The 'Accidental' Invention Of Heavy Metal
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Despite being recognized for shaping the “heavy metal” sound, influencing numerous bands, and inspiring generations of guitarists, Black Sabbath initially rejected the term.
“We called it heavy rock,” said Iommi.
“The term heavy metal came about from a journalist when I returned from America in the ‘70s. He said, ‘You’re playing heavy metal,’ and I said, ‘No, it’s heavy rock - what’s that?’”
During the 1970s, critics often disparaged “heavy metal” to describe the “aggressive” musicians of the new wave, playing loud and thrashing sounds in crowded, sweaty venues.
“At first, we didn’t like being called heavy metal. But everyone likes to put you into certain pigeonholes, so we sort of got used to it. And then instead of derogatory, it became a whole lifestyle,” said Butler.
Seventeen-year-old Tony Iommi never intended to create a new, dark rock genre turning teens into Satanists; he was a blues and psychedelic rock guitarist focused on playing what he loved and also a worker at a steelworks in Aston, Birmingham.
During his final shift, the guillotine sliced the tips of his middle and right fingers into pieces.
“You will never be able to play again,” everyone told him.
But Tony was not one to take no for an answer. Inspired by the great Django Reinhardt, who played guitar with only two fingers, he started figuring out how he could continue to play even after the accident.
Initially making thimbles to protect his fingertips from scraping on the guitar strings didn’t work.
So he downtuned his guitar (before anyone knew what it meant) to loosen the strings and play with as little pain as possible, and that’s how metal was born.
The desolate streets of Aston, filled with factories, where Osbourne, Iommi, Butler, and Ward grew up, also significantly shaped Black Sabbath’s dark, spooky sound.
Originally called “Earth,” the band had to change their name due to another successful band with the same name in England.
They renamed themselves Black Sabbath, representing their love for horror movies and the overall shi**iness of growing up in Birmingham, England.
Today marks 54 years of the release of the band’s self-titled debut album.
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