Vocalist, who has a history with two of the three bands, praised the relevance of rock’s “cursed trinity”
There are three bands from England, which emerged more or less in the same period — the end of the 1960s —, which are considered fundamental to the development of heavy metal as we know it. They are: Black Sabbath, Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin.
Ian Gillan There is a close story with two of them. He became known worldwide as the lead singer of purplerecording classic albums such as Machine Head (1972), Fireball (1971), In Rock (1970) and Perfect Strangers (1984). However, he was also part of the Black Sabbath in the first half of the 1980s, recording the album Born Again (1983).
Among the three bands mentioned, which would be the most important for music? In an interview with The Sun (via website Igor Miranda), Gillan ended up offering a personal answer to that question. As expected, the 79-year-old artist did not promote a kind of “self-flattery”: his choice was not the Deep Purple.
Before, he reflected on how the three groups formed a kind of “cursed trinity” of heavy music.
Just like ‘sex, drugs and rock and roll’, the ‘damn trinity’ was created entirely by our good friends, the music journalists. We knew them, we drank with them and they put into words what everyone was doing: something distinctive and identifiable.”
By highlighting, finally, the most important band among the three, Ian praised the work of one of the members in particular. He said:
To a certain extent, Sabbath was the most important because without them, there would be no Seattle (the city where the grunge movement was born) or heavy metal. What Tony (Iommi, Black Sabbath guitarist) was doing in those early days was incredible. It was so powerful.”
This does not, of course, reduce the weight of the other two groups. The singer says:
The three bands did something that had never been done before. They were putting into action all the things that other artists had been building over the previous 10 years.”
When everything changed for Ian Gillan
Still at The Sun, Ian Gillan reflected on how — and when — music changed his life. The singer highlighted the importance of radio for his artistic training, especially in a period where there were, in a way, not many options for “young music”.
The family radio was plugged into the wall and controlled by your parents, but suddenly we had a little thing (portable radio) that you could put in your pocket and take to the park or the beach. It wasn’t your parents deciding you should listen to Frank Sinatra, it was you thinking you could listen to Little Richard. This had a ripple effect for kids with wild thoughts.”
Gillan grew up in a musical family. His parents didn’t work in the field, but they loved music — his father had been an opera singer and both he and his mother played the piano.
My grandfather sang opera, my uncle was a jazz pianist, and I was a boy soprano in the church choir. But when I heard Elvis Presley singing ‘Heartbreak Hotel’, everything changed. I got into blues bands and then I was with a pop harmony group called Episode Six. We had about 12 singles. We were very good, not powerful instrumentally, but adequate.”
At that time, Ian joined the Deeppurple. With the band, he made history by releasing definitive albums of heavy music and also touring the world — with several visits to Brazil, in a career that exceeds the 60-year mark.
Source: Rollingstone
Earl Johnson is a music writer at Gossipify, known for his in-depth analysis and unique perspective on the industry. A graduate of USC with a degree in Music, he brings years of experience and passion to his writing. He covers the latest releases and trends, always on the lookout for the next big thing in music.
