first song named Black Sabbath in their first album also named Black Sabbath was one of the most badass things in all of music.
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Just realized you posted this on the 50th anniversary of black sabbath's self titled.
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Everyone mentions "Helter Skelter", and rightfully so, but what often goes unmentioned is "I Want You (She's So Heavy)". I'm sure that was a huge influence on many metal musicians.
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The best part of this whole thing is the concept of interpretation. The British bands were trying to recreate American blues. Jimi Hendrix brought them his perception of jazz. Everything inspires and informs everything else. It's sort of a beautiful mess. Watching this video is such pleasure.
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"From Johnny B. Goode to Black Sabbath in 12 years." -- Truly an amazing fact. I never stopped to think about the fact that all of that musical change happened in such a short time.. From the sound of it, you would think there had been 30 years or more between the rock of the late 50s and rock of the early 70s; crazy!
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Being a metalhead most of my life, I always loved Hendrix.
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Its crazy how little you hear about the yardbirds given how blessed with guitarist talent they were.
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An important distinction to make with Black Sabbath is that, as dark as their melodies are, the lyrics do not invoke or embrace the darkness but, rather, are adversarial to it. War pigs are not idolized, they are decried. Mr. Crowley is not admired, but questioned. All in all, the lyrics convey rather uniformly wholesome messages. This is why it was quite silly for parents to denounce their music as "satanic" and why, I believe, Ozzy cries out "You gotta listen to my words!" in "Crazy Train." usually this tensive opposition is the other way around; peppy songs with twisted lyrics, like "Hey Ya" by Outkast or "Every Move You Make" by The Police" or "2000 Miles" by The Pretenders. Then you've got Black Sabbath who sang hopeful, uplifting lyrics to profoundly dread-filling melodies.
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These are the kind of chapters we need in school History books
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If there's one thing I know about music, it's that you can't talk about the origins of Metal without mentioning Hendrix.
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There’s definitely a line in music- before Hendrix and after. He not only had a Avantgarde style of playing but he also pioneered the use of guitar pedals, fuzz and wah existed before Hendrix landed in London, but what he did was add them together, with Octavia ( created by Roger Mayer ) and the uni-vibe, he was a master of feedback too. Jimi’s Machine Gun @ Filllmore east on New Year’s Eve 69/70 from Band of Gypsies album is beyond guitar playing, it’s bombs going off, napalm fire, souls crying out, jet fighter planes flying low above, and a virtuoso demonstration of connecting to a higher energy. Pre bands like Meshuggah et el, Hendrix tore through distortion and sonic soundscapes like no other…he still inspires to this day and beyond….may he rest in peace…and let’s not forget, he did it all in 4 short years.
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You forgot to start with the man that started it all; Johnny Guitar Watson. He released “Space Guitar” in 1952 and it was, in my own opinion, the most advanced playing at that time. I believe Chuck Berry and Jimi Hendrix took huge inspiration from that man. He died on stage circa 1990. R.I.P to all the great musicians.
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24:30 "So he hired some replacements: John Paul Jones on bass, Robert Plant to sing and John Bonham on drum" WTF, i'd love to hire those "replacements"
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I always admired that about McCartney. Yes, he wrote BOTH the sappiest romantic ballad AND the heaviest, most sinister rock riff of the 1960s. Musicians in the '60s truly had balls and showed NO fear in turning it up past 11.
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People say Black Sabbath's Tony Iomi's guitar playing is outshined technically by others. Still when I listen to his playing I am at a Black Sabbath. And I get chills in the spine.
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I find it interesting how music can define an era, not only in the sense that metal and rock became popular during waring times, but it also defines the technology like how in the early 2000s auto tune made pop easier and somewhat more popular than before.
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"Some guy.. called Jimmy Page" That really cracked me up hahahhaha
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"And to think, without johnny b good, we might not have gotten here" Damn straight. All hail king of metal Chuck Berry!!!
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Good intro. It should be remembered that at the time there was no distinction between what came to be called metal and what came to be called punk. The Stooges, The MC5 and in England the Pink Fairies and Hawkwind were all there making music louder and heavier.
