Louder Than GOD!: Discography 1968

DISCOGRAPHY

Part One: 1967 - 1971

Albums

"Vincibus Eruptum"

1968

Tracklist:

Summertime Blues

Rock Me Baby

Doctor Please

Out Of Focus

Parchment Farm

Second Time Around

Dicky Peterson - Bass/Vocals
Leigh Stephens - Guitar
Paul Whaley - Drums

Released on January 16, 1968, Blue Cheer's debut album was recorded in 1967 at Amigo Studios in Hollywood, Ca. In an interview with StonerRock.com, frontman Dickie Peterson explained that "Some songs have taken me 20 years to complete, and there are other songs like 'Doctor Please' and 'Out of Focus' that I wrote in ten minutes." On "Doctor Please" in particular, Peterson explained that "when I wrote the song (in 1967) it was a glorification of drugs. I was going through a lot of 'should I take this drug or should I not take this drug? Blah blah blah ' There was a lot of soul searching at the time when I wrote that song. And I decided to take it." On the band's cover of Eddie Cochran's "Summertime Blues" Dickie ads, "We kept changing it around and adding/taking bits away. It has to do with large amounts of LSD."

The album has been widely held in high regard by critics. Allmusics Mark Deming described it as "a glorious celebration of Rock and Roll primitivism run through enough Marshall amps to deafen an army", praising the band's "Sound and fury" as one of the founding movements of heavy metal. It has also been described by Billboard as "the epitome of psychedelic rock."

Online music service Rhapsody included Vincibus Eruptum in it's list of "10 Essential Proto-Metal Albums" suggesting the band "not only inspired the term 'Power Trio,' they practically invented Heavy Metal."

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"Outsideinside"

1968

Tracklist:

Feathers From Your Tree

Sun Cycle

Just a Little Bit

Gypcy Ball

Come And Get It

Satisfaction

The Hunter

Magnolia Caboose Babyfinger

Babylon

Dickie Peterson - Bass/Vocals
Leigh Stephens - Guitar
Paul Whaley - Drums

Blue Cheers second album for Philips, released in August, 1968. It's Tracks were recorded both Indoors and Outdoors, hence the title of the album. The records tracks feature contributions from all members of the band, along with two covers: "Satisfaction" by the Rolling Stones, and "The Hunter" by Albert King. This would be the last album to feature the original lineup, as Leigh Stephens left the band after it was released.

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"New! Improved!"

1969

Tracklist:

"When it All Gets Out"

"West Coast Child of Sunshine"

"I Want My Baby Back"

"Aces and Eights"

"As Long as I Live"

"It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry"

"Piece of Mind"

"Fruit and Icebergs"

"Honey Butter Lover"

"All Night Long"

"Fortunes"

Dicky Peterson - Bass/Vocals
Paul Whaley - Drums
Bruce Stephens - Guitar (tracks 1-6)
Ralph Burns Kellogg - Keyboards (tracks 1-6)
Randy Holden - Guitar (tracks 7-9)

BC's third release for Phillips hit shelves in March of '69. Re-released in 1994 by Repertoire with two bonus tracks, and again in '99 by Italian label Akarama. This album features Randy Holden (fucking guitar God!) on tracks 7-9, and it's the only studio recording of Holden with Blue Cheer.

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"Blue Cheer"

(Or #4)

!969

Tracklist:

"Fool"

"You're Gonna Need Someone"

"Hello L.A., Bye Bye Birmingham"

"Saturday Freedom"

"Ain't That the Way (Loves Supposed to Be)"

"Rock and Roll Queens"

"Better When We Try"

"Natural Man"

"Lovin' You's Easy"

"Same Old Story

Bruce Stephens - Guitar/Lead & Back Vocals
Dickie Peterson - Bass/Lead Vocals
Ralph Burns Kellogg - Keyboards
Norman Mayall - Drums

Their 4th album released in 1969. Gary Lee Yoder contributed songwriting on the beginning and closing tracks and would later join the band on the next album, "The Original Human Being."

This is the first album that Blue Cheer released as a four piece as opposed to a power trio.

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"BC#5: The Original Human Being"

1970

Tracklist:

"Good Times Are So Hard To Find"

"Love of a Woman"

"Make Me Laugh"

"Pilot"

"Babaji (Twighlight Ragga)

"Preacher"

"Black Sun"

"Tears in my Bed"

"Man on the Run"

"Sandwitch"

"Rest at Ease"

Dickie Peterson -Bass/Lead Vocals (tracks 2, 3, 9,)
Gary Lee Yoder - Guitar/Vocals/Harp/Lead Vocals (tracks 1, 4-8, 10-11)
Ralph Burns Kellogg - Organ/Piano/Bass
Norman Mayall - Guitar/Percussion/Sitar/Producer/Drums

The fifth album. Or BC#5, was released in 1070 and shows exploring a more laid back and psychedelic rock and roll even with a horn section on a few tracks. The album features a very unusual and different song for Blue Cheer, "Babaji (Twighlight Ragga)", which features extensive use of sitar and synthesizers. These instruments were only used one other time on the song "I'm The Light" on Oh Pleasent Hope.

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"Oh Pleasant Hope"

1971

Tracklist:

"Highway Man"

"Believer"

"Monkey Troubles"

"Traveling Man"

"I'm The Light"

"Economical Blues"

"Lester the Arrester"

"Heart Full of Soul"

Dickie Peterson - Bass/Lead Vocals (tracks 7-9)
Norman Mayall - Guitar/Sitar/Drums
Gary Yoder - Acoustic and Electric Guitars/Harp/Lead Vocals (tracks 1-6)
Ralph Burns Kellog - Organ/Piano/Synthesizer/Bass

The Sixth and final album until 1983's The Beast Is Back. It's a lot less psych, and a bit more folkey. This is kind of a weird album. Dickie only sings three songs, the sitar and synthesizers are back and applied much more liberally than on the previous album.

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Singles

from "Vincibus Eruptum":

"Summertime Blues" b/w "Out of Focus"

(1968)

Blue Cheer broke out like a bat out of Hell with their blistering version of Eddie Cochran's "Summertime Blues" on their debut L.P. "Vincibus Eruptum."

The single peaked at No.14 on the Billboard Hot 100, their only such hit, and the album peaked at No.11 on the Billboard Hot 200. In Canada, the song peaked at No.3 on the RPM Magazine charts. The single was backed with Dickie Peterson's original "Out of Focus."