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Blue Cheer

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San Francisco, United States (1968 – 1971, 1988 – present)

Blue Cheer is an American blues rock group of the late 1960s and early 1970s, who helped to pioneer heavy metal music. Based in San Francisco, original personnel were singer/bassist Dickie Peterson, guitarist Leigh Stephens, and drummer Paul Whaley. A power trio, the band was named after a variety of LSD promoted by underground chemist and Grateful Dead backer Owsley Stanley. This variety of LSD took its name from a popular laundry detergent. 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 categorize, but was definitely blues-based, psychedelic, and very loud. The band has been subsequently acclaimed as an influence on garage rock, punk rock, heavy metal, and grunge. Julian Cope has written, “In 1968, nothing but nothing in America and Britain sounded as brutal as Blue Cheer except for The Velvet Underground.”

The group underwent several personnel changes after the 1968 release of Outsideinside, and then through yet more changes during and after 1969’s New! Improved! Blue Cheer (different guitarists on side 1 and 2). After Leigh Stephens was replaced by Randy Holden, formerly of Los Angeles garage rock band The Other Half, in 1968, Blue Cheer’s style changed to a more commercial hard rock sound à la Steppenwolf or Iron Butterfly. For the fourth album Blue Cheer, Holden, who had left during the third album, was subsequently replaced by Bruce Stephens. Stephens later quit and was replaced by Gary Lee Yoder, who helped complete the album.

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psychedelic rock, hard rock, classic rock, psychedelic, blues rock
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Vincebus Eruptum
Blue Cheer
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Outsideinside
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Outside Inside
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Good Times Are So Hard to Find
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Top Tracks

1	Summertime Blues full track	625
2	Out of Focus full track	229
3	Rock Me Baby full track	197
4	Doctor Please full track	193
5	Second Time Around full track	184
6	Parchment Farm full track	167
7	The Hunter full track	127
8	Just A Little Bit full track	118
9	Babylon full track	110
10	Gypsy Ball full track	96
11	Sun Cycle full track	95
12	Feathers From Your Tree full track	88
13	Come And Get It full track	76
14	Magnolia Caboose Babyfinger full track	62
15	(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction full track	55

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Heavypsychmanbl wrote:
Friday afternoon

Monster Heavy psych a go go

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Noxbi wrote:
last week

@PhillipThunder: Peterson, not Roberts... Richard Allan Peterson.

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PhillipThunder wrote:
last week

R.I.P. Richard "Dickie" Roberts.. You are in need of the over-due recognition for your contribution to rock and music in general with Blue Cheer as well

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miqmiranda wrote:
last week

epic band!!

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malize wrote:
13 days ago

DEP, and Thanks for all, last album and shows were great!

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loveolutionary wrote:
19 days ago

underrated is an understatement. blue cheer is magic and dickie peterson, you're a god.

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anomalousclouds wrote:
22 days ago

So good, and slightly underrated to me. Love that fuzzy sound

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veyita_88 wrote:
last month

R.I.P Dickie,Blue Cheer was great.

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RandyRhoadsRIP wrote:
last month

One on my fav. Bands

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Ozzman_Cameth wrote:
last month

R.I.P. Dickie :[

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ValtielXIII wrote:
last month

R.I.P. Dickie :(

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Jack_A_Lynn wrote:
last month

The bass player, singer and leader for over 40 years of one of the world's most influential, pioneeristic and underrated bands in the whole history of rock and roll passes away silently, and I discovered it by accident, because no one said anything... why all this fuss about Micheal Jackson? Dickie, thanks for the pages you've written in the book of Rock 'n' Roll, I'll never forget it!

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miikargh wrote:
last month

Vincebus Eruptum and Outsideinside are AMAZING! Sad that Dickie passed away. He was a great musician!

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haneater wrote:
October 2009

stoner!!!

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Rondo_Wayne wrote:
October 2009

R.I.P. Dickie! Btw: Try Live in Japan 1999 (Hello Tokyo, Bye Bye Osaka), if you not already haven't. Freaking loud one! :)

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leo64 wrote:
October 2009

R.I.P. grande Dickie!

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RandyRhoadsRIP wrote:
October 2009

Just fkn' underrated, Dickie was a pioneer of Metal, wtf happens with this people

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Donniegambler wrote:
October 2009

R.I.P

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RandyRhoadsRIP wrote:
October 2009

R.I.P Dickie

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rafaelwho wrote:
October 2009

R.I.P. Dickie :(

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Recent Activity

JDC1988, Zantedge, MetalEmmanuel and 1 other person added Blue Cheer to their libraries. 2 hours ago
hey_nika tagged Blue Cheer with ‘psychedelic rock’. yesterday evening
karlos55, juniorfeldhaus, Federico95 and 1 other person added Blue Cheer to their libraries. yesterday evening
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jackelde, sheirkahn, mickmaniac and 3 other people added Blue Cheer to their libraries. Friday evening
skeletoneyes tagged Blue Cheer with hard rock and psychedelic rock. Tuesday afternoon
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fosku tagged Blue Cheer with psychedelic and psychedelic rock. Tuesday morning
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MikeWire6666 connected Blue Cheer to the group Hard Rock & Heavy Metal. Monday afternoon