The Loudest Band in the World Rocks the Sunset Strip
Blue Cheer
The Key Club
Hollywood CA
July 22, 2006
By Bradley
(SugarBuzz LA/Silverlake)
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.