K.K. DOWNING: THE GENESIS OF JUDAS PRIEST

If you’re going to do a feature on the 50 years of Judas Priest, you need to include a member that’s been there from the very beginning – and no one is more appropriate to chat with than guitarist K.K. Downing. He took what was known at the time as a progressive blues band named Judas Priest in the Midlands region of England and developed the music into a more cutting-edge sound. Before vocalist Rob Halford joined Priest in 1973, the band consisted of Downing, vocalist Al Atkins, bassist Ian Hill (who became Halford’s brother-in-law) and a drummer named Chris “Congo” Campbell. Eventually the band would morph into something completely different and extraordinarily unique, as Downing will explain.

Let’s go back to the beginning. How did you first meet singer Al Atkins? How did it all happen?

K.K. DOWNING: I don’t know how old I was. I think I was probably 17 or something, and I lived on this housing estate. And I used to see this van, this old beat-up van, going through the estate and it had spray painted on it, “Judas Priest.” I’m thinking, “Wow, that’s so cool.” Because this long-haired guy was driving the van, you know, and his name was Johnny Ward — and he would become Deep Purple’s tour manager — but anyway, I thought it was so cool. I wanted to be in that band. I didn’t care what they