Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular Music

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BLUE CHEER

Rock power trio formed in San Francisco in 1967, one of the ancestors of heavy metal. Original lineup: Richard Allan 'Dickie' Peterson, bass and lead vocals (b 12 September 1946, grew up in Grand Forks ND; d 12 October 2009, Erkelenz, Germany of liver cancer); Bruce 'Leigh' Stephens, guitar and vocals; Paul Whaley, drums. Peterson's older brother Jerre played in a sextet called Blue Cheer; they both played on the West Coast in Group B, then the revived Blue Cheer was pared down to a trio. They were disciples of the 'volume is power' school, though the term was not yet in use; they were one of the loudest acts of the late '60s. Associated with San Francisco; remembered mainly for a raucous top 20 remake of Eddie Cochran's 'Summertime Blues', although suprisingly three LPs made top 100 of USA LP chart: Vincebus Eruptum (incling the hit, made top 20 albums), Outsideinside and New! Improved! The personnel changed; Stephens departed after the first album for a solo career, made Red Weather '69 for Philips UK, Cast Of Thousands '71 on Charisma, backed on both by UK sessionmen such as Nicky Hopkins and Tony Ashton. His replacement was Randy Holden; keyboardist Burns Kellog was added for final albums Blue Cheer '69, Original Human Beings '70. Their manager (a former Hell's Angel called Gut) said of them that 'they play so hard and heavy they make cottage cheese out of the air'.They broke up '72.

Stephens was said to have joined group called Foxtrot. Peterson revived the name a few times, and made solo albums in the 1990s Child of the Darkness and Tramp.