Description
Blue Cheer, the fourth album, is the perpetual group in transition once again rolling with the punches. A vast improvement over New! Improved! Blue Cheer, the sound here is more contained, consistent, and identifiable. Rather than cover Eddie Cochran, as they did with their hit "Summertime Blues" off Vincebus Eruptum, the outside material is tellingly by Delaney Bramlett and MacDavis, a wonderfully laid-back "Hello L.A., Bye-Bye Birmingham." By this time they were sounding more like the Band than the first disc's monstrous musical onslaught, which resembled a naïve Cream or precursor to Grandmore… Funk. Bruce Stephens decided to exit during this recording, but that didn't hamper things the way some of the New! Improved! Blue Cheer record suffered. Stephens' vocal performances are placed right in the middle of everything, tracks two and four on side A, tracks two and four on side B, he writing or co-writing three of the titles, and doing a fine job singing on keyboard player Ralph Burns Kellogg's "Better When We Try." The trading of vocals between founding member Dickie Peterson, who handles the other six titles, was a plus for this group, and as songwriter Gary Yoder contributed the opening and closing tracks, "Fool" and "The Same Old Story," his presence would make itself more valuable when he became guitarist on B.C.#5: The Original Human Being. Bruce Stephens' "Saturday Freedom" is a delicious slice of psychedelic blues and the more musical direction this aggregation was seeking began to really develop on Blue Cheer, this fourth chapter in their storied career. Positioned to be a major cult phenom, these albums represent a unique vision different from Quicksilver Messenger Service, the Steve Miller Band, the Jefferson Airplane, and other California musicians, though elements of all find their way into the grooves. "Ain't That the Way (Love's Supposed to Be)" is an absolute West Coast rave up, showing Peterson in complete control of his project, no matter how many stones were fired at them. His other two compositions, "Natural Man" and "Rock and Roll Queens," have a groove and are entertaining. While Mott the Hoople was mixing grunge and hard rock with their "Rock & Roll Queen," this band from the other side of the world put a different spin on the same topic, utilizing pretty much the same title. Peterson may have not been the personality that Ian Hunter is, and Blue Cheer never reached the point of performing on Broadway as Mott with Ian did, but Blue Cheer shows creative flashes that puts them in league with other innovators, and makes the band truly worth studying.
| 1 |
Fool |
| 2 |
You're Gonna Need Someone |
| 3 |
Hello L.A., Bye Bye Birmingham |
| 4 |
Saturday Freedom |
| 5 |
Ain't That the Way (Love's Supposed to Be) |
| 6 |
Rock and Roll Queens |
| 7 |
Better When We Try |
| 8 |
Natural Man |
| 9 |
Lovin' You's Easy |
| 10 |
The Same Old Story |
Info:
- Category:
- Music > Albums
- Case Type:
- CD
- Release Type:
- Retail
- Comments:
- 1 read add
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Cover Info:
- Title:
- Blue Cheer - Blue Cheer (1991) Retail CD
- Part:
- Back
- Dimensions:
- 964 x 750 px
- Size:
- 189 KB
- Downloads:
- 393 (0 today)
- Uploaded:
- 29/06/08 by RAW
- Quality Rating:
-
- Currently /5 Stars.
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Other Available Parts:
Hard Rock
Tracks
