The textbook, “Popular Music in America: The Beat Goes On”, introduces Led Zeppelin as originators of the heavy metal genre. While some arguments could be made to support this, there is another band also mentioned in the textbook that should take more of the spotlight for trailblazing the genre of heavy metal. The band Black Sabbath contributed more to the creation of heavy metal than Led Zeppelin in rhythm styles, song content, and band culture.

Black Sabbath came onto the music scene around the same time as Led Zeppelin, originating from England as well. The members were Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Bill Ward, and Geezer Butler and were responsible for vocals, guitar, drums, and bass respectively.

The rhythm sections of the two bands employ very different strategies. This is evident when you compare songs that were released within a short time of each other, “War Pigs” and “Good Times Bad Times”.

Let’s examine the drumming first. Bill Ward of Black Sabbath was a revolutionary drummer of the heavy metal genre. Listening to the live performance of “War Pigs” one can see that he plays with extreme speed and strength, hitting much harder than most drummers of the day. John Bonham of Led Zeppelin was a heavy hitter and massively influencial in his own right; however, his beats were always more about the groove rather than making the song sound as heavy as possible. The complex triplets on the kick-drum in “Good Times Bad Times” is a good example of that.

Black Sabbath’s guitar parts also moved their sound closer to heavy metal than Led Zeppelin. You could say most of their riffs are more simplified than much of Zeppelin’s catalog, but the heavy fuzzy tone and driving riffs from Tony Iommi’s guitar form the heavy base of the band. The intro to “Fairies Wear Boots” brings the heavy drums and guitar together in the signature Black Sabbath sound.

In a 2012 interview with David Letterman, the remaining members of Led Zeppelin joked about their songs being about sex, vikings, and vikings having sex; the same could not be said about Black Sabbath. Sabbath’s lyrics were much darker than Zeppelin’s and usually featured some commentary about the state of the world and society at the time. The song “N.I.B.” contains lyrics darker than almost all of the Led Zeppelin’s songs:

Now I have you with me, under my power
Our love grows stronger now with every hour
Look into my eyes, you will see who I am
My name is Lucifer, please take my hand
Oh yeah!

The genre of heavy metal is defined by much more than the sound of the music. Sometimes the nature of a band’s sound can bleed into their actions, leading to stereotypical actions of their respective genre. At their height, Led Zeppelin was one of the biggest rock bands of all time; and they partied like they were. Notorious for trashing hotels and flying around the world in their own airplane dubbed the Starship. These rock and roll antics do not bring the elements of heavy metal to life the way that Black Sabbath did. Frontman Ozzy Osbourne is known for biting the head off of a bat that a fan threw on the stage; this is far more “metal” than anything Robert Plant would complete in his career. Other aspects lead Black Sabbath to the heavier vibe of the band. For example, guitar player Tony Iommi had the tips of his left middle and ring finger severed in an accident that left him with fake tips on those fingers. Just these stories alone add to the folklore that support Black Sabbath as a true heavy metal band.

Led Zeppelin truly was a generational band that influenced many genres and to say they did not have an effect on heavy metal would be an unfair resolution; however, Black Sabbath directly contributed more to lead the genre of heavy metal towards how it is known today. Music is ever-evolving and takes inspiration from countless areas of people’s lives and experiences; Black Sabbath has contributed a great deal to that evolution.

This post is not intended to be graded; I just thought I’d inform you guys of some great local talent playing a show in his hometown this fall.

Jordan Cook (Reignwolf), will be playing at O’brians in Saskatoon on November 12th with tickets going on sale August 3rd. Jordan is a seriously talented musician and never fails to put on a good show.

Among the many great acts of the 2018 Saskatoon Jazz Festival was the outstanding blues show put on by Ben Harper and Charlie Musselwhite on the summer evening of June 29th.

Ben Harper’s band consists of the legendary bluesman Charlie Musselwhite on the harmonica, Jimmy Paxson on drums, Jason Mozersky playing lead guitar, and Jesse Ingalls on bass and piano. Ben Harper came to fame as a Californian singer-songwriter with his first album releasing in 1995. Recently, Ben has transitioned to being a true blues musician, evident in his work with Charlie. In the band’s current arrangement Ben provides lead vocals and some tasty slide work on his lap steel guitar. Jimmy Paxson is a dummer that has played with many major names in the music industry, but most notably he supported Stevie Nicks in her solo career. Jimmy is a hard hitting beat-layer and never fails to make whatever band he is with look good. Jason and Jesse are the perfect combo to round off the sound of the band. Between Jason’s blazing guitar solos and Jesse’s solid bass performance with some heartfelt piano when needed, Ben could not ask for more from his rhythm section. Charlie Musselwhite is an essential addition to the legitimacy of Ben’s blues show. Charlie is linked to many of the classic blues stars such as Muddy Waters; he is so linked to the genre that he was inspiration for the cult classic film “Blues Brothers”. (Harper, 2018) His harmonica playing is the last piece to the puzzle of Ben Harper’s sound. This whole blog post could be made up of Charlie’s musical prowess, but lets stick to the task at hand.

The show took place at the outdoor Jazz Fest MainStage on a beautiful summer’s evening. A fair-sized crowd was drawn and they were all itching to take in a great blues show. Crowd diversity was strong; including people that would have seen Charlie play in the 60’s, fans of Harper’s first songs in the 90’s, and people like me just going to take in a blues show in some summer air. Everyone can relate to some element of the blues and it was evident with the crowd that night.

Most of the songs played were off of Ben and Charlie’s most recent album, “No Mercy In This Land”, with some surprises thrown in. Ben’s band played in a modern country blues style revolving around harmonica and slide guitar. Beats were played to a medium tempo, exciting but not rushing you along. Ben kept the stage banter to a minimum and kept the momentum of the show going. Donald Trump even received a shoutout before the song “I Don’t Believe a Word You Say”, resulting in some whoops and chuckles from the crowd. The song had a defiant feel to and As the sun went down, the concert was slowed down with the ballad-like song “When Love is Not Enough”. This song was more reminiscent to Ben’s earlier work but fit the atmosphere perfectly. Jimmy Paxson also proved his worth with a scorching drum solo midway through the set that earned a well-earned cheer from the crowd.

The climax of the concert arrived during a masterful performance of the legendary blues song, “When the Levee Breaks”. Ben and Charlie bring the well-known Led Zeppelin version of the song together with the original by Kansas Joe McCoy and Memphis Minne. This Youtube video features a very similar version from a different concert.

Filling John Bonham’s shoes on this song is a tall order for any drummer, but Jimmy Paxson played the part perfectly. The drums in the intro echoing off the back of the Bessborough and into the gardens was a striking moment in the performance.  The band circled around the main melodic riff that Ben plays on his slide guitar and Charlie provided his signature harmonica to capture the mood of the song.

Following that amazing cover, the band stepped off the stage to ready for the encore. The crowd cheered until Ben and company stepped back on stage. Two songs were played then we were gifted a truly special concert moment. With the sun down and the 11:00 noise bylaws kicking in, Ben stepped into the crowd with the band playing soft piano and harmonica and belted “All That Matters Now” without a microphone. The whole gardens fell silent to take in the moment, leading to an intimate and memorable end to the show.

Going into the concert I wasn’t sure what to expect and I wasn’t overly familiar with Ben’s work. I knew he was a well-known musician with a lot of dedicated fans but I hadn’t made it to his music yet in my musical journey. I always enjoy being introduced to a new artist and this concert was the best introduction I could have asked for. Ben Harper is a modern day bluesman through-and-through and puts on a show that no one will be disappointed with.

(Low quality screenshot of my Instagram story for proof-of-attendence)

References

1. “Ben Harper and Charlie Musselwhite”. Ben Harper. (accessed July 19) http://www.benharper.com/band
2. “Tours and Setlists”. Ben Harper. (June 29, 2018) http://www.benharper.com/tour/setlists/2018/2018-06-29-sasktel-saskatchewan-jazz-festival

Ever since the dawn of the music business it has been the dream of many to hit it big in the industry. Musicians work their whole lives to get noticed in the music world and when the hard work doesn’t pay off, sometimes they may have to resort to alternative methods. This struggle to get noticed in the music industry became blatantly obvious during the Payola Scandal of the late 50’s.

In the music industry of old, radio was an effective marketing tool used by record labels to sell more of their artist’s albums. Rock ‘n Roll crazed teenagers would hear the hit songs on the radio and swarm to buy the new album or single from their favourite musicians. At that time in the music industry American disk jockeys (DJs) had all the power in what music was played on the radio. As is the case in many positions of power, bribery ensued. Musicians and promoters cutting cheques to DJs for airplay ran rampant within the industry. Dollar values of the bribes are mostly kept under the covers but one DJ reported being offered over $20,000 to spin a record during his show (that’s equal to well over $100k in today’s money) . Upon learning the scale of situation, the government enacted an investigation (Neira, n.d.)  Listen to Dick Clark of the hit television show, “American Bandstand”, share his experience of payola.

The degree of Dick Clark’s innocence is largely unknown, but shortly before the hearings he cut ties to several record labels he had a stake in. Ultimately Dick got off scot free, DJ Alan Freed on the other hand wasn’t so lucky. Freed made it clear that he was not going play nicely during the investigation and paid dearly for it. He lost he lost his job and fell victim to 26 counts of commercial bribery along with a hefty fine (Neira, n.d.)

Following the scandal, DJs lost power in making decisions on which music was played during their shows and lost their place at the top of the music promoting machine; however, this did not stop the flow of money to the radio industry. Since the DJs no longer made schedule choices, the power shifted to the head of the station (Neira, n.d.).

Today radio stations hold much less power in the music industry than they had in the past, mainly due to the rise of popular music streaming services like Apple Music and Spotify. Even in the age of music accessibility, forms of payola still remain. Spotify will observe your listening habits and build playlists for you, with a portion of those songs being sponsored. It is a feature that can be disabled on the premium version of Spotify, but it is proof that payola will always exist as long as there is a market to sell to (Sanchez, 2017). Playlists are one of the top ways people discover new songs and some sources state that even songs on a playlist unlabeled as sponsored have bought their place (Peoples, 2015). Once a song is featured on a top playlist its plays will spike, earning that artist visibility in the cut-throat modern-day music industry.

The existence of payola obviously affects the music we are exposed to massively. In an ideal music industry, quality music would rise to the top and that would guide labels to support their artists in making the music they want to make. The advent of payola lead labels to search for hit makers so they could get the most out fo their bribes, and increase their bottomline. The question is then, how many great acts slipped through the cracks because they weren’t able to get noticed?

Overall, payola is a burden on the music industry. On the surface it seems be the simplest way to get noticed and kickstart a musicians career, but it also stacks the table further against the musician in an already difficult market. There is no way that a small indie artist can compete with a record label for a spot on a top playlist, making signing that record deal even more important. Luckily we live in a world where there are countless alternative routes to be discovered as a musician, look no further than the yodelling boy from the isles of Walmart. Payola will continue to be a force in the music industry but more avenues open up launch a successful career, its effectiveness will dwindle.

References

1. Neira, Bob. “Payola Scandal Rocks 50’s Radio”. Modesto Radio Museum. (accessed July 19, 2018) http://www.modestoradiomuseum.org/payola.html
2. Sanchez, Daniel. “Spotify Introduces a Brand New Feature: Payola”. Digital Music News. (June 20, 2017) https://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2017/06/20/spotify-sponsored-songs-payola/
3. Peoples, Glen. “‘Payola’ Infiltrates Steaming Services: Pay Per Play is ‘Definitely Happening’. Billboard. (August 19, 2015) https://www.billboard.com/articles/business/6670475/playola-promotion-streaming-services

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