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"Sweet Leaf" | |
---|---|
Song by Black Sabbath | |
from the album Master of Reality | |
B-side | After Forever [1] |
Released | 6 August 1971 |
Recorded | 1971 |
Studio | Record Plant, Los Angeles |
Genre | |
Length | 5:05 |
Label | Vertigo (UK) Warner Bros. Records (US) Philips (PH) |
Songwriter(s) | Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, Bill Ward |
Producer(s) | Rodger Bain |
"Sweet Leaf" is a song by English heavy metal band Black Sabbath from their third studio album Master of Reality , released in August, 1971. [4] A single of the song was released in the Philippines. [1] It is considered one of the band's best songs. [5] It was later included on their 1976 greatest hits compilation We Sold Our Soul for Rock 'n' Roll . [6]
The song begins with a tape loop of guitarist Tony Iommi coughing from a joint he was smoking with bandmate Ozzy Osbourne. [7] The song's subject is cannabis, which the band was using frequently at that time. [8] The title of the song was taken from a packet of Irish cigarettes that read "It's the sweet leaf".
"Sweet Leaf", and the Master of Reality album as a whole, arguably represents the earliest example of the music that would influence the emergence of stoner rock in California in the early 1990s. [9] [ deprecated source ] A compilation album, also titled Sweet Leaf, comprising covers of Black Sabbath songs by stoner rock bands, was released by Deadline Music in 2015.
Billy Corgan has cited the significance of 'Sweet Leaf' as an influence on The Smashing Pumpkins sound in numerous interviews, noting that he first heard the song from his uncle's copy of 'Master of Reality' when he was 8 years old and thought "this is what God sounds like". [10]
The main guitar riff, paired with a loop of a drum sample from Led Zeppelin's "When the Levee Breaks", [11] is the instrumental basis of the Beastie Boys' song "Rhymin & Stealin", the first track on their 1986 debut album Licensed to Ill . [12]
The Butthole Surfers reworked the song as "Sweat Loaf" on Locust Abortion Technician . [13]
The Red Hot Chili Peppers play the riff as the outro to their hit song "Give It Away" (1991). [14]
Black Sabbath were an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler, and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. They are often cited as pioneers of heavy metal music. The band helped define the genre with their first three albums Black Sabbath, Paranoid, and Master of Reality (1971). Following Osbourne's departure in 1979, the band underwent multiple line-up changes, with Iommi being the only constant member throughout its history.
The Smashing Pumpkins is an American alternative rock band from Chicago. Formed in 1988 by frontman and guitarist Billy Corgan, guitarist James Iha, bassist D'arcy Wretzky and drummer Jimmy Chamberlin, the band has undergone several line-up changes since their reunion in 2006, with Corgan being the primary songwriter and sole constant member since its inception. The current lineup consists of Corgan, Chamberlin, and Iha. The band has a diverse, densely layered sound, which evolved throughout their career and has contained elements of gothic rock, heavy metal, grunge, psychedelic rock, progressive rock, shoegaze, dream pop, and electronica.
Soundgarden was an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1984 by singer and drummer Chris Cornell, lead guitarist Kim Thayil, and bassist Hiro Yamamoto. Cornell switched to rhythm guitar in 1985, replaced on drums initially by Scott Sundquist, and later by Matt Cameron in 1986. Yamamoto left in 1989 and was replaced initially by Jason Everman and shortly thereafter by Ben Shepherd. The band dissolved in 1997 and reformed in 2010. Following Cornell's death in 2017, Thayil declared in October 2018 that Soundgarden would not continue, though they did reunite in January 2019 for a one-off concert in tribute to Cornell. Cornell, Thayil, and Cameron appeared on all of the band's albums.
Paranoid is the second studio album by English heavy metal band Black Sabbath, released on 18 September 1970, by Vertigo Records in the United Kingdom and on 7 January 1971, by Warner Bros. Records in the United States. The album contains several of the band's signature songs, including "Iron Man", "War Pigs" and the title track, which was the band's only Top 20 hit, reaching number 4 on the UK charts.
Master of Reality is the third studio album by English heavy metal band Black Sabbath, released in the United Kingdom on 6 August 1971 by Vertigo Records. It is regarded by some critics as the foundation of doom metal, stoner rock, and sludge metal. Produced by Rodger Bain, who also produced the band's prior two albums, Master of Reality was recorded at Island Studios in London from February to April 1971. Guitarist Tony Iommi and bassist Geezer Butler downtuned their instruments during the production, achieving what Iommi called a "bigger, heavier sound".
Gish is the debut studio album by the American alternative rock band the Smashing Pumpkins, released on May 28, 1991, by Caroline Records. The album was produced by Butch Vig and frontman Billy Corgan, with the latter describing Gish as a "very spiritual album" and "an album about spiritual ascension".
"War Pigs" is an anti-war protest song by English heavy metal band Black Sabbath, released in 1970. It is the opening track from the band's second studio album Paranoid (1970).
Black Sabbath is the debut studio album by English heavy metal band Black Sabbath, released on 13 February 1970 by Vertigo Records in the United Kingdom and on 1 June 1970 by Warner Bros. Records in the United States. The album is widely regarded as the first true heavy metal album, and the opening title track, "Black Sabbath", was named the greatest heavy metal song of all time by Rolling Stone, and has been referred to as the first doom metal song.
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Masters of Reality is an American rock band formed in 1981 by frontman Chris Goss and guitarist Tim Harrington in Syracuse, New York, United States. They took the name for the band from a misprinted label of the third Black Sabbath album, Master of Reality. Goss has remained the only constant band member.
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"Black Sabbath" is a song by the English heavy metal band of the same name, written in 1969 and released on their eponymous debut album in 1970. In the same year, the song appeared as an A-side on a four-track 12-inch single, with "The Wizard" also on the A-side and "Evil Woman" and "Sleeping Village" on the B-side, on the Philips Records label Vertigo. In Japan and the Philippines, a 7-inch single on the Philips label was released with "Evil Woman, Don't Play Your Games with Me" on the A-side and "Black Sabbath" on the B-side.
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