Coinage of Musical Term "Heavy Metal"

[Fred Shapiro]

Jesse Sheidlower asked me about the coinage of "heavy metal" referring
specifically to music (I previously had pushed back the William Burroughs
prehistory of the term to 1962; OED's first use is 1973).  One of the
Research Editors for my quotation dictionary contacted "Metal Mike"
Saunders, who provided the citation for his coinage of the term
(remarkably, this was in the same issue of Creem that coined the term
"punk rock"):

1971 Mike Saunders in _Creem_ May 74  This album ["Kingdom Come" by Sir
Lord Baltimore] is a far cry from the currently prevalent Grand Funk
sludge, because Sir Lord Baltimore seems to have down pat most all the
best heavy metal tricks in the book.

(Saunders goes on to make comparisons to the MC5, Led Zeppelin, Blue
Cheer, and Free.)

Fred Shapiro