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1968 -Helter Skelter- The Beatles...was this the first metal song?
Posted on 3/14/23 at 10:19 pm
Posted on 3/14/23 at 10:19 pm
This song was Paul McCartney's idea to show The Beatles could play different styles other than Rock-n-Roll or ballads. He said in an interview "The Who had made some track that was the loudest, the most raucous rock ‘n roll, the dirtiest thing they’d ever done. It made me think, ‘Right. Got to do it.’ I like that kind of geeking up. And we decided to do the loudest, nastiest, sweatiest rock number we could.” It was definitely different than anything they had previously done. To me, it's amazing that just 4 years before this in 1964 they put out "She Loves You" & "I Want to Hold Your Hand".
Could this be considered the first heavy metal song?
Helter Skelter
Could this be considered the first heavy metal song?
Helter Skelter
16
Posted on 3/15/23 at 12:00 am to TexTigah81
On a personal note it’s interesting you ask that. I was born in ‘66 but thanks to an older brother by the mid-70’s The Beatles were my first favorite group and are still my all-time favorite group. While Helter Skelter was quite a departure for them it was primarily that song, along with Revolution, that really introduced me to some heavy distortion and I fell in love with the sound immediately. Only natural then that I would go on to become a huge metalhead who still loves good metal to this day.
To answer the question though it technically wouldn’t be metal IMO. Just great hard driving rock. It IS as metal as The Beatles ever got though.
To answer the question though it technically wouldn’t be metal IMO. Just great hard driving rock. It IS as metal as The Beatles ever got though.
Posted on 3/15/23 at 12:14 am to TexTigah81
No
Posted on 3/15/23 at 12:14 am to TexTigah81
quote:I have always thought so, yes.
Could this be considered the first heavy metal song?
Posted on 3/15/23 at 12:49 am to TexTigah81
I wouldn't, still psychedelic to me.
Posted on 3/15/23 at 5:54 am to TexTigah81
Was Led Zeppelin's No Quarter the first doom metal song?
Posted on 3/15/23 at 7:02 am to TexTigah81
another fun fact
“helter skelter” is British slang for a kids playground ride.
When I get to the bottom
I go back to the top of the slide
Where I stop and I turn and I go for a ride
'Til I get to the bottom and I see you again
“helter skelter” is British slang for a kids playground ride.
When I get to the bottom
I go back to the top of the slide
Where I stop and I turn and I go for a ride
'Til I get to the bottom and I see you again
Posted on 3/15/23 at 10:57 am to cgrand
I legit learned this from my daughter watching Peppa Pig
Posted on 3/15/23 at 11:37 am to TexTigah81
Yes
Posted on 3/15/23 at 11:44 am to cgrand
quote:
“helter skelter” is British slang for a kids playground ride.
If you want to be technical, it's actually about an amusement park ride. Pretty much the same thing, I guess.
Posted on 3/15/23 at 11:59 am to TexTigah81
Bitter Creek by Plastic Thunder 1967
Posted on 3/15/23 at 12:11 pm to TexTigah81
Side 3 of the White Album was the hardest the Beatles ever rocked on an album side. I love making a drink and putting on side 3 on a Saturday afternoon.
Birthday
Yer Blues
Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey
Helter Skelter
On the same side is Mother Nature's Son and Harrison's underrated Long, Long, Long. Incredible versatility out of the Beatles. No one else compares.
Birthday
Yer Blues
Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey
Helter Skelter
On the same side is Mother Nature's Son and Harrison's underrated Long, Long, Long. Incredible versatility out of the Beatles. No one else compares.
Posted on 3/15/23 at 12:21 pm to The Boat
Great album
I love the The Esher Demos.
I love the The Esher Demos.
Posted on 3/15/23 at 1:11 pm to TexTigah81
Ticket to Ride
Ina Gadda Da Vida
Ina Gadda Da Vida
Posted on 3/15/23 at 1:19 pm to The Boat
Agreed . The White album is so underrated it’s comical.
Posted on 3/15/23 at 4:30 pm to TexTigah81
"Born to Be Wild" is a song written by Mars Bonfire and first performed by the band Steppenwolf. The song is often invoked in both popular and counter culture to denote a biker appearance or attitude. It is most notably featured in the 1969 film Easy Rider. It is sometimes described as the first heavy metal song, and the second-verse lyric "heavy metal thunder" marks the first use of this term in rock music (although not as a description of a musical style but rather a motorcycle).
Posted on 3/15/23 at 5:59 pm to dukke v
quote:
Agreed . The White album is so underrated it’s comical.
Dear Prudence and Happiness Is A Warm Gun are my favorite songs on this one. I agree that it's their best album.
Posted on 3/15/23 at 7:38 pm to TexTigah81
quote:
Could this be considered the first heavy metal song?
tl;dr No
It is always difficult to pinpoint when a genre is born as there are always elements of that genre that precede it. Most will agree that certain things are "heavy metal" (Black Sabbath's first record, for example) but when you get to the things that came before, the criteria can vary. Are Sunshine of Your Love (11/67) or Purple Haze (3/67) metal? Definitely heavy blues and a precursor of what was to come, but did did they actually meet all the criteria? Different people will have different answers. Some argue that Hendrix may have had the first heavy metal hit with Purple Haze. A Sept 68 review of the Jimi Hendrix Experience said they had "a heavy-metals blues sound".
Then there is Deep Purple's first album that definitely has heavy blues on it (July 68).
While Helter Skelter is part of the development of metal and hard rock, it is really more proto-metal and there were many songs released before Helter Skelter was in Nov 68 that would fit into proto- or early metal:
Summertime Blues- Blue Cheer, Jan 1968
Born To Be Wild- Steppenwolf, May 1968
In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida- Iron Butterfly, June 1968
One can make an argument for You Really Got Me as being proto-metal or proto-punk as well and it came out in Aug/Sept of 1964. Four years before The White Album.
There is nothing in Helter Skelter that wasn't in at least one of the songs or albums mentioned so IMO it can't be the first heavy metal song.
Posted on 3/15/23 at 7:44 pm to TexTigah81
it's no more or less metal then Wild Thing by The Trogs -1966.
Posted on 3/15/23 at 8:22 pm to nealnan8
quote:
it's no more or less metal then Wild Thing by The Trogs -1966.
Are you serious or being sarcastic? I love Wild Thing but it doesn't sound even close to being a heavy metal song as does Helter Skelter. It's a great rock song but really? It has no heavy bass, slide or guitar distortion. Have you even listened to Helter Skelter?
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