Just to differentiate, while you could lump hard rock and heavy metal into one category (and while some bands could pass as both - KISS, AC/DC etc), to me they're a little different.

Hard rock is just basic rock and roll but maybe with the guitars and drumming a little louder/faster, and the look/sound of the artist a little wilder. Aerosmith, ZZ Top, Van Halen are prime examples.

Heavy metal is with more emphasis on guitar riffing and heavyness - usually very "up" paced and fast/loud. Metallica, Judas Priest, Black Sabbath/Ozzy, Pantera and the like are examples.

That out of the way, I always considered "Born to be Wild" from 1968 the first metal song (it even mentioned it in the lyrics!), but hard rock is more difficult to break down. Weren't the Kinks the first to use the buzz-saw guitar sound? They came out in 1964/65 with songs like "You Really Got Me".

Before this, were there any heavy guitar rock songs? Any input/opinions would be cool. :)

I know the term came from the 'heavy metal thunder' line in 'Born To Be Wild'. But who first got called a heavy metal band? I'm thinking Black Sabbath, but some earlier ones could carry the name, Cream, Iron Butterfly. I never liked the term much, it's all rock&roll :)

"They" say Blue Cheer's cover of "Summertime Blues" from 1968, was the first heavy metal song.

"They" say Blue Cheer's cover of "Summertime Blues" from 1968, was the first heavy metal song.

Did that come out before or after "Born to be Wild"? I think both were '68 or '69.

BTW, would Gary U.S. Bonds' "Quarter to Three" be considered hard rock? I heard it on a 60's compilation, and it seems pretty hard-edged for 1961! ;)

Did that come out before or after "Born to be Wild"? I think both were '68 or '69.

BTW, would Gary U.S. Bonds' "Quarter to Three" be considered hard rock? I heard it on a 60's compilation, and it seems pretty hard-edged for 1961! ;)


Looks like March, 1968 for "Summertime Blues" and July, 1968 for BTBW. But they're both different styles of music.

Blue Cheer...
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000001DYA/qid=1115602505/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/102-1668144-6381733

And Gary U.S. Bonds sounds like a completely different music style than the other two...
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000009QKX/ref=m_art_li_1/102-1668144-6381733?v=glance&s=music

I don't think it's really possible to accurate the very first reasonably well known heavey metal song, as the definition of 'heavy metal' itself is open to interpretation. With the invention of the standard electric guitar we all know in the 40's, I'm sure some garage bands had already produced a 'heavy metal' sound as amps became more popular.

I don't think it's really possible to accurate the very first reasonably well known heavey metal song, as the definition of 'heavy metal' itself is open to interpretation. With the invention of the standard electric guitar we all know in the 40's, I'm sure some garage bands had already produced a 'heavy metal' sound as amps became more popular.


Good point.

All "commercialized" sounds were underground before they got big (i.e. grunge was around as far back as the early 80's in Seattle, from what I hear).

It would be cool to go back in time and see someone in 1953 headbanging in their garage, ala Beavis & Butthead, LOL! ;D

Listen to beatles, "Helter Skelter" from 68..that is not proto Heavy Metal..it actually IS the first Heavy Metal song.

I was led to beleive that the Yardbirds "shapes of things" introduced the first sign of heavy metal to music.

With Jimmy page introducing an experimental Fuzz Guitar to their sound.

"Heavy metal" as a term to describe a musical style was first used in reference to the Jimi Hendrix Experience by New York music critic Sandy Pearlman (who later managed Blue Oyster Cult). He wrote that Jimi's music was "like heavy metal falling from the sky". "Born to be Wild" is hard rock, no doubt, but the "heavy metal" in the lyrics refers to Harleys, not music. "You Really Got Me" is often cited as the first evidence of heavy metal in rock music, but I'd hardly call The Kinks a heavy metal band. 'Hard rock' was a pretty well-established form by the end of the 60s thanks to bands like Cream, Grand Funk Railroad, Blue Cheer, Alice Cooper and Vanilla Fudge, but Led Zeppelin elevated it to superstar level. Even bands that wouldn't become well known until the 70s like Uriah Heep, UFO and Scorpions were already playing hard rock by 1970. Still, Black Sabbath was probably the first band to play "heavy metal" almost exclusively and become popular playing it. The term "heavy metal" as it applies to music didn't really come into popular usage until the mid-70s. How else could you describe what Judas Priest was playing?

:)

I don't know about the first song....but I do know that Led Zeppelin are always credited with being the first metal influence :)

The first really 'heavy' song I remember hearing was Vanilla Fudge's "You Keep Me Hangin' On"....