In your enthusiasm you ignore Blue Cheer, Iron Butterfly, Steppenwolf, Led Zeppelin and Mountain; all acts that did Metal before Black Sabbath was around. The Jimmy Hendrix Experience was very metallic live, you should've heard them do "Spanish Castle Magic", "Purple Haze" and "Little Miss Lover" live. The Who was also very metallic live then, they roared. One can also argue that Dave Allan and The Arrows were early Metal performers.
I know every band and every song you mentioned 'oh so too well!!' I was a teenager when their albums first came out.
'Just saw' Leslie West, about 15+ years ago
...he was fantastic. Blew everyone away, including me, in the first 2 1/2 minutes! It felt sooo goooood. He had people standing on their seats screaming at the top of their lungs. And that's saying a lot considering were all old farts now! haha. He came on stage by himself and just w-a-i-l-e-d guitar for 2.5 minutes. It was 'stunning'. Out of control. Then he just stopped, looked at the audience, and said, word for word: "Oh $hit, I'm just Fu*king around!". I'll never forget it. Then the audience just went bezerk again. lol. It was too much, it really was....it was cool. Really something else! Quite a 'moment'.
And everyone else thought the same. Something else.
It was
great to hear some 'real' guitar playing.
I mentioned Zeppelin.
Zep WAS my band, and P. Floyd and Stones. But to me Zeppelin isn't 'Heavy Metal'. They are Heavy Blues Rock band. 'Lead' Zeppelin (Moonie).
Iron Butterfly and Steppenwolf - great bands but not super bands. But they were outstanding! Totally in sync with the times and what was happening. Steppinwolf's MFSL CD used price is through the roof. $$$
Another innovative great: Janis. And Velvet Underground...and Lou Reed.
Spanish Castle Magic: It was one of my favorite songs and regular daily plays on the juke box back in 1968 +/-. "That's Bob Dylan's mother over there." I played it religiously. Like Wooly Bully!! haha. Now Sam the Sham!!! Sam the Sham absorbed my brain. Mally told Hally... If I see it on a juke box, I play it 5 times! Sam the Shams 'Greatest Hits' is great.
Never heard of Dave Allan and The Arrows??? I've heard the name David Allen, I think, ... Never really listened to Blue Cheer. Who's Blue Cheer? (I've heard the name before, decades ago. Not being negative: I don't really care who they are. If I would of liked them...I would of bought their LP. Same with David Allen, or maybe I'm thinking about David Allen Coe?)
Innovative? Arlo Guthrie: Alices Resturaunt! Wonderful LP. Absolutely a 'sign of the times'.
Yeah, I'm old.
Elvis? He did rock it. He is 'The King'. But I never really got into him. Not at all actually. Too Chicago for me. I'm not into the greased hair thing. But I did buy the MFSL CD for kicks and giggles. Played it once. I'm going to give it to my cousin, she loves Elvis.
Saw the Kingsman playing Louie Louie in Zaire Department Store in the record department. They were just kids like me! Well, older kids. They sang 6 songs to promote their LP and Louie Louie that was playing on the radio endlessly. So cool.
Ditto on the Moody Blues. Another band that really hit the 'sign of the times'. I have their MFSL CDs. They were great!
That's my take on it anyway.
And then there's Santana!
Jefferson Airplane: Super Innovative for San Francisco. I was there at the time.
