Black Sabbath and the Rise of Heavy Metal Music

Andrew L. Cope

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2016
• Print ISBN:
  9781138254138
• eBook ISBN:
  9781317173854
• Topic: Media & Performing Arts
• Subtopic: Music

The definition of 'heavy metal' is often a contentious issue and in this lively and accessible text Andrew Cope presents a refreshing re-evaluation of the rules that define heavy metal as a musical genre. Cope begins with an interrogation of why, during the late 1960s and early 1970s, Birmingham provided the ideal location for the evolution and early development of heavy metal and hard rock. The author considers how the influence of the London and Liverpool music scenes merged with the unique cultural climate, industry and often desolated sites of post-war Birmingham to contribute significantly to the development of two unique forms of music: heavy metal and hard rock. The author explores these two forms through an extensive examination of key tracks from the first six albums of both Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin, in which musical, visual and lyrical aspects of each band are carefully compared and contrasted in order to highlight the distinctive innovations of those early recordings. In conclusion, a number of case studies are presented that illustrate how the unique synthesis of elements established by Black Sabbath have been perpetuated and developed through the work of such bands as Iron Maiden, Metallica, Pantera, Machine Head, Nightwish, Arch Enemy and Cradle of Filth. As a consequence, the importance of heavy metal as a genre of music was firmly established, and its longevity assured.

1 Birmingham: The Cradle of All Things Heavy

DOI: 10.4324/9781315569499-1

There appears to be a strong consensus amongst academics and established journalists that heavy metal and hard rock emerged during the late 1960s/early 1970s in the industrial Midlands of England (for example, Walser 1993: 10, Weinstein 2000: 4 and Christie 2003: 1). The Birmingham/West Midlands bands at the centre of that evolutionary process were Black Sabbath, (half of) Led Zeppelin and Judas Priest. ¹ Such developments invite an interrogation of why Birmingham seemed to provide a particular geographical space for the evolution and early development of metal and hard rock and this chapter begins that interrogation.

¹Although not discussed in any detail within the scope of this book, I acknowledge the significance of other Birmingham/West Midlands bands who were central to the inception of later developments of heavy metal and include Bolt Thrower who contributed to the emergence of death metal, and Napalm Death who, during the mid to late 1980s, pioneered the most extreme form of metal, grindcore.

The significance of ‘Music, Space and Place’, in this respect, emerges in Peter Webb’s article ‘Interrogating the Production of Sound and Place: the Bristol Phenomenon, from Lunatic Fringe to Worldwide Massive’ (Whiteley et al. (eds) 2004: 66–88) that investigates the reasons behind the growth of the ‘Bristol Sound’. Webb’s discussion centres on the way in which musical forms are shaped by the geographical environment in which they evolve and his methodology is founded on the concept of ‘musical milieu’. He suggests a process in which various influences combine to form particular constellations and trajectories at given points of time to affect the ‘sounds of the city’. The milieu, within and around a particular location, influences the music that becomes dominant for a period of time and this conceptualisation has particular relevance to my research into heavy metal and heavy rock. Not least, the theory of ‘musical milieu’ provides a useful methodology for the interrogation of the early Birmingham metal scene.

An interview with Black Sabbath drummer Bill Ward, found on page33 of Steven Rosen’s biography of Black Sabbath, Black Sabbath (2002; originally published as Wheels of Confusion in 1996), provided me with a relevant point of departure in searching for some of the influential factors that led to the emergence of heavy metal and hard rock in late-1960s Birmingham_

There was a boom going on that was created from everything that was coming out of Liverpool. Liverpool had opened up this enormous market, so most of the cities – Birmingham, London, Newcastle, Manchester, all had bumper crops during the ’60s. There were a lot of clubs opening up that had never before existed. Everybody was getting involved. There was the general theme of revolution and moving into new directions in a way that had never quite had the strength. (Rosen 2002: 33)

Bill Ward’s reflections certainly point to a process of influence where copy or pastiche is followed by transgression. Moreover, that same process illustrates Fabbri’s argument (discussed in the Introduction to this book) that new genres do not form in an empty space but form as transgressions of already established genres. For example, ‘moving in new directions’ and the importance of Liverpool summarises the way in which the starting point for the members of Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin (along with many other hopefuls) was to form a rock and roll band but then, after time and some success, to look for ways to be different. It is important then, in relation to both bands, to look at the starting point and the influences, particularly from Liverpool (beat/rock and roll) and the London blues scene, and relate the musical coding of those dominant trends to developments in Birmingham. This process also includes identifying key musicians, managers and promoters, new venues and socio-geographic influences that collocate to shape the new forms of music. This chapter, therefore, is presented in the form of three inter-related topics: ‘Outside Influences’, ‘Birmingham_ The Sound of the City’ and ‘Liverpool, London, Manchester and Newcastle – Why Not Here? Dominant Musical Trends in Other Cities’

In ‘Outside Influences’, I examine the extent and impact of the Beatles and Merseybeat (with its associated American rock and roll influence) and the London-based British blues revival and its impact on Birmingham during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Additionally, I seek to highlight the extensive and vital influences of managers and promoters, namely, Giorgio Gomelski, Mike Vernon and Jim Simpson, who not only encouraged experimentation and revolution but also provided new venues to showcase new styles.

In ‘Birmingham_ The Sound of the City’, there is a focus on socio-geographic influences such as the idiomatic characteristics of the industrial Midlands and the personal attributes, background and interests of the Birmingham musicians who forged the hard rock and heavy metal sounds from that period. Finally, ‘Liverpool, London, Manchester and Newcastle – Why Not Here? Dominant Musical Trends in Other Cities’ picks up on the reference made by Bill Ward (above) that identifies the significance of other cities in the UK during the 1960s. This comment formed an interesting challenge and led me to an interrogation of the dominant musical trends in London, Liverpool (besides the blues and rock and roll influences discussed in ‘Outside Influences’), Manchester and Newcastle. After all, these cities also had, as Ward explains, ‘bumper crops’ in the 1960s and this raised the question of why the origins of heavy metal did not form in London, Liverpool, Manchester or Newcastle. This final part of my discussion will offer some brief suggestions and provisional answers to this question.

Outside Influences

It would seem that the geographical positioning of Birmingham was crucial to the emergence of specific musical innovations during the 1960s and early 1970s. In particular, the introduction and expansion of the motorway network in England meant that Birmingham’s location, mid-way between London and Liverpool, was especially significant. The opening of the M62 in 1958, the M1 between London and Birmingham in 1959 and the section of the M6 linking Birmingham to the M62 in 1963 meant that England’s second city became easily accessible from the two most important musical centres in the UK during the 1960s, London and Liverpool. This allowed musical developments happening in Liverpool and London, such as the rock and roll based Merseybeat pop and the British blues revival to reach and affect Birmingham in a unique way. The resultant ebb and flow of musical concept and style spun a web of vibrant activity that not only shaped the ‘Birmingham sound’ but also directly influenced the musical and aesthetic direction of influential bands such as Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin.

Liverpool's Influence on Birmingham

Birmingham, like other cities across the UK, was gripped by the rock and roll craze that began in America during the 1950s. Being England’s second city it was natural that rock and roll cover bands multiplied profusely in Birmingham. An article written in 1974, which appeared in New Musical Express, highlights the extent of Birmingham’s unique absorption of the rock and roll phenomenon:

Birmingham is a natch for rock and roll. It is dour and grubby, the biggest industrial city in Britain. Birmingham is flanked by coalfields, steel mills and car and engineering plants. Sometimes a little like Detroit, in fact. And, Birmingham is also the pivotal centre of the country – to the north lies Manchester, Liverpool and Sheffield, to the south, a hundred miles or so down the M1 is London. But most of all Birmingham is a strong working class community producing a culture, which has found contemporary substance in high-energy rock and roll. Too close, perhaps, to form its own unique identity but situated just right to catch whatever happens to the north or south. ²

²http://www.theelonetwork.com/Brumbeat.htm

As the 1960s progressed the number of rock and roll groups in Birmingham multiplied and this local phenomenon came to be known as the Brumbeat, an adaptation of the term that identified events in Liverpool as the Merseybeat. The Merseybeat was rooted in rock and roll and was initiated partially by the Beatles who themselves were motivated significantly by the music of Chuck Berry, Little Richard and Goffin and King. ³ , ⁴ The Brumbeat and Merseybeat phenomena, then, were both, in turn, directly inspired by the early musical developments of the Beatles.

³There were, of course, other influences in their mid to late career, but it is their original rock and roll inspiration that is significant to this discussion. ⁴Gerry Goffin and Carole King were an American song writing partnership noted particularly for their work with girl vocal groups such as the Shirelles. Goffin and King were also heroes to the Beatles who recorded ‘Chains’ and McCartney was quoted as saying he wished he could write as well as Goffin and King: http://www.history-of-rock.com/carole_king_and_gerry_goffin.htm

Charlie Gillett identifies five styles of rock and roll: Bill Haley, New Orleans dance band blues, rockabilly, Chicago rhythm and blues, and vocal rock and roll (1994: 23–35). It was a combination of the hard-edged rhythm and blues style of Berry, the effervescent and melodic tenor style from New Orleans and a good measure of vocal rock and roll that marked the early work of the Beatles. It was a highly fuelled cocktail of music, youth, sexual energy and Liverpool humour. The Beatles’ early career (for example, the Hamburg days) is well documented, they played mostly covers of the above artists and similar songs, for example, ‘Roll Over Beethoven’ (Chuck Berry) and ‘Long Tall Sally’ (Little Richard). The raucous and effervescent rock and roll that fired the formation and initial repertoire of the Beatles clearly inspired their early original work, evidence of which is such numbers as ‘Love Me Do’ (1963), ‘I Saw Her Standing There’ (1963), ‘I Want to Hold Your Hand’ (1963), ‘Eight Days a Week’ (1964), ‘A Hard Day’s Night’ (1964), ‘Can’t Buy Me Love’ (1964) and ‘I Feel Fine’ (1964).

The significance of this is found in the way that the Beatles took rock and roll and reshaped it into original forms of music, which was a revelation to cover bands across the country. By originality I am suggesting that the music developed by the Beatles was something that moved beyond a copy, parody or pastiche of style, ⁵ highlighting rather an addition of new elements, in terms of not only rhythm, melody and harmony but also the sound. For example, the centrality of ‘sound’ in the production and aesthetics of popular music was to become as much a part of the agenda as new tunes and rhythms (for example, Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band [1967]). It is this that musicians, producers and companies have come to focus on, so enlarging the genre. Importantly, it seems to be the novel sonic details of particular records that drives listeners’ responses, evaluations and memories (for example, the Beatles’ ‘Yeah Yeah Yeah’ in ‘She Loves You’ [1963]). These examples very much illustrate the way in which the centre/periphery model works, from inside one musical style to elements of another, thence to the genre in which the second style becomes a part, a style indicator that is found in the compositional/structural norm.

⁵Which is how they started out – as a covers band.

A brief listen to any of the early Beatles songs would illustrate the way in which they developed their unique syntax by the reshaping, blending and recontextualisation of established conventions. For example, the rock and roll/blues influenced 12-bar ⁶ format of the verse in ‘Can’t Buy Me Love’ (1964) and the blues inflexions in the vocal part are blended with the minor key pop chorus which also doubles as the intro. The key here is the mediant minor (Em) moving through the dominant (G) to the tonic of the verse (C). Significant here, is the way in which Lennon and McCartney transform the conventional falling minor 3rd of the blues (in the vocal part). They do this by elongating the minor 3rd of the opening Em chord on the first syllable of the word ‘love’. The expected fall to the tonic note E, on the second syllable, brings a surprise when it becomes the 5th of the chord Am. In ‘I Want to Hold Your Hand’ (1963), the 12-bar guitar riff ⁷ (as frequently used, for example, by Chuck Berry) and vocal harmonies (as used, for example, by Goffin and King) typically retain links with rock and roll whilst the variety of chords, including a minor 7th in the middle 8, again show the Beatles’ experimentations at incorporating new ideas.

⁶I will use ‘12-bar’ (hyphenated) with reference to specific devices such as 12-bar riff, 12-bar blues, etc., as opposed to the general way of describing a number of bars, that is, a 12 bar sequence, 12 bar phrase, etc. ⁷On the guitar, a riff produced by constant repetitions of the tonic, synchronised with a second figure that alternates between the dominant and submediant. The same riff is also frequently played on a piano in rock and roll and blues.

In ‘From Me to You’ (1963) the Beatles combine the influence of Roy Orbison (the oscillating tonic to submediant ⁸ [A major to F♯ minor] chords that feature in ‘Oh, Pretty Woman’ [1964], for example) with fresh ideas of their own design. In ‘From Me to You’, the tonic to submediant oscillation of ‘Oh, Pretty Woman’ is parodied (C to Am in this case) but becomes a point of ambiguity, unsettling the listener as first the intro then the verse suggests one tonal centre and then the other. As the song proceeds, C major seems to be established as the tonal centre as it reaches the end of the verse. However, as the song draws to a close, Lennon and McCartney throw in further surprises: first the sudden appearance of the flat submediant in its major form (A♭ major), followed by the chord of C major (tonic resolution) but, at the last, ending on the relative minor (Am) and thus concluding with the same tonal ambiguity that was established at the start.

⁸Harmonic sequence (the order in which one chord follows another) can be represented either by the use of Roman Numerals or their equivalent technical names; out of necessity I occasionally refer to these names. They are: I = tonic, II = supertonic, III = mediant, IV = subdominant, V = dominant, VI = submediant and VII = leading note. The chords are formed by building on each degree of a common scale – a chord built on the first degree of the scale (the first note or starting note) is therefore chord I, the second degree chord II, etc. Chord sequences, when described in Roman form, will be shown with hyphens separating the chord changes (I-V-I, etc.).

This important development by the Beatles seems to be related to what Cawelti (cited in Shuker 2002: 17) describes as the ‘rise of rock auteurship’ whereby rock and pop musicians become ‘artists’ creating individual works that are driven by the creators’ own initiatives and freedom of expression as much as they are by the record companies’ and managers’ financial interests.

Whereas this phenomenon makes most sense in the li...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Halftitle Page
• Dedication Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• List of Tables
• List of Music Examples
• Foreword
• General Editor’s Preface
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• 1 Birmingham: The Cradle of All Things Heavy
• 2 The Dichotomy of Syntax in the Music of Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin
• 3 The Dichotomy of Aesthetics in Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin
• 4 Continuity, Development and the New Wave of British Heavy Metal
• 5 Assimilation and Stability
• Bibliography
• Discography
• Filmography
• Index