Black History Month: Blues evolution and the road to Metal.

By 1965, it was obvious that black American Blues was a HUGE influence on popular music, we heard about everyone from Robert Johnson to Muddy Waters, Little Richard to Chuck Berry.

But it was the white British bands popularising it and playing it back to white America. These ‘invasion’ bands also triggered the British Blues boom. Little did they know that this would evolve into the birth of another genre: Heavy Metal. This edition traces the bands and the key songs on this journey.  

The Yardbirds – Like Jimmy Reed again(1964) Invasion superstars featuring a young Jeff Beck.

The Beatles – Kansas City/Hey-hey-hey-hey (1964)  The Fab Four cover Little Richard.

The Rolling Stones – Talkin’ about  you (1965) Gritty Stones do a Chuck Berry number. 

John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers – All your love (1966) The Godfather of the British Blues Boom. 

Cream – Sweet Wine (1966) The first power trio supergroup. 

The Jimi Hendrix Experience – Purple Haze (1967) Rock would never sound the same again.

The Aynsley Dunbar Retaliation – Mutiny (1968) Ginger Baker wasn’t the only earthshaking drummer. 

Fleetwood Mac – The Green Manalishi (with the two pronged crown) (1969) Before the soft rock? Heavy blues! 

Led Zeppelin – Whole Lotta Love (1969) The road to metal is almost complete. 

Black Sabbath – Iron Man (1970) We’ve reached the end. Or is it the beginning?