Today In Music History

Unto Rock a Child is Born

True story, mostly:

Exactly 59 years ago today, in a sooty industrial city in England, something happened that would change the course of popular music forever. A baby was born. His name was Terence Butler.

One night, years later when he was a teenager, Terence had a terrible waking nightmare. He saw an ominous, faceless figure standing at the foot of his bed. The cloaked apparition said nothing but had a malicious, negative energy. Terence was paralyzed with fear. He closed his eyes tight and vowed to never again dabble in the occult, as he had been reading a book of spells and incantations. When he opened his eyes again, the figure had vanished.

The next morning, Terence told his friend John Osbourne about the apparition. Terrance and John were in a bluesy garage band together, so John wrote some song lyrics about Terence's ghastly encounter. Their band-mate Tony wrote a suitably spooky guitar lick for it using a three-note chord known as the tritone -- a dissonant sound that was known in the Middle Ages as diabolus in musica ("the Devil in Music"). One day the band members walked into a studio, recorded that song and a few others, and walked out several hours later with their debut album.

And just like that, heavy metal was created. The band was called Black Sabbath. Their album was called Black Sabbath. And that song about Terence's enounter with the cloaked ghoul was called -- yep! -- Black Sabbath.

The singer, John Osbourne, became better known by his nickname, Ozzy. Terence went by the monicker Geezer (which, now that he's almost 60, is finally becoming appropriate).

That album changed everything. Rock music had never before sounded so scary, so intense, and so heavvvvyyyy.

It was arguably the most influential rock album of all time (it's my argument and I'm sticking to it). If a band's "influence" can be measured by the number of tribute albums made in its honor, Black Sabbath is the clear winner. At last count, there were nearly 30 Black Sabbath tribute albums on the market, including: a bluegrass tribute, a string quartet tribute, two lounge music tributes, an Indian music tribute, about a dozen metal tributes (naturally), a medieval music tribute, and a collection of Black Sabbath songs rejigged as lullabies.

And none of it would have happened if, 59 years ago today, a kid named Terence Butler hadn't been born.

It also helps that a cloaked demon (or perhaps his mother in her nightgown) spooked him one night in the dark.