‘Vincebus Eruptum’ by Blue Cheer

  In my ongoing quest to discover the roots of heavy music, I ran across Blue Cheer, a “blues-rock, psychedelic band”. It seems to me now that the deeper I go, the more primal, energetic and dirty the music gets and such is the case for this, Blue Cheer’s first album, ‘Vincebus Eruptum’.

  Blue Cheer formed in the mid-sixties by too many people and was soon dwindled down to the power trio of Dickie Peterson on bass and singing, Leigh Stephens on the guitar and Paul Whaley pounding the pigskins. The band quickly got to recording and found a home in the heavier sounds mixed with blues. This album is the result of that search for that sound as well as a lot of drugs. Even the name Blue Cheer is supposedly a reference to a specific brand of acid. But how can you not love a band that The Doors called “the singled most powerful band I’ve ever seen.”?

  This album is 30 minutes of blues churned out with everything at 11. Even the drums, the deep, primal, king sized drums that Whaley is beating on, are overdriven. This album is abundant in the two biggest the two main forces that make rock’n’roll, primal instincts and electricity. Everything about this record is electric. A constant bombardment of fuzz. The sheer size of the drums touches your inner caveman, especially when played as if with hammers. This album has such power, by the climax in ‘Second Time Around’ you will be sweating like Dean Moriarty at a bop joint in San Fran.

  Blue Cheer would be active in one form or another up until 2009, but this album stands out as their biggest success, both critically and commercially. The opener, a cover of Eddie Cochran’s ‘Summertime Blues’ would be their biggest hit, but it is just the opener. The whole album is a gem in the history of heavy metal. The deeper I got, the better it is.

Song: ‘Out of Focus’