The History of Heavy Podcast

It's appropriate that our longest episode to date is a discussion about the 17+ minute, "Sister Ray," the longest song in the Velvet Underground's catalog (and it's also their heaviest). The improvised cacophony that the band created in 1968 would foretell everything from Sonic Youth to My Bloody Valentine. We excavate the details and the songs legacy after a long discussion about the announcement...

The first of what will be many episodes dedicated to power trios, each of whom prove that you can make a mighty racket with simply a guitar, bass and drums (plus plenty of loud amplification). The technical chops of Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker are undeniable but on this, their best known song, they simplify to the bare essentials to produce the heaviest track in their catalog and pro...

"Psychedelic" is probably the word most commonly associated with the 13th Floor Elevators. Their electric jug driven music doesn't necessarily lend itself to "heavy" however, the combination of Roky Erickson's manic squeal, Benny Thurman's bass and band's overall approach certainly had a significant influence on those that would come to define the term in the coming years and decades.    Recommend...

Coltrane's first foray into the world of the avant-garde is the focus of our first non-guitar/non-rock n roll centered episode. While lacking the screeching distortion or thundering bass often associated with heavy, one would be hard pressed to find a song weightier than the saxophonists 20 min+ improvisational free jazz masterstroke. Or as Dave puts it "this piece is the sheep's head of jazz."  ...

Once upon a time The Rolling Stones were hungry, dangerous, and yes, heavy. It all started with "(I Can't Get Know) Satisfaction," which may be difficult to understand today given the racket that metal, punk, industrial, hip hop, thrash, hardcore, death, doom, and grindcore acts have been making in the 60 years since it's release. We attempt to connect the dots.       Recommended Listening, Watchi...

You may not have heard of the Sonics but it's highly probable that Mudhoney, Nirvana and the whole of the Seattle grunge rock scene never would have existed without them. Their raw, gritty sound would be the template for thousands of guitar wielding teenagers hell bent on making a distorted racket. But were the Sonics "Heavy?" We discuss how and why they fit into our ongoing conversation to answer...

When Ray Davies sat at his piano in 1964 and wrote "You Really Got Me" he had no way of knowing that the song would not only kick start the success of his band, The Kinks' but also be the track responsible for launching Van Halen into superstardom fifteen years after the fact. You could even make the case the song's signature guitar riff (designed by Ray's bother Dave) was ground zero for what we...

"Louie Louie"  is the most covered song of all-time and  one of the earliest garage rock seeds to ultimately sprout punk rock, heavy metal and many of their sub-genres. Among the heaviest versions recorded include those by Motörhead, The Stooges and, Black Flag none of whom may have even existed without The Kingsmen's ragged version of Richard Berry's 1956 original. On episode 2 Mike and Dave disc...

The History of Heavy series premiere! We begin our chronology tracing the timeline of heavy music song by song in 1958 with Link Wray's "Rumble." Co-hosts Michael Huntsman & "Big-Daddy" Dave Lieberman discuss the social climate at the time, the emergence of the teenager and the origins of guitar distortion.    Recommended Listening, watching & reading   Electric Wizards: A Tapestry of Heavy Music...