Blue Cheer ‎"The History Of Blue Cheer - Good Times Are So Hard To Find" 1968-1971(rec) 1988(comp)****

Like I said recently, there's no parthenogenesis in rock'n'roll yet there are some records that seem to come out of nowhere and contain the seeds of whole genres. It certainly appeared so in early 1968 when Blue Cheer released their first single, a cover of Eddie Cochran's "Summertime Blues". Often pinpointed as "the birth of Heavy Metal", it was certainly the loudest and heaviest noise committed to vinyl up to that time. Featuring fuzzed-up guitar, hollow and primitive drum banging, low sludgy bass, and throat-shredding vocals, it was all-out frontal attack on a scale never witnessed before - though the power trio format, distorted blues licks and that "foxy lady" intro suggest the boys had been listening to Jimi Hendrix. Were Black Sabbath listening? Probably not, but they came in second anyway! Kids loved the single, so it scaled to No.14 of the charts, even causing the long-haired band appear on national TV, scaring parents half to death. To ensure the safety of the audience and structural integrity of the TV studio they naturally had to mime to the song. If you doubt me consider this: Blue Cheer -incidentally the first American band to use the new Marshall amps- were recorded in the Guiness book of records as being the loudest band ever, a record they held to for 4 years. They lost it to Deep Purple when the latter reached 117db during a London concert that saw 3 members of the audience lose consciousness and many others to temporarily lose their hearing. Also worth noting that Blue Cheer were bona fide bad boys - any band managed by a Hells Angel and taking its name from the most potent batch of LSD on the street must have been!

Anyway, that's the track that opens this compilation, which is subtitled the history of Blue Cheer instead of Anthology or Best Of, because it takes a chronological approach and gives more or less equal coverage to the 6 albums released during the band's initial run. From the debut Vincebus Eruptum (1968) we get "Summertime Blues" and two (almost equally bombastic) tracks, blues cover "Parchment Farm" and original composition "Out Of Focus". Their second album Outsideinside (1968) was no less heavy but did display some evolution from the monolithic simplicity of the debut into something more psychedelic: "Feathers From Your Tree" adds some piano to the mix, the drum sound is much clearer, and the vocals provide more nuance, from the frantic shouts of the funky "Babylon" to the sexual brashness of blues rock "The Hunter". By the next year's New!Improved! (1969) guitarist Leigh Stephens had left to be replaced initially by Randy Holden and then by his nameshake Bruce Stephens. Each of them is heard on one side of the LP. Here we get 2 songs written and sung by Randy Holden, "Peace Of Mind" and "Fruit And Icebergs". Both are excellent bluesy hard rock reminiscent of The Cream - if Holden was (only) slightly less heavy than Stephens he made up for it with his amazing solos. 

Their next LP called simply Blue Cheer (1969) finds bassist/singer Dickie Peterson the sole original member, and another change in direction: with the addition of keyboards and harmonica, and a more reserved guitar and drums sound, they present a more commercial hard rock style a la Steppenwolf with country overtones in the case of Delaney Bramlett cover "Hello LA, Bye Bye Birmingham". Two band originals are also included ("Fool", "Saturday Freedom"). From Original Human Being (1970) we get "Good Times Are So Hard To Find" (an organ-dominated rocker reminiscent of Spencer Davis' "I'm A Man") and two gutsy Southern rock tunes, "Pilot" and the sax-heavy "Preacher". All are sung by new singer/guitarist Gary Lee Yonder who shares the album's vocal spots with Peterson and has arguably the better voice of the two. 

 

Their next -and last, for more than a decade- album Oh!Pleasant Hope (1971) was the furthest removed from their beginnings, sporting a more laid-back country-ish sound. Nothing wrong with that, at least judging from "Hiway Man" and "I'm The Light". The former has some nice organ fills, while the latter's sitar and Yoder's Jagger-esque vocals make it sound like something out of  the Stones' Satanic Majesties Request. After that, the band went into a long hiatus before being revived a few times by Peterson - always with a focus on their early proto-metal sound. Which reminds me: if you like Blue Cheer you may want to also check this Spotify playlist featuring a who is who of proto-metal pioneers. As an introduction to the band, Good Times... is pretty successful: while only their first two albums are essential, the CD's 74 minutes do not contain any duds - provided you're not looking for more of the same; this is classic rock, not heavy metal! Like all CD's of its era (released in 1988) this is a straight, unremastered, transfer from analogue. But don't let this discourage you - it sounds pretty good! Some even prefer the sound of 80's CD's since the loudness wars that followed have had a negative impact on the more discerning listeners' pleasure.

***** for Summertime Blues, Out Of Focus, Parchment Farm, The Hunter, 

**** for Feathers From Your Tree, Babylon, Peace Of Mind, Fruit And Icebergs, Fool, Saturday Freedom, Good Times Are So Hard To Find, Pilot, Preacher, Hiway Man, I'm The Light

*** for Hello L.A. Bye Bye Birmingham