This year we celebrate 50 years of Heavy Metal, whose birth is credited to Black Sabbath, who released their self-titled debut on February 13, 1970 and quickly followed that up with “Paranoid” released on September 18, 1970. “Paranoid” featured the title track, “Iron Man” and “War Pigs”, three of the all time enduring classics. Sabbath did not spontaneously combust out of a vacuum. The 1960’s had many artists who were planting seeds, and cultivating the sounds that would one day become metal. Here are 26 songs that contributed to the sounds that have kept our heads banging for five decades.

Chuck Berry – Johnny B. Goode – 1/1/59

But he could play a guitar just like a-ringing a bell

Chuck Berry may well have created “The Riff”, kicking off “Johnny B. Goode” with a loud, in-your-face guitar lick. Two minutes later, he shredded what could be considered the first “guitar solo”. It took time to take root, but this legendary burst of electricity was the first heavy metal seed to be planted.

The Animals – The House of the Rising Sun – 1/1/64

Oh mother tell your children not to do what I have done

Eric Burdon and The Animals were the first popular band to play with darkness and loudness. In addition to this classic, featuring funereal organ sounds, they also brought us “We Gotta Get Out Of This Place”, “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood” and “It’s My Life”. On this one, the vocals are desperate as the music seems to spin out of control. This wild abandonment became a hallmark of metal music.

The Kinks – All Day and All of the Night – 10/2/64

I believe that you and me last forever

The Kinks were masters of the riff, just ask Van Halen, who would later cover several of their songs in spectacular fashion. They were also quite noisy for their time.

The Zombies – She’s Not There – 4/30/65

But it’s too late to say you’re sorry, how would I know, why should I care?

With a name like The Zombies, it is no surprise that they were the forerunners of doom and gloom rock. This song changes pace several times, another strategy that would one day become popular.

The Yardbirds – Heart Full of Soul – 7/2/65

Sick at heart and lonely, deep in dark despair

The lead guitar riff is featured here, throughout this moody tune. Jeff Beck had just replaced Eric Clapton in the band, and they had tried recording a sitar riff, but didn’t like the result. Beck borrowed Jimmy Page’s prototype fuzz box, and played the riff on guitar, bending the strings as he strummed, thus creating a landmark sound.

The Rolling Stones – Paint It, Black – 6/20/66

I have to turn my head until my darkness goes

This song was one of the first Stones tunes to explore their dark side. The music sounds evil, and Mick Jagger sings about pushing down his darkest urges. The Stones were never truly metal, but the style of this classic would turn up time and again in the genre.

The Troggs – Wild Thing – 7/25/66

Wild thing, I think you move me, but I wanna know for sure

“Wild Thing” is pretty simple. A few strums, some basic lyrics. This song has been covered numerous times, and is a live favorite. This classic rendition is actually a cover song itself. The Wild Ones had recorded it a year earlier, but it didn’t chart.

Donovan – Season of the Witch – 9/1/66

Oh no, must be the season of the witch

Donovan chunks through a nasty riff, while crooning some strange and chilling lyrics. The song is quite long for its era, giving it space to build and relase tension several times throughout.

Jefferson Airplane – Somebody To Love – 1/1/67

When the truth is found to be lies, and all the joy within you dies

Grace Slick was a true original. Her vocals were passionate and powerful. The influence of “Somebody To Love” can be heard from Heart to Halestorm.

The Velvet Underground & Nico – Heroin – 3/12/67

And then I’m better off than dead

Lou Reed puts on a master class of drug induced depression, with a chaotic musical performance perfectly backing up the darkest of themes. This is subject matter that would be covered time and again, as drug culture continues to be inextricably entwined in music culture.

The Jimi Hendrix Experience – Purple Haze – 5/12/67

Acting funny, but I don’t know why, ‘scuse me while I kiss the sky

Jimi Hendrix remains one of the most creative and influential guitarists and composers in rock music history. “Purple Haze” is perhaps his greatest riff.

The Box Tops – The Letter – 10/1/67

Lonely days are gone, I’m a goin’ home

This driving tune is full of desperation, and hope. Many soldiers in basic training would sing this song as they were marching, or on the rare occasion that they got leave to go see their sweetie back home.

Cream – White Room – 1/1/68

Lie in the dark where the shadows run from themselves

Eric Clapton’s soloing through a wah-wah pedal is the most distinctive part of this classic. But Ginger Baker’s quintuple meter drumming also was an influence to later bands who played with different time signatures. Bassist and singer Jack Bruce adds an etheeal quality to the lyrics, which came from poet Pete Brown.

Deep Purple – Hush – 1/7/68

Hush, hush, she broke my heart, but I love her just the same

The first incarnation of Deep Purple hit the scene in the late 1960’s. Rod Evans was their lead vocalist and he led the charge on this keyboard and drum driven track. It was in 1970 that singer Ian Gillan and bassist Roger Glover joined, and guitarist Ritchie Blackmore steered them down the road to heavy metal history.

Steppenwolf – Born To Be Wild – 5/1/68

I like smoke and lightning, heavy metal thunder

The ultimate bar band song, complete with the first known combination of “heavy” and “metal” in song. This one chugs along, and makes you want to hit the open road, the ultimate call to freedom that embodies heavy metal.

Iron Butterfly – In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida – 6/14/68

Oh, won’t you come with me and walk this land?

Seventeen minutes of pulsating drama, a title that is apparently a slurring of “Garden of Eden”, and a very metal sounding band name. This tune clearly influenced much of the music cranked out in the 70’s, from Deep Purple to Meat Loaf to Rush. Plus, everybody gets a solo!

Janis Joplin & Big Brother & The Holding Company – Piece of My Heart – 8/12/68

But I’m gonna show you, baby, that a woman can be tough

Janis Joplin was definitely tough, a real badass, perfectly capable of soaring over the cacophony on this classic track. Her untimely death at only 27 is sadly another hallmark of heavy metal, and that particular tragedy has continued to repeat itself.

The Jimi Hendrix Experience – All Along the Watchtower – 9/16/68

Two riders were approaching and the wind began to howl

Jimi’s version of Bob Dylan’s “All Along The Watchtower” may be the greatest cover song of all time. It certainly proved that you could take a mellow folk song with pop sensibility, crank it up to 11, and improve upon it. Many have continued to cover this, particularly live in concert, following the path that Hendrix blazed during his short, explosive run.

The Beatles – Helter Skelter – 11/22/68

Well, do you, don’t you want me to make you?

“Helter Skelter” was perhaps the most extreme example of experimentation on The Beatles legendary “White Album”. The vocals were screamed, the guitars were distorted and loud, the drumming intense. They even faded out, then back in, culminating with the yelled line “I got blisters on my fingers!”. Then of course there was something about serial killer Charles Manson adopting this as a theme song, and it doesn’t get more metal than that.

Mott The Hoople – Rock and Roll Queen – 1/1/69

Listen woman you needn’t go to bed with everybody that you meet

Mott The Hoople was a huge influence on the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal in the early 80’s. This sprawling track was clearly one of their most influential, with solos and jams colliding with wild abandon.

MC5 – Kick Out The Jams – 1/1/69

I know how you want it child, hot, quick and tight

This live recording is just raw and in your face, maybe more of a precursor to punk than metal, but an influencer nonetheless.

Led Zeppelin – Communication Breakdown – 1/12/69

Havin’ a nervous breakdown, drive me insane

The first Led Zeppelin album was mostly bluesy and meandering. Halfway through side 2, the boys got loud! The song is full-on electric guitar from Jimmy Page and wailing vocals from Robert Plant. Chaotic drumming from John Bonham and driving bass runs from John Paul Jones. “Communication Breakdown” is 2-1/2 minutes of heavy metal ready to be born.

Spooky Tooth – Better By You, Better Than Me – 3/1/69

Tell her the world’s not much for living for

This song may be more well known from its remake by Judas Priest a decade later, but that only proves its relevance to the metal movement. I will admit I did not know that this version, or even this band, existed, but Spooky Tooth has a killer sound, and I highly recommend checking them out.

Neil Young & Crazy Horse – Cinnamon Girl – 5/14/69

You see us together, chasing the moonlight

This song stands out in the early part of Neil Young’s career as his loudest and dirtiest musical contribution, proving that even a smooth sounding folk singer could get down and dirty, and make the heads start banging.

The Who – Pinball Wizard – 5/23/69

That deaf, dumb and blind kid sure plays a mean pinball

The highlight of the first “rock opera”, this song is as epic as things got in the 60’s. While not necessarily heavy, it does explore guitar effects, and sound combinations, which would influence many albums to come.

The Stooges – I Wanna Be Your Dog – 8/5/69

So messed up, I want you here in my room

This one was sure to annoy your parents, your neighbors, and most of your friends. Tense piano, crunchy distorted guitar, and disturbing snarled lyrics. Everything that heavy metal was destined to be.

Pre-Metal Sounds – The Seeds of Heavy Metal first appeared on Game On Media.

CHRIS JERICHO

& The Christmas Helves

Release “Father Christmas”

Special Charity Single For The Holiday Season

PRESS HERE To Listen

Chris Jericho is getting into the holiday spirit! The multi-hyphenate superstar (wrestler/musician/actor/author/host/TV personality) has released a special cover of The Kinks’ “Father Christmas” as a charity single, with all money raised from downloads and streams of the track to be donated to Juvenile Diabetes research. PRESS HERE to listen to Chris Jericho & The Christmas Helves’ version of the classic song, available now on all DSPs via The Orchard, which first premiered on Chris’s radio show “The Rock Of Jericho” on SiriusXM Octane.

“I’ve always wanted to do a Christmas song, as it’s guaranteed annual airplay (and if I hear ‘Wonderful Christmas Time’ one more time, I’m gonna stuff myself down a chimney), so I put together the musical assassins known as ‘The Christmas Helves’ and banged out this sugarplum version of my favorite Kinks tune!,” shares Jericho. “Best part is all proceeds will be donated to JDRF to fight Juvenile Diabetes! So, grab your eggnog and frankincense…whatever the hell that is…and rock out with your Santa sack out!”

Chris Jericho is no stranger to the music scene. Jericho is the lead singer of the internationally successful rock band Fozzy, which recently opened for Iron Maiden at the Banc of California Stadium in Los Angeles. Fozzy’s latest album Judas, their seventh full-length, has been streamed more than 25 million times on Spotify and features the hit single “Judas,” which reached #1 on the iTunes Rock Charts in 8 different countries, spent 9 weeks in the Top Ten on the Active Rock Chart in the US, and has received over 32 million YouTube views; PRESS HERE to watch. The band’s current single “Nowhere To Run” is their fourth consecutive Top 20 hit on Active Rock Radio; PRESS HERE to listen.

Photo credit: Adrienne Beacco

For the past two decades, Chris Jericho has established himself as a multi-faceted talent with tens of millions of fans worldwide. Breaking onto the scene as one of the most popular, and charismatic, performers in the history of World Wrestling Entertainment, Jericho was crowned the WWE Undisputed Champion in 2001 and, in 2017, became the first ever “Double Grand Slam” champion in history. In January 2018, Jericho officially signed with All Elite Wrestling, the hottest new wrestling brand in the world, where he appears every Wednesday night on the TNT Network as the current AEW World Champion.

Chris has combined his two main passions, and careers, to create Chris Jericho’s Rock N Wrestling Rager At Sea. The second annual, sold-out four-day cruise from Miami to the Bahamas January 20-24, 2020 will feature All Elite Wrestling stars, live podcasts, music, comedy, lots of special guests and more, plus the guest of honor “Nature Boy” Ric Flair. Visit www.chrisjerichocruise.com for more info.

In addition to his weekly show on SiriusXM, Jericho hosts the widely popular “Talk Is Jericho” podcast on Westwood One, which has amassed over 220 million downloads across more than 600 episodes. Past podcast guests include Dennis Miller, Larry King, William Shatner, Chris Tucker, Paul Stanley, Kiefer Sutherland, Hulk Hogan, Mike Tyson, Slash, and many more.

Jericho is also a four-time New York Times best-selling author, displaying his witty, self-deprecating writing style with his autobiographies: “A Lion’s Tale: Around the World in Spandex” (2007), “Undisputed: How To Become the World Champion in 1,372 Easy Steps” (2011), “The Best In the World: At What I Have No Idea” (2014) and “No Is A Four Letter Word” (2014). Chris appeared on Season 11 of Dancing With The Stars and recently brought the house down with Ryan Niemiller on the 14^th season finale of America’s Got Talent. He’s also hosted the ABC game show Downfall and the SyFy reality series Robot Combat League. Chris’s acting credits include featured roles in the upcoming Kevin Smith films “Jay and Silent Bob Reboot” and “Kilroy Was Here,” as well as creating, producing and starring in CBC’s critically-acclaimed original series, “But I’m Chris Jericho.”

For more information on Chris Jericho, visit:

Website // Facebook // Twitter // Instagram // YouTube // Spotify

Chris Jericho Releases Father Christmas Charity Single first appeared on Game On Media.