Blue Cheer - New! Improved! (1969 Acid-Psych)

New!Improved! Blue Cheer is the third album by Blue Cheer, first released in March 1969 on Philips Records. The group's sound was hard to categorise, but was definitely blues-based, psychedelic, and loud. The group underwent several personnel changes after the 1968 release of Outsideinside, and then 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 ‡ 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.

Randy Holden is a guitarist best known for his involvement with the West Coast proto-metal group Blue Cheer on their third album, New! Improved! Blue Cheer (1969).

Randy Holden was born on the 2nd of July 1945 in Pennsylvania and grew up on the move. He played in a number of bands including The Iridescents (blues rock), The Fender IV (surf rock) and The Sons of Adam (surf rock/psychedelic rock). While playing in The Sons of Adam Holden opened for the Rolling Stones at their first show at the Long Beach Sports Arena. Holden was heavily influenced by Keith Richard's guitar and amp set up which helped change his own attitude towards equipment and tone.[2] The Sons of Adam (specifically Holden) began experimenting with distortion and feedback which pushed into psycedelic rock. Holden left the band frustrated with the lack of original material.

Holden joined up with The Other Half, a psychedelic garage band from Los Angeles. They recorded one album together before Holden parted ways. He then replaced Leigh Stevens in Blue Cheer and appeared on one side of the album New! Improved! Blue Cheer (1969). Holden toured with Blue Cheer for an entire year before once again parting ways.

Frustrated with lack of control over the bands, Randy formed his own band with drummer Chris Lockheed. At first Lockheed played both drums and keyboard simultaneously, but later decided to stick with just drums. During this time Holden obtained a sponsorship deal with Sunn amplifiers. Through this he received his legendary sixteen 200 Watt amplifiers. His new band was dubbed Population II which was a reference to the fact there were only two members in the band as well as an astronomical term (see metallicity). The band recorded a single album, Population II (1969). Trouble with the release of the album led to Holden going bankrupt, losing all his equipment and quitting music. Population II was eventually released in bootleg forms and official released years later.

After 23 years he began playing music again, reportedly coerced into playing again by a loyal fan. He recorded Guitar God in 1994


01. "When It All Gets Old" (Kellogg) - 3:01
02. "West Coast Child of Sunshine" (Stephens) - 2:41
03. "I Want My Baby Back" (Stephens) - 3:19
04. "Aces 'n' Eights" (Kellogg, Peterson, Stephens) 2:47
05. "As Long as I Live" (Peterson, Stephens) - 2:20
06. "It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry" (Dylan) - 3:16
07. "Peace of Mind" (Holden) - 7:22
08. "Fruit & Icebergs" (Holden) - 6:05
09. "Honey Butter Lover" (Holden) - 1:16

Post by ChrisGoesRock

Blue Cheer - Outside Inside (Acid Rock 1968)

Blue Cheer is a San Francisco-based rock group of the late 1960s and early 1970s, who helped to pioneer heavy metal music. According to Tim Hills in his book, The Many Lives of the Crystal Ballroom, "Blue Cheer was the epitome of San Francisco psychedelia. The band was rumored to have been named for a brand of LSD and promoted by renowned LSD chemist and former Grateful Dead patron, Owsley Stanley. Another rumor is that the Blue Cheer was a blend of heroin and methamphetamine with just a pinch of arsenic "for an extra glowly feeling", taken intravenously. A "blue cheer" is also obscure and somewhat archaic British slang for a fart.

The band's sound, however, was something of a departure from the music that had been coming out of the Bay Area: Blue Cheer's three musicians played heavy blues-rock, and played it very loud.

Original personnel were singer/bassist Dickie Peterson, guitarist Leigh Stephens, and drummer Paul Whaley. 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 categorise, but was definitely blues-based, psychedelic, and loud. The group underwent several personnel changes after the 1968 release of Outsideinside, and then 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 ‡ 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.


Outsideinside is the second album by Blue Cheer, released on PolyGram in August 1968. This album features writing contributions from all members along with two covers: "Satisfaction" by the Rolling Stones and "The Hunter" by Booker T. & the M.G.s (also covered by British rock band Free). The album was produced by Abe Kesh and engineered by Eddie Kramer, who had worked with Hendrix, The Rolling Stones and would later work with Led Zeppelin and KISS among others. The cover painting is by "Arab" and design by "Gut," legendary Hells Angel.

01. "Feathers from Your Tree" (Peterson, Stevens, Wagner) - 3:29
02. "Sun Cycle" (Peterson, Stevens, Wagner) - 4:12
03. "Just a Little Bit" (Peterson) - 3:24
04. "Gypsy Ball" (Peterson, Stevens) - 2:57
05. "Come and Get It" (Peterson, Stevens, Wagner) - 3:13
06. "Satisfaction" (Jagger/Richards) - 5:05
07. "The Hunter" (Booker T. Jones) - 4:22
08. "Magnolia Caboose" (Peterson, Stevens) - 1:38
09. "Babylon" (Peterson) - 4:22

Post by ChrisGoesRock

Blue Cheer - Vincebus Eruptum (Great Acid Psychedelia 1968)

Vincebus Eruptum is the debut album of proto-metal/psychedelic band Blue Cheer, released in January 1968. The album is widely considered to be the best Blue Cheer album[1], although this title sometimes goes to their second album, Outsideinside.

Vincebus Eruptum peaked at #11 on Billboard's Pop Albums chart in North America, while the single, a cover of Eddie Cochran's "Summertime Blues," peaked at #14 on the Pop Singles chart.

Blue Cheer is a San Francisco-based rock group of the late 1960s and early 1970s, who helped to pioneer heavy metal music. According to Tim Hills in his book, The Many Lives of the Crystal Ballroom, "Blue Cheer was the epitome of San Francisco psychedelia. The band was rumored to have been named for a brand of LSD and promoted by renowned LSD chemist and former Grateful Dead patron, Owsley Stanley. Another rumor is that the Blue Cheer was a blend of heroin and methamphetamine with just a pinch of arsenic "for an extra glowly feeling", taken intravenously. A "blue cheer" is also obscure and somewhat archaic British slang for a fart.

The band's sound, however, was something of a departure from the music that had been coming out of the Bay Area: Blue Cheer's three musicians played heavy blues-rock, and played it very loud.

Original personnel were singer/bassist Dickie Peterson, guitarist Leigh Stephens, and drummer Paul Whaley. 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 categorise, but was definitely blues-based, psychedelic, and loud. The group underwent several personnel changes after the 1968 release of Outsideinside, and then 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 ‡ 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.

The new line up of Peterson, Ralph Burn Kellogg, Norman Mayell, and Yoder in 1970 saw the release of The Original Human Being and then 1971's Oh! Pleasant Hope. When Oh! Pleasant Hope failed to dent the sales charts, Blue Cheer temporarily split up.

01. "Summertime Blues" (Capehart/Cochran) - 3:47
02. "Rock Me Baby" (Josea/King) - 4:22
03. "Doctor Please" (Peterson) - 7:53
04. "Out of Focus" (Peterson) - 3:58
05. "Parchment Farm" (Allison) - 5:49
06. "Second Time Around" (Peterson) - 6:17

Post by ChrisGoesRock