Heavy metal music before 1970

Since the dawn of rock music in the 1950s and continuing through the 1960s, various artists pushed the boundaries of the genre to emphasize speed, aggression, volume, theatricality, and other elements that became staples of the heavy metal style. In the late 1960s, this experimentation coalesced into various rock subgenres like hard rock, acid rock, and psychedelic rock, which were all influential in the development of heavy metal. These albums would later be retroactively categorised as proto-metal.

Bands formed

1955

• Hasil Adkins

1958

• Vince Taylor

1959

• The Kingsmen

1962

• The Rolling Stones
• Status Quo

1963

• The Kinks
• The Yardbirds

1964

• The Amboy Dukes
• Lynyrd Skynyrd
• MC5
• The Who

1965

• Big Brother and the Holding Company
• The Doors
• Pink Floyd
• Scorpions
• The Grateful Dead

1966

• Blue Cheer
• Cream
• The Jimi Hendrix Experience
• Iron Butterfly
• The Move
• Slade

1967

• Blue Öyster Cult
• Budgie
• Jeff Beck Group
• Jethro Tull
• Steppenwolf
• The Deviants
• Vanilla Fudge

1968

• Alice Cooper
• Black Sabbath
• Deep Purple
• Grand Funk Railroad
• Humble Pie
• Led Zeppelin
• Nazareth
• Rush

1969

• The Allman Brothers Band
• April Wine
• Blind Faith
• Hawkwind
• Iron Claw
• Judas Priest
• Mountain
• Thin Lizzy
• UFO
• Uriah Heep
• Wishbone Ash

Songs

1949

• "Cold Blooded Blues" by The Great "Gates" & His Wampus Cats

1950

• "Boogie In The Park" by Joe Hill Louis

1951

• "How Many More Years" by Howlin' Wolf

1954

• "Cotton Crop Blues" by James Cotton
• "I'm Gonna Murder My Baby" by Pat Hare

1955

• "No More Hot Dogs" by Hasil Adkins
• "A Cutie Named Judy" by Jerry McCain

1956

• "I Put a Spell On You" by Screamin' Jay Hawkins
• "Little Demon" by Screamin' Jay Hawkins
• "The Train Kept A-Rollin'" by Johnny Burnette

1957

• "Suzie Q" by Dale Hawkins
• "Jailhouse Rock" by Elvis Presley
• "Gang War" by Gene Maltais

1958

• "Justine" by Don and Dewey
• "Rockin' This Joint Tonight" by Kid Thomas
• "Rock & Roll Guitar" by Johnny Knight
• "Love Me" by Jerry Lott (as the Phantom)
• "Rumble" by Link Wray
• "Sunglasses After Dark" by Dwight Pullen
• "Whistle Bait" by The Collins Kids
• "Bop-A-Lena" by Ronnie Self

1959

• "Rock and Roll Deacon" by Screamin' Joe Neal

1960

• "I Fought the Law" by The Crickets
• "Shakin' All Over" by Johnny Kidd & the Pirates

1961

• "Jack the Ripper" by Screaming Lord Sutch
• "Don't Worry" by Marty Robbins

1962

• "Miserlou" by Dick Dale
• "Palisades Park" by Freddy Cannon
• "The Girl Cant Dance" by Bunker Hill
• "Scream" by Ralph Nielson

1963

• "Louie Louie" by The Kingsmen
• "Surfin' Bird" by The Trashmen

1964

• "You Really Got Me" and "All Day and All of the Night" by The Kinks

1965

• "Action" by Freddy Cannon
• "My Generation" by The Who
• "The Train Kept A-Rollin'" by The Yardbirds

1966

• "Inside-Looking Out" by The Animals
• "Hold Tight!" by Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich
• "96 Tears" by ? and the Mysterians
• "Talk Talk" by The Music Machine
• "Wild Thing" by The Troggs

1967

• "I Can See for Miles" by The Who
• "Mr. Soul" by Buffalo Springfield
• "Purple Haze" by The Jimi Hendrix Experience
• "Sunshine of Your Love" by Cream
• "White Rabbit" & "Somebody to Love" by Jefferson Airplane
• "Down on Me" by Big Brother and the Holding Company
• "Street Singer" by Clear Light
• "You Keep Me Hangin' On" by Vanilla Fudge

1968

• "Fire" by The Crazy World of Arthur Brown
• "Born to Be Wild" by Steppenwolf
• "Voodoo Child" by The Jimi Hendrix Experience
• "Helter Skelter" by The Beatles
• "The House at Pooneil Corners" by Jefferson Airplane
• ’’Hurdy Gurdy Man’’ by Donovan
• "A Trial In Our Native Town" by Savage Rose
• "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" by Iron Butterfly
• "Summertime Blues" by Blue Cheer

1969

• "21st Century Schizoid Man" by King Crimson
• "The Nile Song" by Pink Floyd

Notes

References

• Barnet, Richard D.; Burriss, Larry L. (2001). Controversies of the Music Industry. Westport: Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 0-313-31094-7.
• Borthwick, Stuart; Moy, Ron (2004). Popular Music Genres: an Introduction. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University. ISBN 0-7486-1745-0.
• Bukszpan, Daniel (2003). The Encyclopedia of Heavy Metal. New York: Barnes & Noble Publishing. ISBN 0-7607-4218-9.
• Buckley, Peter (2003). The Rough Guide to Rock. London: Rough Guides. ISBN 1-84353-105-4.
• Crocker, Chris (1993). Metallica: The Frayed Ends of Metal. New York: St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0-312-08635-0.
• De Leon, David (1994). Leaders from the 1960s. Westport: Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 0-313-27414-2.
• Everett, Walter (2008). The Foundations of Rock: From "Blue Suede Shoes" to "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes". Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-531023-3.
• Frith, Simon; Goodwin, Andrew (1990). On Record: Rock, Pop, and the Written Word. London: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-05306-4.
• Hoffmann, Frank W.; Howard, Ferstler (2005). Encyclopedia of Recorded Sound. New York: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-93835-X.
• Walser, Robert (1993). Running with the Devil: Power, Gender, and Madness in Heavy Metal Music. Hanover: Wesleyan University Press. ISBN 0-8195-6260-2.
• Weinstein, Deena (2000). Heavy Metal: the Music and its Culture. New York: Da Capo Press. ISBN 0-306-80970-2.
• Buckley, Peter (2003). The Rough Guide to Rock. London: Rough Guides. ISBN 1-85828-201-2.