North Dakota was a wasteland for rock and roll and the heavy-metal pioneers Blue Cheer deserted the badlands for San Francisco in 1966. Their first and really only hit SUMMERTIMES BLUES hit #11 on the charts in 1968. They were loud. In fact the group achieved the Guinness Books record of loudest band at a free concert. Hundreds of people complained of burst eardrums. On one occasion at the Kinetic Playground venue in Chicago Blue Cheer terminated the show because the rear wall collapsed thanks to the volume and people left with their ears bleeding. I never saw them but respect their power and even to this day love the raw talent on their LPs.
Play it loud for Dickie Petersen.
He passed away today at the age of 61.
No one ever put all the leads into the amp until him.
110dB.
All the way.
Front and center for eternity.
To listen to Blue Cheer’s PEACE OF MIND click on this URL
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLAShtHvAvI&feature=related
I’m listening to Blue Cheer the rest of the night.
Drinking beer too.
An old hippie to the end
For a related article click on this URL
https://www.mangozeen.com/2009/01/20/music/sonic-reducer-dead-boys.htm