|
|
Post by nightwatcher on Feb 9, 2008 0:27:19 GMT -5
Inspired by the heavy blues improv of Cream and Hendrix, legendary proto metal gods Blue Cheer roared forth from the San Francisco Bay area onto the national scene in a big way in early 1968 with their debut album 'Vincebus Eruptum'. Completely at odds with almost all of what was coming up from the hippie flower power underground, they were the antithesis of bands such as The Grateful Dead, as subtle as a jackhammer and louder than a 747. Named for the particularly potent "Blue Cheer" acid, incredibly they hit paydirt with both the album and the single culled from it, the classic cover of Eddie Cochran's "Summertime Blues" soaring towards the upper reaches of the Billboard charts, peaking at #14 and #11 respectively. Contemporaries of Hendrix, Joplin and The Doors, their powerhouse performances elicited Jim Morrison to pronounce them, "The single most powerful band I've ever seen". The first American band to use Marshall amps, the power trio, initially consisting of bassist/vocalist Dickie Peterson, drummer Paul Whaley and guitarist Leigh Stephens were undoubtedly the heaviest and loudest band of the time. So loud in fact that due to said loudness, these pure volume dealers had to, for their Eddie Kramer engineered sophomore release 'Outside Inside', record the basic track sessions outside on Pier 57 in Manhattan. Live, they were the first band ever listed in the Guinness Book Of World Records as "Loudest Band In The World", establishing a precedent which was eventually eclipsed by Ritchie Blackmore and Deep Purple.... To read more, and to access the entire exclusive interview go to this location : houseofrockinterviews.blogspot.com/ |
|
|
|
Post by FeedbackLourde on Feb 9, 2008 13:28:26 GMT -5
Great Interview, Nightwatcher! It's always nice to hear some newer, insightful questions other than the same old stories...
|
|
doug
New Member
Posts: 12
|
Post by doug on Feb 9, 2008 16:01:14 GMT -5
totally agree, very informative and honest talking there as well. thanks for the link!
|
|
|
|
Post by nightwatcher on Feb 10, 2008 9:18:06 GMT -5
Thanks! It was a pleasure talking with Dickie. Hopefully this will help get the word out about the tour and the album! Speaking of which, here's a blurb on Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles : BLUE CHEER - "Performing Live, That's What We're All About" www.bravewords.com/news/83082 |
|
|
|
Post by nightwatcher on Feb 11, 2008 0:39:39 GMT -5
|
|
|
|
Post by nightwatcher on Feb 11, 2008 9:42:54 GMT -5
|
|
|
|
Post by shiloh on Mar 5, 2008 18:45:13 GMT -5
This is a COOL interview. i copied out the parts i really liked 'cause me and my b'friend want to learn as much as we can about old school. it's the roots, man.
RNRU : If you had to pick a favorite song from the album, one which is the most personal to you, which one would it be and why?
DP : The most personal song for me off the new album is "Young Lions In Paradise". That was written about friends of mine and Paul's who are no longer with us because of the way we treated ourselves when we were younger. We stood right next to them. Why we're alive and they're not, I don't know. We all thought we were immortal and abused ourselves profusely. So, in that respect that's the song which touches me the most in that area. I also like "I'm Gonna Get You," and "Rollin' Dem Bones". I really do like all the songs on the album. Duck and I wrote all the songs on the album and we're a good team.
Ya, YLIP is my FAV, for sure.
RNRU : Getting into the songwriting aspect...where do you get the inspiration for songs, and what's the usual process you and Duck have when you're writing?
DP : My inspiration for songs that I write comes from experiences that I've had or I've observed amongst my friends. I get my inspiration from my friends and family. Usually what happens is I'll show up with a melody line and a bass line. I'll play it for Duck, we'll push it around and work on it until we have something we're happy with. Sometimes we won't pursue something because it just doesn't work. Duck was the inspiration for "Rollin' Dem Bones". He said, "Hey Dickie, you ought to write a song about all the pot you've smoked". So, we did that. I think there's going to have to be a sequel. (Laughs)
HA HA, that’s really cool.
What was it like working with Eddie Kramer?
DP : Eddie was a genius. There was a lot more work being done with the producer, Abe Kesh, than Eddie. But Eddie was a great guy to us. Now you have to take into consideration that here we were, three young guys, who when we worked with him was the first time we'd ever done any real production. So I'd imagine in some ways we were quite humorous because we didn't know what we were doing. We had a good time in the studio with Eddie.
RNRU : What do you feel that he brought to the recording that you didn't have before?
DP : He bounced up the level of personnel that we were working with. He's an incredible engineer. That jumped us up to a whole new level.
RNRU : One aspect besides the heaviness which has remained a constant throughout your career in the band and solo has been a pronounced blues influence. What was it about the blues that initially drew you to it, and who were your early influences?
DP : My first blues influence was Jimmy Reed. When I grew up, listening to rock & roll, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis Presley...it all works out of a blues pattern. I'm a firm believer in that if you can't play the blues, you can't play rock & roll. It's really simple. There's no complicated deal with rock & roll, not as complicated as people try to make it. Rock & Roll is 10 % technique and 90% attitude. You can do more with one note and the right attitude than you can with fifty notes and no attitude. It's your delivery, how you deliver the package. Otis Redding was a big influence of mine, and James Jamerson from Motown, Duck Dunn from Booker T & The MG's was another.
Over the years I've had many influences. I'm still influenced today, some of whom people might not even know. My brother was a tremendous influence on me. He's dead now. He didn't teach me how to play music, but he taught me how to learn. Duck McDonald is one of my strongest influences, not because he plays in my band, but because he's such an excellent musician.
RNRU : As you still have that blues base to the music, do you keep up with the blues scene much still?
DP : Oh yeah, I still follow the blues scene. Blues scenes can be very localized. The Oakland blues scene, San Francisco, the east Bay blues scene is great. John Lee Hooker was out of that scene. All over the place there's blues going on. I pay attention to Robert Cray, Joe Louis Walker, Lucky Peterson...I pay attention to these people. Some nights I'll go out to Slim's or Biscuits and Blues in San Francisco. But there's a lot of great blues players coming up in San Francisco. Billy C. Farlow from the Lost Planet Airmen, he's putting together some things, and he's a very good singer and harp player. Richie Kirch from John Lee Hooker's band...I've done a few shows with him. He and I are very good friends. Slim's and The Boom Boom Room are great blues places in San Francisco. The Boom Boom Room was John Lee Hooker's club, and Slim's is Boz Scaggs'. Every year they have The San Francisco Blues Festival, which I try to get to every year. They usually have some really good talent.
I lived in Europe for a number of years, and there's a lot of American blues bands who go over there because there's still a big appreciation for the blues over there. They have clubs over there that don't cater to anything else but the blues. I've heard several bands from all over the world. There's some good ones out of Texas. The Mighty Sam McLain now lives in Stuttgart, Germany but he's from the South originally and he moved over there. I even heard a band from St. Petersburg, Russia that played the blues like you wouldn't believe.
RNRU : Is there anything else that you'd like to say to all the fans out there?
DP : I hope that you guys come to a show if we come to your area. We're going to be around all this year, and probably several years to come. Because to really to know what Blue Cheer is all about you've got to stand in front of that stack. You've got to feel it. Because our goal all along has been to not only make it an audio experience but a physical one as well. It really will grab you by the guts. Ohhh yea, it’s so heavy I shook, good shakin
This guy isway cool … my b’friend decided to keep on playin’ bass now. His old man wigged out when we told him we just met a killer bass player that is older than him, like, u know, pops was tryin to talk him out of music and now it’s heavier than ever. And we are checkin out the blues …
Peace out,
Shiloh
|
|
