did Jimi Hendrix event Heavy Metal?

originally posted by: StallionDuck

originally posted by: mtnshredder
I’ve always hated the term “heavy metal” because it’s very open to interpretation. I think you have to give credit to Dave Davies of The Kinks for inventing distortion back in 1962. He used to slash his speakers with razor blades to get a distorted sound without that tone metal as we know it wouldn’t exist.

The Scorpions started in 1965 and were very heavy come the early 70’s. Judas Priest started in 69 but their early stuff wasn’t really Metal. Bands like Cream, Iron Butterfly, Mountain, Deep Purple, Hendrix, Zeppelin all had heavy guitar but I’m not to keen on labeling them Heavy Metal. If I had to say one band that was responsible for Metal I think it would be Sabbath but again, Im not a big fan of the term Heavy Metal.

Tom Sholtz of Boston invented the "RockMan".... So maybe Boston invented Heavy Metal...

Nah, that was just an attenuator which allowed you to crank up your amp to get max drive but at a lower volumes, which is why he has such a compressed tone. He also stacked tracks which gave him that wall of sound. Great tone he had for the music he did though. I also use an attenuator to crank my Marshall at lower volumes, they work great if used properly.

I'd argue that "heavy metal" was more than just a musical sound, but was also a fashion movement.

The battle jackets with patches, the band shirts, the denim, the shapeless long hair.

I guess it was a subculture on its own for a while.

Doubtlessly biker culture was one influence, although Judas Priest is often credited with adding the studs and leather.