Blue Cheer 'Live Bootleg: London

It’s hard to believe that it’s been over 30 years since the birth of what we now know as Heavy Metal. Hendrix and Cream were the midwives while Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin were the progeny… But what about the half-brother lurking in the corner, giggling, and sucking on the gas and air? Step forward please, Blue Cheer.

The Summer of Love had barely ended when Blue Cheer formed in late 1967, taking their name from a type of acid tab. They came from San Francisco, but, although part of the psychedelic set, love ‘n’ peace this was not. In some ways they were the antithesis to the hippy trip, the Bay Area’s revenge on the invading peaceniks, and the musical equivalent of Manson.

Scott MacKenzie would’ve shuddered. They made raucous, frantic slabs of greasy noise, took trips by the truckload and hung around with Hell’s Angels. They used the basic heavy psychedelic blues format of Hendrix and company, added giant, heavily discordant guitar workouts and a pounding, overdriven bass, then played it all at full blast. Legend has it that while recording their second album, "Outsideinside", they were so loud they blew up the studio monitors and the album could only be completed with the band playing outside. Even listening to the CDs today, they just sound so... LOUD!!! Whereas many bands of their era were injecting jazz or pop influences, Blue Cheer weren’t interested in all that pouncing around. It was rather music to split skulls to. Unsurprisingly, the critics hated them.

It’s perhaps typical of the chaos embracing Blue Cheer that they started life and one of their gigs as a six piece; and by the time they emerged to perform the second half of the set that particular night, they’d contracted to a trio. This ‘original’ line-up of Leigh Stephens (guitar/vocals), Dick Peterson (bass/vocals) and Paul Whaley (drums) recorded two albums, the debut "Vincebus Eruptum" and the aforementioned "Outsideinside", both released in 1968 on the Philips label.

Stephens left after "Outside", and Blue Cheer struggled to settle on a line-up thereafter. A succession of guitarists mostly with more psychedelic leanings drifted in and out, and gradually the heavy blues influence lessened, the band becoming more of a typical West Coast psychedelic act. They split in ‘71, Peterson reforming the band a few years later. Over the following years, further albums followed including the classic album "The Beast Is Back" featuring revamped classics. Europe, USA, Japan all embraced the BLUE CHEER sound, yet they remained almost a myth in the UK, hardly stepping foot on British soil, restricting their appearances to a few festivals. Since 1986, the Blue Cheer line up has been Dickie Peterson (bass/vocals), Paul Whaley (drums) and Andrew ‘Duck’ MacDonald (Guitars). In the years since Blue Cheer first charged out of the Bay Area on their Harleys, many have hailed them as the first ever Heavy Metal band. It can also be argued that Blue Cheer was too unstructured and unrestrained for the tag to really be true, but they were definitely a prototype. Who gives a shit though? Whatever label you put on it, Blue Cheer has a special place in heavy music’s pantheon of greats, and their legacy is still relevant today. Many of the bands over the years have a few recycled Blue Cheer-isms in there somewhere. Queens of the Stone Age, Fu Manchu, Monster Magnet, the Heads, maybe even the likes of Soundgarden and Nirvana, can all trace their lineage back to Blue Cheer.

The UK Music Press welcomed BLUE CHEER back with open arms in October/November 2003, with a clutch of features and album reviews, including:

An 8 page feature in Classic Rock
Kerrang! rated their ‘Live In Japan’ album with 4 Ks and stated the band as “true legends”

Q citied the ‘Vincebus Eruptum’ as the “first ‘metal’ album ever”

Uncut credit Blue Cheer as “justly revered for their part in inventing the genre that is currently known as Stoner Rock” and described the band as “Monumental”

Record Collector said Blue Cheer “were totally individual in their sledgehammer approach, paving the way for Mountain and Grand Funk Railroad, as well as the grunge explosion of the 90’s”

Classic Rock in a live review of the last UK show (November 2003) credited the band with “blasting out loud and proud Rock ’n Roll for more than 35 years – and who still sound so energized and refreshed they put younger bands to shame” and who have written “some of the greatest rock songs ever conceived”

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Blue Cheer - Live Bootleg: London - Hamburg