(Blue Cheer - Dickie Peterson, right - R.I.P.)
A few months ago I did a post on Blue Cheer, playing their 1967 demo version of Summertime Blues. It only seems fitting tonight, after hearing the sad news that Blue Cheer bassist and lead singer Dickie Peterson lost his battle with cancer and passed away at his home in Germany yesterday (Monday).
Anyone who grew up in the 60s and hit the concerts has their own Blue Cheer story to tell - most all of them ending with the fact that their ears rang for days after.
As I said in my earlier post, there really wasn't anyone like them at the time. In many ways they were the prototype for Heavy Metal in the 1970s. They were relentless raw energy that completely emersed you in their wall of sound. At a time when P.A. systems were crude and only beginning to become what they are today, Blue Cheer did stand out as the epitome of loud.
As a tribute to Dickie Peterson and a thank you for the indelible impression he and his band mates made on so many audiences over so many nights, I'm playing the second cut from the 1967 demo session, this one, the demo for Doctor Please.
Just seems fitting.
