The One-Hit Wonder File: “Summertime Blues”

If you were making a list of the heaviest-sounding bands of the 1960s, you’d certainly include groups like Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Vanilla Fudge, and Iron Butterfly, but you’d also need to add Blue Cheer to the roster.

The San Francisco-based group is often referenced as one of the loudest bands ever to grace a stage or power up in a recording studio. Blue Cheer regularly shook venues to the rafters with their earth-shattering vibes. The band’s mammoth sound has often been called Louder Than God, which was the title of a 1986 Rhino Records compilation of their music.

The group was formed in 1966 by bassist-vocalist Dickie Peterson. The initial lineup featured drummer Eric Albronda and guitarist Leigh Stephens. The roster soon expanded to include harmonica player Jere Whiting, keyboardist Vale Hamanaka, and Dickie’s brother, guitarist Jerre Peterson. Those additions were short-lived, and the band coalesced into a power trio consisting of Dickie Peterson, Leigh Stephens, and Paul Whaley, who replaced Albronda on drums. Albronda ended up working behind the scenes for the group, producing several of their records.

Blue Cheer’s inspired mix of blues and acid rock, along with their epic levels of sound, gained them a solid reputation on the West Coast concert circuit. The band was soon signed to Phillips Records, and their first single was a thunderous version of Eddie Cochran’s “Summertime Blues.” The song was included on their 1968 debut, Vincebus Eruptum, along with “Out of Focus,” “Second Time Around,” and “Doctor Please,” all penned by Peterson. But it was the band’s mind-blowing cover of “Summertime Blues” that tore its way to number 11 on the Billboard charts. The Eddie Cochran hit has been covered by artists ranging from The Beach Boys and T. Rex to The Who, but Blue Cheer’s take on the song is positively gargantuan.

Vincebus Eruptum rocketed to number 11 on the album charts, and the group returned to the studio to record their follow-up, Outsideinside. Legend has it that portions of the album were recorded outdoors, owing to the group’s towering array of amplifiers and their monumental volume levels. Released in the summer of 1968, Outsideinside, which featured “Just A Little Bit,” solidified the band’s reputation as the preeminent purveyors of ear-splitting rock and roll. Subsequent releases saw a number of lineup changes, with Dickie Peterson remaining the band’s only constant. Blue Cheer broke up after 1971’s Oh! Pleasant Hope, a change of pace outing that showcased a folk-influenced, countrified sound.

Blue Cheer (named for the band’s favorite variety of LSD) reformed, recorded, and toured in various configurations throughout the ensuing decades, until Dickie Peterson’s death in 2009. Ardent fans of the band include Neil Peart and the late Kurt Cobain. The group has often been cited as one of the progenitors of heavy metal. Their visionary mix of blues and psychedelic rock, as well as their titanic volume, inspired and influenced a number of bands, including Soundgarden and Nirvana. Not bad for a group who was given the following intro by 1960s TV host Steve Allen: “Blue Cheer… run for your lives.”

-John Visconti

Photo: Blue Cheer, 1969 L-r Richard” Dickie “Peterson, Paul Whaley and Randy Holden
(Jack de Nijs for Anefo via Wikimedia Commons)