Blue Cheer

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Blue Cheer
Origin San Francisco, CA, United States
Genre(s) Blues-rock, heavy metal, hard rock, psychedelic rock, acid rock, Stoner Rock, Stoner Metal
Years active 1966-1972
1974-1976
1978-1979
1983-1994
1999-Present
Label(s) Philips, Megaforce, Mercury, Akarma, Rainforce, Evangeline
Associated acts The Oxford Circle
The Other Half
Sopwith Camel
Silver Metre
The Flamin' Groovies
Monsters
Dokken
Raven
Pentagram
Mother Ocean
Website www.bluecheer.us
Members
Dickie Peterson
Duck McDonald
Paul Whaley
Former members
Leigh Stephens
Randy Holden
Ralph Burns Kellogg

(aka Ethan James; d. 2003)
Norman Mayell
Bruce Stephens
Gary Lee Yoder
Eric Albronda
Jerre Peterson (d. 2002)
Vale Hamanaka (aka V. Vale)
Jerry Whiting
Ruben de Fuentes
Terry Rae
Nick St. Nicholas
Tony Rainier
Mike Fleck
Bret Heartman
Billy Carmassi
Eric Davis
David Salce
Dieter Saller
Gary Holland
Joe Hasselvander

Blue Cheer is an American blues-rock band that initially performed and recorded in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and has been sporadically active since. Based in San Francisco, Blue Cheer played in a psychedelic blues-rock style, and are also credited as being pioneers of heavy metal music and Punk[citation needed]. According to Tim Hills in his book, The Many Lives of the Crystal Ballroom,[1] "Blue Cheer was the epitome of San Francisco psychedelia. The band was rumored to have been named after a brand of LSD and promoted by renowned LSD chemist and former Grateful Dead patron, Owsley Stanley." [2]

Contents

[edit] History

The band's sound was something of a departure from the music that had been coming out of the Bay Area: Blue Cheer's three musicians played heavy blues-rock, and played it very loud.

[edit] 1966-1969: Golden Years

Blue Cheer came together in 1966. It was co-founded by Eric Albronda and Jerry Russell, music aficionados who wanted to become involved with the San Francisco music scene of the 1960s. Both moved with Dickie Peterson from Davis, California, to San Francisco. Peterson had previously been with the Davis-based band Andrew Staples & The Oxford Circle, as well as future Blue Cheer members Paul Whaley and Gary Lee Yoder. The original Blue Cheer personnel were singer/bassist Dickie Peterson, guitarist Leigh Stephens and Eric Albronda as drummer. Albronda was later replaced by Paul Whaley, who was joined by Dickie's brother Jerre Peterson (guitar), Vale Hamanaka (keyboards)[3] and Jerry Whiting (vocals, harmonica). Albronda continued his association with Blue Cheer as a member of Blue Cheer management, as well as being the producer or co-producer of five Blue Cheer albums.[4]

Early on, it was decided that the lineup should be trimmed down. It is said that Blue Cheer decided to adopt a power trio configuration after seeing Jimi Hendrix perform at the Monterey Pop Festival.[5] Hamanaka and Whiting were asked to leave. Jerre Peterson didn't want to remain in the group without them, so he departed as well, leaving Dickie, Leigh and Paul as a trio. Their first hit was a cover version of Eddie Cochran's "Summertime Blues" from their debut album Vincebus Eruptum (1968). The single peaked at #14 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, their only such hit, and the album peaked at #11 on the Billboard 200 chart.

The group's sound was hard to categorise, but was definitely blues-based, psychedelic, and loud.

The "Summertime Blues" single was backed with Dickie Peterson's original song "Out Of Focus". Petersen also contributed to the album the eight-minute "Doctor Please" and "Second Time Around", which features Paul Whaley's frantic drum solo. Filling out the record, the band cranks out blues covers "Rock Me Baby" and Mose Allison's "Parchman Farm" (titled "Parchment Farm").

The group underwent several personnel changes, the first occurring after the 1968 release of Outsideinside after Leigh Stephens left the band due to musical differences or, as some report, deafness,[6] . He was replaced by Randy Holden, formerly of Los Angeles garage rock band The Other Half . On 1969's New! Improved! Blue Cheer there were different guitarists on side 1 and side 2 (Randy Holden and Bruce Stephens) due to Holden's unanticipated departure from the band. Ralph Burns Kellogg also joined the band on keyboards.[7] . Blue Cheer's style now changed to a more commercial hard rock sound à la Steppenwolf or Iron Butterfly. For the fourth album Blue Cheer, Bruce Stephens left[8] and was succeeded by Gary Lee Yoder who helped complete the album.

[edit] 1970s: Reconfigurations, Inactivity and First Extended Hiatus

The new line-up of Peterson, Ralph Burns Kellogg, Norman Mayell (drums)[9] and Yoder in 1970 saw the release of The Original Human Being and then 1971's Oh! Pleasant Hope. When Oh! Pleasant Hope failed to dent the sales charts, Blue Cheer temporarily split up by 1972.

There was a temporary resumption in 1974 with Dickie Peterson being joined by brother Jerre, Ruben de Fuentes(guitar)[10] and Terry Rae(drums)[11] for some tour dates. This grouping continued on briefly in 1975 with former Steppenwolf bassist Nick St. Nicholas replacing Dickie. The group was then largely inactive for nearly three years, until 1978.

Dickie returned in 1978-79 with a fresh line-up of Tony Rainier on guitar and Mike Fleck on drums. This version of the group never got out of rehearsal studios. Blue Cheer was then inactive for a further three years.

[edit] 1980s-1998: Further Reconfigurations, Relocation to Germany, Second and Third Extended Hiatus

Blue Cheer was inactive from 1980 to 1983. In 1984, Peterson had better luck when he returned with Whaley and Rainier as Blue Cheer and a brand new album The Beast is Back, which was released on the European label Megaforce Records . Whaley left again in 1985, as drummer Bret Heartman took over, only to be succeeded by Billy Carmassi in 1987. That same year, Dickie led yet another new lineup of the Cheer that had Ruben de Fuentes back on guitar and Eric Davis on drums. In 1988, the trio further changed, being now composed of Dickie Peterson (bass), with Andrew "Duck" McDonald(guitar) and Dave Salce(drums).

From 1988 to 1993, Blue Cheer toured mainly in Europe. During this time, they played with classic rock acts as well as then-up-and-coming bands: Mountain, Outlaws, Thunder, The Groundhogs, Ten Years After, The Yardbirds, Danzig, Mucky Pup and others.

1989 saw the release of Blue Cheer's first official live album, Blitzkrieg over Nüremberg. This album was recorded during Blue Cheer's first European tour in decades.

1990 saw the release of the Highlights & Lowlives studio album, composed of blues-based heavy metal and one ballad. The album was co-produced by notable grunge producer Jack Endino and German producer Roland Hofmann. The line-up was Peterson, Whaley on drums and McDonald on guitars.[12]

Blue Cheer followed up "Highlights" with the much heavier Dining with the Sharks. McDonald was replaced by German ex-Monsters[13] guitar player Dieter Saller. Peterson was on bass and vocals again, and Paul Whaley was again on drums. Also featured is a special guest appearance by Groundhogs guitarist Tony McPhee. The album was co-produced by Roland Hofmann and Blue Cheer.[14]Gary Holland, (ex-Dokken), replaced Whaley on drums in 1993.

In the early 1990s, Peterson and Whaley re-located to Germany. Whaley still lives there, while Peterson moved back to California in 1994. After Peterson came back to the U.S., Blue Cheer was dormant from 1995 to 1998.

[edit] 1999-Present: The Return of Blue Cheer

In 1999, Peterson & Whaley got together with guitarist McDonald, to resume touring as Blue Cheer. This band configuration has remained largely constant from 1999 to the present.

In 2000, Blue Cheer was the subject of a tribute album, Blue Explosion - A Tribute to Blue Cheer, featuring such bands as Pentagram, Internal Void, Hogwash and Thumlock.

Peterson and Leigh Stephens were together once again in Blue Cheer with drummer Prairie Prince at the Chet Helms Memorial Tribal Stomp in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park on October 29, 2005, and their lively performance drew old rockers like Paul Kantner and others from backstage to observe. They did some recordings in Virginia in Winter 2005 with Joe Hasselvander of Raven and Pentagram on drums, due to Paul Whaley choosing to remain in Germany.[15] While Hasselvander played on the entire album, his contribution was reduced to drums on five songs, with Paul Whaley re-recording the drum parts on the balance of the album. This was because Whaley was set to rejoin the band and it was felt that he should contribute to the album, prior to touring. The resulting CD, What Doesn't Kill You..., released in 2007, features contributions from both Whaley and Hasselvander as a consequence.[16]

Blue Cheer's video for Summertime Blues made an appearance in 2005 documentary Metal: A Headbanger's Journey, where Geddy Lee of Rush referred to the group as one of the first heavy metal bands.

The band is also regarded as the godfathers of stoner rock. Bands like Kyuss, Fu Manchu, Nebula and Monster Magnet have cited their "heavy-fuzz rock" as a massive influence on them.

[edit] 2000-Present: Dispute Over Ownership of Band Name

In recent years, a dispute has arisen as to ownership of the Blue Cheer band name. It was reported that, as of the early 2000s, former Blue Cheer guitarist Randy Holden, assisted by Randy Pratt of The Lizards band,[17] had trademarked the Blue Cheer band name. Holden's association with Blue Cheer was quite brief; his only recorded output with the band is three tracks on New! Improved! Blue Cheer in 1969.[18]. The matter has upset Dickie Peterson, given his position as a co-founder of the band and the only continuing member since its inception, but does not appear to have been resolved.[19]

According to Randy Pratt, this report is not entirely accurate. Pratt provides uncited commentary[20] as follows:

The Blue Cheer band name was trademarked in 2000 by fan and professional musician Randy Pratt. Pratt put the trademark in former Blue Cheer guitarist Randy Holden's possession after Dickie Peterson said he was finished with Blue Cheer and wanted nothing to do with it ever again, with his sole future interest in his new band, "Mother Ocean".[21]
Holden's association with Blue Cheer lasted from September 1968 through June 1969, touring American and Europe at the height of the band's success. Holden parted company with the band over contractual disputes in relation to his tour earnings and album advance being unpaid. As a result, he only recorded half of the band's album, New! Improved! Blue Cheer in 1969. Two other musicians, Bruce Stephens and Burns Kellog, were quickly brought in to address Holden's unanticipated departure. The album was subsequently released and went on to become No. 84 on the Billboard Top 100 Chart. The album became a collectible item, selling for substantial sums in later years.
Several years later, Dickie Peterson apparently changed his mind, sometime after his "Mother Ocean" project was abandoned, and decided to return to the music scene, when presented with an opportunity to form yet another version of the band Blue Cheer. Dickie Peterson moved back to the United States, after living in Germany for many years, and did a tour of sorts under the name Blue Cheer. Neither Holden nor anyone else intervened in any way to prevent Peterson's use of the name.
Randy Pratt, having paid all the costs for trademark, was noted to have said that neither he nor Holden has any interest in preventing anyone who has ever had a legitimate relationship playing in the band from doing whatever such person wants to do. Randy Pratt said that he noticed the band's demise was the result of bad management and other problems with drugs in the early days, which left the practical realities of business unattended to. He remarked that a good way to have a chance at success, a chance that has always been denied the band, was to trademark protect the name. Pratt had hopes of a reunion of the Whaley Peterson Holden lineup in 2000, but Holden has said the time for that opportunity has long passed, and his musical interests are in his other new projects. In relation to any trademark issue, Paul Whaley recorded with Holden in 2004, at which time Holden wanted to give the trademark to Paul Whaley, but Whaley said he had no interest in those kinds of things and declined. Holden said he wishes the old bandmates the best, regardless of the innuendo and rumors by a few vocal persons who hide behind pseudonyms to promote negative propaganda that serves no purpose to the good of anyone. Holden believes they are the same folks who were responsible for having hands in the Blue Cheer money pie that originally brought about the demise of the band.
Randy Pratt invites anyone having a legitimate interest in the trademark to contact him through his band's website, [1] (www.thelizardswebsite.com). Pratt notes that Blue Cheer was among the the very few bands whose business matters with regard to trademark protection were not addressed, notwithstanding that this is a standard action as a matter of course, similar to music copyright protection. In Pratt's view, this obviously speaks resoundingly to the mismanagement of the business affairs of the band throughout its history.

[edit] Discography

[edit] Studio

[edit] Live

[edit] Compilation

[edit] Tribute Album

[edit] References

  1. ^ McMenamins, 1997. McMenamins now owns the Crystal Ballroom.
  2. ^ Profile of Blue Cheer by William Ruhlmann; www.allmusic.com.
  3. ^ Later known as V. Vale, a well-known publisher and documenter of punk culture. Through his work in the late 1960s and 1970s at the City Lights Bookstore in San Francisco, he became acquainted with Richard Brautigan. "Vale founded the magazine Search & Destroy in 1977 with a $200.00 donation from Allen Ginsburg to document the then current punk music subculture. In 1980 he founded RE/Search Publications, which has published a variety of magazines and books focusing on modern primatives and other underground topics." See www.brautigan.net.
  4. ^ Outsideinside, Blue Cheer, The Original Human Being, OH! Pleasant Hope and The Beast Is Back. See Profile of Eric Albronda; www.vickibrennerent.com.
  5. ^ See Portrait of Vale Hamanaka/V. Vale; www.brautigan.net.
  6. ^ Blue Cheer Biography, Rockdetector.
  7. ^ Both Stephens and Kellogg had previously worked together in The Emeralds, a well-known northern California backing band in the 1960s. The Emeralds had also toured with The Coasters, The Olympics, The Larks, Bob & Earl, Chuck Berry, Junior Walker, Ray Peterson, and also opened shows for The Kinks, The Beach Boys, The Animals, Chad & Jeremy and Paul Revere & the Raiders, among others. At the time Stephens and Kellogg were asked to join Blue Cheer, both had co-founded Mint Tatoo, which had recorded one album engineered by Phil Ramone and produced by James William Guercio. While in Mint Tattoo, Stephens and Kellogg had opened shows for Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, Ten Years After, James Cotton and Janis Joplin. Bruce Stephens later played with Leigh Stephens (no relation) in Pilot (not the "It's Magic" Pilot), one of Leigh's post-Blue Cheer projects. One song from this period, "Fillmore Shuffle" was later recorded by Sammy Hagar on his second solo album, Sammy Hagar (1977). See Profile of Bruce Stephens; www.rearwindowmusic.com, via www.cdbaby.com.
  8. ^ Bruce Stephens continued in music, but with a much lower profile. In early 2009, he released Saturday Freedom (Rear Window Records), being a compilation of his compositions over the past three decades. "Rendezvous", a song co-written by Stephens, was included in The Cage, the 1982 album by Tygers of Pan Tang. Also in 1982, Stephens had released his first solo album, Watch That First Step, which featured supporting performances by Lonnie Turner, B.J. Wilson and Norton Buffalo, among others. Stephens has the distinction of being, at the age of sixteen, the youngest member in the history of the Musicians' Union of Sacramento, Californa. See Profile of Bruce Stephens; www.rearwindowmusic.com, via www.cdbaby.com.
  9. ^ Formerly of Sopwith Camel.
  10. ^ De Fuentes was also in a 1979-1980 version of Steppenwolf that included Nick St. Nicholas as the only original member, and which resulted in litigation from John Kay; see Ruben De Fuentes website; www.rubendefuentes.com.
  11. ^ Formerly with The Flamin' Groovies.
  12. ^ Credits: Highlights and Lowlives; www.deaddisc.com.
  13. ^ A band that continues to remain active. See Monsters website.
  14. ^ Credits: Dining With The Sharks; www.deaddisc.com.
  15. ^ Hasselvander's connection to the band was principally Duck MacDonald. Both had been members of the Kim Simmonds Band, prior to Savoy Brown founder Kim Simmonds deciding to reform Savoy Brown.
  16. ^ Interview with Joe Hasselvander by Metal Mark, March, 2008; "Heavy Metal Time Machine". See also Duck MacDonald Autobiography at www.bluecheer.us.
  17. ^ Also associated with the reformed Cactus band.
  18. ^ Though Paul Whaley played drums on Holden's 1996 release (recorded in 1993), Guitar God. The album was originally on Captain Trip Records, a Japanese label which has also released Dickie Peterson's two solo records.
  19. ^ Interview with Dickie Peterson by Nightwatcher for Rock N Roll Universe, February, 2008.
  20. ^ As "Whistleinthewind" in Wikipedia edits to the Blue Cheer page, without supporting citations.
  21. ^ Dickie Peterson and Mother Ocean, which included former Blue Cheer guitarist Tony Rainier, along with Peterson's brother Jerre, were playing in Germany in 2001 and 2002. See Notice of 2001 performance and Notice of 2002 performance; www.klubder40.de. It is unclear whether this was a side project or principal activity of Peterson, particularly since there were no Blue Cheer recordings released during this period and the extent of Blue Cheer's touring activity is uncertain. The 2002 German performances were in March; Jerre Peterson died in August of that same year. See Blue Cheer News

[edit] External links

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