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Post by Eric Albronda on Dec 21, 2007 15:48:47 GMT -5
Leigh's magic happened the same day it happened to Paul and Dickie . Sometimes with music as the physics would have it a new valence structure of electrons suddenly came together to form a New Heavy Metal for the Periodic Chart of the Elements hereafter named BC "N" Ium" or heavy metal with periodic Number of 1.00. Like Uranium or Berkeleyium forever preserved in the universe as an otherwise never structured before atomic configuration on that day in 1967 ----totally unique and totally real--------------
As far as the presented attitude of Leigh Stephens lets face it His people skills are terrible This is verified after I set him up with Ron Wood, Ian Stewart , Steve Winwood, Nicky Hopkins, Pete Sears and Leigh dropped the ball in every case personally paranoid and ego maniacal so that all he had to do was follow through with any of their invitations to make something happen and he chose not to --------my frustration at that time was through the roof-------------Most of his bitterness and unwillingness to embrace his gifts to Blue Cheer and music in general stem from the fact that he was asked to leave Blue Cheer because he was , like me , not tolerant of the financial ruin taking place nor the compromised musicianship of Dickie and Paul at the time----this is like saying and true it is, that Dickie and Paul ripped him and me and Gut and Jerry and Peter and Doug off for the realistic potential of millions of dollars.
Eric
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Post by rowenafaerie on Dec 21, 2007 16:44:34 GMT -5
in other words, they blew it, climbed up their own arseholes and - poof! up in smoke (literally). and ripped themselves off in the process! they have paid the dues for that, and then some i suspect. as for leigh's people skills dare i repeat that he is a gemini - paul and dickie are earth people; which probably left him feeling smothered. and that people skills were often shelved in those days(any days!) of drug-induced paranoia. leigh could be a sweetheart too but it speaks volumes that he has his dogs on his myspace site with the caption "best friends". genius demands focus and focus often excludes a lot of the background...but he contributed more in that short time than a lot of people do in their whole lives so i say cut the guy a break...
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Post by Festooned Piglips on Dec 22, 2007 9:17:29 GMT -5
I would love to hear a live recording of Randy with BC in late ’68 and or ‘69 I know a few folks on here saw them back in the day,…I’m surprised that nothing has surged yet but from what I heard that Randy did a lot of soloing with them,…..if I’m not mistaken Lemmy from Hawkwind/Motorhead saw them at The Roundhouse in London and spoke about how loud they were ,…… First of all, there did indeed exist a recording of a show with Randy from Amsterdam, circa 1968. But, thanks to a scornful woman, that recording no longer exists. Furthermore, if anything did surge forward, any copies made and sold would have to be licensed from Randy Holden in a legal and moral agreement made between the 2 parties. And of course Randy did a lot of soloing with them; being that he was, no, that he IS a guitar god, what else do you expect? Dickie and Paul were a very good back up band for Randy, probably one of the best; that is, with the exception of his latest back up band. |
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Post by riffraff on Dec 22, 2007 14:31:21 GMT -5
and what are the current plans for Randy"s latest back up band?
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Post by FeedbackLourde on Dec 22, 2007 17:36:25 GMT -5
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Post by wholelottashakin on Dec 22, 2007 23:35:54 GMT -5
Leigh's magic happened the same day it happened to Paul and Dickie . Sometimes with music as the physics would have it a new valence structure of electrons suddenly came together to form a New Heavy Metal for the Periodic Chart of the Elements hereafter named BC "N" Ium" or heavy metal with periodic Number of 1.00. Like Uranium or Berkeleyium forever preserved in the universe as an otherwise never structured before atomic configuration on that day in 1967 ----totally unique and totally real-------------- Eric Eric, you are definitely priceless ... and so the truth of the saga continues to unfold; however, I disagree with the conclusion. No one got ripped off if you consider the outlandish richness of the entire experience ... no money could buy it, no other experience compares. The Cheer, of which of course you are, are a collection of genuises who collided for many moments in time, and left the planet different for it. What's to cry? Would you trade a moment of it, even the tears? Of course not ... It's just Blue Cheer ... if you ever get it, you just can't forget ... There are not many truly perfect moments in life, and there are moments with the Blue Cheer crazies that are just that ... PERFECT! Lots and lots and lots of moments ... maybe that's the hook that can't be duplicated by anyone, any time, anywhere ... |
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Post by Robbnoxious on Dec 23, 2007 7:40:48 GMT -5
and what are the current plans for Randy"s latest back up band? I would like to know as well, so that means I should schedule another ass-kiss type of interview with Randy like the one I did years ago. Only this time I'll try to kiss Randy's ass even more (if that's even possible!) |
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Post by A Voice of Reason on Dec 23, 2007 9:32:33 GMT -5
So, Eric, are you not forgetting the $15,000 by which Leigh was paid off by the management of Blue Cheer prior to his (and your) departure for England, or it`s equivalent in today`s language of around $225,000?
Or perhaps too much acid has ruined your memory cells?
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Post by Eric Albronda on Dec 23, 2007 12:31:02 GMT -5
Acid for me was as Aldus Huxley said "A door to Perception". Probably fried some brain cells along the way but if I did not think I had some extra brain cells I probably would have abstained.
Well . I was in the management team and the only money given to Leigh on his departure was generated by me and came from Mercury Phillips Records to provide us with living expenses to move to England and it came as an advance on the Red Weather recording. Now whoever you might be or where your information is coming from if not for the public perhaps you might enlighten me as to some facts that have been misplaced. As always , ericalbronda@finestplanet.com
Wholelottashakin, you are right, as good as it was as bad as it was --the priceless moments are definitely part of my RNA memory storage and not for sale . Actually the part about getting ripped off for millions came from GUT when I ran into him in the late eighties --He was actually panhandling in front of Wells Fargo bank on Clement Street in San Francisco( he had a job doing window dressing for the Christmas season in stores along Clement yet needed extra cash) and looked up long enough to see me and then stood up and we began a conversation ---always the consummate gentleman is Gut . So considering his state of mind at that time is it any wonder that he felt ripped off for millions . Gut was also asked to leave Blue Cheer before Leigh so again credence to his feelings. Thanks for the comments.
Eric
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Post by Festooned Piglips on Dec 25, 2007 20:07:02 GMT -5
So why was Gut asked to leave Eric?
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Post by Eric Albronda on Dec 26, 2007 5:04:51 GMT -5
Gut was asked to leave because Dickie , Paul and Leigh felt that he was getting more than his share of goodies from the benefits of their extremely difficult and long first grand tour.
They came home after about nine months to find that gut had moved to Mill Valley in rather grand style as well as having purchased a jaguar among other things . Whereas Dickie , Paul , Leigh returned from the road drag ass tired and to the same apartments and lifestyle that they left ----simply they felt that an unequal amount of the benefits were going to Gut and not to themselves. gut was responsible for introducing Blue Cheer to the major movers and shakers like , Bill Graham, Chet Helms, Kesey, The Angel's and apparently felt his work was done . He also was a gifted artist and so n many ways produced the image of Blue Cheer as far as Graphics------------So he really did a great deal
but then again after all the money was pouring in it was the beginning of Blue Cheer experiencing "Well, then where is mine ?" and Gut got his first so to speak with much resentment from the band. Also , Gut was considered a bit of a mother Hen and his ideas of how we should lead our lives was pretty much along the excepted lines of the day including lifestyle and chemical experimentation-----and here was the major divide----
So shortly after Outsideinside was complete Dickie, Paul and Leigh asked Gut to Leave as much bitterness was evident followed shortly thereafter by Leigh and me leaving . I believe you can see in the third album how he entire feeling and music direction was changing and not for he better in my opinion.
Thanks for asking
Eric
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Post by A Voice of Reason on Dec 26, 2007 7:16:14 GMT -5
So the band were kept permanently stoned out of their minds and introduced to more serious drugs by the Blue Cheer management, who . if unable to get a particular musician to sign something/anything in his somewhat stoned state, then went as far as signing the self same contracts on their behalf by forging their signatures, and thereby stealing all the money.
It`s no wonder that Gut was asked to leave, having acquired all that wealth, whilst the ones who wrote, created and performed the music were left penniless at the end of the day. Imagine coming home from an extensive tour to find that there is no money left in the kitty!
But didn`t you just post earlier saying that Dickie and Paul stole millions from everyone? I always thought that you and Dickie were best buddies! So how could it be if the blame is now being placed on Gut`s head? And if they stole millions, how could they come back to the same apartments and lifestyle that they had left, or are you just pointing the blame elsewhere? Perhaps tomorrow, it will all be Jerry Russell`s fault.
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Post by sionara on Dec 26, 2007 7:57:33 GMT -5
VOR, Eric said, earlier, that Paul and Dickie effectively ripped them off of POTENTIAL millions by blowing the gig, not by pilfering funds from the kitty. You sound like you were there, so why don't YOU tell the story?
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Post by A Voice of Reason on Dec 26, 2007 13:10:53 GMT -5
I know what I said, but who was responsible for them being that way in the first place? You can`t expect to become rich if half your hangers-on are in the drug trade and any cash that comes your way goes straight into their pockets. Seems to me it was a case of live for today because tomorrow you might be dead, or you were made to be just too stoned to even care what was happening around you.
How many management do you need to manage a Power trio anyway? It seems that Blue Cheer had an awful lot of management for just three musicians.
Did anybody think that with all that money coming in that it might be wise to invest for the future, because the bottom might drop out of the band sooner than you think? Looks like it was enjoy yourself whilst you can because there`s sure to be another sucker heading your way sometime soon.
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Post by sionara on Dec 26, 2007 13:51:11 GMT -5
A common enough philosophy in the rocknroll business! Many of us went into it very young and very live-for-today; and most bands don't really expect to last that long. You take it as it comes. And sorry, don't know how old you are but we all had someone shoving something under our noses in those days. Some got hooked, some got dead, and some got away, with it or without! Some just said no, even! Personally I know how easy it is to get strung out, so I make no judgement here, but ultimately it's up to the individual to put the brakes on...this business is full of people who got ripped off, but as has been said 'the price of an education' comes in all forms. You can spend the rest of your life blaming other people if you want, or you can get on with your own.
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