Whether "Summertime Blues" crosses the border to metal could be discussed it still had a strong rock element, but is in my opinion the most metallic song of the '60s - even more metallic than anything Led Zeppelin did. "Summertime Blues" is a cover of the Eddie Cochran song from 1958 ( The Who used to do a cover of this song live), but Blue Cheer's version is way heavier. My sources differ from each other over whether the single was released in late 1967 or early 1968, but the album was released in January 1968. The first band that bordered on metal was Blue Cheer (named after a type of LSD) when they released the first single, "Summertime Blues," from their debut album Vincebus Eruptum. The Jimi Hendrix Experience also released a second album in 1967, Axis: Bold As Love, and their third and last album, Electric Ladyland, in 1968. The same year came the debut album Are You Experienced?, which has been hugely influential, but still it wasn't metal. The second single, "Purple Haze," released in the spring of 1967, was probably the heaviest song of its day, and became a big hit. The Jimi Hendrix Experience released their first single, "Hey Joe," in 1966. On the song "Tales of Brave Ulysses" (later covered by Trouble), they were one of the first bands to use the wah-wah pedal, around the same time as The Jimi Hendrix Experience on "Burning of the Midnight Lamp." Their second album, Disraeli Gears from 1967, was probably equally influential. Cream released their debut album Fresh Cream in 1966. Cream is also remembered for their live shows, where they extended their songs with never ending solos originally because they didn't have enough material to fill the shows. Cream's music was still heavily rooted in blues, but they played harder than anyone before them. The first band to play a more constant harder music was the supergroup Cream, a band that exclusively consisted of members who had been voted as the best instrumentalist on their respective instrument bassist/vocalist Jack Bruce, guitarist/vocalist Eric Clapton (earlier in The Yardbirds) and drummer Ginger Baker. Sometimes "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" by the Rolling Stones, from the same year, is called hard rock, too. ![]() Their sound, though, is generally power pop or rock, and not hard rock. The Who took the use of power chords further. Another early song that often is mentioned as hard rock is The Who's "My Generation" from 1965. The Kingsmen's song "Louie Louie" has by Ray Davies of The Kinks been mentioned as the biggest influence for "You Really Got Me." Most of The Kinks' other material is more pop/rock. The song became a huge hit ( The Kinks' breakthrough hit), even reaching number one in England, and number seven in USA. The song contains power chords and distortion, which was created by guitarist Dave Davies by slicing the speaker cone of his guitar amplifier with a razor blade and poking it with a pin. The song many consider as the first example of hard rock is "You Really Got Me" by The Kinks from 1964, featured on their self-titled debut album. Other early predecessors include surf rocker Dick Dale and garage rockers The Kingsmen, or at least their hit "Louie Louie" from 1963. ![]() Link Wray has been called the first mainstream musician to use power chords. The instrumental blues guitarist Link Wray was also an important predecessor to metal, especially his hit "Rumble" from 1958, which was banned from air play because it sounded too evil. In the early '50s, Memphis blues guitarists Joe Hill Louis, Willie Johnson and Pat Hare started to make use of distortion and power chords in their playing style. The roots of heavy metal could of course be traced back how far you want, starting with classical music, which many metal bands are influenced by, over to the introduction of the electric guitar in jazz (and to a lesser extent in blues at around the same time) in the 30's, to T-Bone Walker in the 40's, who was the first more successful electric blues guitarist.
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