The Who album that “invented heavy metal”, according to Pete Townshend
In the 1960s, the Brits beat the Americans at their own game, building upon the foundations of rock ‘n’ roll set out by Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry and Little Richard in the 1950s. The so-called British invasion wave began in 1964 when The Beatles scored their first US number one with ‘I Want To Hold Your Hand’ and played a highly influential set on the Ed Sullivan Show. The Who, The Kinks and The Rolling Stones were soon to follow.
Although these bands started on similar sonic coordinates, each grew into their respective niches. Most bands seemed to dabble in psychedelia in the late 1960s, some more successfully than others, but for the most part, The Rolling Stones were known for their blues-centric sound, The Kinks for British music hall influences and associative poetry, and The Who for Pete Townshend’s close-knit concepts and rock operas.
When tracing the heavy metal genre back to the 1960s, the trail forks off into diffusion. The most obvious starting point most fans will reference is Black Sabbath. The Ozzy Osbourne-fronted band fit the bill with a satanic visage, thumping rhythms and Tony Iommi’s razor-sharp guitar style. Yet, with Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple widely considered flanking proponents, Sabbath shouldn’t be regarded as sole pioneers.
When tracing the metal sound back to its roots, musicologists arrive at several different places in the 1960s. Some regard Paul McCartney’s 1968 song ‘Helter Skelter’ as a key turning point, while others reference Dave Davies’ accidental discovery of distortion or Keith Moon’s thunderous percussion.
Of course, these sources are not mutually exclusive. I wouldn’t personally discredit any of these sources, but I will point out that McCartney wrote ‘Helter Skelter’ in response to The Who’s heavier sound of late. The Beatles bassist had heard songs like John Entwistle’s ‘Boris the Spider’ and sought to beat The Who at their own game.
Some music fans trace metal as far back as Eddie Cochran’s 1958 classic, ‘Summertime Blues’, but for me, 1964 is a good starting point. The year bore witness to The Kinks’ ‘You Really Got Me’ and ‘All Day and All of the Night’. Around a year later, The Who released ‘My Generation’ in another significant milestone.
‘My Generation’ appeared once again on The Who’s 1970 album, Live at Leeds, this time stretched across 15 minutes of delicate ebbs and riotous flows. The album is often regarded among the best live recordings of all time and, as far as Townshend is concerned, a pivotal moment in the evolution of heavy metal. “We sort of invented heavy metal with Live at Leeds,” he told the Toronto Sun in 2019.
Continuing, The Who’s guitarist and principal songwriter claimed that Led Zeppelin and several similar contemporaries copied their style. “We were copied by so many bands, principally by Led Zeppelin, you know, heavy drums, heavy bass, heavy lead guitar.”
Live at Leeds was recorded in February 1970 and released three months later. At this point, Led Zeppelin already had two studio albums out and Black Sabbath had recently released their debut. With this in mind, it is reasonable to assume Townshend implied that The Who’s live presence through the late 1960s was the significant catalyst rather than the live album specifically.
Townshend continued to admit that other bands of the psychedelic era achieved similar successes in the live arena. “Some of those bands, like Jimi Hendrix, for example, did it far better than we did,” he added. “Cream, with Eric Clapton and Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker, they came along in ’67, same year as Jimi Hendrix, and they kind of stole our mantle in a sense.”
Concluding his thoughts, Townshend explained that there were several bands that musicologists scan trace metal back to. He conceded that The Who couldn’t bring that sort of energy to their modern-day concerts, adding, “Even if we wanted to, it was never high on my list of wishes.”
Listen to ‘My Generation’ from Live at Leeds below.