"Sweet Leaf"
Song by Black Sabbath
from the album Master of Reality
Released21 July 1971 (1971-07-21)
Recorded1971
StudioRecord Plant, Los Angeles
Genre
Length5:05
LabelVertigo (UK)
Warner Bros. Records (US)
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 (1971), released on July 21, 1971.[3] It is considered one of the band's best songs[4] and was included on their 1976 greatest hits compilation We Sold Our Soul for Rock 'n' Roll.[5]

Overview

The song begins with a tape loop of guitarist Tony Iommi coughing from a joint he was smoking with bandmate Ozzy Osbourne.[6] The song's subject is cannabis, which the band was using frequently at that time.[7] The title of the song was taken from a packet of Irish cigarettes that read "It's the sweet leaf".

Significance

"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.[8] 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".[9]

Samples and covers

The main guitar riff, paired with a loop of a drum sample from Led Zeppelin's "When the Levee Breaks",[10] is the instrumental basis of the Beastie Boys' song "Rhymin & Stealin", the first track on their breakthrough album Licensed to Ill (1986).[11]

The Butthole Surfers reworked the song as "Sweat Loaf" (1987).[12]

The Red Hot Chili Peppers play the riff as the outro to their hit song "Give It Away" (1991).[13]

References

  1. ↑ Steve Huey. "Master of Reality - Black Sabbath". AllMusic.com. Retrieved December 28, 2021. Classic opener "Sweet Leaf" certainly ranks as a defining stoner metal song, making its drug references far more overt (and adoring) than the preceding album's "Fairies Wear Boots."
  2. ↑ The Music Sound, Nicolae Sfetcu 2014
  3. ↑ "Black Sabbath - Master Of Reality". Discogs. 1971. Retrieved 2021-11-05.
  4. ↑ "Readers' Poll: The 10 Greatest Black Sabbath Songs". Rolling Stone. 2013-05-01. Retrieved 2021-11-05.
  5. ↑ "Black Sabbath - We Sold Our Soul For Rock 'N' Roll". Discogs. 1975. Retrieved 2021-11-05.
  6. ↑ Songfacts. "Sweet Leaf by Black Sabbath - Songfacts". www.songfacts.com. Retrieved 2021-11-05.
  7. ↑ ByComplex. "The Best Songs About Weed". Complex. Retrieved 2020-03-29.
  8. ↑ "Bands that Influenced Stoner Rock - RYM/Sonemic". Rate Your Music. Retrieved 2021-11-05.
  9. ↑ "Billy Corgan on Black Sabbath: 'This is What God Sounds Like'". 30 November 2022.
  10. ↑ "When Beastie Boys Stole Led Zeppelin Samples for 'Licensed to Ill". 15 November 2016.
  11. ↑ Lifton, Dave (4 May 2012). "Top 10 Beastie Boys Songs With Classic Rock Samples". Ultimate Classic Rock. Archived from the original on 7 March 2021. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
  12. ↑ Huey, Steve. "Locust Abortion Technician - Butthole Surfers". AllMusic.com. Archived from the original on 13 January 2022. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
  13. ↑ Huey, Steve. "Give It Away - Red Hot Chili Peppers". AllMusic.com. Archived from the original on 30 January 2022. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
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