Main career (1966–1971) Blue Cheer was formed in 1966 by
Dickie Peterson. Peterson had previously been with the
Davis-based band
the Oxford Circle along with future Blue Cheer members
Paul Whaley and
Gary Lee Yoder. The original Blue Cheer personnel were singer/bassist Peterson, guitarist
Leigh Stephens and
Eric Albronda as drummer. Albronda was later replaced by Whaley, who was joined by Peterson's brother Jerre (guitar),
Vale Hamanaka (keyboards), and Jere Whiting (vocals, harmonica). Albronda continued his association with Blue Cheer as a member of Blue Cheer management, as well as being the producer or co-producer of five Blue Cheer albums. The band was managed by Allen "Gut" Terk, a former member of the
Hells Angels.
The Who performed a live version of "Summertime Blues" at the same festival. Hamanaka and Whiting were asked to leave. Jerre Peterson did not want to remain in the group without them, so he departed as well, leaving Peterson, Stephens and Whaley as a trio. Their first hit was a
cover version of
Eddie Cochran's "
Summertime Blues" from their debut album
Vincebus Eruptum (1968). The single peaked at No. 14 on the
Billboard Hot 100 chart, their only such hit, and the album peaked at No. 11 on the
Billboard 200 chart. In Canada, the song peaked at No. 3 on the
RPM Magazine chart. The "Summertime Blues" single was backed with Dickie Peterson's original song "Out Of Focus". Peterson also contributed to the album the eight-minute "Doctor Please" and "Second Time Around", which features Paul Whaley's frantic drum solo. Filling out the record, the band cranked out blues covers "
Rock Me Baby" (by
B.B. King) and "
Parchman Farm" (
Mose Allison, but retitled "Parchment Farm"). He was replaced by
Randy Holden, formerly of Los Angeles
garage rock band
the Other Half. Blue Cheer's style now changed to a more commercial hard rock sound à la
Steppenwolf or
Iron Butterfly. By the fourth album,
Blue Cheer, and was succeeded by Gary Lee Yoder who helped complete the album. According to Peterson, the group's lifestyle during this period caused problems with the music industry and press. Peterson said the group was outraged by the
Vietnam War and society in general. By May of that year, they had switched the name back to "Blue Cheer" and the Petersons were co-writing new songs and slowly attracting more bookings. The band played an outdoor festival in San Juan Capistrano July 5. In December 1974, Blue Cheer played a Christmas festival at
The Greek Theatre in Los Angeles on December 22 alongside
Van Halen,
Judee Sill,
The Coasters and
Art Laboe's Band, followed by a three-night run of appearances at
The Whisky a Go Go from December 23 to December 25. In 1974,
Kim Fowley produced an album for Blue Cheer, with sometime
Steppenwolf member
Nick St. Nicholas co-producing. The lineup included the Peterson brothers on bass and guitar, along with ex-
Hollywood Stars members Ruben De Fuentes on guitar and Terry Rae on drums. Although the album was never released, Dickie Peterson left the band in 1975 with Nick St. Nicholas replacing him on bass/vocals, leaving the band with no original members for some shows. The band played Laguna Beach Winter Festival February 15 of that year. In 1978, Dickie Peterson began rehearsing with Davis-based guitarist Tony Rainier, a younger brother of Peterson's high school friend (and sometime Blue Cheer soundman and bodyguard) Larry Rainier. Michael Fleck was auditioned as drummer. The reformed Blue Cheer recorded an album with Jim Keylor at Army Street Studios. The album was initially unreleased, but received an official release in 2012 by ShroomAngel Records as
Blue Cheer 7. Blue Cheer followed up
Highlights and Lowlives with the much heavier
Dining with the Sharks. Duck MacDonald was replaced by German ex-Monsters guitar player Dieter Saller in 1990. Also featured is a special guest appearance by
Groundhogs guitarist
Tony McPhee. The album was co-produced by Roland Hofmann and Blue Cheer.
Gary Holland (ex-
Dokken/
Great White/Britton replaced Whaley on drums in 1993. In the early 1990s, Peterson and Whaley re-located to Germany. In 1992, Peterson recorded his first solo album,
Child of the Darkness, in Cologne with a band named "The Scrap Yard". The album appeared five years later in Japan on
Captain Trip Records. After Peterson came back to the U.S. in 1994, Blue Cheer was dormant from 1994 to 1999.
The return of Blue Cheer (1999–2009) In 1999, Peterson and Whaley got together with guitarist MacDonald to resume touring as Blue Cheer. This band configuration remained largely constant from 1999 until Peterson's death in 2009. In 2000, Blue Cheer was the subject of a tribute album,
Blue Explosion – A Tribute to Blue Cheer, featuring such bands as
Pentagram,
Internal Void, Hogwash and
Thumlock. Peterson and Leigh Stephens were together once again in Blue Cheer with drummer
Prairie Prince at the
Chet Helms Memorial Tribal Stomp in San Francisco's
Golden Gate Park on October 29, 2005, and their lively performance drew old rockers like
Paul Kantner and others from backstage to observe. They did some recordings in
Virginia in Winter 2005 with
Joe Hasselvander of
Raven and
Pentagram on drums, due to Paul Whaley choosing to remain in Germany. While Hasselvander played on the entire album, his contribution was reduced to drums on five songs, with Paul Whaley re-recording the drum parts on the balance of the album. This was because Whaley was set to rejoin the band and it was felt that he should contribute to the album, prior to touring. The resulting CD, ''
What Doesn't Kill You...'', released in 2007, features contributions from both Whaley and Hasselvander as a consequence. Blue Cheer's video for "
Summertime Blues" made an appearance in 2005 documentary ''
Metal: A Headbanger's Journey'', where
Geddy Lee of
Rush referred to the group as one of the first heavy metal bands.
Death of Peterson and disbandment (2009) Peterson died on October 12, 2009, in Germany from
prostate cancer. Peterson was actually 63 at the time of his death despite some initial confusion, as exemplified here, immediately following the announcement of his death. After Peterson's death, long-time Blue Cheer guitarist Andrew MacDonald wrote on the group's website that "Blue Cheer is done. Out of respect for Dickie, Blue Cheer [will] never become a viable touring band again." Drummer Paul Whaley died of heart failure in January 2019.
Dispute over ownership of band name In recent years, a dispute has arisen as to ownership of the Blue Cheer band name. It was reported that, as of the early 2000s (decade), former Blue Cheer guitarist
Randy Holden, assisted by Randy Pratt of The Lizards band, had trademarked the Blue Cheer band name. Holden's association with Blue Cheer was quite brief; his only recorded output with the band is three tracks on
New! Improved! from 1969. The matter had upset Dickie Peterson, given his position as a co-founder of the band and the only continuing member since its inception, but does not appear to have been resolved. According to Randy Pratt, this report is not entirely accurate. Pratt provides uncited commentary as follows: == Legacy ==