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Sunday Old School: Blue Cheer, A Tribute To Dickie Peterson

posted Oct 18, 2009 at 6:37 PM by Diamond Oz.  (2 Comments)

Given that Blue Cheer frontman Dickie Peterson sadly passed away last Monday, it seemed only fitting that this week's edition of Sunday Old School take a look at the band. Blue Cheer began in 1966 and took their name from a brand of LSD which was promoted by former Grateful Dead frontman, Owsley Stanley. The band was managed by a former Hell's Angel. Blue Cheer scored a hit single with their cover of the Eddie Cochran classic, "Summertime Blues," which peaked at number 14 on the Billboard singles chart. The debut album, "Vincebus Eruptus" from which the song was from, also entered the Billboard album charts at number 11.

Over the years the band split up and reformed several times, but left a lasting influence on rock and metal music and have been cited by many as one of the inspirations behind punk rock, stoner rock, doom metal and grunge. You can check out some videos below of Blue Cheer, the band that was described by The Doors frontman Jim Morrison as "The single most powerful band I've ever seen."

Blue Cheer - "Summertime Blues"

Blue Cheer - "Rock Me Baby"

Blue Cheer - "Fruit And Icebergs"

Diamond Oz's avatar

Ollie Hynes has been a writer for Metal Underground.com for four years and has been a metal fan for ten years, going so far as to travel abroad for metal shows.

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2 Comments on "Sunday Old School: Blue Cheer"

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TheMidnightCowboy's avatar

Member

1. TheMidnightCowboy writes:

Awesome stuff, Diamond. I've been on a big Blue Cheer kick again since the sad news broke.

# Oct 18, 2009 @ 8:59 PM ET | IP Logged Reveal posts originating from the same IP address
deathbringer's avatar

Founder, owner & programmer

2. deathbringer writes:

I'm not a big fan of the 60's sound, but I've found myself liking some of they psychadellic hard rock/metal pre-cursors like Blue Cheer (Iron Butterfly, Hendrix, Steppenwolf, etc) a lot more in recent years. Funny how Blue Cheer is best known for a remake, but I love their version of Summertime Blues with the distorted guitars and more prominent drumming. Also like the last song on here, which I'd never heard before.

# Oct 18, 2009 @ 11:22 PM ET | IP Logged Reveal posts originating from the same IP address

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