Who Invented Heavy Metal?

[pzz76077]

Wickipedia entry sais 'Blue Cheer' were the first to record heavy metal: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heavy_metal_music#History


PZZ

[Fred Bloggs]

Nope, you're going to have to try a lot harder to convince me that it wasn't Hawkwind and Lemmy who were the first heavy metal band!

[chef]

Dmitri Mendeleev as he invented the Periodic Table and there are a LOT of heavy metals on their

[chef]

"In 1968, the sound that would become known as heavy metal began to coalesce. That January, the San Francisco band Blue Cheer released a cover of Eddie Cochran's classic "Summertime Blues," from their debut album Vincebus Eruptum, that many consider the first true heavy metal recording."
McCleary (2004), pp. 240, 506.

[darmstadt]

Nope, you're going to have to try a lot harder to convince me that it wasn't Hawkwind and Lemmy who were the first heavy metal band!

Try listening to Group X or Hawkwind Zoo or you might not agree with that statement, in fact any Hawkwind album. Motörhead would come into the HM category but they didn't turn up until the mid-70's (saw one of their first ever gigs in Brentwood with about 30 other people who didn't have a clue who they were) and then you're starting to talk about NWOBHM which brought us such stalwarts as Iron Maiden, Saxon, Samson, Praying Mantis, Trespass, Angelwitch, Tygers of Pang Tang, Def Leppard, etc.

[pzz76077]

"In 1968, the sound that would become known as heavy metal began to coalesce. That January, the San Francisco band Blue Cheer released a cover of Eddie Cochran's classic "Summertime Blues," from their debut album Vincebus Eruptum, that many consider the first true heavy metal recording."
McCleary (2004), pp. 240, 506.

WIS

PZZ

[ace00]

The earliest incarnation was bands like Iron Butterfly ( In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida ) Steppenwolf ( Steppenwolf, specifically Born to be Wild ) and The Jeff Beck Group ( Truth ). They were all playing what was essentially Heavy Metal in all but name in 1968/9 .

Steppenwolf - I think that's it, much as I lurv Sabbath.

I never heard of "Blue Cheer" so they don't count whoever they are.

[VectraMan]

BTW Deep Purple's Hush from 1968 (not 1970) is definitely in there.

Have you ever heard it? There's no way you could say that was anything even remotely like heavy metal (and it was also a cover version).

[Sysman]

Hawkwind?

But I think you would classify them as Psychedilia with some heavy stuff, mostly from 1975 on.

I first saw Hawkwind in 1970 or 1971. It was the first time I heard Silver Machine (that Wiki article claims it wasn't released until the following year).

I think the first truly Heavy Metal I heard was Black Sabbath. Deep Purple and Led Zep could be a bit too, er, melodic to classify. Uriah Heep definitely fell into the genre, but they came a bit later. All subject to the fact I missed out on a lot of stuff until I escaped to Uni.

[pzz76077]

Steppenwolf - I think that's it, much as I lurv Sabbath.

I never heard of "Blue Cheer" so they don't count whoever they are.

They are making a come back it seems: http://www.bluecheer.us/ From a quick search, they appear to claim to have invented the phrase also.

PZZ