# Heavy metal music before 1970

Since the dawn of rock music in the 1950s and continuing through the 1960s, various artists pushed the boundaries of the genre to emphasize speed, aggression, volume, theatricality, and other elements that became staples of the heavy metal style. In the late 1960s, this experimentation coalesced into various rock subgenres like hard rock, acid rock, and psychedelic rock, which were all influential in the development of heavy metal. These albums would later be retroactively categorised as proto-metal.

## Bands formed
### 1955

* Hasil Adkins

### 1958

* Vince Taylor

### 1959

* The Kingsmen

### 1962

* The Rolling Stones
* Status Quo

### 1963

* The Animals
* The Kinks
* Pretty Things
* The Yardbirds

### 1964

* The Amboy Dukes
* Lynyrd Skynyrd
* MC5
* The Who

### 1965

* Big Brother and the Holding Company
* The Doors
* The Grateful Dead
* Jefferson Airplane
* Pink Floyd
* Quicksilver Messenger Service
* Scorpions

### 1966

* Black Widow
* Blue Cheer
* Cream
* The Jimi Hendrix Experience
* Iron Butterfly
* Moby Grape
* The Move
* Slade
* Stray

### 1967

* Blue Öyster Cult
* Budgie
* The Deviants
* Elf
* Jeff Beck Group
* Jethro Tull
* Steppenwolf
* The Stooges
* Vanilla Fudge

### 1968

* Accept (as Band X)
* Alice Cooper
* Black Sabbath (as Earth)
* Breakout
* Deep Purple
* Edgar Broughton Band
* Free
* Grand Funk Railroad
* Led Zeppelin
* Meat Loaf
* Nazareth
* Rush (as The Projection)
* Sir Lord Baltimore
* Sweet
* Warpig
* Writing on the Wall

### 1969

* The Allman Brothers Band
* April Wine
* Argent
* Atomic Rooster
* Bang
* Blackfoot
* Blind Faith
* Bloodrock
* Blue Mountain Eagle
* Blues Creation
* Brownsville Station
* Cactus
* Coven
* Crushed Butler
* Dust
* Elonkorjuu
* Eloy
* Epitaph
* Faces
* Focus
* Gary Moore
* Grand Funk Railroad
* Granicus
* Hawkwind
* High Tide
* Hookfoot
* Humble Pie
* Iron Claw
* Jacula
* Josefus
* Judas Priest (as Freight)
* Juicy Lucy
* King Crimson
* Leaf Hound
* Little Free Rock
* May Blitz
* Morly Grey
* Mott the Hoople
* Mountain
* Neon Rose
* New Riders of the Purple Sage
* November
* Pink Fairies
* Thin Lizzy
* Titanic
* Toe Fat
* Trapeze
* Truth and Janey
* Tucky Buzzard
* UFO
* Uriah Heep
* Wishbone Ash
* ZZ Top

## Songs
### 1949

* "Cold Blooded Blues" by The Great "Gates" & His Wampus Cats

### 1950

* "Boogie In The Park" by Joe Hill Louis

### 1951

* "How Many More Years" by Howlin' Wolf

### 1954

* "Cotton Crop Blues" by James Cotton
* "I'm Gonna Murder My Baby" by Pat Hare
* "Space Guitar" by Johnny "Guitar" Watson

### 1955

* "No More Hot Dogs" by Hasil Adkins
* "A Cutie Named Judy" by Jerry McCain

### 1956

* "I Put a Spell On You" by Screamin' Jay Hawkins
* "Little Demon" by Screamin' Jay Hawkins
* "The Train Kept A-Rollin'" by Johnny Burnette

### 1957

* "Suzie Q" by Dale Hawkins
* "Jailhouse Rock" by Elvis Presley
* "Gang War" by Gene Maltais

### 1958

* "Justine" by Don and Dewey
* "Rockin' This Joint Tonight" by Kid Thomas
* "Rock & Roll Guitar" by Johnny Knight
* "Love Me" by Jerry Lott (as the Phantom)
* "Rumble" by Link Wray
* "Sunglasses After Dark" by Dwight Pullen
* "Whistle Bait" by The Collins Kids
* "Bop-A-Lena" by Ronnie Self

### 1959

* "Rock and Roll Deacon" by Screamin' Joe Neal

### 1960

* "I Fought the Law" by The Crickets
* "Shakin' All Over" by Johnny Kidd & the Pirates

### 1961

* "Jack the Ripper" by Screaming Lord Sutch
* "Don't Worry" by Marty Robbins

### 1962

* "Miserlou" by Dick Dale
* "Palisades Park" by Freddy Cannon
* "The Girl Cant Dance" by Bunker Hill
* "Scream" by Ralph Nielson

### 1963

* "Louie Louie" by The Kingsmen
* "Surfin' Bird" by The Trashmen

### 1964

* "You Really Got Me" and "All Day and All of the Night" by The Kinks

### 1965

* "Action" by Freddy Cannon
* "My Generation" by The Who
* "The Train Kept A-Rollin'" by The Yardbirds

### 1966

* "Inside-Looking Out" by The Animals
* "Hold Tight!" by Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich
* "96 Tears" by ? and the Mysterians
* "Talk Talk" by The Music Machine
* "Wild Thing" by The Troggs

### 1967

* "I Can See for Miles" by The Who
* "Mr. Soul" by Buffalo Springfield
* "Purple Haze" by The Jimi Hendrix Experience
* "Sunshine of Your Love" by Cream
* "White Rabbit" & "Somebody to Love" by Jefferson Airplane
* "Down on Me" by Big Brother and the Holding Company
* "Street Singer" by Clear Light
* "You Keep Me Hangin' On" by Vanilla Fudge

### 1968

* "Fire" by The Crazy World of Arthur Brown
* "Born to Be Wild" by Steppenwolf
* "Voodoo Child" by The Jimi Hendrix Experience
* "Helter Skelter" by The Beatles
* "The House at Pooneil Corners" by Jefferson Airplane
* ’’Hurdy Gurdy Man’’ by Donovan
* "A Trial In Our Native Town" by Savage Rose
* "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" by Iron Butterfly
* "Summertime Blues" by Blue Cheer

### 1969

* "21st Century Schizoid Man" by King Crimson
* "The Nile Song" by Pink Floyd