I recently heard “Frankenstein” was a Side B song that a DJ made popular. Apparently, many credit this song with opening people’s ears to becoming accustomed to the harsh sounds of heavy metal. But, I am not sure where Iron Butterfly’s song would fit in the timeline here…not to mention early Led Zeppelin, Rolling Stones, and such.
You mean, Black Sabbath? I seriously doubt that.
Really? (Said sincerely; no sarcasm intended)
In my experience, if I am talking to a person with a moderate interest in music - they know what they like - Punk tends to mean The Ramones, Clash, Sex Pistols and Green Day. Metal is Black Sabbath, Maiden and Priest, Metallica, maybe one or two others.
So yes, while folks who pay attention see a complex, cool evolution and branching out of a genre, I think the genre label is seen as established.
These two posts, when taken together, add up to a huge amount of not-even-wrong.
Edgar Winter’s Frankenstein, an instrumental track, was released in February 1973 and topped the charts for 1 week in May of that year. The song is not markedly different in production or tone from anything that Deep Purple or Free (or Johnny Winter (wink!) for that matter) or dozens of other bands had been releasing since about 1968 or 1969. Also: IT IS IN NO WAY METAL, HEAVY OR OTHERWISE. It isn’t proto-metal or pre-metal; it doesn’t have the trappings of metal; it is not similar to metal; it is not metal. It is a fine example of prog rock, however.
And no, it wasn’t a single DJ that made Frankenstein popular. Radio DJs all over America quickly realized that Frankenstein, which was initially the B-side to album-opener Hangin’ Around, was the better song and let the record company know that’s what they were playing and that’s what people wanted to hear, so subsequent pressings reversed the A- & B-side listings.
I would be fascinated to read anything from one of the “many” who “credit this song with opening people’s ears to becoming accustomed to the harsh sounds of heavy metal” if you can find the time to provide links because I’ve never heard anyone anywhere say anything like that.
And yes: Black Sabbath.
I agree wholeheartedly, but just want to add one more point: IMHO “Frankenstein” was the song that introduced parts of the audience to the sound of synthesizers, while the only thing that’s similar to a heavy metal song is the loud lead guitar. And heavy metal and synths? Doesn’t compute. Maybe Jinx was confusing this.
ETA: though I said I agree wholeheartedly, I must say that I wouldn’t call Frankenstein prog rock either. But there you have it: everybody has their own definition for genres, as exemplified in this thread.
Frankenstein was a heavy riff song, not just a lead guitar with prog attachments. It really stood out on the radio as heavy rock.
Another one that did that was Guess Who - American Woman. This is what counted for hard rock on the top 40 which meant something back then. Hocus Pocus is another one.
Because, as someone already said, heavy metal as a genre didn’t actually exist during the time when any of these candidates were current. it is a retrospective exercise to call something the first. Bands are formed to fill gaps and voids in a market.
Having said that, Black Sabbath were the first famous group to commit to a certain kind of silliness which most people recognize as a hallmark of HM even today.
:dubious:
Completely unnecessary editorializing only weakens what was otherwise a valid point.
You’ll need to explain yourself a bit here and your incredulity. It’s not exactly a controversial opinion to say metal coalesced around Black Sabbath. I mean, read through this thread, or just google “godfathers of heavy metal” and see who comes up. You could certainly have some academic arguments about it, I suppose, but they’d be in all conversations about who setup the blueprint for metal.
By the hoary hosts of Hoggoth I say: Hail Satan!
aw cool - a Sabbath fan!
right on
At the time they showed up, what impressed us about Blue Cheer was they were, at that time, the ultimate POWER trio. I mean, 3 Marshal stacks on either side of a DOUBLE bass drum kit! Oh, and the name “Blue Cheer”, which was also the name of a popular LSD tablet going around at the time. Oh, and their album cover looked like something R. Crumb did, and Mr. Natural was popular at that time in certain circles.
Heavy metal before there was the term is Link Wray.
Father of the Power Chord. Creator of Distortion.
“Rumble” 1958
Not quite; there are some key elements missing. However, a corrolary is also nearly true, at least to the same degree: heavy metal without distortion is remarkably surf-like.
The Astronauts lp with the wave on the blue cover is top instro-surf.
(I think “Baja” is on that one.)
My fav surf track is the flip side of “Surfin’ Bird” single by trashmen". Its titled , “King of the Surf”.
Pyramids “Penetration” is a good short instro-surf also.