Guest wrote:


"I don't consider Led Zeppelin metal music ...it is hard rock. Zep didn't give birth to metal - I think Ozzie and Black Sabbath did that with those "E down to D and back up to E" progressions, not to mention Ozzie's references to Satan and all, that have become part and parcel of any subsequent metal music, whether the reference is valid or not...(then Mettalica took that one step further with the "E to F" chord progression). Zeppelin's roots in the blues are enough to disqualify the music as being "metal." "



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...what? The very first "Metal" regardless if you think it was Zeppelin or Black Sabbath, clearly is rooted in the Blues. I think people time and time again make the mistake by continuing to defing Blues by the 12 bar progression because it's more than that. BLues is also the vocab of it's playing and it's colorings.


Anyway, here something for ,from the members of Black Sabbath and just exactly what their roots were... I'll highlight the main parts


From the book
Sabbath Bloody Sabbath : The Battle for Black Sabbath

Quote:


" David Donato brought many attributes to the table. Not only could he sing with the power and style required but he unquestionably looked the part too. "Vocally my timing was good. Personally I was into that Dio and Gillan type of style so that was a big plus for them. In my club days I was a Robert Plant clone—happy to admit it. I was also big on Ronnie James Dio, even back to the old Elf days. Lots of power and melody I like to think. I had done my modelling so for that I obviously I had to look good. I was 6 foot 2 inches and kept myself in good shape. I certainly have a presence. It's like Halloween every time I get on stage. From that point on we just rehearsed at the Rockhouse. I remember the Olympics were happening at the time and Bill and I would travel into rehearsals together, driving past the Coliseum, because we lived very close to each other, Bill on Seal Beach and me on Huntington Beach. This went on for a good many months. Just solid rehearsing." For Donato this would be an opportunity to witness some of his favourite musicians at close quarters. "Tony is a stylist completely on guitar. When you hear a riff of his you know exactly who it is and there are very, very few guitarists you could claim that of. It's interesting the Heavy Metal label the band has because Billy always said they were a Blues band. They knew all of that old stuff, had a great knowledge of it."

This observation about Sabbath's Blues heritage is poignant. Often overlooked it is vital to the understanding of Black Sabbath's immensely successful formula. They didn't title their fledgling act The Polka Tulk Blues Band for nothing. Geezer Butler backed this up, taking a momentary dip back into time when asked a question on the musical values of his 1997 solo record 'Black Science'. "I like to experiment, we all do. When I think of the hours and hours we have spent just jamming along in the studio. That's how we relax, have a good old blast with your mates and forget about everything else. If we could get paid just for that I would be very happy. Sometimes you forget why you're there. Oh, we have to make an album? Rehearse for a tour?

Most of our stuff goes back to 12 bar Blues really Our younger fans find that surprising sometimes. . When we were kids we started out playing along to those old records in just the same way people like Jimmy Page did. Back in those days that's how you leant to play. We taught ourselves. All our early gigs were Blues songs and that is what we were—a Blues band. We would be happy to just jam instrumentally for ages. I suppose the transition to Heavy Metal was through Tony and I developing these very simple three chord Blues riffs into something of our own. It was like, OK, where can we go with this? Alvin Lee of Ten Years After had a big effect on us too. Alvin was doing the same thing, taking the Blues but turning it around into something different. It's the same for Led Zeppelin, Jethro Tull and Deep Purple too, all those bands of that period, just expressed the Blues differently. Its all a tradition of the Blues so give us half the chance and we'll spend all day playing Willie Dixon. People seem surprised by that but I tell them, Heavy Metal would not exist without the Blues. Black Sabbath would not exist without the Blues.

Tony Iommi., talking to the author backstage at the Leicester De Montfort Hall in 1986, would acknowledge the Blues as central to the very essence of Black Sabbath. "When we started both Geezer and I were playing guitar and we learned everything we knew from the Blues.. Anyone who was serious about an instrument was either learning Blues or Jazz. The Blues is a great place to start, to build on and find your own style." Did Tony find a grounding in the Blues the reason for a dearth in quality of latter day Rock acts? He was diplomatic. . "I would recommend it to anyone. Don't pick up a guitar and try to play my riffs. Get hold of some old Howlin' Wolf or Willie Dixon records first. That's the way to start. Ask Jimmy Page, Brian May, Rory Gallagher or Gary Moore or any of those guys.The thing is there are so many bands around today I can't keep up. There were not that many bands around and it was very creative because everyone was trying to find something different. Everything was based on the Blues though—everything.

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