2007 World Tour Information

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BLUE CHEER

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"What Doesn't Kill You" (Rainman; 2007)

Reviewed by R. Scott Bolton

Ever wonder what Black Sabbath crossed with ZZ Top might sound like? If so, Blue Cheer have the answer with their brilliant "What Doesn't Kill You." What's even more amazing: Blue Cheer aren't just some band emulating the classic sound of the early days of heavy metal. No, they were actually there at the beginning. The band's first album was released nearly 40 years ago and some say they are the fathers of modern stoner rock.

Yeah, there have been some line-up changes over the years but, unless you know in advance, you'd never guess that a band almost four decades old is behind "What Doesn't Kill You." The music is lively and sharp, the musicianship incredible, and the songwriting, like most great stoner music, retro but modern. I've only heard the band's previous hits and have not explored their substantial catalog (which I plan to do now) so I can't tell you how this CD compares to the band's previous work. But I can tell you this: "What Doesn't Kill You" stands on its own as a great record. It wouldn't matter if this were the band's first CD or their most recent.

In addition to the awesome musicianship (what would you expect for a band that's been around as long as Blue Cheer?), the production on this CD is another star, giving the bluesy music a heavy backdrop that supports, rather than smothers, the kick-ass solos here. And, not only are the band obviously hugely talented musicians, but they've got an energy and charisma that gives "What Doesn't Kill You" even more power.

A stunningly terrific album from a legendary band, "What Doesn't Kill You" will appeal to fans not only of Blue Cheer but of bands such as Queen of the Stone Age, Fu Manchu and others.

Blue Cheer: Dickie Peterson, Andrew 'Duck' MacDonald, Paul Whaley.

For more information, check out http://www.bluecheer.us. 

 

Friday, September 14

Blue Cheer - What Doesn´t Kill You (New US Heavy Album 2007) Five star from me * * * * *

 

 

Size: 105 Mb
Bitrate: 256
mp3
ripped By: ChrisGoesRock
Artwork Included

Blue Cheer can lay a pretty legitimate claim to siring, via Mudhoney and Queens of the Stone Age, both grunge and stoner rock, so when they returned to the studio in 2007 to record WHAT DOESN'T KILL YOU it was as elder statesmen and the originators of ideas that spawned big business. Not bad for a bunch of former recreational drug-indulgers with loud riffs and a wah pedal. The youthful energy that made VINCEBUS ERUPTUM such a masterpiece has evolved into technical mastery here, and with modern production values the band's trademark distortion sounds like deep stoner ear candy. The material isn't the strongest the band has ever worked with, but the Cheer has always been a bad blues cover band at heart and songwriting was never a forte. Volume and audacity were, however, and WHAT DOESN'T KILL YOU delivers plenty of both. [CD Universe]
 

 

Well, here we are, in 2007 with a brand spankin' new studio album from Blue Cheer. Who'da thunk it? This is the first studio album made towards an American audience in over 20 years. I must have listened to this album at least 2 times a day (With some tracks getting multiple plays) and, well.....

First off, I must say, the sound quality is excellent. They even employ different drum sounds, which is a plus. Too many of today's albums have *YAWN* the same drum sound throughout, making some of the songs indistinguishable. Not here. Duck employs several tones from his guitar, both rhyhmically and lead-wise. Very nice. Matter of fact, I think Duck's sound is more integrated into the bands sound than his previous studio outing with the band, and this is a good thing. Dickie's voice, while sounding a bit strained at times, is still edgy, with the sound of a man who has traveled many, many hard roads, and this adds to the rough edge to the band's sound. His bass isn't as up-front as I would have liked, but then, Blue Cheer has many elements.

 

The songs? They run the gamut from slow, emotion-drenched stuff like "Young Lions In Paradise" and "No Relief" to all out blues-based rockers such as "Malajusted Child" and "Rollin' Dem bones". The mood is not constant here, which makes for a varying album, and this is a huge plus in my book. It makes every track a nugget in it's own regard.

 

The drumming throughout is excellent, and very much tight with Duck. As a drummer myself, I tend to focus in on the sound and tones of the drums, as well as the player. Blue Cheer has had many able-bodied drummers in their ranks over the years (Norman Mayell, Terry Rae, Michael Fleck, Brent Harknett, Billy Carmisi, Dave Salce, Gary Holland, Joey Hasselvander), but original drummer Paul Whaley essentially set the tone and what we expect from a Blue Cheer drummer, and with the possible exception of Brent, Joey Hasselvander comes closest to capturing the vibe and style of that sound and style. His tracks on this album are first-rate, and if Paul was not able to make it with BC, then Joey would be my personal pick for a drummer. But, Paul Whaley? What can you say? He still plays as if his life depended on it, and locks in very nicely with Duck, particularly on the track "Malajusted Child".

 

Duck really comes into his own with this album, and is, at this point, an indsipensable part of BC. I like his playing and tones much, much more than on "Highlights And Lowlives". He achieves a fuller sound, and is more blues-based and generally veers from a "metallic" sound. Plus, much like Tony Rainier before him, he has helped to steer the band back on course, by managing the band, producing the CD and co-writing many of the songs. Plus, his singing on "Born Under A Bad Sign" adds a whole new dimension to the band. More singing from Duck I say!

Dickies voice is reminiscent of his work on his solo album "Child Of The Darkness" and sounds a little strained at times, but again, it's amazing the guy has survived, so this is not a detriment but an asset, as his voice adds to the road-weary, fought-many-battles-but-still-survives vibe that is BC today.

 

Overall, I think this album is a terrific addition to any BC collection. It's more varied than any BC album since "New! Improved!" To me, it's a great companion piece to Dickie's "Child Of The Darkness" album (Which, IMHO, was a BC album in disguise, and more of a BC album in sound and spirit than the last 2 Phillips albums.) With this new album, it also gives this version of Blue Cheer stronger legs. They now have 2 solid studio albums and one great live album ("Live In Japan") under their belts. They can play stuff from the first 2 albums (Which Duck does some of on the live CD), stuff from their 2 studio albums and even stuff from "The Beast Is Back", as the live album has several of those on it, with of course Duck on guitar. This new album doesn't spend time in my player simply because it's a BC album; It spends time in my player because it's a great BC album, and grows on me with each and every listen. I would highly recommend this album, to any fans of BC in particular and any fans of blues-based hard rock in general. This album sounds more vital and alive than most new bands today. [Amazon.com]

"What Doesn't Kill You..."? Well, what are you waiting for? GO AND BUY!!!!

They love us in Brazil!

Blue Cheer tearing it up in Philly!

 

Wednesday, November 16, 2005

TRIBUTE TO DICKIE FROM DON ATERS, FRIEND OF CHET, JANIS, HIPPIES OF THE WORLD Category: Music http://www.haightstreetmusicnews.com/blue_cheer.html   THE RETURN OF “BLUE CHEER & DICKIE PETERSON"       We who cherish those sunny days when music was the commonality and cultural acceptance was the rule of the day, any death of a “mover & shaker”, a pillar of our basic existence as “flower children” brings the harsh reality of our own existence.  We seem to be of less importance while dealing with a mourning period and pondering over the void that has been left.  There is no shape or color that defines the deeds of these noted, legendary people, but their nurturing of the tumultuous sixties and following years have allowed us to revere the past and brace for the future. It’s just a few months after the untimely demise of my friend Chet Helms and the cloak of darkness and despair has been somewhat alleviated by The Chet Fest at GAMH in San Francisco in July and the subsequent all day Chet Helms Memorial in Speedway Meadow, i.e., Golden Gate Park on October 29th.  Tribal Stomp indeed as aging icons inclusive of Paul Kantner, Country Joe McDonald, Lydia Pense, Annie Sampson, Barry Melton, Prairie Prince, Jerry Miller of Moby Grape, Terry Haggerty, Merl Saunders, Dave & Linda LaFlamme, The Charlatans David Freiberg, Pete Sears, Peter kaukonen, Lee Michaels, Harvey Mandel, Eric Burdon, the newer versions of Jefferson Airplane chanteuse personalities, Darby Gould & the sultry Diana Mangano…and the return of legendary bass player Dickie Peterson. It was the late sixties and with the youth of America in search of their own identity, the burgeoning political drama in a useless struggle in Vietnam swirling through the air on a regimented basis, the pilgrimage to the hippie capital of the world seemed imminent. The” big five” had made their mark on the now embryonic genre known as psychedelia and Jefferson Airplane, The Grateful Dead, The Charlatans, Big Brother & The Holding Company and Quicksilver messenger Service would forever be synonymous with the suburban area adjacent to Golden Gate Park.  The Matrix, The Ark, The Carasoul Club, The Fillmore Auditorium, The Fillmore West, Winterland, and The Avalon Ballroom would become a second home to these legendary bands but there were others who established a definitive cult following within the parameters of the counter culture and entrepreneurs like Bill Graham & Chet Helms. Sons Of Champlain, It’s A beautiful Day, Moby Grape, Steve Miller Blues Band, and…Blue Cheer.  Chet often spoke about his admiration for Dickie and as a youthful malcontent after the military; I saw the band during the early days as a power trio. Much like Jack Casady, Dickie was the prototypical musician/hippie of the day with perfect hair, adorned with the correct attire for a fledgling band amidst the backdrop of bare feet, flaxen haired women and the rolling knolls of Hippie Hill and Haight Street. How proud Chet would have been to see the masses come to celebrate the life of one of the last true “hippies” on this planet. After years in Europe the following for Dickie Peterson has not drifted into the recesses of our minds and after his blistering performance with Leigh Stevens and Prairie Prince on the 29th, and a return to continental United States, we wait to see the second coming of Blue Cheer.  He’s a link to the glory of the sixties, The Golden Age of “rock n roll” and as he lives and breathes the ideology of the day, we do the same.  There are but precious few of his ilk left and it is our responsibility to se that his name and impact on the genre and culture is not forgotten. As I promised Chet, I will do the same for Dickie; I think he deserves that much from all of us. As always, Cheers Don Aters – Haight Street Music News – 11/14/05

More Raves for Blue Cheer!

BLUE CHEER
Black Cat
Washington DC
April 18, 2007
  
Invariably, any description of a Blue Cheer live concert emphasizes the word "LOUD".  That was certainly true at their gig here in DC.  I don't remember the top of my skull vibrating quite like it did upon Paul Whaley's opening drum pounding.

But BC are so much more than just sheer volume.  With the rhythm duo of Dickie Peterson and Paul W together for 40 years along with "new" guitarist Andrew MacDonald for 20+ years, they are an extremely tight, physical and well drilled power machine.

They don't so much as play the songs as attack them and the audience with a vigor that belies their age.  Aspiring youngsters take note.  Old school does indeed rock.

The boys basically stuck with the first two albums which was fine by the small but appreciative audience.  The high energy level was sustained throughout with highlights like "Parchment Farm", "The Hunter" and "Out of Focus".  When Dickie started talking about being turned onto Eddie Cochran as a wee lad, you knew they were gonna launch their "big" hit "Summertime Blues".  Yeah, it still sounded awesome after all the years.

The set was closed out with a long, jammed out "Doctor Please" that featured some wild and wicked guitar from Andrew. He mobilized the fuzz and wah wah early and often all night long.

It all ended up with the encore "Roadhouse Blues" that shamed the Doors version.  This is how it was meant to be played - hard.

All hail the last of the original power trios: Blue Cheer! - Michael Downey

By Steve Wildsmith
Of The Daily Times Staff


Most aging rock stars can count on a few things if they stick with it as long as Blue Cheer’s Dickie Peterson has.

Callused fingers, grizzled appearances, hearing loss — they’re scars of a life spent playing for thousands, whipping crowds into a frenzy of electric guitar feedback and pounding drums. And Blue Cheer, which got its start in the mid-1960s, ranks right up there with the Rolling Stones as one of the longest-running rock bands.

Peterson, however, didn’t count on what his doctor would find the last time he went in for a physical.

“I’m very fit, but when the doctor looked in my ears, he said, ‘My God, what have you done to your ears? What do you do for a living?’” Peterson told The Daily Times this week. “At this point, I’m a little worried, so I tell him, ‘I’m a musician; why?’ And he said, ‘Because you have calluses on your eardrums.’

Click for full interview

BLUE CHEER
Interview: Pete Sargeant

In the mid/late 1960’s the Americans realised that they need a power trio or two as an answer to Cream and The Experience. But just as the original notion behind the Monkees as an ‘answer’ to The Beatles ended up creating something else altogether, San Francisco triumvirate BLUE CHEER evolved into something of its own. Dave at Planet Earth fixed up a backstage chat with the heavy band and off I went….
At The Borderline you’re never too far from the stage action and this lot’s reputation as noise-mongers turned out to be exaggerated, at least for tonight. When they take the stage they will be forcefully loud rather than atonal/Motorhead level – just as well as believe it or not the Blues content of the performance is pretty high. It doesn’t take me long to realise why either as when I meet the musicians – bass thumper and vocalist Dickie Peterson, drummer Paul Whaley (supposedly ill in recent weeks but showing no sign of this tonight) and guitarist Andrew ‘Duck’ McDonald – Duck dives for a BM! leaflet and launches into praise for Peter Green as an original influence. Yes, folks – another PG fan amongst the bands you follow…no great surprise. But one of Andy’s other main-men is none other than Kim Simmonds of Savoy Brown! Not only that but Andy toured as a member of Savoy a few years back. This is feeling pretty comfortable, but I deflect attention from those we have interviewed back to Blue Cheer themselves, who seem glad that it won’t just be Kerrang! types out there in the audience. What Andy seems to do is carry the original Guitar honcho Leigh Stephens’ parts as required but also add a very deep blues element to later-composed songs; hence what we hear tonight reprises the band’s well-known songs plus moodier live showcases, all very much as per their ‘Live In Japan’ release of the late 90’s. We don’t have much time so we dip into the group’s history and offshoots …

BM: So straight away we’re talking about a mutual hero – Peter Green
AM: Yeah – we’re in New York and they put this show together – Savoy Brown with Kim - and I played with him for three years – and also a new Blues guy comin’ up then called Vince Converse..

BM: Sunset Heights!
AM: You got it! Him and Innes Sibun were on the Peter Green tribute disc thing. I sat in with him cos I came in from Florida... anyhow Peter Green was there and he played. Nice guy, no bad vibes about him or anything. Pete Brown was there too, you know Brown’s now workin’ with Neal Schon (Santana/Journey etc - PS) and they’re writin’ some songs together

BM: The nearest I ever got to seeing Blue Cheer was catching Leigh Stephens with Silver Metre – Jeez, he had a WALL of amplifiers, it was quite frightening!
DP: That’s the first thing he did when he’d left Blue Cheer…

BM: Something about the Weather?
PW: “Red Weather” - that was his album title

BM: You didn’t play an awful lot over here in your initial years
DP: That’s right – we did play The RoundHouse (In Chalk Farm, up from Camden in London – PS) and the Royal Festival Hall

BM: Who was on with you at the RoundHouse?
DP: Traffic

BM: I saw the Doors and the Airplane there together, but if I’m correct did you have more in common with the Detroit bands really?
DP: Oh yeah – we played the Grande Ballroom there with the Stooges and the MC5! This show was really somethin’... this was a wild night! And we also played over here at a small club along with The Deviants (London underground band led by Mick Farren - PS)

BM: The album of ours that I love is your second, which is “Outside Inside”, and I can listen to that anytime. Don’t be offended but it seemed to me that the finesse caught up with the power there.

DP: (Nods) The first album “Vincebus Eruptum” was done basically ‘live’ – with a ‘stage’ set-up really, which is how the engineers had asked us to set up, like we would to play a gig. We blew up the studio the first day! The second album we had the same producer and I’d say it was our first venture into studio work, as you’d define it where we’d lay down basic tracks and then overdub what we needed. So with the songs featured on “Inside Outside” there’s all kinds of stuff included – organs, pianos, percussion things, choruses…

BM: Something I LOVE is ‘Feathers From Your Tree’, a psychedelic classic with the speeded-up piano…
DP: I was at that time working with a crew guy called Peter Wagner and a lot of those songs he’s the co-writer on ’em. He was not a musician per se but an excellent companion and collaborator

BM: Although Pete Brown is a musician and singer as well as a lyricist, I think Jack Bruce had a similar partnership thing going when they started with him

We speak about Jack’s recent op and also about another collaboration Bruce had in mind at the end of the Sixties involving him, Tony Williams and James Marshall Hendrix. Andy gives out a low whistle as his eyes roll to the ceiling.

BM: Your albums have really curious titles – “Oh Pleasant Hope”, “The Original Human Being”...almost like you had a Monty Python sense of humour coming through there
DP: Oh we knew all that stuff – but influences, you know all the time we see younger bands mentioning what we did and do so maybe you’re never all that conscious of how your music’s spreading, who it’s reaching… our style was that we wanted to use lots of amplifiers and if people told us we couldn’t, well we’d be all the more determined..

BM: Unfairly perhaps, Blue Cheer was always here thought to be just ‘a very loud band’. But clearly you don’t get by in the music business long-term just by making noise
DP: (Smiles) We don’t just make noise but we are loud! We play rock’n’roll and our rock’n’roll is extremely blues-influenced cos basically I AM a Blues player. It’s basic music with a heart – not this complicated digital stuff that you’re gonna hear on the radio all the time. Which is great in itself, but it’s not rock’n’roll! We’re what happens when you put three guys in a room with some instruments and let them rock and if you check back in fifty years’ time that’ll still be what you’re hearin’. It’s 10 percent musical knowledge and skill and then 90 percent Attitude!

BM: What was Oxford Circle?
DP: A band that Paul was playing in just before Blue Cheer

BM: With Gary Yoder?
DP: Yes – I stole Paul from them!

BM: Who is Hank Davidson?
DP: Hank is a biker from Germany that has a biker rock’n’roll band

BM: You were in that band for a while?
DP: Yeah I worked with him, I wasn’t really IN the band as such, I’d say I was a Featured Artist, I would go along to the shows and go on and do maybe four or five songs with them. The band there is ALL bikers

BM: Sort of a Rolling Thunder thing then?
DP: Yes – they don’t play what you’d term ‘normal events’ – more rallies. Their aspirations have nothing whatever to do with ‘Pop’ music, not at all. And the reason I like to play with them was they are real renegades

BM: Presumably you heard all your bands and most of ours but what moved you, to play?
DP: Stax/Volt – Wilson Pickett, Eddie Floyd. Hendrix understood that stuff... at certain times there’s people who move things to another level. The Beatles did that, Hendrix did that... in jazz, Miles Davis was a genius man… A Genius! The next guitar level is not here yet, maybe the guy is just bein’ born! Somebody IS goin’ to jump it up another spot

BM: Where do you live?
DP: Right now, in Cologne Germany – but I’m movin’ back to San Francisco

BM: One thing we had to learn here – there’s quite a difference between the LA groups, say Spirit, the Doors, and the SF bands which seem to have been a rainbow, cos you had the Airplane, Big Brother, Sons of Champlin... almost a world of music in that area alone
DP: (Emphatically) San Francisco at that time was a very exciting place for a musician to be. And I think the only way OUR band could happen was in that place. All the rules were thrown outta the window! Any direction is OK. When you went to a concert, you get several different kinds of music – rock, jazz, blues, folk, someone with a hurdy-gurdy! Even guys like Gabor Szabo..

BM: The Hungarian jazz guitar guy? “The Sorceror” album…captivating
DP: Now most people who listen to our music would not detect that as an obvious influence, but it’s just really great music. And if you have that ‘connecting’ attitude, you can be more effective with one note that a guy who can play five thousand notes in a bar

Andy, Dickie and I talk about Billy Gibbons, Phil Keaggy, Albert Collins, Buddy Guy, Grant Green... Andy loves the first Savoy Brown Album “Shakedown”. Dickie then explains how the original six-piece Blue Cheer including his own brother became a three-piece following a set-break row at a gig. Now that’s fallout! Also he wasn’t up to sing until the walkout and the vocalist mantle fell to him!

BM: It was supposed to happen though…
DP: I guess it was!

BM: One final thought – when they made ‘Jurassic Park’ and the dinosaurs appeared, SURELY the music should have been Blue Cheer’s ‘Out Of Focus’??
DP/AM: OF COURSE it shoulda been!! That would have been SO right!

On this note, Blue Cheer troop off to take the stage in a set that includes ‘Out Of Focus’, ‘The Hunter’, ‘Doctor Please’ and an aching blues original called ‘Blue Steel Dues’. Sharp set, great company, blues fans all - what a night…PS  

ESSENTIAL LISTENING
BLUE CHEER Vincebus Eruptum/Outside Inside
What we said (Blues Matters!, issue 15): “Being the first two Blue Cheer albums on one disc; the first tries to be the Yanks' answer to Cream and Hendrix power trios and misses that but becomes a noisy but spirited entity of its own. Not describable as sophisticated, this heavy-sounding threesome smash their way through 'Summertime Blues' and 'Parchman Farm' but do rather better for me on the originals by Peterson and especially on the insanely addictive 'Out Of Focus' with its deliberated riffing.  On the second album there is a much more psychedelic feel on such tracks as 'Sun Cycle' and 'Gypsy Ball'. You also get a stomp through Booker T's 'The Hunter' as also played by Albert King and Free and loads of others. Worth the admission alone: 'Feathers From Your Tree' which has eerie speeding-up piano and a raggedy psych rhythm, so evocative of the time. ALMOST Pretty Things standard but sadly not having a singer in Phil May's class, this cut gets an honourable 8+. It's good to have these songs available, well done Track!”

Blue Cheer

One Eyed Jacks

November 17, 2006 

I had no idea. I thought that since Blue Cheer preceded Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, they couldn't possibly have been as heavy. In fact, if Friday night at One Eyed Jacks was any example of how they sounded in their prime, Blue Cheer was heavier than Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath. Of course, I haven't seen Zeppelin or Sabbath live, so I have to judge by records alone. Zeppelin was too interested in mysticism and melody. They're right out. With industrial sonics and a more sludgy pace, Sabbath had a better chance against Blue Cheer, but they weren't psychedelic like Blue Cheer. And that was the water that made the pills go down. Not only was Blue Cheer oppressively heavy Friday night, their psychedelia created a constant stone(d) haze in the air.

I didn't know whether I wanted to headbang or go to sleep. At some point I just retired to a booth in the back to leisurely sprawl out and let the music make my eyelids even heavier than they already were.

The key to the band's effectiveness was the club's sound, which was presided over by the band's own sound dude. I've never heard the place sound better. A possible reason the band sounded so heavy was that the sound was so focused and direct. It went right into my chest, and that could have been why it strangely relaxed me.

Funny that the heaviest concert I've been to at One Eyed Jacks was played by middle aged dudes. But, then again, they know what they're doing better than anyone. Man, I had no chance at this concert. Before I knew what was happening, the band picked me up and body slammed me with their sound. Blue Cheer was a revelation. More than anything, they showed me how heavy things were and made me wonder why things weren't as heavy now. Must be the psychedelics.
 

They loved us in:

Kansas City (With the Haunted Creepies, July 11th)

Houston (With the Black Angels and God's Temple of Family Deliverance, July 15)

Performers:
Dickie Peterson - vocals, bass, song writer, founder
Paul Whaley, The Original Human Being - Drums, original member, there is no duplicate for this one
Andrew "Duck" MacDonald - guitar, song writer

Tuesday, November 21, 2006     
Review by Mad Brother Ward A myspace blog Chapel Hill
Category: Music


All hail the mighty BLUE CHEER!


Getting old, getting older. Once reckless youth, our best battles are behind us with only the scars to tell the tale. We are (hopefully) wiser, either through spiritual enlightenment or world-weary cynicism. Both work and basically it all boils down to methodology… wine or beer. Obi-Wan isn't my personal Guinness of choice, but whatever. Your mileage may vary. Point is we arrive, for better or worse for wear. Perhaps a day late and a dollar short, but no matter - success isn't a destination; it's a journey.

It would seem hard to find a more likely candidate of representation to this theory than the legendary Blue Cheer. Nearly forty years after the release of their seminal debut album 'Vincebus Eruptum', Blue Cheer is still blasting out some of the densest, heaviest music EVER. Raw and furious, tight but loose, Blue Cheer is one of Rock and Roll's great lost treasures. Bridging the gap between the British electric blues scholars and American dropout freak-outs, Blue Cheer invented virtually every trick in the book. Hell they wrote the goddamned book. Blue Cheer invented it all, y'all.

Somewhere in the ether of the space/time continuum there was the nano second that pulsed forth as acne met acid, terrorist teenage tunesmiths mated with hippie hip hugging harlots and virginity gave way to volume. The sticky spooge sputtered forth, staining back seats and bed sheets as the upstroke met the back beat. Born from the spore was something that was at once beastly and beautiful, a bastard breed of mutated music that would evolve and inform Heavy Metal, Punk, and Grunge. Hear me now; believe me later - Blue Cheer was the Big Bad Daddy.

Bassist/frontman Dickie Peterson and drummer Paul Whaley have anchored the band since it's inception. Guitarist Andrew 'Duck' MacDonald has played with them nearly twenty years. And uh, excuse me the actual ages are of no consequence -  Blue Cheer handily deafen and decimate everything within their field of volume.

What I witnessed in Chapel Hill on November 13  wasn't so much a performance as it was a punishment. Peterson led the band through material comprised mostly from the bands first two albums, screaming himself hoarse as his Fender bass growled in seeming approval. MacDonald's guitar spuzzed and fuzzed riffs at a hideous volume, licks lashing forth with effortless ease. Whaley played with the same spirited abandon as his teenage prime, simple caveman fury at its unbridled best.

The opening bomb blast of 'Babylon' nearly brought the building in on top of itself. Standing a full eight feet away from MacDonald's amps, I could literally feel the force of the volume, where sound becomes air, creating a draft through the room. The stage boards were vibrating so violently that the guitarists' auxiliary pedals constantly shuttered about.

The set continued without apology or mercy - 'Second Time Around', 'Just a Little Bit', 'Out of Focus', 'Doctor Please'… all of the Cheer classics furiously laid waste to the masochistic adulation of the audience. At one point a guitar string broke and for a few brief moments there was space to breath - or rather more accurately gasp for breath. Then it all surged forth again, the most glorious pain in the world administered by masters of the craft.

When it finally was over, the crowd didn't so much leave as simply staggered about in a daze. Some elbowed the bar in effort to wash the burn marks from their cerebellum. Others wandered just outside the front of the club, breathing fresh fall air and trying to collect their wits. The group itself huddled in a corner graciously signing autographs and swapping tales of days and lives past. As genuinely fierce as their music is, the band members themselves are genuinely gentle. No rock star pose, no smug self-satisfaction or forced pleasantries, the members received and involved all.

Unfortunately, as is almost always the case, Blue Cheer has been criminally denied prominence and status as a groundbreaking act. The unlikely success of their thunderous cover of 'Summertime Blues' notwithstanding, they have been regulated to cult band status. I find it refreshing that in today's homogenized world of ready-made color-by-numbers MTV pap that a band as organic, soulful and honest as Blue Cheer can still blister and bruise. However I must confess that although I await a second generation to carry the torch, I don't anticipate it ever occurring. Fortunately, until time robs us of the privilege, Blue Cheer manage to survive and thrive, diligently plowing the highways, playing

6/21/06, 5:53 pm EST

Rolling Stone:

Run for Your Lives! Blue Cheer at CBGB’s

http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2006/06/21

The founding late-Sixties lineup of the San Francisco power trio Blue Cheer – singer-bass guitarist Dickie Peterson, drummer Paul Whaley and guitarist Leigh Stephens – was so loud that the band literally recorded half of its second album, Outsideinside, outdoors, on waterfront piers. There was so much amp hum on Blue Cheer’s infamous debut, 1968’s Vincebus Eruptum, that it was practically a fourth instrument. And in one memorable ’68 TV appearance, promoting their freak hit cover of Eddie Cochran’s “Summertime Blues,” the group – armed with a long wall of Marshall speaker cabinets – was introduced by host Steve Allen this way: “Blue Cheer. Run for your lives.”
The terror is back. The Blue Cheer that turned up – and turned it up – at CBGB on June 20th featured Peterson, Whaley with long-serving guitarist Andrew “Duck” MacDonald and resurrected the whole of Vincebus Eruptum and chunks of Outsideinside, with every needle on the soundboard pinned to the red. (more…)

Description:
The mighty rock band that has it's roots in the psychedelic music of the San Francisco Haight Ashbury scene continues to play their own unique sound of rock n roll with the same monster vibrancy of yesteryear; all grown up and superbly skilled in their craft now Blue Cheer appeals to the people who grew up with them and the young generation of free thinkers as well.

~*~**~*~*~*
PRESS FROM THE SUMMER 2006 Tour - So far, the NY TIMES, Washington Post, and others are sitting up and taking notice. Somewhere along the way, the guys are described as CAVEMEN INVENTING THUNDER. *Perfect*

Blue Cheer Thunders On
June 23, 2006
By KENNETH PARTRIDGE, Special to the Courant Astronomically speaking, the summer solstice is the longest day of the year, bringing maximum sunshine, minimum night.

Light's triumph over darkness Wednesday did nothing to detract from a double bill of hard rock at BAR in New Haven, though, where Crooked Hook and Blue Cheer cranked up the distortion and summoned heavy black clouds with their earth-quaking bass and thunderous guitars.

Opening the show, New Haven's Crooked Hook turned in a half-dozen sludgy rockers, most built around pummeling blues riffs repeated over and over again. It was a hypnotic sound occasionally capable of delivering knockout blows.

More effective was Blue Cheer, the late-'60s-born San Francisco power trio many credit with laying the groundwork for modern heavy metal. Resembling a pack of grizzled old bikers, Blue Cheer took a buzz-saw approach to the blues Wednesday night, thoroughly rocking a diverse crowd that included no-neck dudes in Slayer T-shirts and indie rockers in tight jean jackets.

Fittingly, the band started its set with "Babylon," which features the line, "Relax your mind/Lord, let it take an electric explosion." Singer and bassist Dickie Peterson, in shades and cowboy boots, laid a rock-solid foundation, giving guitarist Andrew "Duck" McDonald ample room to shriek and wail (and make faces to match).

McDonald's fierce playing continued on "Second Time Around" and a rave-up cover of Mose Allison's "Parchment Farm." The fret-board shredding soon proved too much for McDonald's amplifier, which gave way as the band prepared to launch into "Hoochie Coochie Man."

The technical malfunction turned out to be a good thing, though, as it gave Peterson a chance to tell road stories about getting high at the Alamo and nearly falling to his death from an elevated stage at a drive-in theater in Florida.

When the roadies finally fixed the amp, the group picked up exactly where it left off, drummer Paul Whaley leading the charge through a swaggering version of Albert King's "The Hunter." Whaley continued to shine on "Just a Little Bit," playing fills every few measures.

After a brutal run-through of Eddie Cochran's "Summertime Blues," the band offered an epic "Doctor Please," which Peterson admitted was about drugs. As the minutes ticked by, it seemed the group would continue jamming until 1 a.m., New Haven's bar-time curfew, or until McDonald's speaker again cried uncle - whichever came first.

This time, the amp held out.


http://www.montrealmirror.com/2006/062206/music2.html

My husband and I ate some mushrooms for your show at El Corazon in Seattle.

Holy Fucking Shit man!

You guys pounded us into the ground.
Our skeletons were still vibrating the next day.

Please come back as soon as you can!

Thanks for kicking ass,
Anonymous

 

*****
San Francisco's Blue Cheer keep it cranked to the max after almost four decades

by JOHNSON CUMMINS

In 1968, when San Franciscos hippie-dippy craze was still in full bloom, it was a badass Bay Area band called Blue Cheer who let the world know that not everybody was looking through the same rose-coloured lenses. Preceding the nihilism and decibel levels which would mark the sounds of the MC5 and the Stooges, already bubbling up in Detroit, the sheer kerrang and ballast of Blue Cheers cover of Eddie Cochrans Summertime Blues quickly struck a chord with the unwashed masses of the era, and helped put the danger back into rock n roll.

Almost 40 years since its release, Summertime Blues has stood the test of time and continues to be one of the most sonically dangerous songs to sneak onto mainstream airwaves. After two incredible records, Vincebus Eruptum and Outsideinside (both from 1968), Blue Cheer lost their original guitarist Leigh Stevens and became steeped in drug problems and label mismanagement, while their later records were somewhat rudderless, reducing their once ferocious roar to a whimper.

After a few heavy metal misfires in the 90s, the band is back (although still without Stevens) and a new legion of fans are just now discovering the sheer power of the first two records. The Mirror talked with bassist and singer Dickie Peterson through a bad cell-phone connection while he was on tour.

Mirror: You have been called the seminal proto-punk band and the forefathers of stoner rock. How does that make you feel?

Dickie Peterson: It means so much to us. When you're young, you don't say you are going to create a typical sound. At that point, you're just functioning. We knew we wanted our music to be physical, but that was about the only plan, and I guess it translated well over time. When we hear new bands like Dead Meadow, The Wannabe BC Band and others talking about us, it just feels really good.

M: When you started out, you guys were really the black sheep of the tie-dyed San Francisco scene of the late 60s. Are you still comfortable about being outcasts?

DP: I could be accused of never really growing up, because I still identify with the renegade and rebellion. The current state of my country reminds me every day that I took the right side.

M: Why has volume always been a big part of the Blue Cheer sound?

DP: Its the only way you can get those overtones, which is a big part of our music.

The inside dope

M: You were named after a batch of [60s LSD kingpin Augustus Owsley Stanley III]s acid, but ironically it was drugs that became the bands undoing.

DP: Well, I'll speak for myself and tell you I became a heroin addict for a while. At the beginning we took a hell of a lot of acid, but I think LSD has some psychological benefits for some people. When I was young, they said if you took acid, you would kill yourself. I don't know anybody who ever killed him or herself, loaded on acid. See, I was lied to as a youth as far as drugs went. I was told if you smoked marijuana, your life was destroyed. Didn't happen. I smoked pot and thought it was great. They were telling us that war was great and good and acid was bad -- all lies. So I just thought the dangers of heroin were also part of the lie. Drugs really became a problem when we started messing around with powders. If you have kids, you cant lie to them. Its the worst thing you can do, and from my experience, heroin will turn into a real problem.

M: You played with legends like Cream and Hendrix, back in the 60s. What were some of your favourite shows from those days?

DP: When Hendrix was on, it was just beautiful. Having said that, some of the worst shows I have ever seen were Hendrix when he was out of tune and fucked up on drugs. I saw some nights, though, where you would swear Hendrixs feet just left the ground.

M: What would you say to the people that say Blue Cheers heyday ended in the 60s?

DP: We still provide a service and prove that life doesnt end at 30. Ive been doing this most of my life, and you give me any kid, any kid, and I will rock him right to the floor. Everybody in Blue Cheer feels the same way. Weve been walking onstage for a long time, and when we walk out there, we really know what were doingand we own that stage.

****
More ... Google - Blue Cheer - NEWS

~~*~*~*~*~*
INTERVIEW COMMENTS

Interview with Dickie Petersen, lead singer/bass player for the band Blue Cheer
By Theron Moore, Stvitusfan@aol.com

Co-Editor For St. Vitus Press & Poetry Review
Published 12/9/05


There are few people you can actually call a legend, an icon, an innovator, definitely a hero, all in the same sentence. Dickie Petersen, lead singer and bass player for the band Blue Cheer, is this man. I could describe them as a 60’s band, but I won’t. Here’s why…

Blue Cheer has been releasing records steadily since the 80’s well into the 2005. Although the band’s line-up tends to change, the sound remains the same and that sound is loud ass, distortion driven, straight ahead rock N roll music drawing influences everywhere from the blues to R&B.
Let’s take a quick trip back in time and take a brief look at the year 1967, which was a golden year for rock. The Beatles released “Sgt. Peppers…” The Cream released “Disraeli Gears,” Hendrix released “Are You Experienced,” and Blue Cheer released “Vincebus Eruptum.” Each record a masterpiece in it’s own right.

However, what separated BC from the other bands mentioned is simply this -- that single record invented a brand new genre of music – heavy metal. Marshall stacks turned to 10, the emphasis on LOUD, the stage set to crazy and the mood set to ROCK. Sabbath, Zepplin, Deep Purple, Uriah Heep, were all taking notes from Blue Cheer at this time, make no mistake about it.

Blue Cheers influence and presence in the world of rock N roll today is as strong as it ever was. A brand new set of bands, all worshipping under the flag of Blue Cheer, and Cheer related bands, can be found in the likes of Internal Void, Electric Wizard, Fu Manchu, Nebula, and Cathedral, all cranking out their own brand of heavy, cosmic, loud distortion driven rock, keeping the BC legacy and tradition alive and well.

2005 saw Dickie Petersen and Blue Cheer relocating from Germany back to the states and 2006 is set to be a stellar year for the band in the form of a new record and tour as well.
 

Blue Cheer's Place in MySpace

How does "the first true heavy metal band" (according to the Village Voice) stay fresh after 40 years? Find out how by reading Kurt Brokaw's review of the band's recent New York performance. Another way is to go to MySpace!

An Evening with The Worlds' Loudest Rock Band

By Kurt Brokaw, Culture Editor

The load-in. It's a late Friday afternoon and the storm clouds over Brooklyn are darkening. I'm sipping ice water at the bar at Northsix, a rock club that used to be in frontier territory just a block from the East River. North Sixth Street is slowly taking on that all-glass-and-no-class look that's very nearly wrecked the Lower East Side of Manhattan. I've got my six original Blue Cheer vinyl albums propped up on the stool beside me.

Dickie Peterson is the first one out of the Blue Cheer van and I recognize him instantly even though it's been 38 years since he took away a bit of my hearing at some West Coast show. He strides into Northsix carrying his bass guitar, and with that hair and bracelets and cowboy boots and little tinted glasses and bad skin and that psychedelic aura even at age 59 radiating from him, we might as well be standing in the Haight in the Summer Of Love. Peterson is small and coiled, but he has a cocky walk and suggests a cross between Gregory Corso and Sam Peckinpah.

I'm the only fan at Northsix this early to greet the band, and he sees I'm a decade older and have all the original albums sitting there. He pumps my hand and gives me a wicked grin and says, "I'll get back to you, brother." and heads in for the soundcheck. The next one in is Paul Whaley, Blue Cheer's original drummer, who I don't recognize at all. He's also 59, and started the band as a long-haired freak like Peterson, but in his sports shirt, baggy shorts, ordinary haircut and turned-around baseball cap he looks like an aging Bowery Boy. He has steady eyes and a powerful grip.

Blue Cheer was named after a brand of street acid invented by Owsley Stanley, who for decades was the drug chemist for The Grateful Dead and other bands that comprised the San Francisco Sound. Patricia Kennealy Morrison and I were at RCA Records handling the advertising and promotion for Jefferson Airplane, and we knew Blue Cheer was a breed apart from the gentle souls of Quicksilver, It's A Beautiful Day, Pacific Gas & Electric, and such. Peterson, Whaley and a lead guitarist set out not just to become the first power trio in rock, but the loudest band in the history of the universe.

The Cheer piled Marshall amps as high as an elephant's eye, and routinely hit sonic stun--130 decibels and beyond, which is about what standing beside a 747 throttling up on the runway is like. The one volume anecdote that's come down through the years is that a large dog that was brought along to a 60s outdoor concert was so traumatized by the sound that he fell over dead at his owner's feet. Blue Cheer made half a dozen albums going through a number of lead guitarists, disbanded in the early 70s and reformed a decade later. Peterson's done a few solo albums but he's kept Blue Cheer pushing through Europe in the 80s and 90s and now into the 21st century, and like the few iron men in rock still alive and standing, he's in it for the long haul.

After the soundcheck--I'm still the only fan who's shown up this early--Whaley and Peterson sign my albums with care and affection. Their lead guitarist Andrew "Duck" MacDonald has been with them two decades and signs my live and quite rare 1988 concert album, "Blitzkrieg Over Nuremberg." He's about 50 and has that handsome build and long straight hair past the shoulders that's probably broken a lot of hearts on the road. Peterson has spent some years in Europe and tells me he's got one good ear and is currently between marriages. This is the first time Blue Cheer's played New York in 20 years and they've already had sold-out shows at Maxwells and CBGBs. The advance at Northsix looks good.

The Show. It's a full house. Debbie at the bar has let me in early to secure the end space on the top row of bleachers that's 100 feet from center stage. It's as far away as I can get and not have to stand. To my pleasant surprise, the crowd is mostly young--post-college, metrosexuals, more smart-looking women in their 20s than I'd expect. This is not your Arctic-Monkeys-Cute-Boy group. This is the Hard Stuff.

When Blue Cheer hits the stage I've got my ear plugs in, under a wool headband under my thickest earmuffs. Peterson has frizzed his hair out to its fullest and thickest, and changed into a layered, tie-dyed, beaded costume that's both seedy and dazzling. He's a rock god--a guitarist with absolute clarity and authority who still looks like he could collapse in some doorway at any time and never get up.

They do a tight, powerful two-hour set of all the Cheer anthems--"Summertime Blues," "Rock Me Baby," "Out of Focus," "Second Time Around", "Doctor Please." Peterson's voice is its usual hard, blasting rasp. Whaley's drumming is incredibly fast and blazing. The sound is overwhelming and the crowd is with it but most people are standing transfixed and the metal bleachers I'm sitting in are actually vibrating. I'm wondering if someone closer to the stage and amps is going to fall over like that dog, but no one does. Whatta show.

They do one long encore and the house-lights are coming up at 1:30 a.m. I think about going backstage to congratulate the band, but there's a long line waiting for the dressing room and hey, it's a lot of 19-year-old fashionistas in their off-the-shoulder numbers. I figure Blue Cheer's paid their respects to this senior citizen and would do better with some fresh blood. Rockers always do.

This is the link to the rating/professional comments on the ten loudest bands in the history of rock music. It's instructive, funny, horrifying, and probably should be required reading for every kid who's tempted to sit up close to a stack of Marshalls.

http://www.madisonavenuejournal.com/2006/06/26/blue_cheers_place_in_myspace/index.php#more

SugarBuzz LA/Silverlake)

SugarBuzz Loudest band in the world’ - And it was no joke

http://sugarbuzzmagazine.com/bands/bluecheer/bluecheer.html

Concert Photos By Victoria 

When Sugarbuzz Magazine heard that Blue Cheer would be performing at the Key Club, we knew that we definitely had to cover the Sunset Strip return of the group that made their place in rock history as being the loudest rock n roll band in the world.
 

When I took the assignment to cover Blue Cheer’s performance, I knew that I couldn’t turn in a proper review without including some history on these hard rocking trail blazers and their legacy.
 

Sex, Drugs and Rock ‘n’ Roll. Blue Cheer and San Francisco circa 1967
 

What is Blue Cheer you ask? Blue Cheer is what was referred to in the 60s as a power trio. The seminal group formed in San Francisco in1967 by Richard "Dickie" Peterson on bass & vocals, Leigh Stephens on guitar & vocals, and Paul Whaley on the drums. They were America’s answer to the British hard rock invasion that was going on at the time. This prototypical threesome helped develop blues based rock into what is known to have been the beginnings of Acid Rock and what we call today as Heavy Metal. And since 1968, they have put out a number of records.
 

As far as the band’s name goes, the story is that underground chemist and Grateful Dead backer Owsley Stanley was promoting a variety of lysergic acid (LSD) that took its name from a popular brand of laundry detergent and the acid was known as ‘Blue Cheer’. The fledgling trio broke onto the music scene with this heavy Blues based sound and was based in San Francisco during the days when the city’s music scene was tripping on hallucinogenic substances. One does not have to drop a hit of LSD to figure it out that the name fits perfectly for an Acid Rock band. Or does one?
 

Some of the early critics had mixed impressions for the band’s first recorded offering in 1968. Perhaps if they would have checked the band out live, the way they were meant to be experienced and perhaps took a tab acid like many of the scenesters who understood Blue Cheer, then perhaps they too would have figured out what the group was all about. Then they might have understood that these guys were all about heavy energy and power.

The name of their first release was Vincebus Eruptum which peaked at #11 on the Billboard hot 100 list.
The songs tracked on the vinyl are Rock Me Baby, Doctor Please, Out oF Focus, Parchment Farm, Second Time Around and the classic Summertime Blues, which as a single peaked at #14 on the Billboard top 200. The success of this album made them famous and put the band on the map as THE BAND to watch and listen to if you were into hard rock.
 

One of my sources for info on the band’s early days was Sugarbuzz Magazine’s very own Victoria Jan Joyce. As one of many young teens into Blue Cheer during their start, her accounts were that if you were in a band that was in the rock scene you needed to check these guys out and sound like them. She also recalls that all the teenage girls devoted non stop conversations over which band member they wanted to end up with if they were on the dating game. And if you were a rocker chick in the scene, then the Blue Cheer bus was the one to hitch a ride on because the band had all the hot groupies trying to really check them out on a deeper level. Needles to say that for most of the dirty rocker boys, being Blue Cheer savvy was a must in your dialogue and in your stereo or you’d be shit out of luck!
 

Good to know these interesting little details that have eluded the media in the past don’t you think?
 

The band also gained the title of being the ‘Loudest band in the world’. And it was no joke. They began blowing out Marshall stack amplifiers and breaking drum sets at an alarming rate. A fan recalls that equipment failures and fires were the norm during Blue Cheer shows, not for theatrics, but because they pushed the amplifier wiring beyond their overdrive limits.
 

Back then it wasn't uncommon for Altec Lansing speaker coils to catch on fire from overpowering and the older Marshall Major amp heads, which had no cooling fans, would blow out the tubes and transformers in dramatic fashion. The roadies would just kick the bad stack over, prop up another one, and wire it up. When you cable series 6 to 10 Marshall Stacks together at a time and put all the volume controls on 10 , one can imagine how loud Dickie Peterson and Leigh Stevens would be. Paul Whaley would to have to beat his drums to death to keep up. They truly introduced the scene to the wall of Marshall stack amplifiers philosophy at their shows.
 

It has also been reported that the last two songs n the Inside/Outside album were recorded on Pier 57 in New York. As the legend goes, the band was thrown out of the studio for being too loud, so they decided to record it out on the pier. Passing boats and ships could hear them as far as twelve miles away. I don't think there were Laws restricting decibel levels back then like we have today.
 

To add to the bands legend, there was a show at the Kinetic Playground venue in Chicago. Blue Cheer had to cut their show short because the rear wall from the stage cracked floor to ceiling due to the vibrations all the amplifiers made. There were also reports that a few that attended had their eardrums popped. The irony of the story doesn’t stop there. The Chicago newspapers reported that the next concert date at the Kinetic Playground was supposed to be Iron Butterfly. But right before the concert was to begin the place burned down to the ground. The cause of the fire was electrical and it was presumed, though uncharged, that Blue Cheer's equipment caused an overload that damaged the main wiring in the theater.
 

If you’ve seen the movie Spinal Tap, you’ll recognize that the inspiration for the movie’s parodies as being a take off from the legendary events in rock history’s original ‘Loudest Band In the world’, and that’s no joke!

If your head craves loud and heavy sounds, go get some Blue Cheer CDs crank them up loud and you’ll be feeling what they’re all about and why they’ve survived after all these years.

Damn Loud and Fuckin’ Proud! Blue Cheer returns to the Sunset Strip
 

When we walked into the venue we were not surprised by the large turnout of rockers from every generation coming out to see Blue Cheer do their thing. As the house lights dimmed, the motley bunch of club goers made their way to the front of the stage with growing anticipation.
 

With a quick introduction for the “Loudest band in the world”, the stage lights were hit and Dickie and the band kicked off their set with a hard and heavy acid blues opener that had the crowd rockin’ hard with heads banging and fists thrusting up in the air welcoming Blue Cheer’s return to the strip.
 

Front man Dickie Petersen blew the crowd away by dishing out the classic Blue Cheer sound with his distinct vocals and driving bottom end, keeping the trio together like glue, utilizing his heavy bluesy lines and shuffles on his instrument.
 

Drummer Paul Whaley was sharp and tight making the business of being a heavy hitting rock drummer look impressively effortless. As Paul rolled in and out of his fills and accents, he was right on the money while setting the tempo for all the head banging going on.
 

Andrew 'Duck' Mac Donald was loud and clear with his Marshal stack. I noticed his Fender Strat was equipped with a screaming humbucker pickup in the bridge position for dealing out that special raunchy Metal/Acid Rock sound. He delivered a massive display and well crafted mix of blazing licks. His technique of switching up the tones with his guitar’s pickup selector and his wha wha pedal foot work will satisfy any guitar freak’s or just about any die hard rocker’s appetite for sounds and textures reminiscent of the Yardbirds, Henrix and all the great bluesy shredders.
 

Rock history’s Heavy metal pioneers gave one hell of a great performance that spoiled their enthusiastic fans. They played a mix of their more recent works as well as the earlier hits that made them famous. In particular Dickie’s classic ‘Doctor Please’, Mose Allison’s ‘Parchment Farm Blues’ as well as a great rendition of Willie Dixon’s ‘Hoochie Coochie Man’. And of course Blue Cheer’s timeless version of Eddie Cochran’s ‘Summertime Blues’.
 

When it came time for Dickie to introduce the members, he gave everyone due credit for their role in the band and then said, “ There’s three band members up here, but the fourth member is all of you” With a rowdy cheer from the audience they returned the gratitude acknowledging the class act that helped change the face of Rock music as we know it to be today.
 

Die hard fans are extremely loyal to the band and they will tell you that Blue Cheer movement, just like punk rock and other great movements, was often misunderstood by critics of limited vision. Blue Cheer is one of those bands that were ahead of their time and they out lasted many of the opposition. Critics eventually saw the trio’s vision arrive in all of the bands that picked up on the hard and heavy sound that Blue Cheer pioneered. Imagine what a flash back it must have been to the critics in the past who have missed the boat on seeing the big picture.
 

The band kept playing all the songs that made them famous one after another and it was loud as hell from the audience side of the stage. At one point their set, you could see Dickie leaning up against the speaker side of his huge bass amp’s blasting speaker cabinet during an instrumental interlude.
 

I can’t imagine how loud it must have been up there and how he was literally feeling the music as was the whole house. But I knew it had to be extremely loud because as fate would have it, during the ending of the song that would be the last one of the evening, Andrew Mac Donald’s Marshal Amplifier head blew out signaling it was time for the power trio to take bows. It was a fitting end for the Key Club audience to have witnessed such a classic Blue Cheer moment. It proves that after all these years, thankfully things haven’t changed regarding Blue Cheer’s association with loudness and its overwhelming effect on amplifier heads not to mention the audience’s heads.
 

When the Show was over the Dickie came out to thank the fans. There was big group of fans since the early days to recent prodigies lining up for autographs as well as telling stories Dickie their accounts of how, when and where Blue Cheer rocked their lives.
 

We went up to say hello and I mentioned that it was good the group influenced so many people and bands throughout their career and they were still kicking ass. And in this Low and humble voice Dickie said “We’re just a bunch of old men playing Rock ‘n’ Roll.” Knowing the extent of the Blue Cheer legacy, his reply was among the most modest things that I’ve heard come out of anyone’s mouth.
 

Now get this, then he turns to Victoria and as they’re both smiling at each other like long lost friends, he tells her “I saw you out in the audience.” And then they had this quiet little conversation that was nearly inaudible to me so I though it better that didn’t ask what it was about.
 

Hey Victoria, you were very helpful describing the effect Dickie and the band had on women is there any thing else you care to share with our readers?
 

Blue Cheer has a new CD out to add to many available to you at your local music store. I suggest you get a copy ASAP and go see them perform when they come to your area because Blue Cheer is on tour through out 2006. You’ll be glad to have seen them in action doing what they do best.
 

Later, I’m outta here with Blue Cheer in my CD player Cranked to 11.
 

http://www.myspace.com/bluecheer

http://www.bluecheer.us/

1. Blue Cheer
Late-'60s San Francisco superpower trio who played so loud that their ex-Hell's Angel manager Gut claimed they could "turn the air into cottage cheese". TV host Steve Allen introduced the band to his 1968 national audience thus: "Here's Blue Cheer. Run for your lives!"

-Equipment
Six stacks of 100 Watt Marshalls.

-Why So Darn Loud?
Bruce 'Leigh' Stephens (guitarist): "We just wanted to feel that sound. It evolved to almost cartoon proportions, it blew your hair around."

-How Loud?
Stephens: "After the first note [audience members] looked like astronauts subjected to +g-force."

Kadyn Williams (audiologist): "You con feel dizzy or nauseated from loud sound, because everything is anatomically so close; the inner ear and the balance organ intertwine together going to the brain."

Lemmy: "l saw them at the Roundhouse in London. 1967 or '68. They were terrible, but they were really loud, fuckin' loud."

Wayne Kramer (MC5): "It was a 747 in your face."

-Pardon?
Bassist/vocalist Dickie Petersen has some hearing damage. Stephens says, "My hearing is intact, nowadays I only use one Fender Hot Rod DeVille." The story of a dog exploding during a set is apocryphal.

-MOJO Loudometer Rating: 11

Thanks: Helena Solodor, MS, Lic-A, Kadyn Williams, MEd, Lic-A of Audio Consultants of America, Andy Neill, Jon Quittner, Brad Laner, Ian Svenonius, Richard Pleuger, Jim Evans, David Cavanagh.

From The Pitch (July 6th, 2006, Kansas City)

Strange Trip

After 40 years, Blue Cheer can still bring the noise.

After a quick telephone introduction, the very first thing out of Blue Cheer singer and bassist Dickie Peterson's mouth is a song.

"Goin' to Kansas City!" he bellows. "I love that song. That's one of the first I learned as a young man." There's a pause.

"To be honest with you, my friend, I don't remember the last time I was in Kansas City. I'm sure I drove through it. I've sung songs about it, but I never was there."

Peterson's voice, a content, energetic growl, is a natural match for his appearance. His mane of golden-gray locks makes him look positively leonine — dignified, quietly dangerous, ready to match up with younger lions bite for bite — and he makes no bones about his 60 years. "My brother was born in 1942, and he was the last thing my father did before he went to war," he says matter-of-factly. "I was born in '46, so I was the first thing he did when he got home. By the time I was 1, I was living on Stanyon and Eighth Street [at the edge of Golden Gate Park in San Francisco]."

Peterson grew up and co-founded the legendary Blue Cheer, a trio of young Haight-Ashbury regulars named after a particularly potent LSD formulation, the kind that even the most weathered souls didn't mess with. Back then, if you'd been handicapping band futures, Blue Cheer wasn't one you'd have picked to be blowing people away almost 40 years later. With only one Top 40 hit, a sprawling 1968 version of Eddie Cochran's "Summertime Blues," the band was known as huge, fuzzed-up, obnoxious ... and louder than anybody else on the planet.

Peterson remembers those times with affection. "Big Brother and the Holding Company, the Jefferson Airplane, the Dead — [whom] we never got along with," he says. "Quicksilver Messenger Service, the Indian Head Band, the New Salvation Army Band, Oxford Circle, Savage Resurrection, Iggy Pop, MC5," he continues, counting off. "I've been on bills with all those bands many times."

The key difference: Blue Cheer took the music to the distorted limits of its Marshall stacks — and the number of those amps to the limits of the stage girders. The band's music was so weird, free-form and abrasive that in one famous San Francisco murder trial, the prosecutor used the fact that the defendant was a Blue Cheer fan to demonstrate the depravity of the accused.

"We got a lot of flak for what we were doing," Peterson says unapologetically. "There were a lot of people that were angry at us because we were so young. They were older than us, and they'd been busting their chops for a while. Here come these three little dwarves, and we'd come up and shake the rafters."

The band has been credited with helping to give birth to heavy metal, stoner rock and punk, all supportable claims. "Our whole strategy was — and still is — to make music a physical experience," Peterson explains. "There's only one way to experience this band, and that's live. There's nothing like feeling that stuff just punch your body."

With that in mind, Peterson's description of Blue Cheer's method is a little surprising. "One of the secrets of our music is to not overplay," he says. "We're a power trio. One of the differences between us and heavy metal is the space between our notes.

"I once talked to Muddy Waters in a dressing room," he recalls, "and for about 20 minutes, I didn't dare approach him. It was like being in a dressing room with God. Finally, a friend kind of shoved me up there, and I introduced myself. I asked, 'Could you give me some advice?' He asks, 'What you play, boy?' I said, 'I play bass.' He says, 'Play the spaces. Don't play too much. You don't leave the spaces, guitar players are going to hate you.'

"I took this very seriously," Peterson continues. "Most of the time, guitar players are very happy with what I do because I don't run over them. I'm part of the canvas. They're part of the color."

Blue Cheer's decades together have been all about the loud, explosive color. "[Drummer] Paul Whaley and I have been together 40 years," Peterson says. "Duck McDonald's been with the band for 20 years, and they still call him the new guitar player. I've had people ask me, 'Is [original guitarist] Leigh Stephens coming back?' I say, 'Did you just listen to my guitar player? No, he's not coming back!'"

Their years together have allowed the band to turn old nuggets such as "Parchment Farm" or "Doctor Please," from Blue Cheer's classic first album, Vincebus Eruptum, into weird, wonderful 20-minute expanses. "We practice what we call lateral movement," Peterson says. "When Duck's going to launch, it's OK. We're there."

Blue Cheer's audiences, Peterson adds, "don't expect people our age, from our generation, to get up and do what we do."

"I see people my age come up, and when they go, 'Dickie, Dickie!' I'll say, 'You havin' any flashbacks, man?' It's all we got to look forward to now." He guffaws.

Still, Blue Cheer doesn't simply redo old stuff for old fans. This tour included a recent stop at the Intonation Music Festival in Chicago, where the band shared the bill with veteran Roky Erickson and newer acts such as the Stills, the Streets and Bloc Party.

"It's something I'm so proud of," Peterson says. "I know there's a generation gap today, just like there always has been, but I've seen us bring fathers and their sons, mothers and their daughters, together. Just the other night in New York, there were people of every race and gender, and they were dancing and laughing and having fun.

"This is what the President should be doing — bringing all these people together," he says, chuckling again. Then he gets a little more serious. "To think that what you've always done really makes a difference in somebody's life ... makes me feel like I didn't waste my life."

Peterson goes on: "What I've learned is that the most important thing in the world is to be honest with yourself. That's in our music. There's no smoke and there's no mirrors. We're straight ahead honest about what we do. We also know there are people who don't like what we do. Everybody knows where everybody stands, and that's honest."

From the Houston Press, (July 13th, Houston) Strange Trip Heavy rock pioneers Blue Cheer offer the cure for the summertime blues By Mike Warren  Article Published Jul 13, 2006

 

Blue Cheer promises no smoke, and no mirrors.

Blue Cheer bassist/singer Dickie Peterson's content, energetic growl is a natural match for his appearance. His mane of golden-gray locks makes him look positively leonine -- dignified, quietly dangerous, ready to match up with younger lions bite for bite -- and he makes no bones about his 60 years. "My brother was born in 1942, and he was the last thing my father did before he went to war," he says matter-of-factly. "I was born in '46, so I was the first thing he did when he got home. By the time I was one, I was living on Stanyan and Eighth Street [at the edge of Golden Gate Park in San Francisco]."

Peterson grew up and co-founded the legendary Blue Cheer, a trio of young Haight-Ashbury regulars named after a particularly potent LSD formulation, the kind that even the most weathered souls didn't mess with. Back then, if you'd been handicapping band futures, Blue Cheer wasn't one you'd have picked to be blowing people away almost 40 years later. With only one Top 40 hit, a sprawling 1968 version of Eddie Cochran's "Summertime Blues," the band was known as huge, fuzzed-up, obnoxious...and louder than anybody else on the planet.

Peterson remembers those times with affection. "Big Brother and the Holding Company, the Jefferson Airplane, the Dead -- we never got along with [them]," he says. "Quicksilver Messenger Service, the Indian Head Band, the New Salvation Army Band, Oxford Circle, Savage Resurrection, Iggy Pop, MC5," he continues, counting off. "I've been on bills with all those bands many times."

The key difference: Blue Cheer took the music to the distorted limits of its Marshall stacks -- and the number of those amps to the limits of the stage girders. The band's music was so weird, free-form and abrasive that in one famous San Francisco murder trial, the prosecutor used the fact that the defendant was a Blue Cheer fan to demonstrate the depravity of the accused.

"We got a lot of flak for what we were doing," Peterson says unapologetically. "There were a lot of people that were angry at us because we were so young. They were older than us, and they'd been busting their chops for a while. Here come these three little dwarves, and we'd come up and shake the rafters."

The band has been credited with helping to give birth to heavy metal, stoner rock and punk, all supportable claims. "Our whole strategy was -- and still is -- to make music a physical experience," Peterson explains. "There's only one way to experience this band, and that's live. There's nothing like feeling that stuff just punch your body."

With that in mind, Peterson's description of Blue Cheer's method is a little surprising. "One of the secrets of our music is to not overplay," he says. "We're a power trio. One of the differences between us and heavy metal is the space between our notes.

"I once talked to Muddy Waters in a dressing room," he recalls, "and for about 20 minutes, I didn't dare approach him. It was like being in a dressing room with God. Finally, a friend kind of shoved me up there, and I introduced myself. I asked, 'Could you give me some advice?' He asks, 'What you play, boy?' I said, 'I play bass.' He says, 'Play the spaces. Don't play too much. You don't leave the spaces, guitar players are going to hate you.'

"I took this very seriously," Peterson continues. "Most of the time, guitar players are very happy with what I do because I don't run over them. I'm part of the canvas. They're part of the color."

Blue Cheer's decades together have been all about the loud, explosive color. "[Drummer] Paul Whaley and I have been together 40 years," Peterson says. "Duck McDonald's been with the band for 20 years, and they still call him the new guitar player. I've had people ask me, 'Is [original guitarist] Leigh Stephens coming back?' I say, 'Did you just listen to my guitar player? No, he's not coming back!'"

Their years together have allowed the band to turn old nuggets such as "Parchment Farm" or "Doctor Please," from Blue Cheer's classic first album, Vincebus Eruptum, into weird, wonderful 20-minute expanses. "We practice what we call lateral movement," Peterson says. "When Duck's going to launch, it's okay. We're there."

Blue Cheer's audiences, Peterson adds, "don't expect people our age, from our generation, to get up and do what we do."

"I see people my age come up, and when they go, 'Dickie, Dickie!' I'll say, 'You havin' any flashbacks, man?' It's all we got to look forward to now." He guffaws.

Still, Blue Cheer doesn't simply redo old stuff for old fans. This tour included a recent stop at the Intonation Music Festival in Chicago, where the band shared the bill with Texas legend Roky Erickson and newer acts such as the Stills, the Streets and Bloc Party.

"It's something I'm so proud of," Peterson says. "I know there's a generation gap today, just like there always has been, but I've seen us bring fathers and their sons, mothers and their daughters, together. Just the other night in New York, there were people of every race and gender, and they were dancing and laughing and having fun.

"This is what the President should be doing -- bringing all these people together," he says, chuckling again. Then he gets a little more serious. "To think that what you've always done really makes a difference in somebody's life...makes me feel like I didn't waste my life."

Peterson goes on: "What I've learned is that the most important thing in the world is to be honest with yourself. That's in our music. There's no smoke and there's no mirrors. We're straight-ahead honest about what we do. We also know there are people who don't like what we do. Everybody knows where everybody stands, and that's honest."