Blue Cheer
Band members Related acts
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line up 1 (1966-67) - Eric Albronda -- drums, percussion - Leigh Stephens -- guitar - Dickie Peterson (RIP 2009) -- vocals, bass - Jerre Peterson -- guitar - Vale Hamanaka -- keyboards - Jere Whiting -- vocals, harmonica
line up 2 (1967-68) - Leigh Stephens -- guitar - Dickie Peterson (RIP 2009) -- vocals, bass NEW - Paul Whaley (RIP 2019) -- drums, percussion (replaced Eric Albronda)
supporting musicians: (1968) - Ralph Burns Kellogg\(RIP) -- keyboards, organ, reeds
line up 4 (1968-69) NEW - Randy Holden -- guitar (replaced Leigh Stephens) - Dickie Peterson (RIP 2009) -- vocals, bass - Paul Whaley (RIP 2019) -- drums, percussion
line up 5 (1969) - Dickie Peterson (RIP 2009) -- vocals, bass NEW - Bruce Eric Stephens -- guitar (replaced Randy Holden) - Paul Whaley (RIP 2019) -- drums, percussion (replaced Eric Albronda)
line up 6 (1969) NEW - Bruce Burns Kellogg -- keyboards - Dickie Peterson (RIP 2009) -- vocals, bass NEW - Mitch Mitchell -- drums, percussion (replaced Paul Whaley) NEW - Tom Weisser -- guitar (replaced Bruce Eric Stephens)
line up 7 (1969) NEW - Bruce Burns Kellogg -- keyboards - Dickie Peterson (RIP 2009) -- vocals, bass NEW - Bruce Eric Stephens -- guitar (replaced Tom Weisser) NEW - Paul Whaley -- drums, percussion (replaced Mitch Mitchell)
line up 8 (1970-71) - Bruce Burns Kellogg -- keyboards - Norman Mayell -- drums, percussion (replaced Paul Whaley) - Dickie Peterson (RIP 2009) -- vocals, bass NEW - Gary Lee Yoder -- guitar (replaced Bruce Eric Stephens)
line up 9 (1975) NEW - Rubin De Fuentes -- guitar - Dickie Peterson (RIP 2009) -- vocals, bass NEW - Jerre Peterson -- guitar NEW - Terry Rae -- drums, percussion
line up 10 (1975) - Rubin De Fuentes -- guitar Jerre Peterson -- guitar - Terry Rae -- drums, percussion NEW - Nick St. Nicholas -- vocals, bass (replaced Dickie Peterson)
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- Bible Black (Andrew Duck MacDonald) - Black Manta (Joe Hasselvander) - Blood on the Saddle (Eric Davis) - The Boyz (Joe Hasselvander) - Cathederal (Joe Hasselvander) - Cotten/Prince Productions - Dante Fox (Gary Holland) - Death Row (Joe Hasselvander) - Devil Childe (Joe Hasselvander) - Don't Push The Clown - The Dream Band (Norman Mayell) - The Far Cry (Jerry Whiting) - The Flying Tigers (Mick Fleck) - Forgotten Realm (Joe Hasselvander) - Great White (Gary Holland) - Group "B" (Dickie Peterson and Jerre Peterson) - Guardians of the Flame (Joe Hasselvander) - Hollywood Stars (Rubin De Fuentes) - The Hounds of Hasselvander (Joe Hasselvander) - Journey (Prairie Prince) - Kak (Dehner Patten and Gary Lee Youder) - Kid Courage (Mick Fleck) - Sy Klopps Blues Band (Prairie Prince) - Phil Lesh And Friends (Prairie Prince) - Jack London and the Sparrows (Klaus Kassbaum) - MacAlpine (Bill Carmassi) - Magic Christian (Prairie Prince) - Mind Assassin (Joe Hasselvander) - Mint Tattoo (Bruce Eric Stephens) - The Mistakes (Prairie Prince) - The Mynah Birds (Klaus Kassbaum) - The New Cars (Prairie Prince) - The Other Half (Randy Holden) - The Oxford Circus (Dehner Patten, Paul Whaley and Gary Lee Youder) - Pentegram (Joe Hasselvander) - Dickie Peterson (solo efforts) - Jerre Peterson (solo efforts) - Phantom Lord (Joe Hasselvander) - Pilot (Eric Albronda, Bruce Eric Stephens and Leigh Stephens) - Prince-Knotter-Exley-Leach-Leventhal-Cotten Productions - Raven (Joe Hasselvander) - Playground (Andrew Duck MacDonald) - Rayenride (Dieter Saller) - Reactor (Joe Hasselvander) - Silver Metre (Leigh Stephens) - Sopwith Camel (Norman Mayell) - Bruce Eric Stephens (solo efforts) - Leigh Stephens (solo efforts) - The Sparrow
(Klaus Kassbaum) - Strangers In A Strange Land (Prairie Prince) - Streaming Pile of Mick (Dave Salce) - Steppenwolf (Klaus Kassbaum) - Streetheart (Bill Carmassi) - Thrasher (Andrew Duck MacDonald) - T.I.M.E. (Klaus Kassbaum) - Too-Good-For-Neil-Hamburger-Band (Prairie Prince) - The Tubes (Prairie Prince) - The Valenine (Prairie Prince) - White Lion (Joe Hasselvander) - Gary Lee Youder (solo efforts - Zappa Early Renaissance Orchestra (Prairie Prince)
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Genre: hard rock Rating: **** (4 stars) Title: Outsideinside Company: Philips Catalog: PHS
600-278 Country/State: San Francisco, California Grade (cover/record): VG+/VG+ Comments: tri-fold album sleeve Available: 1 Catalog ID: -- Price: $40.00
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Not exactly a hotbed for rock and roll, but I spent forty years working for the Department of the Navy. Most of that time was working for a small organization known as The Office of Naval Research (ONR). One afternoon I was having lunch with one of the organization's Department Heads - a gentleman by the name of Dr. Tom Drake. With a background as a teacher and researcher at North Carolina State University, where his areas of interest were terrestrial and coastal surficial processes (think along the lines of the effects of weathering, erosion, waves, tide and sea level rise on land masses. I knew him as a program manager and as the head of ONR's Ocean Battlespace Sensing Department. Anyhow we somehow started talking about music and out of the blue the band Blue Cheer came up. My response was "Vincebus Eruptum". Dr. Drake smiled at me and said something to the effect "They are so much more than that ..." Turns out one of his cousins (Gary Youder) had been a member of the band. And yes, Dr. Drake you were right. They were so much more than the debut album.
On the heels of their "Vincebus Eruptum" debut album's success, Philips Records relentlessly pressured the band for more material. Produced by Abe Kesh, 1968's "Outsideinside" was released a mere seven months after their debut. The unusual album title was apparently a reflection on the fact the recording sessions took place inside studios and some material was recorded outdoors. The studio sessions took place at various New York City studios and Pacific Recorders in San Mateo, California. Given how loud their sound was, the band ended up recording some of the album at New York's Pier 57, Muir Beach and Sausalito's Gate Five pier. Before going further, a couple of warnings. Yes, the debut album was heavy. However, compared to the second LP, it was like listening to a New Christie Minstrels album. If you were expecting the trio to have mellowed out into a more typical West Coast psych direction, you were sadly mistaken. Other than Allan "Gut" Terk's classic "stoned hippies" cover art, there was nothing mellow in this collection. In fact, the only question was "How could a trio generate so much sound and be so friggin' loud?" If you've been skeptical of all the hype that labels them "rock's loudest band", then play this on a good stereo, or listen to it with some quality headphones. Oh my goodness ... Unlike the debut which was pretty barebones - brute force and volume, this time out the band combined brute force, volume and thanks to producer Kesh, increasingly studio sophistication. Guitarist Leigh Stephens seemingly discovered the power of multi-tracking. Several tracks included Ralph Burns Kellogg's keyboards and backing vocals !!! Kesh's production work was a blast to hear. Anyone who was a fan of stereo panning was going to enjoy tracks like "Just A Little" and the blazing grunge-ish "Come And Get It". And while you were never going to mistake guitarist Stephens, bassist Dickie Peterson and drummer Paul Whaley for a trio of stoned "peace, love and happiness" hippies, tracks like "Sun Cycle" and the Hendrix-tinged "Gypsy Ball" demonstrated at least a touch of West Coast psychedlelia had permeated their creative souls.
For hardcore fans, on the original album packaging omitted the band's name and album title. Name and title were added to subsequent pressings.
"Outsideinside" track listing: 1.) Feathers From Your Tree (Dickie Peterson - Leigh Stephens - Peter Wagner) - 3:29 rating: **** stars I'm not enough of an interested party to debate whether this was the first "heavy metal" tune. What I can opine is Paul Whaley's manic drumming was impressive, Leigh Stephens' guitar was molten and "Feathers Fro You Tree" had to at least be considered an early stab at heavy metal. Co-written by the band's equipment manager Peter Wager it was not particularly melodic, but definitely heavy ... The track was tapped as the LP's second single:
- 1968's "Feathers From Your Tree" b/w "Sun Cycle" (Philips catalog number 40561) The sound and video quality are poor, but YouTube has a clip of the band playing the song on WHC-17 television: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mmao2btkb6s 2.) Sun Cycle (Dickie Peterson - Leigh Stephens - Peter Wagner) - 4:12 rating: **** stars Whereas the opener didn't exhibit your typical mid-'60s "San Francisco" sound, "Sun Cycle" saw psych influences creep into the mix. Whaley's drumming remained a dominant force (bouncing from channel to channel), but the band's tsunami of sound was restrained through the first two minutes. 'Course Stephens' mid-song guitar explosion brought out their patented sound. The track also appeared as the "B" side on their "Feathers From Your Tree" 45. 3.) Just A Little (Dickie Peterson) - 3:24 rating: **** stars Geez, I pity the poor hippy who put this on his turntable expecting to hear something along the lines of "Somebody To Love". This ain't no West Coast psych !!! This is a stunning mash-up of stoner rocker and full-on, pent-up punk aggression. I've seldom heard a song where a drummer makes the late Keith Moon sound tame. The end-of-song interplay between Whaley and Stephens was stunning. The track was tapped as the LP's leadoff single:
- 1968's "Just a Little Bit" b/w "Gypsy Ball" (Philips catalog number 40451) # 92 Billboard Hot 100 singles chart 4.) Gypsy Ball (Dickie Peterson - Leigh Stephens) - 2:57 rating: **** stars Stephen's thick, molten sound has occasionally reminded me of Jimi Hendrix. On "Gypsy Ball" that comparison was underscored by the sludgy vocals, acid drenched lyrics and Whaley hyperactive drumming. Love it. The song was also released as the "B" side on their "Just a Little Bit" 45. 5.) Come And Get It (Dickie Peterson - Leigh Stephens - Peter Wagner) - 3:13 rating: **** stars Folks seem focused on debating whether Blue Cheer were the first heavy metal band. Judging by the hyper-speed delivery and take-no-prisoners performance that marked "Come and Get It" perhaps the argument should center on whether they were the first punk, or the first true grunge band. Not hard for me to imagine a grunge band doing a cover of the tune. Shame it faded out so abruptly. The song also appeared as the "B" side to their "The Hunter" 45.
(side 2) 1.) (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction (Mick Jagger - Keith Richards) - 5:07 rating: *** stars Given the limited time they had to prepare material for their sophomore album, it shouldn't have come as a surprise to see a couple of covers. You could certainly recognize their cover of The Stones' "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" but it was "looser" with a distinctively stoned edge. That was kind of a surprise given singer/guitarist Stephens was renown for his anti-drug feelings. He was subsequently kicked out of the band reportedly for criticizing his fellow band members for their extensive drug use. Perhaps that's why the album cover art shows him sitting apart from Peterson and Whaley ... 2.) The Hunter (Booker T. Jones) - 4:22 rating: *** stars With Peterson and Stephens sharing vocals, their cover of Booker T. Jones' "The Hunter" was actually quite enjoyable. The original melody was there; just smothered under Stephens' guitar. The album's most fun effort. Still, I'd give the nod to Albert King's bluesy cover. The track was released as a single in Belgium and Holland.
- 1968's "The Hunter" b/w "Come and Get It" (Philips catalog number 304 180 BF) 3.) Magnolia Caboose Babyfinger (instrumental) (Dickie Peterson - Leigh Stevens - Peter Wagner) - 1:38 rating: ** stars A brief instrumental, "Magnolia Caboose Babyfinger" sounded like a throwaway studio jam with Stephens tossing off scattered solos. Nothing particularly memorable here. 4.) Babylon (Dickie Peterson) - 4:22 rating: **** stars Okay, I'll readily admit the Peterson penned closer "Babylon" was pretty heavy. The combination of Stephens' wall-of-sound guitar and Whaley's massive drums (for some reason I always find myself thinking of The Muppets Animal) was certainly on a par with anything in the Black Sabbath, or Zeppelin catalogs.
© Scott R. Blackerby May 2025
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